Book Review: Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

 

One I intended to buy but later ended up finding at the library. So might as well simply borrow it. Spoilers ahead. And content warnings for mentions of animal cruelty/death and (domestic) abuse.

Inti is a woman working for the Cairngorm Wolf Project, a project similar to the older one in Yellowstone where they re-introduce wolves to an area, this time being Scotland. Inti's project is met with much dismay by the local farmers, in particular one named Stuart who grows to dislike Inti immensely. But then one day, Inti finds Stuart's body, with an unknown cause of death. From here on out tensions in the local village are even higher as the quest is on to find the killer and Inti is fighting to protect her wolves, who might be the culprit after all.

Quite a thrilling read. I did really like it. This was an intense read full of mystery, intense character relationships, tensions between people and wolves and more. I honestly don't have much to say about it, just a solid book.

It does get quite dark, however, so be prepared for that. Domestic abuse is brought up several times, and there is indeed quite a bit of animal cruelty/death in this so do be prepared going in.

I really liked the pacing of this book, it was solid. With the current chapters being interspersed with the relevant flashback chapters to Inti and Aggie's childhoods, and later Inti's and Aggie's life with Aggie's abusive husband. They tie back to the current chapters masterfully and while Inti does do some questionable things as well, you totally get where she's coming from once you learn her backstory. I also really appreciated how, despite Lainey very clearly having some beef with Inti, Inti doesn't stop caring about Lainey. Lainey has a past of being abused by her husband, something which, like said before, also happened to Lainey's twin sister Aggie.

Also, the final reveal of who killed Stuart was honestly quite intense and handled masterfully. I literally had no idea where they were going with the murder mystery for most of the book, though Duncan and the wolves were indeed prime suspects, but in the end it's none other than Aggie who took him out in order to protect Inti. After which Lainey proceeded to mistake Aggie for Inti, causing the discomfort between the two. Just a great reveal. 

Overall this was a super intense read! Not my favorite I've read this year but definitely a good one.

Rating: 4/5