Audiobook Review – Once There Were Wovles by Charlotte McConaghy, Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fiction
Length: 8 hours and 27 minutes
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Release Date: August 03, 2021
ASIN: B08GYMJQL8
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed Audiobook from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Inti Flynn arrives in Scotland with her twin sister, Aggie, to lead a team of biologists tasked with reintroducing fourteen gray wolves into the remote Highlands. She hopes to heal not only the dying landscape, but Aggie, too, unmade by the terrible secrets that drove the sisters out of Alaska.
Inti is not the woman she once was, either, changed by the harm she’s witnessed—inflicted by humans on both the wild and each other. Yet as the wolves surprise everyone by thriving, Inti begins to let her guard down, even opening herself up to the possibility of love. But when a farmer is found dead, Inti knows where the town will lay blame. Unable to accept her wolves could be responsible, Inti makes a reckless decision to protect them. But if the wolves didn’t make the kill, then who did? And what will Inti do when the man she is falling for seems to be the prime suspect?”
Series Info/Source: This is stand alone book. I borrowed this audiobook from my library.
Thoughts: I liked this. It has a good balance of survival/conservationist themes paired with thriller/drama themes. There is a lot in here about domestic abuse as well and the trauma that can leave behind it. Prior to this I had read “Migrations” and also really enjoyed that book.
Inti comes to Scotland with her twin sister Aggie and a team of biologists that are going to reintroduce wolves to the Scottish Highlands. The farmers in the area aren’t keen on this plan. When a farmer is found dead, they want to blame the wolves or maybe even Inti herself for his death. Inti was hoping this would be a new start for her sister (Aggie) who is struggling to recover from a brutal event and for herself as well. The story jumps between present and past, and we slowly learn what happened to Inti and Aggie in the past.
There are a number of intriguing elements in this story. I enjoyed learning about the wolves and about how programs to reintegrate them into the wild work. I also enjoyed learning about Inti’s condition of mirror-touch synesthesia (a real condition where the affected feel the sensations on their body that others are feeling). This added a particular horror to some of the abuse experienced and was just really intriguing and something I didn’t even know existed. There is also a heavy theme of abuse here; both characters in present and past are dealing with abusive spouses.
There are a few things that really drive this story forward. You are constantly wondering if the wolves will be able to survive their reintroduction and what the townspeople will do. You are constantly wondering what happened to Aggie in the past as that story unfolds. Then you are drawn in to the mystery of the farmer’s death and wondering who or what is responsible for that. It is all very well done and well woven together to make for an engaging and intriguing story. McConaghy does an amazing job of taking real conservation issues and adding human elements that create an engaging, fast-paced story that really keeps the reader engrossed.
I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was very well done. I would definitely recommend listening to this on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I really enjoyed this. I liked learning about a lot of new things (introduction of wolves, mirror-touch synesthesia, Scotland) and enjoyed the way the story was unwound. This is a good balance of conservation thriller, murder mystery, and discussion around abuse. While this isn’t the most comfortable read (it does get gory and I never like reading about abuse), I think it did an amazing job of weaving together all of these story elements into an intriguing and engaging story. I plan on reading McConaghy’s future books; they are different from what I normally read and very well done. I always learn something from them and am entertained along the way.
