Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

94 reviews

cko's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Body horror, suspense, mystery, dark academia, nature, and survival themes. Lesbian romance and queer themes. Some more words for this book: haunting. gorgeous. (g)ripping. bloody. propulsive. contained. Really wonderful storytelling, strong characterization, tender and touching platonic love. It felt like a dream (nightmare?) come to life, so magical and real and bizarre.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Grief

sinaprst's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

this was ok
i picked this up because i liked the cover, so i knew basically nothing about the story whatsoever going into this

in short: the book is about a boarding school on an island were somesort of virus or diseases spread, that lead to several students and teachers dying while others grew second body parts or similar stuff. now the school and island have been on lock down for i believe 18 months, while the government tries to find a cure (alledgedly). we follow our main character Hetty and her friends Bryce (i think is her name) and Reese while they trie to survive and figure out what is going on the island.

first of all, i loved the writing style. the author used some interesting choices, especially with the second pov character later on, that might not be for everyone, but i absolutly adored them. 

the beginning is very slow. the first like 60 pages felt like ages to me, because nothing really happens except for pages over pages of exposition and world building.
but after that i got hooked and couldn`t put it down 

nonetheless i felt like the book lacked some depth in some parts. i couldn`t really connect to any of the characters and in end still felt like i knew nothing about them, eventhough the story is very character driven

the sapphic lovestory also felt very out of the blue

and literally lasted like under 24h in book time????

. i was all in all very disappointing to read and i was hoping for more. 

 

the ending was also very open and left me with more questions then answers honestly. i also wished that Bryce was really dead, her suddenly being still alive felt weird to me, idk why tho. 
also, did Hetty and Reese really just leave the rest of the girls to die on the island, when they literally scolded the headmistress and this other girl for the exact same thing just like one page before that??? this behaviour really confused and is probably one of the reasons why the ending felt so weird to me.

 

all in all, i loved the cover, premise and writing style, but the characters felt shallow, the lovestory underdeveloped and the ending questionable, therefore well deserved 3/5 stars from me :)

edit: i have just found out that her name is Byatt and not Bryce 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing and Grief

Minor: Torture

sifairi's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

I really enjoyed this book, but It felt very slow for me. About 3/4 of the way through it does pick up and then I couldn't put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Self harm, and Torture

stressed_daisyy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Gripping and horrifyingly realistic, Wilder Girls is a tale of how things out of our control take over us, control us, and drive us to grasp tight the only things we have left.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Vomit, and Grief

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Medical content

Minor: Vomit

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

tkhenry99's review against another edition

3.5

had to sit with this for a minute but i think i liked it? i was surprised how violent it was tho. i didn’t really care for the romantic subplot, i felt like it should’ve either always been present or been super slow burn, but it kind of just came out of nowhere, there was exactly 1 scene where something “romantic” happened, and then it just never came up again? 

(also for everyone complaining about how unlikeable the characters are, that is literally the point of the book)

i think the ambiguous ending was fine, it really did not leave that much room for confusion.

like what does everyone think is going to happen next? the girls are in a boat heading to the mainland. it’s really not ambiguous at all

maybe work on ur reading comprehension skills if it felt too open ended :-/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Medical content, and Grief

onemorepagecrew's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Wilder Girls by Rory Power strikes me as a book that some will enjoy, and others will wish they had never picked up – very niche in its audience.  Personally, I was into it and would selectively recommend it.  

 

The story is set at a boarding school for girls that has been put under quarantine by the CDC.  We jump in after they have already adjusted and fallen into a routine, then slowly learn bits about the early days when the isolation first began.  It’s an effective way to tell the story without reading through the whole event.  Instead, the book focuses on what happens when a few girls start disappearing and the protagonist, Hetty, starts looking for answers.  

 

The book is categorized as YA lgbtqia+ horror and that felt inaccurate.  There are romantic relationships between girls in the school, but their world is so bleak that it’s not the focus, more of an implied afterthought.  And horror is a tough bar to clear.  This was suspenseful at times but never tense (for me), definitely not scary (again, for me), but did have a few graphic descriptions.  It’s more of a creepy mystery through a lens of survival dystopia. 

 

It is an interesting look at how powerful information can be, especially when it is withheld.  How isolation can be achieved by manufactured fear.  If you enjoyed books like Devolution, Dry, or Unwind then this might be a good one for you. 

 

Content warnings: Gore, Death, Self-harm, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Medical trauma

apolloniablooms's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It really choked at the end, which felt rushed.  Overall glad I read it, but it feels like a shadow of books like Annihilation and Inspection which do the same thing but feel more complete.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

gyllenlock's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Vomit, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Self harm, Suicide, Medical content, and Grief