Reviews

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

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hey_hail's review against another edition

5.0

What a STUNNING debut novel!

I’m not going to say much on this review because you should experience it for yourself but god damn, is this a good book. It has so much promise, a not predictable plot, not at all subtle LGBTQ qualities, pleasant twists, wonderfully brilliant and sometimes beautiful (Harker?) symptoms and everything else you could hope for.

...i will say however i couldn’t stop picturing Headmistress and Welch as the mother daughter camp team from the Lindsay Lohan Parent Trap re-make. Do with that what you will. READ THIS BOOK!

jenhurst's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5.
I can see why a lot of people wouldn’t like this, but it really worked for me. I liked how unlikeable the characters were, mystery of the disease, and the weirdness of the story. If you like disease fiction, new weird or queer books this is a good one to pick up

ellabean_28's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense 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

3.75

luminous's review against another edition

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4.0

You know what? I really liked the voices who read this audiobook. Bumped it up from three to four stars for that. And I generally loathe first person present tense. I don't get some of the snippets you hear about this book. "Lord of the Flies." Uh, no. There are adults who remain in control without challenge and the students still behave like they're in a society. "Ending feels like the story is just getting going." Yes and no. Yes if you were starving for plot the whole book and the appetizer of the last chapters got you ravenous. I felt about 20% like this. I love plot and it drove me nuts wondering when we were going to learn more as I was listening to the first half.

But the no is because I think this book strives to be a character study and to be about friendship in the worst/weirdest of circumstances. And it does pretty well at that. And this is teenage friendships, which are weird to begin with. TBH Byatt is probably the most intriguing of the three main friends. Effortlessly manipulative, and a past that is teased at - I couldn't figure out the deal. Does she have a personality disorder?

What I really like in all this is that the author is unflinching with the horrors, with the relationships themselves or with the body horror they live with daily. No one really gets superpowers, or if they do, they die not long after. Your parents aren't coming to save you. You might dream of reunions, but if any come, you may regret it. In fact, maybe there's no one you can really trust. Getting sick hurts and getting deformed by sickness hurts a lot. There are no easy treatments. There are no easy ways out of anything.

While I was listening, I would recognize something being set up that could have been happy or easy. In fact, sometimes I was hungry for that, even though I knew it probably wouldnt be the right choice for the story. And every time, instead of making things simple or easy for the characters or the reader, the author makes it harder, cuts deeper, tears out your shriveled heart and tosses it on the ground.

And that's the way it should be.

dowryofbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

4/5 stars

All of the not-so-great reviews put me off from picking this up for a while, but I'm SO happy that I did because Rory Power came to impress with her first novel.

Some days it’s fine. Others it nearly breaks me. The emptiness of the horizon, and the hunger in my body, and how will we ever survive this if we can’t survive each other?

Wilder Girls is set in an all-girls boarding school on Raxter Island. (honestly boarding school trope is one of my faves) Raxter Island is under strict quarantine because there's this sickness, that's basically a plague, called the Tox. It started infecting all the wildlife, the teachers, and all of the girls on the island. The Tox does strange things to the body, like breaks bones to the point they are sticking out of the skin. There are girls with two hearts, two spines, and other disfigurements due to the infection. All the girls can do is survive long enough on the island for the CDC to find a cure.

This story mainly follows a group of three friends: Hetty, Byatt, and Reese. Byatt has a flare up of the Tox one day and she's taken to the infirmary. But when Hetty goes to visit her friend, she finds Byatt is missing. The Headmistress and Miss Welch, and the only adults on the island, won't tell Hetty what happened to Byatt. It's all very hush hush. Obviously, something shady is going on and Hetty will go to whatever lengths necessary to save her friend.

My Thoughts ⤵

The writing is SO GOOD. I love the prose. Power makes the gruesome descriptions of the island, and the effects of the Tox sound beautiful in such a vivid way. This story ended up being so much darker and more intense than I was expecting. It's not scary keep-you-up-at-night horror, but more chilling and creepy. It's paced perfectly. It's engaging all the way through. I wasn't able to put it down I got so wrapped up in the story.

I love that this book has strong friendships. I also loved the dynamic between all the girls. I don't wanna talk spoilers, but there's probably a lot that can be discussed about certain choices at the ending, when the stakes got high and they either had to choose to stick together or turn against one another and fend for themselves.

About the romance, I can't get on board with it. Were told Hetty likes Reese. But her actions practically SCREAM she's in love with Byatt. Hetty and Byatt should have gotten the angsty best friends to lovers arc they deserved.

Lastly, I was left wanting when it came to a couple of things. I wanted more of the characters background and their individual stories. What we did get to know of them was just enough to get attached. I'm dying to know and understand them better. The second thing was the ending. I neither love nor hate an open-ended ending, it usually depends on how it's done. In this case I feel like the story was unfinished and there wasn't a sense of closure for the characters. I JUST WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT, OKAY?

Those two things weren't really enough to dock my rating though, because I really had a great time reading this. If you're like me and are hesitant about reading this because of the negative reviews- give it a try! It definitely isn't for everyone but there's so much about this story to love.

read for mammamiathon: a book with at least two points of view