Reviews - Something Wild & Wonderful

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1.61k reviews for:

Something Wild & Wonderful

Anita Kelly

4.31 AVERAGE

jesueicnelis's review against another edition

4.5

emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

andrew_f's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Adorable couple, but the book deals with heavy themes related to struggles of the LGBTQ+ community. Ben and Alexei are easy characters to love and root for and thought the author did a great job with their characters. I definitely related to both characters' anxieties and thought the representation was done well. I didn’t find the romantic conflicts very believable in that I don’t believe anyone in the real world would have made those decisions, but books without conflict feel static so I didn’t mind too much. Loved how the themes were handled, particularly Alexei's rejection by his parents, which is still too often a sad occurrence in the queer community. I think it was written delicately and with empathy and made you really feel for this character.

Haven’t had much luck with romance recently (not my go to genre) and this book was a delightful surprise. Definitely a standout in the queer romance genre, especially if you love really wholesome protagonists.

kh_doesallthethings's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

This book is perfection! I loved every minute of this book and growled when people interrupted me. Both Ben and Alexei are both fantastic characters that make you fall in love with them right away. The side characters are also so beautifully done. I just love everything about this book. I will always read anything Anita writes.

Thank you NetGalley and Forever Publishing for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

ekhrtly's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lasorcieredefleur's review against another edition

5.0

This was such a wonderfully sweet story that really tugged at all my heartstrings. As a queer, neurodivergent person who grew up in the pnw, in a highly conservative/religious family that spent a lot of time hiking and camping...oooooof the parallels and relatability. Like I'm sorry was this book written specifically for me?

It is truly such a beautiful, gentle journey through self discovery and a sweet romance. If you’re looking for fast action, high drama this is not it. This is a soft, contemplative, slow-burn that will wrap you up and hold you while you process through everything with Alexei and Ben. Who are just the cutest pair, each working through their own traumas and helping each other along the way.

We know Alexei is autistic but I also felt Ben pretty clearly had ADHD even though it’s never directly said. And as someone who is/has both, I found so much of both of their experiences to really resonate. Especially Alexei’s need to have time alone to process things. I was so glad he did end up doing a portion of the trail by himself so that he got that time to work through everything he needed to. I really liked how that section is written via the various letters, both sent and unsent. That was an interesting and effective way of kind of montage-ing through all those emotions they were both feeling.

Something that really stands out to me in Anita’s writing, that I really appreciate, is how they treat their characters and stories with such obvious tenderness and care. It makes for such a beautiful reading experience and I love it. This is the second book of theirs that I’ve read and I loved them both, I will definitely be picking up anything/everything that Anita writes in the future and I especially can’t wait for the next book in this series!