Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

190 reviews

mmc_librarian's review against another edition

adventurous 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, and Suicide

Minor: Ableism

astridrv's review against another edition

As with Migrations, it took me a few chapters to get into the voice - something about the overtly rebelious tone always initially irks me. And then, somehow, magic happens: a scene, a paragraph, an image of utter awareness and connection to the natural world, a burst of intense emotion, and I'm hooked. Can't stop reading. Inti, like Franny, stays with me in between pages. The writing is poetic as fuck, and yes, the story could be more restrained, less dramatic. But so what? We are alive in this raw rare miracle and Charlotte McConaghy not only gets that but also shares it on an instinctive level. She might say, from her wild parts to ours.

That said, I have issues with the way the theme of sexual abuse, domestic violence, and PTSD was portrayed in here. It feels unnuanced, and one character especially felt like a metaphorical device at times more than a person. I'm increasingly upset about how their arc ends. In attempting to do three things at once, I feel like this book was mostly successful as an eco-fiction work (although I raised my eyebrow at

giving birth in a snowy forest

), rather unconvincing as a murder mystery, and widely immature as a commentary on misogynistic violence and PTSD.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content, Grief, and Pregnancy

alexandriatp's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative mysterious tense fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Drug use, Blood, and Death of parent

neni's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Blood, Dementia, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

clemireads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

abbasaurusrex's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

Absolutely riveting. A stunning read exploring the nature of humanity and the humanity in nature. Lots of graphic violence but none of it senseless. Check trigger warnings but if you can get through it you will be richly rewarded. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse

tibbarasden's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

3.0

I loved many things about this book. Unfortunately, I feel like the author just tried to do too much. I really think the book would have been better with less. I wanted more of the main plot lines. Even though the conflict choices ended up coming into play in the end, I still think the story could have been told and with a better result without them. I am also not a huge fan when authors use trauma and mental health as a reason for violence. I did really enjoy the wolves and neurodiversity. The way the MC could feel what she sees and the way the author describes this was really good. I also liked the disjointed feel of the story as that really added to the atmosphere.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, Murder, and Pregnancy

jennswan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

biokels's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Blood, and Pregnancy

vanesst's review against another edition

challenging inspiring mysterious medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Dementia, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Infidelity, Suicide, and Stalking