Once There Were Wolves

“The forest has a beating heart we can’t see. 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. They warn of danger and they share sustenance. They’re like us, a family. Stronger together. Nothing gets through this life alone.”Meet Inti Flynn and her twin sister Aggie (inseparable from birth). They grew up in a split home, spending time with their nature loving dad in British Columbia and the rest of their time with their detective mum in Sydney, Australia (talk about two different worlds). Fast forward to present day, and Inti is a part of a team of biologists that have come to Scotland with a mission to reintroduce 14 wolves into the wild in order to help the ecosystem restore to its natural state.However, the people are not welcoming to say the least. At town meetings they express fear for the safety of their families, livestock, and themselves. Soon enough, a farmer ends of dead. Are the wolves responsible or was it murder?The writing in this book is absolutely BEAUTIFUL, the type that you want to savor. It brings more light to the significant work that conservationists do, especially in this day and age. I was nostalgic reading the descriptions Charlotte McConaghy portrays that are so vivid. Her words brought me back to thoughts of when I was child, running around barefoot through the woods near my home (minus the wolves), ending up with poison ivy in-between my toes and coming home covered with mud from head to toe, with either a jar full of fireflies or a can full of crawfish. I was the kid holding up “Save the Whales” signs or “Hug A Tree”. So, yeah….CALLING ALL NATURE LOVERS!!!! You are going to LOVE this book.As if that wasn’t enough, you also get a murder mystery mixed in. That worked well for me because I love nature and I love mysteries. GENIUS Ms. McConaghy. I loved the fact that both of these were intertwined. Also, I learned something new…whoop, whoop. I had never heard of mirror-touch synesthesia which Inti has. It is a condition that causes a person to feel a sensation of touch when they see someone else being touched…WHAT? So interesting! Inti mirrors just about any sensation throughout the book.However, do proceed with caution. Trigger warnings for this book include domestic violence, and rape. Inti and Aggie’s past is traumatic from things that they have endured. It is fitting in a way that Inti is trying to help save Scotland’s ecosystem, but she is also trying to save her and Aggie’s lives from their past. It is a reminder of how our choices can be detrimental or how they can be beneficial and how we should not get in the way of the circle of life.Magnificent, beautiful, exquisite!!!!

This is not to post a review of the book, which I actually liked quite well and it arrived in good condition & very timely. My complaint is about the packaging it was sent in. The package was basically a very tight form-fit cardboard of some sort. The only way to open the package was to cut it open with a scissors. The only viable cut had to be so close to the form fit with the book itself that in cutting it, I cut the entire front cover of the book. Not good! No reason to go to those packaging extremes!

Intense from front to back. Statues up late to read and finish it!

This book was recommended by many but I didn't feel the same after reading it. A bit morbid for me.

A work of genius. I LOOOVVVE this book.