On the surface, this might look like another environmental novel, and it is that, but it’s really a story about the best and worst of human nature, the nature of empathy, understanding reality in the face of trauma, the conflict between communities and conservation, and, at its core, about what it means to be wild. There are echoes of the story in Migrations, but this one is more of a combination of a study of human nature and culture and a murder mystery. This isn’t an easy read as humans and wolves do what they do to each other.

McConaghy’s writes beautifully, and there are many lines that made me stop, close my book, and breathe. The characters are complicated, deeply flawed, and capable of great violence and gentleness. You will want to root for some of them, rage at some of them, but they never fail to make you think. Nothing in this book is what it seems at the beginning, and you get to peel back each layer of this complex story as you go. It’s not a long novel—only 250 pages—but it packs a punch. McConaghy’s status as an “auto-buy” author for me hasn’t changed. This is a powerful book that will make you think: is it human to hurt each other, or love each other?

Beautifully written and haunting, with thematic depth and visceral prose. McConaghy balances lyrical narration, character-revealing flashbacks, and propulsive present-day plot points well, and they're all equally compelling. This is a sad, melancholy book, but it ends on a note of bittersweet hope that felt both true to the story and true to life.

This is a book about the environment, a love story, and a mystery all rolled into one. In the story wolves are being reintroduce to Scotland and the local farmers are not happy about it.

Charlotte McConaghy is a wonderful writer. She makes you learn about the environment and the animals that humans have sometimes uprooted so they did not have to deal with them. You will see how wolves have families and care for them. It is a wonderful outdoor adventure. The sub stories of the local opposition and twin sisters who have moved to the area is also realistic and interesting. I would highly recommend reading this book.

Thank you to #netgalley, @ChrlotteMcConaghy, and @FlatironBooks for a copy of this book.

Wow. This book is amazing. Seriously. I was not sure it would be as good as Migrations,, but this one is even better. The story is about a woman reintroducing wolves to the Scottish Highlands. The main character is awesome. She is compassionate, strong, and fierce. The setting is perfect and holds its own challenges beyond getting the locals to accept the wolves. The story has a little bit of everything, it has a mystery as to who or what killed a local man, it has family drama with her twin sister, it has broken people just trying to survive, and it is also a story of wolves and their habits and why they are needed. The author has a way of writing characters like no other I have come across. They are so real and raw. I loved this book and kind of wish I had not read it so I could enjoy it again fresh. Charlotte McConaghy is truly a special author and I can't wait to see what is in store next.

I read a lot. “Migrations” was my favorite read of 2020. It has everything that I enjoy in a book – beautiful writing and dialogue, unforgettable settings and set pieces, thrills, love stories, caring, tragedy, fools who are called out for being fools, heroes who don’t need to be constantly told that they are heroes. I vowed to follow Charlotte McConaghy wherever she may choose to go. Next stop is the upcoming “Migrations” film starring Claire Foy produced by Benedict Cumberbatch. Can.Not.Wait.

“Once There Were Wolves” continues the existential themes of species survival. In this saga we learn a great deal of restoring habitats to their original state and the importance of a balance of life to that preservation. We cannot expect to dominate habitats for humans’ material good. Sooner or later natural resources are exhausted and the habitat lacks the resources and balance to survive. All habitats require a balance. Predators are an essential part of that balance. Having humans at the top of the chain is never a healthy outcome. Human decisions lack the natural intelligence necessary for long-term sustainability.

Charlotte introduces us to another kick butt woman, Inti Flynn, as well as her identical twin sister Aggie. Like Franny Stone from “Migrations” Inti and her sister are willing to do whatever it takes to make their world right. Inti and her superpowers will not be forgotten.

“Once There Were Wolves” is an unapologetically climate change back-to-nature novel. A word of caution – as most readers will expect, “Once There Were Wolves” contains a good deal of violence. However, it goes beyond the readily imaginable wild vs. domesticated animals, environmentalists vs. landowners. There is more, and it is visceral, and it can be triggering.

Charlotte McConaghy is a precious gem. “Once There Were Wolves” is bound to be another Best Seller. And a brilliant movie. And I will once again wait in eager anticipation for Charlotte’s next effort.

Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the eARC.

“Once There We’re Wolves”,
was equally and as beautifully written as “Migrations”.

Inti Flynn works with other biologists to rehabilitate the Gray Wolf into the Scottish Highlands with the intention and hope to renew the ecosystem which had been significantly altered with the loss of wolves.

“Inti Flynn arrives in Scotland with one goal: reintroduce wolves into the remote Highlands, where they haven’t stepped foot in hundreds of years. She is fiercely determined that nothing will distract her from her work, but when she returns each night to her cottage, where her traumatized twin sister Aggie barely leaves her bed, Inti can’t help but remember the painful secrets that drove them out at Alaska and into this new life”.
Her fragile piece is shattered when a farmer is mauled to death. Inti doesn’t believe the wolves did it but she doesn’t know who killed the farmer and will they strike again?
A story of a woman desperate to save the creatures she loves— if she isn’t consumed by a wild that was once her refuge.

“When we were eight, Dad Cut me open from throat to stomach”.
“In a forest in the wilds of British Columbia sat his workshop, dusty and reeking of blood. He had skins hanging to dry and they brushed our foreheads as we crept through them. Hi shivered, even then, Aggie grinned devilishly ahead of me, bolder than me by far. After summers spent wishing to know what happened in this shed I was suddenly desperate to be gone from it”.

“We hunt only what we need and we give back to the
ecosystem, we grow food, too, we live as self-sufficiently as we can”

“I would like to explain that if a wolf had killed a person, we would know. We would have found remains. Wolves don’t eat the stomachs at their kills. They crush bones but only to get to the marrow inside, which leaves shards. I can assure you, there would be something left for us to find. At the very least, blood, and a great deal of it”.

“There is cruelty to survive, to fight against, but there is gentleness more than anything, our roots deep and entangled. That is what we hold inside, what we take with us, the way we look after each other”.

Like with “Migrations”, readers feel the urgency to address the damage done to our planet ….
Charlotte McConaghy’s storytelling is intimate. We come to know her characters well, while experiencing a powerful draw to protect and create balance in nature.

Once again…this very passionate, one-of-a-kind, author: Charlotte McConaghy gives us a visceral, haunting, emotional story that allows us to deepen our understanding of the complexities between humans, (destruction humans cause), animals, and the natural world we share together.

Intimate….with struggles, losses, triumphs…..
“Once There Were Wolves” was poignant, brutal, beautiful, heartbreaking and hopeful!
Basically….
OUTSTANDING!

If you loved, “Migrations”, … you can’t go wrong with this book either.

Just like [book:Migrations|42121525] this one pulled me in and I read it all in one sitting. This is so beautifully written but it definitely cuts a bit. I have a really hard time with any any animal getting hurt (even fictional) and this one made me sad a few times.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy is an excellent fiction that kept me entertained from beginning to end.

I really enjoyed Migrations, so I knew I had to read this book taking place in the rugged and picturesque Scottish Highlands (one of my favorite locations that exists!!!!).

It was fascinating to follow along as Inti works with fellow biologists to reintroduce the gray wolf to the area. The author truly impressed with her ability to not only describe the exquisite landscapes, but also the natural aspects of the species amd their surrounding habitat. This wonderful and earthy description was perfectly balanced with the heavier and haunting threads of the book that included a murder/mystery and the darker side of humans. She was even able to interweave a romantic thread as well. All aspects blended perfectly together for a gripping and complex read that I devoured within a day.

An excellent novel that should appeal to a wide range of readers.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Flatiron Books for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication.

For me, it’s rare when the second book from an author is equally if not better than the first. This one was. Migrations was wonderful but this one, wow. Inti is a haunted, fierce, damaged and resilient character and so are her wolves. This one will stick with me for a bit. Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this but more thanks is owed to the author for giving this story to the world.

Last year I read Charlotte McConaghy's debut novel Migrations which I absolutely loved. Her new novel Once There Were Wolves deals with similar themes of ecological destruction and a young woman determined to restore the balance of nature. I also found it darker, more suspenseful, delving into the basic questions of human nature.

The opening sentence is horrific, an introduction into Inti's experience of mirror-touch synesthesia, and throughout the novel this device takes readers into the physical experience of violence, and also love.

Inti and her twin Aggie grew up with separated parents, their mother a cop in Australia while their father lived a sustainable life in Canada. Their dad taught them how to live in harmony with nature. Their mother taught them that every person is a potential threat.

Inti has a condition in which she can feel in her body what she
observes happening to others. When Aggie marries a man who abuses her, and Inti does what she must to protect her sister. Aggie never recovers.

The Scottish ecosystem in crisis, with deer destroying the vegetation, Itni is part of a team reintroducing the deer's natural predator--wolves. It had worked in Yellowstone National Park. If you want to save the planet, you have to start with the predators, Inti explains.

They want to fear the wolves because we don't want to fear each other.~from Once There Were Wolves by Charlotte McConaghy

The Scots hunted out the wolves hundreds of years ago to protect their grazing sheep and out of fear. But Inti knows that humans are the real killers. Even in remote Scotland, Aggie lives in terror.

Inti and the local cop Duncan begin an affair; both are damaged souls with dark secrets. "Death gets under your skin," Duncan says; "you carry it with you." Like Inti, he has seen the violence men can inflict on women.

Inti makes enemies as she clashes with the locals over the wolves. When one goes missing, the wolves are suspect. And over time, Inti and the cop Duncan are also implicated.

The wolves must kill to survive. And sometimes, humans must do the same.

McConaghy's vivid descriptions bring to life the beauty of nature and the wolves, and the destruction humans inflict on nature and each other.

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

Charlotte McConaghy’s talent astounds me. She is clearly on an urgent mission to force human beings to rectify the damage we have done to our planet. But, she manages to do it with stories that are so layered, complex, and above all, beautifully written, that it matters not whether you think you will be invested in the plight of Arctic terns as in MIGRATIONS or in this case, wolves.

“When we were eight, Dad cut me open from throat to stomach.” With that incredible first line, we meet Inti, and learn that she has a rare condition called Mirror-Touch, Synethsia, which means she physically feels anything happening around her. When her dad is skinning a rabbit, it feels as if she herself is being cut. We also learn that she has a twin sister, Aggie, with whom her bond is stronger than the normal twin bond.The two have come to the Scottish highlands because Inti is a wolf biologist and she and her team have been charged with reintroducing wolves to the area, as a vital part of saving the forests. Of course, the locals are mostly against wolves, seeing them as violent and dangerous, though Inti tries to prove otherwise. As Inti and her team do their work, McConnaghy skillfully weaves together the stories of the sisters, the locals, and the wolves. Her language is gorgeous, precise, and visceral. I honestly can’t say I’ve read a more beautiful book. It is a haunting story that leaves you pondering violence, love, connection, and the nature of animals and humans alike.

** spoiler alert ** 4.5 rounded down.
I loved this story about Indi and her wolves, her fierce connection with her twin and the lengths at which we go to protect the people (and wolves) we love. Only a .5 knock because I really can’t handle reading about sexual assault. Domestic abuse? Sure, that I can handle but sexual violence just really sours things for me. Otherwise loved it!

Charlotte McConaghy is a beautiful writer, truly gifted with her descriptions and characters. I wanted so badly to love this book as much as I did her Migrations and found them to be similar in structure and prose in the beginning, but this book is far harsher in content as it goes along. I enjoyed the time-jumping, the is-she-or-isn’t-she quality, as well as the mirror allegory between the synesthesia and the twins, and even the visceral emotions that come along with several parts of this story, and I did enjoy most of the book, but when the turn comes, it was a bit too much violence for me.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

Inti is a biologist who studies wolves. From British Columbia to Australia to Alaska then the Scottish Highlands, Inti brings the wolves to hopefully restart the ecosystem, which was drastically changed with the loss of wolves. I found this information fascinating: the importance of predators and the harm the plant eating prey cause when allowed to multiply unchecked, eating all the new vegetation.

The Scots, who are farmers and sheepherders, are not happy about the wolves, even though their livelihood is affected by the death of the land. When a man in town goes missing and livestock are attacked, Inti is determined to protect her wolves. But Inti has lost faith in humanity to the point that she is mostly wild, and angry at events that have happened in the life of her twin sister and how she was unable to help her.

Twisted but we see Inti grow. Beautiful writing. 3.5 stars.

I'd read the phone book cover to cover if Charlotte McConaghy wrote it. Migrations (her debut novel, I believe) was one of my top ten of 2020 and it is with certainty I already believe Once There Were Wolves will be in my top ten for 2021. The publishers summary provides a great synopsis of the book; my feedback is all about mood. There is something about the writing that just transports you into the story - truly the kind of book to curl up with and have a really immersive experience. And although none of the characters wear their hearts o their sleeves, I find that I can really feel and understand their perspective. Another amazing book that I'm sure to pushily recommend to my friends and post a lot about this year.

If there is one book that you must not miss reading this year, this is the one.

I inhaled this book from the very beginning to the very end. I absorbed the retinue of characters and the beautiful and exquisite description of the Scottish landscape. I loved the main character, Inti Flynn and her unique ability to experience the emotions of others to the point where she physically reacts. And the wolves being reintroduced into an area they roamed for thousands of years only to face prejudice and misinformation by those who would rather see them hunted to extinction and damn the consequences.

This is also a story about love and loyalty and the hidden secrets we all guard and the ramifications when those secrets are revealed in the end. I let my spirit run wild with the wolves, inhaling that visceral feeling of ferocity, and letting it linger long after the last page.

This book is due to be released in August, 2021.

This was a great read that I devoured in one sitting!

I loved the look into the world of ecological research and how the aim of reintroducing predators plays a role in helping re-establish ecosystems. I could have read about that aspect all day. The interaction between the townspeople and the scientific interlopers furthered that story and provided a clever mirror for how the ecology of people handle predators. The intertwined story of Inti and her sister, which also orbits the central theme of social hierarchies, adds significant dimension to the narrative. However, some of the flashbacks and backstory felt like too much hand holding for the reader. The history that led up to this story could have been understood without the exposition and frankly, it made an already easy to solve mystery even easier. Given the phenomenal writing, and the faith placed in the readers to understand complex relationships, both animal and human, that aspect felt a little unnecessary. Given that my only quibble is “too much well-written narrative” this book is still a five star read.

For the most part I enjoyed this book. I loved all the parts about the actual wolves and wish there would have more about them then the story line involving the sisters. I just found myself more interested when the book was about the difficult job it was to move the wolves to Scotland, to trace and take care of them there, and deal with the locals who did not want the wolves there.