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mdwsn27's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
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
harrietolivia456's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy
Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Infertility, Vomit, and Abortion
_annika__'s review against another edition
- 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
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
kiwico's review against another edition
- 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
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
lilabachere's review against another edition
3.25
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Rape, and Pregnancy
Minor: Abortion
alexisgarcia's review against another edition
- 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
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
carolinefran's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Dementia, Stalking, Abortion, Death of parent, and Alcohol
c_serpent's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
______________________________
Two months after reading this book, I'm still thinking about it almost daily. I figure that warrants a longer review.
First, I had no idea what I was getting into with this book. The beginning is extremely jarring, and sets the tone for the rest of the novel: bloody, violent, confusing and arresting. Inti, the main character, dances on the edge of being a feral creature herself, and she thinks and feels everything so deeply. Her extremely intimate relationship with her twin Aggie was one of the most compulsive non-romantic relationships I've ever read. How Aggie goes from firebrand to almost mute and catatonic, how Inti goes from follower to caretaker and protector-- their story is compelling. I want to know what has happened to them. I want to know what will happen to them. And I understand, deeply, that who they are is wrapped up in the other. It's absolutely masterful.
At the same time, somehow, their interdependence isn't romanticized. Neither of these women are healthy, and we know that. But isn't that real life? We can see the problems, and sometimes we can't solve them.
Sometimes we release wolves instead.
The way that McConaghy handles emotion and drive is incredible. She portrays nature so completely that it seems like a character itself, one with urges and desires and the power to act them out. She handles Inti and Aggie and their father and Duncan with such care that you wonder if it's the tenderness of love or if it's for fear of what they might do.
Everyone and everything in this novel feels flammable, and Inti has a way of setting off sparks.
Inti's feminine rage-- the desire to make something happen, to hurt something, to prove a point-- is wildly compelling. She has wild boundary issues, which McConaghy makes achingly obvious through Inti's mirror-touch synesthesia, which causes her brain to recreate the sensory experiences of people and animals. She looks at a wound and she feels the pain. And what is this, too, but being a woman?
McConaghy takes the female experience, dials the intensity up to 400, and drops you in the dark woods in Scotland, where the wolves are only now relearning how to live. Something has eyes on you, anything could destroy you, and the only truth that you know is the driving instinct in your own hear to fiercely protect, even if it results in your undoing. People are capable of doing terrible things to one another, and the question is not "have you hurt someone" but rather "how have you hurt them, and what will you do about it?"
There are graphic descriptions of violence toward women in this book, including a graphic rape scene, and despite that I recommend it. This book is beautifully written, does not overwhelm, and ends somewhere. It is extremely, extremely good.
Four stars for Inti, Aggie, and Duncan, and one for the wolves.
Total score: 5/5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal cruelty, Vomit, and Abortion
hefftbundle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
It is an intense story about humanness built around the deep importance of conservation. Learning to trust and grow after extreme trauma is also a centerpiece of this book.
You will probably guess part of the ending, but it still has elements that will surprise you and make you weep. Again, incredibly well written. Will leave you aching and hopeful. What a wild ride.
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexual content, Medical content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Drug use, Vomit, Abortion, and Alcohol