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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
5/5
THIS BOOK!!!!!!! THIS BOOK!!!! Fantastic, heartbreaking, phenomenal!
This is the first fantasy book that I've read that deals with real world issues in such a prominent way. Please read trigger warnings before reading this, I didn't but I surprisingly didn't get triggered. This book is about women and girls that have been raped, sexually assaulted, physically and emotionally abused, and sold into slavery. It's about them finding a safe place with The Wild Ones and saving other girls and killing men that hurt women. It's fantastic!
I adore the premise of this, of girls fighting to save girls. I loved the diversity, we have mostly women of colour, girls wearing hijabs, a sapphic women. It's just stunning the way all these girls come together and support each other through really traumatic circumstances.
I didn't really care that much about the romance but it was very sweet. I love that The Wild Ones willingly adopted a young man, that felt like a moment of healing. The magic of the boy was really interesting and his connection to the portal worlds was interesting too.
I just love it all okay, it's amazing!
THIS BOOK!!!!!!! THIS BOOK!!!! Fantastic, heartbreaking, phenomenal!
This is the first fantasy book that I've read that deals with real world issues in such a prominent way. Please read trigger warnings before reading this, I didn't but I surprisingly didn't get triggered. This book is about women and girls that have been raped, sexually assaulted, physically and emotionally abused, and sold into slavery. It's about them finding a safe place with The Wild Ones and saving other girls and killing men that hurt women. It's fantastic!
I adore the premise of this, of girls fighting to save girls. I loved the diversity, we have mostly women of colour, girls wearing hijabs, a sapphic women. It's just stunning the way all these girls come together and support each other through really traumatic circumstances.
I didn't really care that much about the romance but it was very sweet. I love that The Wild Ones willingly adopted a young man, that felt like a moment of healing. The magic of the boy was really interesting and his connection to the portal worlds was interesting too.
I just love it all okay, it's amazing!
challenging
dark
inspiring
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
This low fantasy book is such a uniquely intriguing story line. The feminist power grappling with the hurt that society and family often cause girls. It’s a rich, layered world. The girls travel from city to city and the rich descriptions and food show off each culture. I was disappointed that most of the Wild Ones beyond Paheli are not well developed characters. We get very limited peeks at their personalities and stories.
Perfect example of a book with a gorgeous cover and great premise, but I just do not vibe with the book. I listened to 46 minutes of the 9 hour audiobook and felt like I had no clue what was happening but not in a good way. The intense magical world does not even seem to be explained well as things progress but in pieces and with lots of telling.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
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:
No
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really hate 'bad faith' media criticism, so I'll preface this by saying these are my opinions and I'm sure this book is wonderful in the hands of the right reader. Lots of people really like it, but I want to be honest.
I'll start with the merits of The Wild Ones (TWO)
-Premise: unique and interesting. The magical world and concept of the Between is great and allowed for lots of environmental exploration.
-Message: The key messages of strength, reclamation of self, and freedom are beautiful.
-Poetry: Azad writes some gorgeous poetry scattered between prose chapters and these parts are quite lovely.
Now onto my grievances, and unfortunately there are many:
-Heavy handed: Lots of jarring shifts from one theme to the next with a severe lack of subtlety and subtext. Themes are stated outright very often (not always a bad thing but gets irritating and feels condescending at times) and the book suffers a lot from Telling instead of Showing.
-Purple prose: If you like reading a book that is 90% atmosphere, description, cafes, food, and outfits, TWO is seriously perfect for you. I personally felt the prose was slow and flowery in a way that bogged it down and constantly yanked the plot to a screeching halt, so for me it just didn't cut it.
-Too many characters, not enough characterisation. 12 main characters is too many to establish a strong connection to.
-Fairly weak plot structure. The climax is less than a page long and doesn't feel very tense, and due to the slow pace and constant telling instead of showing, I just didn't feel that invested. Combined with a romance sub-plot that I felt lacked chemistry, it just fell very flat for me.
-Strange, jarring, stiff dialogue
-A sapphic character who has almost 0 development but is constantly shoved by the Plot towards the only other queer woman in the whole book for not apparent reason with very little chemistry. Tropey, boring, you get the idea.
Overall TWO has the makings of a great book and I'm sure Azad has written some lovely work, but for me, I feel like this is a case of 'great idea, not so great execution'. I encourage you to make up your own mind :)
I'll start with the merits of The Wild Ones (TWO)
-Premise: unique and interesting. The magical world and concept of the Between is great and allowed for lots of environmental exploration.
-Message: The key messages of strength, reclamation of self, and freedom are beautiful.
-Poetry: Azad writes some gorgeous poetry scattered between prose chapters and these parts are quite lovely.
Now onto my grievances, and unfortunately there are many:
-Heavy handed: Lots of jarring shifts from one theme to the next with a severe lack of subtlety and subtext. Themes are stated outright very often (not always a bad thing but gets irritating and feels condescending at times) and the book suffers a lot from Telling instead of Showing.
-Purple prose: If you like reading a book that is 90% atmosphere, description, cafes, food, and outfits, TWO is seriously perfect for you. I personally felt the prose was slow and flowery in a way that bogged it down and constantly yanked the plot to a screeching halt, so for me it just didn't cut it.
-Too many characters, not enough characterisation. 12 main characters is too many to establish a strong connection to.
-Fairly weak plot structure. The climax is less than a page long and doesn't feel very tense, and due to the slow pace and constant telling instead of showing, I just didn't feel that invested. Combined with a romance sub-plot that I felt lacked chemistry, it just fell very flat for me.
-Strange, jarring, stiff dialogue
-A sapphic character who has almost 0 development but is constantly shoved by the Plot towards the only other queer woman in the whole book for not apparent reason with very little chemistry. Tropey, boring, you get the idea.
Overall TWO has the makings of a great book and I'm sure Azad has written some lovely work, but for me, I feel like this is a case of 'great idea, not so great execution'. I encourage you to make up your own mind :)
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
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
This book was so good. I read it for two reason one for the #readformaui and for #23for23 I did get a bit emotional. I wanted to kill the a$$ who did that to them all. And the ending had me thinking so much. This was a good book to read. I don’t even have the words to describe just how deeply I adored this gorgeous, magical, healing story! And the COVER is so beautiful.