Welcome to Litsy!

This book broke my heart in the best and worst possible ways….sobbing, BRB!

Strong first lines!

#ReadAway2024 #MarvelousMarch #readathon

My #Roll100 #67, I actually finished it a few days ago but between being work busy & trying to figure what I think about it, I hadn‘t posted it yet. I‘m still unpacking my feelings about this one. It is beautifully written & I loved the natural elements, but I hadn‘t read any reviews before starting & it ended up being much heavier & darker than I thought & I don‘t think I was emotionally ready for it. ⬇️

A little self-care Saturday… Parked at my newish regular coffee shop (it‘s newly opened, so relatively calm & quiet) for a couple of hours to read the tagged book & Oh Reader & do some catch up journaling. Trying to work through some “stuff” much of it work-related, that‘s weighing me down.

To aid the process and iced dirty chai latte with oatmilk & a pump of coconut syrup. (So good!) & their Kai Breakfast Turnover.

Saturday morning vibes. It was a very long work week so today I am slowly running errands & took a breather for a dirty chai latte & a savory crepe at my local coffee shop while starting this book from my #Roll100 March books. (And I grabbed this card that came yesterday from my mailbox for the #NaturalitsyCardSwapSpring. Thanks @jenniferw88 🤗)

Saturday‘s book swap scores after ballet. I had the day to myself as my partner was off leprechauning at a Beer Festival. I don‘t drink beer. Bliss!

I think the fairest assessment I can give of this book is from the perspective of an acknowledged mismatch between book and reader. I should never have picked up this book. 1/?

😏

I loved this book until it began to strain credulity too far. I‘ll probably try another book by this author in the hopes that she reins in the tendency to jump all the sharks, because the conservationist thriller is a genre hybrid I‘m interested in.

First book I read by this author and I will say I liked the writing style and the story, at least this one. There is a murder and people in the remote Highlands blame the wolves. Inti knows that this attack was not made by the wolves, then by who. She is working with a team to protect the wolves but this project is not well received by the community. But the story is more than that, is about Inti, who can be seen as unlikable character⬇️

4.5 ⭐ from me - a nearly perfect environmental novel/mystery that is just beautiful. Charlotte McConaghy novels are an auto-read for me at this point.

I think this was my favourite book this year. It‘s a bit of a genre bending book, with the first half focusing on how humans and other animals have impact our ecosystem, then shifting to mystery, violence, and some strong family relationships for good measure.

Artwork from here https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/03/books/review/once-there-were-wolves-charlotte...

Ok, outside of the review I really love this picture I just took.

I adored this book until the end… the end made it a so-so for me because it was so disappointing. Wish I stopped reading around 50 pages from the end. 3⭐️ #botm

This is my MUST read recommendation of the year. McConaghy deeply understands nature and our human role in it. Through Inti's story, the reader learns how humans have nearly destroyed the wild world and how it is our responsibility to repair what we can. It deals with issues of abuse that could be triggering to some.

After an extremely busy week, spending Saturday night in my comfys with my book and this yummy tea is exactly what's needed.

Reading: Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy. Highly recommend!

“The forest has a beating heart we can‘t see,” Dad told us once. He lay flat on the earth and we copied him, placing our hands on the warm ground and our ears to the underbrush, listening. “It‘s here, beneath us. This is how the trees speak with and care for each other. Their roots tangle together, dozens of trees with dozens more in a web that reaches on forever, and they whisper to each other through their roots. .

I listened to audiobook of this one via Audible.

I found it ok.. and a semi interesting story.

Read for reading challenges.

3.5/5

I'm giving this a thumbs-up even though its strong start kind of petered to an ending I found unsatisfying. Overall this novel is emotionally complex and honest, and I loved hearing about Scotland. It reminded me of visiting Picos de Europa National Park in Spain and learning how the wolves had been hunted to extinction there as well. The false conflict between human needs and nature's needs is interesting, as though humans aren't part of nature.

Good writing and story

Excellent read! A biologist and her twin arrive in Scotland to reintroduce wolves to the remote Cairngorms. While Inti encounters fear, anger, and even love and murder, she also struggles to save her damaged sister, Aggie. Such an engaging plot that I found myself eager to finish my days‘ tasks in order to get back to reading. I learned quite a bit about the wolf conservation movement but was also struck with the beauty of the story itself! 4/5⭐️

#12Booksof2022 I'm cheating for May, but I can't pick. Once There Were Wolves was masterfully done and the best fiction of May. But I also finished the group read/ slow read for The 1619 Project that month, and I was absolutely blown away by that book. @Andrew65

I‘m on vacation next week when my book club meets on this book, but I think I‘ll go into work for it anyway because I want to talk about this book! Such a great story! I loved how it unfolded, I loved the characters, broken as they were, I loved the wolves and the focus on the natural world. The mystery did provide a bit of a surprise ending, but I cared less about who did what then just the people themselves.

This was a library book club read- everyone loved it! Good research on wolves and rewilding, good mystery that kept us turning pages, and good characters that all needed therapy but felt real!

I am loving all the Halloween vibes with this one! 🐺

This is a modern take on Little Red Riding Hood. This engaging and exciting story asks big questions about sustainability and makes us question our role in the ecosystem. It leaves us asking, “who is the real monster?“

A mystery hidden within a story of rewilding the Scottish highlands with wolves. Major trigger warnings throughout, please check those. It is definitely not a fast paced book nor is it a mystery that ventures into typical horror. It‘s a slow burn unraveling. Felt like a nice transition into fall reads book 🐺🍂

I will read anything Charlotte McConaghy reads from now until the rest of my life and probably give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ every time, mark my words

⭐️⭐️⭐️ I loved the rewilding storyline in this book and all of the details on wolves. But I did not like the mystery or the way the mystery was resolved. I think the point of the story could have been told just through the wolf story and not through the mystery storyline. This was my May #bookspin pick No. 5.

Her second novel is a winner, too.

#AlphabetGame

I thought that the writing was absolutely beautiful in this book. Every sentence was well thought out and the scenery/ setting was incredibly descriptive. It felt like you were there. I wanted to love this one, but in certain parts I had a hard time staying engaged. The characters just didn‘t grab me like I thought they would. The author clearly did tons of research and the story was excellent, but I didn‘t love it like I thought I would.

I‘m in the minority in not loving this one. I enjoyed the nature writing and learning more about wolves, but had several issues with the “sub-plots”, especially towards the end.

I absolutely adore nature writing and thought this would be a lovely story about re wilding wolves. This was way more brutal and dark than I had imagined it would be however I did get drawn in to the mystery of the story. A pick as it was also very informative but covers some dark themes

Really enjoyed the mix of mystery and education about how wolves re-wild an area and how predators are so pivotal to the ecosystem. Definitely made me look forward to reading Migrations by her as well. #botm backlog

McConaghy writes about nature with a reverence that evokes Jack London's work - demanding respect and an awareness that nature, like humans, can be simultaneously beautiful and cruel. I loved this every bit as much as Migrations. It was my #Doublespin for May @TheAromaofBooks

“There are languages without words and violence is one of them.”

I couldn‘t stop myself and went back to reading the book. I‘m pretty sure that wasn‘t a good idea.
There was sobbing in my office.
I‘d recommend this book if you can handle the spoilers in my comments.
#BOTM

Nope. I‘m out. I‘m crying like a baby on page 67. I am not in the right headspace for this one right now.
#BOTM

UPDATE HOURS LATER: I tried to pick it up again at work. Now I'm sobbing in my office. I'm not emotionally equipped for this.
It's probably best I dropped out of vet school since I'm such a big baby.

This book will definitely sit with me for a while. Beautifully written. I would recommend reading it in a forest. I am glad the author is using her voice to bring attention to solutions of global warming. Humans definitely need to do better with our treatment of nature and try to increase biodiversity to save the planet.

2.5-3/5.

I think this was a well written book and there is an audience for it…but that audience was not me.

I was devastated by her other book Migrations so very excited to start this environmental fiction/ mystery.

A solid pick, but in my opinion this didn't even come close to the masterpiece that I found in Migrations.

I felt this was written for a more mainstream audience? I was hoping it would replicate the "meandering" feel of its predecessor but instead seemed much more plot-driven. But even with some elements I didn't love (make sure to research the TWs in this) I still enjoyed it overall and am already looking forward to her next book ? #botm

I have loved wolves since I started following their reintroduction into Yellowstone. McConaghy gets that part right, and you can feel her love for wilderness. The mystery was engaging but not necessary for my enjoyment of the book. But if it gets more people to understand how necessary apex predators are to the environment then more power to it.

This book has a lot to recommend it- plot threads abound with intrigue, the writing is strong and evocative, intelligent handling of environmental impact, wolves, and a narrator walking the fine edge of sanity. The end- spoiler- is a bit weak as the high tension of the book sees pieces fall a bit too neatly into place. Still far from a reading regret. Thumbs up- 4/5 stars!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought it was hugely thought provoking, deeply moving and I was extremely moved by the relationship between Into and her sister, and Inti and the wolves. I had no idea that wolves were used to reintegrate new life into park land, so learning about how useful predators are to the natural order of life was appreciated. I would highly recommend this book.