Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

28 reviews

lynssss's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Dialogue was best part of the story, flawed main character, but felt maybe her growth wasn't gotten realistically. But felt sympathy for the characters and they felt like real people even if the plot didn't. I would cautiously recommend it, but certainly not to everyone...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Moderate: Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism and Grief

luise96's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Not sure how to feel about this one! The first hour was quite slow and I thought I might DNF, but after that it got quite interesting. There are quite some subplots, and some questions left open for me. I was expecting a „The Overstory“ kind of book, which this wasn‘t for me. The main character was not exactly likeable for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Medical trauma, Murder, and Pregnancy

northernfleabag's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

sharanle0808's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

At the beginning of the book, I was immediately hooked. I expected that this would be a favorite read of mine. The first few pages started off strong, and I highlighted so many lines. Nonetheless, upon finishing it, I have a few points to critique.

I consider myself to be a fanatic of carefully curated prose. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I cannot help myself. At first, the writing was captivating and I expected myself to be impressed even further. However, towards the end, the quality of the prose declined, and I couldn't fail to notice, at which point, I became rather annoyed. Again, I'm well aware that prose is not the sole criterion to evaluate the value of a book, but this is entirely down to my personal taste.

Plot-wise, I think it's okay. The first half stood out to me more, and it was a harmonizing blend between mystery/thriller and litfic, which is usually up to my alley. But as the story proceeded, it shifted into being slightly unbelievable. I don't mind the violence mentioned, but I also struggle to feel that they're necessary. Some of the plotlines or details could have been omitted. I wasn't really intrigued by the backstory of Aggie's trauma, despite how relevant I recognized it was to the primary plotline. I have a feeling that had McConaghy decided to diminish that aspect of the book, I would have been more engrossed. In short, I could have done without it. On top of that, I'm quite nitpicky when it comes to a rushed ending. The ending just flashed by, or it seemed, and I was totally underwhelmed. Some conflicts were solved very easily within a few lines. 

It's such a shame because, at the start, I had so much connection with the main character, but due to the rushed ending combined with the increasingly plain prose, Inti was turned from a complex female character with profound thoughts into a violent caricature (I do not deny her traumatic experiences, but the author failed to inflict a strong emotion on me with the character).

However, I'm still glad that I read this book. I don't think it's a bad book at all. In fact, I think it's pretty impressive. It was a nice palette cleanser to my reading slump, and it was the first book I've ever read on Kindle so I do hold a sentimental attachment to it. Moreover, the book conveys a vital message about wildlife conservation. I would definitely recommend it to someone who opts for mystery/thriller novels and is interested in diving into an atmospheric setting of the wild forests.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Vomit

Minor: Dementia

norahc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

mbomersheim's review

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I think it’s so fitting that I read this book while in Scotland!

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy is a fiction novel following Inti, a team member for a project that aims to rewild Scotland by reintroducing wolves into the Highlands in an area where the locals are not too pleased with their work. The plot starts picking up when a farmer is found dead and Inti gets swept into the drama of the town and protecting the wolves she released. I don’t think I was the intended audience for this book; it just wasn’t for me. The pacing was slow, and I didn’t care for the characters. Maybe it is because I have been reading a lot of fantasy recently, but I just wanted more plot. This being said, I know many people rate this book highly, so maybe I was just missing something. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Abortion

kld2128's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, and Murder

mdwsn27's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Abandonment

Minor: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Abortion, and Death of parent

bootsmom3's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Abortion

cuddlewithbooks's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

There is so much to this book. It touches on so many graphic topics, I would highly suggest finding a list of trigger warnings before trying this book out. 

I'm not sure what to say, I picked this up on a whim thinking I would enjoy biologists in Scotland but it was so much darker than that. Obviously I needed to know what was next but it was so graphic and sometimes felt unnecessary. Though I can see the power in looking and feeling uncomfortable. 

I just didn't like it, especially in regards to the treatment of the animals in the book. If you don't like animal deaths, I really would not pick this one up. 

It's for someone but it's not for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child abuse, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent