Great Read

I thoroughly enjoyed this one: all the details of the world and the pandemic feel complete and well rendered, the friendships, the complexity of the relationships, and the emotionality. I also love how the story unfolds without pat solutions or an easy ending. Definitely recommended.

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Haunting

Oh gosh, so haunting. I couldn’t turn it off. Can’t wait to read the next.

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apparently this is obligatory

the characters kinda fell flat for me, the narrator was good and added some much needed emotion to the text.

the story had weird pacing, I never felt like listening to the first half of the book. about 70% in I listened to it whenever I could

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Solid story (with caveats)

Solid YA piece that will naturally be compared to the Sourhern Reach series, but tighter and with a plot that doesn’t meander as much.

Well-drafted characters and engaging scenario are inexplicably derailed around 2/3rds of the way by a melodramatic and unnecessary “livers’ quarrel” that might just be par for the course for YA. However, the author gets things back on track thereafter.

Reader added great distinction to characters and kept the tone if the piece. Oddly, there were a few moments where she seemed to misread the beats for a joke or sarcasm, but otherwise excellent.

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1 person found this helpful

Interesting but the Ending Needed More!

Content Warning: Gore and body horror, guns, murder, parental death, animal death, self-harm, kidnapping and non-consensual human experimentation, chemical gassing, suicide, starvation, emetophobia.

18 months ago, the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine left to fend for themselves after the Tox infected their world. The Tox is a sickness that takes over your body, slowly mutating it until it eventually kills you. Unable to leave the school grounds in fear of what lurks in the woods, they patiently wait for the cure they were promised. But then, Byatt disappears and Hetty will stop at nothing to find her best friend, even if it means breaking quarantine.

This was a book I was very excited for. I loved that synopsis and the cover and I’ve heard nothing but good things from people I trusted. It was actually better than I expected after seeing the mid reviews on Goodreads, but there were some issues with it since it dragged in a lot of places.

I liked Hetty and Byatt and Reese well enough. I liked their almost camaraderie and how all of the girls bonded together like packs. There’s a good amount of violence and confusion and Hetty’s inner monologue reflects that. It was a bit of a struggle to settle into her side of the story. Byatt’s chapters were much better.

Plot wise, it was boring and intriguing at the same time. The writing was choppy and disjointed. My main complaint is that I wanted to be shown things, not told. The entire narrative was tell tell tell. I will say, I loved the imagery of the things happening, especially the density of forest and the effects of the Tox.

The writing in Wilder Girls is beautiful in the most haunting of ways, it’s the kind that gets your heart racing because of how it drives the point home and gets you feeling every emotion the characters feel. The biggest chunk of it is written from Hetty’s point of view, but we also get a few chapters from Byatt’s.

Overall, I did enjoy the very abrupt ending and how things played out. I'm excited to read more by Rory Powers in the future!

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