Reviews with content warning for Sexism - The Wild Ones

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

nerdybookqueen's review

challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I wanted to like this book. I was so excited when I saw it in the bookstore, but I'm on a buying ban so library it is, and now I'm a bit grateful for it.

This book felt more focused on making a point than telling a story, at the detriment of the point it's trying to make.

Things I liked:
I loved the premise and concept. A badass, diverse group of women rescuing other women from awful shit and giving them the chance to heal? Fantastic. And the bits of that I got were great.

Some parts hit so hard, and they were so good. I loved those bits, especially the ones separate from the characters- there are these unlabeled paragraphs centered on the page and they almost all hurt in a meaningful way.

I really liked the bits we got from the "Book of Memories" (which I don't think is ever mentioned in the actual story?) that introduced the other women.

The concept of two traumatized characters learning to recover from their trauma so they can trust and have a relationship? Great, I love that.

What I didn't like:

I found this book super hard to follow. I have no idea what was going on in the world, it felt like a ton of information was tossed at me but not in a coherent way, I really don't know anything about the other women besides our main girl, Paheli. I feel almost like I was dropped into a sequel that already expects me to know what's going on. I wish I knew more about the world and characters. Except the food, there was so much talk of food that felt super out of place for the most part.

The writing was...weird. I really didn't enjoy most of it. Beyond being hard to follow, it also felt kind of bland. I'm not really sure how to explain it, it was just very frustrating. Especially the weird unnamed narrator bit. The characters were already hard enough to keep track of, having a narrator not identified was just extra confusing. I found I really didn't care about most of the characters, which is frustrating, because I don't want to feel that way, and not in a book with such a good concept.

This book dealt with very heavy topics in a poor manner. It felt like a lot of it was just presented to us and then the reader is hit on the head with "hey this thing is bad" and I feel like people who disagree and don't view these traumatic things as bad probably wouldn't pick up the book. It didn't feel like there were any emotions when these were discussed either, between characters, that they were just stating "hey this is bad, we need to help women from it." Which yes, is true, but it's weird to write it that way.

The ending was so anticlimactic. I got to it and was left feeling just... "what, that's it?"

Overall, I thought it would be really good, and the cover is gorgeous, but I was left feeling kind of disappointed. Which is so frustrating. It had such a cool concept, but it was executed poorly.

Content Warnings

shadeyc's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

This is immense.
I know a lot of people don't like the style but I found it lent to the atmosphere, the chaotic, exuberant, wildness of how the girls want to be/see themselves.
There is so much sadness and pain here, but the Wild Ones absolutely seek out the wonder and make a point of finding the magic in every place they visit.
I have to say one of my favourite things was all the food. I MUST go to all these places and eat all this food - oh it spoke to my heart.
As many have said, there are multiple trigger warnings, and while nothing is shied away from, it's also not thrown in your face. It feels gentle but firm.
I love all these characters fiercely, and I can say without a doubt that snuck up on me. I wasn't ecpecting to love this as much as I did (mostly because of the content warnings).

Content Warnings

foreverinastory's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings