Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

123 reviews

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

susannah_knox's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

I loved a lot of things about this book, but found it increasingly melodramatic, which made it hard for me to enjoy at the end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Dementia and Death of parent

alexandrathegreat89's review

adventurous challenging dark sad 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

3.0

I went into this book thinking it would be a moody murder mystery that explored the tensions that arise between conservation efforts and traditional/longstanding ways of living in Scotland. It was not. 

This was more an exploration of the capacity have have to be awful one another with a heavy focus on the abuse women face at the hands of theen supposed to love them the most.

Having previously lived in Scotland I was hoping to feel a sense of the beauty and wildness of that country while reading this, but it just wasn't there for me. 

That being said, the writing was compelling and despite wanting to look away I was invested in finding out how it all ended to finish the book. Some of the tropes at the very end to be a bit disjointed and the last 30 pages or so felt like I was ready a completely different book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Dementia, and Grief

lauramcc7's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

_annika__'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, and Gaslighting

fluffernutterfriday's review

dark emotional informative mysterious fast-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

3.5

I lapped this book up like a wolf drinking from a stream. I'm a sucker for alive writing right now, and this writing is alive. The story moved quickly, and I read the book in functionally two sittings. I had to stop in the middle for our book club meeting, and it drove me nuts that I had to wait. The suspense hooked me in so tightly that I spent an hour and a half before work reading the next day, to the point that I didn't exercise or eat breakfast or shower. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

kiwico's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Abortion

mary_elizabeth's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent

dustghosts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

2.75

+ Beautifully written; McConaghy knows how to construct gorgeous, evocative sentences and scenes. I think this shines the most in her nature writing and an awe towards that subject resonates. There’s a lot of tenderness towards people and humans alike. The ending aside, the majority of the book struck emotionally true, even if not always relatable and often? Messy.

o An interesting and complicated array of characters who feel frustratingly human, though not necessarily… like “rational” humans. Despite not necessarily liking them, I found most of the people here to be engaging, and I think the mystery/thriller aspect of the story worked well because of this.

- Themes are muddy at best and troubling at the least favorable. This book covers a lot of ground (domestic abuse, the gray areas of morality, the human-animal conflict inherent in rewilding/conservation, codependency and shared-but-not trauma, the echoes of inaction, and so on) and doesn’t really strike true on most of them. A book doesn’t have to have a clear thesis but you could feel this one trying to get to it— there’s moralizing but no moral.
- While domestic and sexual violence are definitely key themes, the most direct victims of it are sidelined and written out of the story. It’s troubling to me to see Aggie and Lanie disappear from the narrative (one very literally) and for the arguable two main characters (and love interests) to be the two people cast as their could-be (but failed?) saviors.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Gore, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Minor: Suicide

alexisgarcia's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

i absolutely loved this. i had no idea what to expect going in and i think that is the best way to read this. the sisters' relationship was amazing, the plot was well-rounded and fulfilled, and the ending was perfect. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail