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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
I’d give this book 2.5 stars if I could.
Great concept, but the execution didn’t really work for me.
I was really intrigued by the premise for The Wild Ones. I’m a big fan of fantasy and found-family stories, plus the cover is gorgeous, so I was excited to read it. But this book just fell flat for me.
I had a really hard time following what was happening, partly because the cast of 11 members of the Wild Ones was impossible to keep track of (even by the end), because the location/environment was constantly changing, and the writing didn’t provide enough description or world-building. It felt like half of this book was “now we’re in this city which has rich magic and history and now we’re gonna try all the local food” but we never got to stay long enough anywhere to feel any sort of attachment.
The point of view was also a little confusing, as it was mostly from a “we” perspective of them as a group, but some were just from Paheli’s pov. I thought the idea of having little journal entry-type aside stories interspersed throughout was a cool idea, but it felt very random and non-deliberate. It took you out of the story, and didn’t really help form any kind of picture of any of the girls. I think it was a missed opportunity to have these little mini stories not tell tell us something important/insightful about the girls that would be deliberately placed and come in handy with the main plot or help give readers more of an understanding of what’s going on and who they are.
The pacing also felt like it was either really slow or really fast. There was a lot of telling and not showing, which doesn’t really go over well in novels. I found the “final battle” per-say be very underwhelming as well.
It was really nice to read a story about feminism and found-family but there were a few points where it felt kind of preachy.
I guess I don’t really know where I stand with this book. I think it is a great concept but the execution just didn’t really work for me.
Great concept, but the execution didn’t really work for me.
I was really intrigued by the premise for The Wild Ones. I’m a big fan of fantasy and found-family stories, plus the cover is gorgeous, so I was excited to read it. But this book just fell flat for me.
I had a really hard time following what was happening, partly because the cast of 11 members of the Wild Ones was impossible to keep track of (even by the end), because the location/environment was constantly changing, and the writing didn’t provide enough description or world-building. It felt like half of this book was “now we’re in this city which has rich magic and history and now we’re gonna try all the local food” but we never got to stay long enough anywhere to feel any sort of attachment.
The point of view was also a little confusing, as it was mostly from a “we” perspective of them as a group, but some were just from Paheli’s pov. I thought the idea of having little journal entry-type aside stories interspersed throughout was a cool idea, but it felt very random and non-deliberate. It took you out of the story, and didn’t really help form any kind of picture of any of the girls. I think it was a missed opportunity to have these little mini stories not tell tell us something important/insightful about the girls that would be deliberately placed and come in handy with the main plot or help give readers more of an understanding of what’s going on and who they are.
The pacing also felt like it was either really slow or really fast. There was a lot of telling and not showing, which doesn’t really go over well in novels. I found the “final battle” per-say be very underwhelming as well.
It was really nice to read a story about feminism and found-family but there were a few points where it felt kind of preachy.
I guess I don’t really know where I stand with this book. I think it is a great concept but the execution just didn’t really work for me.
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
slow-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
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: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
⭐️ 2.5 Stars ⭐️
I wanted to enjoy this book, but it ended up falling flat for me. The premise seems very interesting, but the concept didn’t end up living to its full potential. The cover is stunning, and I loved the idea of a magical girl squad that could represent many readers who felt not represented in the YA genre.
The Wild Ones is on girls and women that centers on their hard struggles in life, the strength they can find from others, and creating a loving family that they can feel supported. Azad expands on how we form relationships and the horrors or beauty that can lay within them.
This novel brings to center stage issues girls and women face around the world in our society. It demonstrates how we can find a community with others to face head-on the struggles that all women endure. We get to see how the survivors cope after these horrible experiences they have faced over their lifetime.
One of the main problems with this book was it was so difficult to follow this book. The book switched between the first person of Paheli, the leader of the Wild Ones, and another point of view of one of the wild ones. But we are never told who the other point of view is. This made it even more confusing because it was just some mysterious Wild One we don’t know much about.
There were also so many characters in this book. There were 11 girls in the Wild Ones then you have various side characters as well as Taraana. I didn’t get the chance to know who they were and what they were like as people. I don’t even remember most of the Wild One’s names except Paheli, Valentina, and Taraana. I would have liked to know about the characters, we do get these little excerpts from each Wild Ones, but for me, that isn’t enough. Either the characters should get more development or have fewer Wild Ones so we can learn more.
The writing was another major problem in this book was the writing. Usually, there is only one writing style used in the book, but various writing styles were confusing to follow. There were moments where the writing style was full of so much life and written beautifully. Other times, we switch to writing, which was similar to middle-grade writing style, and it was choppy, and many things were redundant.
But other times the writer did the one thing writers should avoid. Instead of showing the story through the writing, she just straight up told us what was happening. This took so much away from the story and creates a disconnect for me. A wide majority of this including telling, rather than showing, so it wasn’t like it happen once, but it happens consistently. The writing style did not match up with the more serious themes presented in the book.
The worldbuilding was very weak. Most of the time, we would receive vague descriptions of places The Wild Ones would travel. In this world, there is a place called “the between,” where you can travel to any place you want through doorways. We are told that there is a Keeper of the Between. I would have liked the concept of the between expanded upon more because I didn’t “really” know what it was. I just thought of it as a place with doorways where you can travel to other locations.
Not only do we have “The Between,” in this book, but we also have humans and Middle Worlders. Middle Worlders are people who can use magic. Many times in the book, they are either described, as human or not human. Honestly doesn’t give us details about them, rather, it just says, “they are Middle Worlders, but they don’t look human.” I would have liked more description and to get more backstory about them. Most of the time I found the worldbuilding to be lacking and sometimes to be very confusing. Honestly, I feel like we got more worldbuilding for the food the characters ate rather than the actual world they live in.
The pacing in this book was also all over the place. The beginning was very slow, so it took me forever to get into the book. I found it to be very confusing while simultaneously being very boring. The book doesn’t begin to pick up until towards the middle, but even then, it’s still painstaking slow and still contains scenes that slow the plot down. It isn’t until about the last 100 pages, the book beginnings to pick up, and starts to go at a zooming pace. I would prefer for it to keep a faster pace throughout rather than having a super slow beginning and fly-by ending.
Overall, this book fell flat for me and ended up being a major disappointment. I had high hopes for this book, and it ended up not reaching most of them.
TW: Misogyny, child endangerment, human trafficking, abuse, rape (mention), bullying, grief, blood, violence, and victim’s guilt
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of The Wild Ones in exchange for an honest review!
Check out this review on my blog: https://inkingandthinking.wordpress.com/2021/05/29/the-wild-ones-review/
I wanted to enjoy this book, but it ended up falling flat for me. The premise seems very interesting, but the concept didn’t end up living to its full potential. The cover is stunning, and I loved the idea of a magical girl squad that could represent many readers who felt not represented in the YA genre.
The Wild Ones is on girls and women that centers on their hard struggles in life, the strength they can find from others, and creating a loving family that they can feel supported. Azad expands on how we form relationships and the horrors or beauty that can lay within them.
This novel brings to center stage issues girls and women face around the world in our society. It demonstrates how we can find a community with others to face head-on the struggles that all women endure. We get to see how the survivors cope after these horrible experiences they have faced over their lifetime.
One of the main problems with this book was it was so difficult to follow this book. The book switched between the first person of Paheli, the leader of the Wild Ones, and another point of view of one of the wild ones. But we are never told who the other point of view is. This made it even more confusing because it was just some mysterious Wild One we don’t know much about.
There were also so many characters in this book. There were 11 girls in the Wild Ones then you have various side characters as well as Taraana. I didn’t get the chance to know who they were and what they were like as people. I don’t even remember most of the Wild One’s names except Paheli, Valentina, and Taraana. I would have liked to know about the characters, we do get these little excerpts from each Wild Ones, but for me, that isn’t enough. Either the characters should get more development or have fewer Wild Ones so we can learn more.
The writing was another major problem in this book was the writing. Usually, there is only one writing style used in the book, but various writing styles were confusing to follow. There were moments where the writing style was full of so much life and written beautifully. Other times, we switch to writing, which was similar to middle-grade writing style, and it was choppy, and many things were redundant.
But other times the writer did the one thing writers should avoid. Instead of showing the story through the writing, she just straight up told us what was happening. This took so much away from the story and creates a disconnect for me. A wide majority of this including telling, rather than showing, so it wasn’t like it happen once, but it happens consistently. The writing style did not match up with the more serious themes presented in the book.
The worldbuilding was very weak. Most of the time, we would receive vague descriptions of places The Wild Ones would travel. In this world, there is a place called “the between,” where you can travel to any place you want through doorways. We are told that there is a Keeper of the Between. I would have liked the concept of the between expanded upon more because I didn’t “really” know what it was. I just thought of it as a place with doorways where you can travel to other locations.
Not only do we have “The Between,” in this book, but we also have humans and Middle Worlders. Middle Worlders are people who can use magic. Many times in the book, they are either described, as human or not human. Honestly doesn’t give us details about them, rather, it just says, “they are Middle Worlders, but they don’t look human.” I would have liked more description and to get more backstory about them. Most of the time I found the worldbuilding to be lacking and sometimes to be very confusing. Honestly, I feel like we got more worldbuilding for the food the characters ate rather than the actual world they live in.
The pacing in this book was also all over the place. The beginning was very slow, so it took me forever to get into the book. I found it to be very confusing while simultaneously being very boring. The book doesn’t begin to pick up until towards the middle, but even then, it’s still painstaking slow and still contains scenes that slow the plot down. It isn’t until about the last 100 pages, the book beginnings to pick up, and starts to go at a zooming pace. I would prefer for it to keep a faster pace throughout rather than having a super slow beginning and fly-by ending.
Overall, this book fell flat for me and ended up being a major disappointment. I had high hopes for this book, and it ended up not reaching most of them.
TW: Misogyny, child endangerment, human trafficking, abuse, rape (mention), bullying, grief, blood, violence, and victim’s guilt
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of The Wild Ones in exchange for an honest review!
Check out this review on my blog: https://inkingandthinking.wordpress.com/2021/05/29/the-wild-ones-review/
I wanted to like this book more, but it lost me and then got me back several times. And while I did enjoy some aspects of the story, because certain parts lost me and I found it kind of hard to get through I don't know that this one was a success for me.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I loved this book. Where to even begin? On the lighter side, I loved the travel and the rich descriptions of cities throughout the world, and the descriptions of food made me so incredibly hungry! On a more serious note, the unapologetic commitment to women taking up space, being angry and hurt and vengeful, having full agency over their bodies and their life choices in general, was fantastic. Not to mention the writing-if this isn't in conversations about the Printz, then something's wrong. Plus, MAGIC! So, all in all, you need this book in your life.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence