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nessas_lair's review
emotional
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
TW: Sexual assault, child trafficking, rape, child abuse, violence, and suicide
Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for the ARC! I thought the concept of this book was very intriguing and I loved the discussion about the struggles women face in the world. There's lots of great quotes in this book. It's quite a slow-paced story until the last 50 pages or so where all the action happens. The face-off scene with the villain and the Wild Ones was a bit underwhelming because there was so much buildup to the moment and it ended so quickly. I also thought the characters could have been a little more fleshed-out because the girls didn't really have distinct personalities aside from Paheli and Valentina. The worldbuilding was really fascinating though, and I liked the concept of the Between. Overall, this is a very dreamlike written story with interesting themes, but I wish the characters were a bit better written.
3.5/5 Stars
Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for the ARC! I thought the concept of this book was very intriguing and I loved the discussion about the struggles women face in the world. There's lots of great quotes in this book. It's quite a slow-paced story until the last 50 pages or so where all the action happens. The face-off scene with the villain and the Wild Ones was a bit underwhelming because there was so much buildup to the moment and it ended so quickly. I also thought the characters could have been a little more fleshed-out because the girls didn't really have distinct personalities aside from Paheli and Valentina. The worldbuilding was really fascinating though, and I liked the concept of the Between. Overall, this is a very dreamlike written story with interesting themes, but I wish the characters were a bit better written.
3.5/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, Suicide, Child abuse, and Violence
whit2ney's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking
mandysbookcollection's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
This book has a content warning at the beginning. It advised that the work contains themes of sexual and Physical violence.herfleurs's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"We, however, don't cry. We're too angry to."
The Wild Ones foi uma experiência complicada. Eu li os textos da autora sobre esse livro e tenho imenso respeito e gratidão por ela ter escrito e ter colocado suas dores aqui.
Eu me conectei com o livro, não acho que não tenha como não. Eu adorei a escrita e a forma como ela escolheu contar a história das meninas. Eu adorei os capítulos onde a gente não tem como saber quem é que está narrando e achei ótimo o uso do "nós".
Enquanto o romance na maior parte do tempo não me incomodou como normalmente faz, acho que porque o processo de atração em si não aconteceu/não foi muito explícito, ele tomou uma parte muito maior do livro do que esperava e de certa forma foi muito imaturo pra mim. Eu não estou falando sobre trauma mas sobre a quantidade de tempo de vida dessas pessoas. Paheli leva todo o foco do livro e sendo a primeira ela é extremamente adolescente ainda, no começo foi interessante ver uma "líder" de forma diferente mas quando o romance toma conta da equação ficou maçante.
Eu entendi a denúncia que a autora fez e de forma nenhuma quero ditar sobre perdão ou pespectivas, nada assim, mas me incomodou o fato de que apenas "garotas" são pensadas sobre no livro. Não houve uma vilanização de mães exatamente, porque eu senti o que autora trouxe mas eu acho que teria sido uma boa opção ter expandido essa questão. Não é só garotas adolescentes que sofrem, e claro que entendo o público alvo também mas eu acho tão importante o momento que a gente ganha maturidade e consegue olhar pra nossa figura materna e entender ela como mulher que sofre as mesmas opressões que a gente e acho que isso faltou demais aqui.
O começo do livro foi maravilhoso pra mim, o audiobook (que corri atrás desesperadamente assim que comecei o livro correspondeu minhas expectativas) é ótimo, mas as últimas 100/150 páginas eu me vi ao ponto de desistir. Puxou tanto pro final as coisas que virou uma bagunça e tudo perdeu um pouco do sentido pra mim, nesses últimos momentos eu nem sequer me lembrava sobre o que grupo era e o que ele significava sabe. Com o passar do tempo fica complicado gostar do livro quando elas passaram horas andando e comendo e não exatamente resolvendo as coisas e acaba que algumas coisas ficam muito convenientes. Nem quer o livro de memorias foi bem explorado como estava sendo no início. O começo pode ficar complicado, tem várias info dumps pra explicar o universo e fica muito evidente porque as narradores conversam diretamente com você. O furo sobre magia me incomodou demais, é dito e mostrado todo tempo como mágica não funciona nelas então como o feitiço para localizar possíveis Wilds pôde ser colocado? Não fez sentido.
A autora trouxe diferentes experiências, amostras do que o grupo faz, a gente tem um pouco de como elas ajudam mulheres ao longo do tempo. As vezes por acaso, de caso pensado e com uma rede de apoio mesmo e quando essa ajuda falha mas pra mim ficou raso. Como eu disse eu gostei dos capítulos narrados em conjunto mas sendo eles e os de Pahali, que fui perdendo a vontade de ler com o tempo, acaba que fica esse vazio sobre o que elas realmente fazem durantes esses séculos. Também pensei que raça ia ser pelo menos um pouco abordado e não foi como eu esperei.
Eu não falei sobre Taraana mas ele faz parte da maioria do livro e eu não desgostei dele mas o plot dele não funciona pra mim, ainda mais quando um dos pontos que estavam funcionando, que era a vulnerabilidade dele, o fato de ele ter medo e de assumir seus traumas terem sidos meio apagados na transformação.
Estava sendo um sólido 4 estrelas mas não sei se foi meu interesse, a falta dele, ou a autora foi se perdendo e acabou que não funcionou pra mim do meio pro final.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Rape, Child abuse, Confinement, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, and Kidnapping
foreverinastory's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
4.0
This was incredible.
Rep: Indian female MC (aro-spec coded), French BIPOC trans female sapphic side character, Korean female side character, Indonesian female side character, Filipina female side character, West African female side character (wears a head scarf), Pakistani female side character, Fijian female side character, Turkish female side character, Muslim Iraqi female side character, Japanese female side character. Unsure who is queer but at least half are not attracted to men.
CWs: Abandonment, blood, confinement, death, emotional abuse, grief, homophobia, injury/injury detail, infidelity, kidnapping, lesbophobia, misogyny, murder, physical abuse, sexism, torture, trafficking, prostitution, violence. Moderate: child abuse, child death, pregnancy, mention of attempted abortion, rape, sexual assault, sexual violence, suicide by running into traffic, bullying.
Rep: Indian female MC (aro-spec coded), French BIPOC trans female sapphic side character, Korean female side character, Indonesian female side character, Filipina female side character, West African female side character (wears a head scarf), Pakistani female side character, Fijian female side character, Turkish female side character, Muslim Iraqi female side character, Japanese female side character. Unsure who is queer but at least half are not attracted to men.
CWs: Abandonment, blood, confinement, death, emotional abuse, grief, homophobia, injury/injury detail, infidelity, kidnapping, lesbophobia, misogyny, murder, physical abuse, sexism, torture, trafficking, prostitution, violence. Moderate: child abuse, child death, pregnancy, mention of attempted abortion, rape, sexual assault, sexual violence, suicide by running into traffic, bullying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Bullying
nytephoenyx's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The amount you enjoy The Wild Ones will be directly correlated to the amount you enjoy poetry and flowery language. Azad’s writing reminded me of Nikita Gill and Rupi Kaur. As such, this book was very much not my cup of tea, but it’s not a bad book! Just not a fit for my tastes.
The make up of The Wild Ones is wonderful. It’s the story of a group of girls who come from traumatic, sorrowful backgrounds. They became part of the middle world when Paheli gifts them the stars they press into their palms, a gift given to her so long ago. The girls stay until they are ready to move on. The journey they take as a Wild One feels like a metaphor for processing trauma. So much of this book feels like a series of metaphors, and it makes you think, reread, reconsider.
The Wild Ones are Black girls, brown girls. They are a sisterhood of strength and recklessness and fearlessness. They rescue other girls who are in the same pain they were (are) in. When their creator, the Keeper of the Between, seeks them out, they protect him too. It’s altogether an interesting book, and I DO recommend it to the right reader. It’s extremely stylised, so it requires the right reader to appreciate it fully, but I believe to the right reader, this will be an amazing five star novel. I liked the diversity, I liked the world, but the pace and writing style lost me.
Because of the linguistic choices that Azad made in telling this story, I found the pacing lagged and my attention waned, leading to a lot of rereading. I cannot emphasise enough that this is entirely due to my own reading preferences and for others, this could be a non-issue. The style made the writing (to me) feel vague and scattered. There were single paragraphs and single scenes that I found lovely, but as a reader I felt like I was constantly chasing cohesiveness in the novel.
It’s a good book, but it wasn’t a good book for me. I think others will like it, but before diving into it, do note the prose-like writing style and go in prepared to navigate it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Torture, Rape, Suicide, Sexual assault, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Death of parent
thetealdeal's review
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Misogyny
e_sisack's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Trafficking
utopiastateofmind's review
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
The Wild Ones is lyrical, magical, and stunning. The writing is exquisite and there were so many sentences that just stopped me while reading. Celebrating friendship and support, it's a book that isn't afraid of showing the pain because it's a piece of their journey. While this feels a bit more experimental - with passages like memories and more stream of consciousness - Azad weaves a journey of resistance and love. The beginning feels like a slow unfurling of atmosphere and vibes and then all of a sudden there's this switch and the action builds on this foundation.
The Wild Ones is lyrical, magical, and stunning. The writing is exquisite and there were so many sentences that just stopped me while reading. Celebrating friendship and support, it's a book that isn't afraid of showing the pain because it's a piece of their journey. While this feels a bit more experimental - with passages like memories and more stream of consciousness - Azad weaves a journey of resistance and love. The beginning feels like a slow unfurling of atmosphere and vibes and then all of a sudden there's this switch and the action builds on this foundation.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
emmysreading's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Violence