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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
3.5 stars. This story follows a collective of girls who've experienced trauma as children. They were brought together by Paheli, the main character, who was given the power to leave the human world and travel Between by a boy who gave her a box of stars. It takes awhile to get going, to understand the POV/narration style (the collective we, 1st person plural?), and the plot meanders/wanders a bit as they travel from city to city via the Between. But things really pick up in the second half when the group has to protect the boy from a creepy magical being who threatens all of them.
While Iron Widow was a "primal scream of a book," The Wild Ones was no less furious, though more dedicated to healing the trauma the girls had experienced. Do recommend!
While Iron Widow was a "primal scream of a book," The Wild Ones was no less furious, though more dedicated to healing the trauma the girls had experienced. Do recommend!
This is a beautiful book fully deserving of the equally beautiful cover. The writing is gorgeous and feels so magical, and I loved the found family element. I have to say the story fell a little flat for me though, mainly because it reads like a bunch of short stories in a trenchcoat. Each of these chapters was amazingly written and I did enjoy it, but overall, the story didn't feel as cohesive as it could have been. I also feel like I didn't get to know these angry girls as well as I would have wanted to, which is a shame because I did love them. Don't get me wrong though, this is absolutely a book I would recommend. I just think it had potential to be even stronger.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Don’t think this is a book for me. Feels like something I would have enjoyed as a teenager but feels too “preachy” now.
While the format and POVs were interesting, I had so much trouble trying to remember who each character was, aside from the main female and male lead. The names didn't have faces attached in my mind, and each felt like they had the same voice. I just couldn't push through that to enjoy the story.
adventurous
challenging
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:
Complicated
I love the concept of this story a bit more than I like the story that I actually read. It's still a good story - the writing is lovey and often evocative, the cities the girls visit are often lovingly described, the focus on food is quite nice as a way to establish the shifting settings. I think maybe I just wanted something slightly to the left of what I got when I read the description. That said, I did finish, not because I felt I had to, but because I did want to know what happened. This is a story about girls who have been harmed - trigger warnings apply - who are in control of their own lives using that control and magic to help someone else. There are grotesque bad guys and magic and a bit of romance.
Themes of abuse and assault, both sexual and not, child labor, human trafficking, hunger, and extreme poverty and more make this appropriate for readers with the maturity to handle such material. I say this not to discourage potential readers (or to suggest that this book shouldn't be offered to potential readers) but as an encouragement to handle with care.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for review via NetGalley.
Themes of abuse and assault, both sexual and not, child labor, human trafficking, hunger, and extreme poverty and more make this appropriate for readers with the maturity to handle such material. I say this not to discourage potential readers (or to suggest that this book shouldn't be offered to potential readers) but as an encouragement to handle with care.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for review via NetGalley.
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
beautiful yet heart wrenching. i definitely advise checking tw’s as there is both on page violence but also mentions of past acts. i know a lot of people struggled with how this book was written and the amount of characters but that was actually my favorite part. i loved the entire concept of this novel and would love to check out more of this authors work.
Style of writing, characters, and worldbuilding did not appeal to me