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headinthebooks's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars
The plot took some time to fully form and start getting exciting.
I really want to know if this is a standalone or has a squeal?
But I personally loved this book, I loved the Female and Female relationships, it had me hugging my book to my chest at times!
I can say if you like a dystopian book and kinda intense YA book, then this is for you 100%
The plot took some time to fully form and start getting exciting.
I really want to know if this is a standalone or has a squeal?
But I personally loved this book, I loved the Female and Female relationships, it had me hugging my book to my chest at times!
I can say if you like a dystopian book and kinda intense YA book, then this is for you 100%
abbiereadss's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I find the book to be enjoyable. It was thrilling and fascinating, and I enjoyed reading it. Though slightly poorly executed, the idea and plot were excellent. There were parts that were unnecessary and felt hollow, and the writing lacked any real eerie feeling. It's written in a more direct and concise manner. The main character's friendships with her friends and her love interest are shallow. But other from that, I thought the novel was entertaining to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Vomit, Suicide, Death of parent, and Gun violence
booksteastories's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mimimilaa's review against another edition
5.0
this was so weird in the best way possible (but definitely not for everyone lol)
mehsi's review against another edition
4.0
“A sparking. I know this feeling. Just before a flare-up, there’s a moment. Hard to describe, hard to pin down, but for me it almost makes it worth it. The pain and the loss, all of it a fair price for this. This strength, this power, this eagerness to bare my teeth.”
One of my very first Halloween reads and a book I have been longing to read since forever. But I wanted to save it. Save it for Halloween as this seemed to be a perfect book for that month. And it was!
For most of the book the MC we follow is Hetty, and later, when Byatt goes missing we also get Byatt's POV. I have to say from the two POVs, Hetty's was my favourite. I think it mostly had to do with one big thing that kind of turned me away from Byatt. I will put it behind spoiler tags. Hetty on the other hand was a pretty fabulous girl, and sure she made some stupid mistakes as well, but she didn't do what Byatt did.
When we meet Hetty and the other girls it has been quite some time since the Tox started. Plenty of girls died, girls are sick, they are hungry, there are fights. We see how Tox affects the girls in different ways. Hetty for instance lost her eye, Byatt has spikes (for instance over her spine), Reese has a special kind of arm/hand, and that is just the main girls. It was quite interesting to see how the Tox affects the girls. And later on we even learn what it does to animals, and HOLY CRAP, nopity.
I knew from the start that this story probably wouldn't have a good ending. No I won't tell you if I was right or not, but I will share the signs. The fact there was barely any food and the girls fought over it when the Boat Girls came back. How the adults (the two were still alive) acted. How there was just no cure, and how the paper about the cure was yellowed and old (that was just a bad sign in my eyes), the fact that the girls never had any contact with the outside world. And the signs just increased with each new page.
The story was very creepy and I loved how it got more and more creepy as events unfolded. I just couldn't stop reading either.
While we do get some background on how things got to the point we are at, I still would have loved some backstory. Maybe even have two timelines and work to the point of the now. Those earlier days, see the hope they still had, see how things got increasingly more confusing and chaotic and scary. I feel like it would have made the book even more awesome.
I loved the trio of girls and see them interacting. At times I found it a bit weird how they interacting, but in general I thought it was really sweet that their friendship from the beginning is still intact and that they protected each other and were there for each other. Of course... there is also a bit more between them, at least Hetty has feelings.
As the story continues we learn bit by bit what the Tox is, and what it does. But also we learn some more shocking information on it. It was really interesting and I was delighted with each nugget of information. I loved how everything just clicked together.
However.. the ending is were it falls apart. There were parts of the ending I loved, it was very fast-paced, and OMG whut? But the last pages... were just not my cup of tea. Too open-ended for my liking. That is why I am deducing 0.5 stars from the total.
And sure, there were some parts that had me rolling my eyes, but in general I just loved this book to bits. Just a shame of the ending.
Oh, and I also have to fangirl over this amazing cover! I already loved it when I first saw the book, loved the details, but with the book read... it became even more special and beautiful.
Another quote I just loved: “Byatt’s carved her initials over and over. BW. BW. BW. She does that everywhere. On the bunk, on her desk in every class we had, on the trees in the grove by the water. Marking Raxter as hers, and sometimes I think if she asked, I’d let her do the same to me.”
And there were many other quotes that I just adored to bits. The book is truly beautifully written. All in all, I would highly recommend this one.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
One of my very first Halloween reads and a book I have been longing to read since forever. But I wanted to save it. Save it for Halloween as this seemed to be a perfect book for that month. And it was!
For most of the book the MC we follow is Hetty, and later, when Byatt goes missing we also get Byatt's POV. I have to say from the two POVs, Hetty's was my favourite. I think it mostly had to do with one big thing that kind of turned me away from Byatt. I will put it behind spoiler tags.
Spoiler
When she kissed that one guy causing him to get Tox, causing him to hurt, causing him to die. How could she not have known that it would spread? Why wasn't she more careful? Was she that eager to get a kiss because she knew she may die?When we meet Hetty and the other girls it has been quite some time since the Tox started. Plenty of girls died, girls are sick, they are hungry, there are fights. We see how Tox affects the girls in different ways. Hetty for instance lost her eye, Byatt has spikes (for instance over her spine), Reese has a special kind of arm/hand, and that is just the main girls. It was quite interesting to see how the Tox affects the girls. And later on we even learn what it does to animals, and HOLY CRAP, nopity.
I knew from the start that this story probably wouldn't have a good ending. No I won't tell you if I was right or not, but I will share the signs. The fact there was barely any food and the girls fought over it when the Boat Girls came back. How the adults (the two were still alive) acted. How there was just no cure, and how the paper about the cure was yellowed and old (that was just a bad sign in my eyes), the fact that the girls never had any contact with the outside world. And the signs just increased with each new page.
The story was very creepy and I loved how it got more and more creepy as events unfolded. I just couldn't stop reading either.
While we do get some background on how things got to the point we are at, I still would have loved some backstory. Maybe even have two timelines and work to the point of the now. Those earlier days, see the hope they still had, see how things got increasingly more confusing and chaotic and scary. I feel like it would have made the book even more awesome.
I loved the trio of girls and see them interacting. At times I found it a bit weird how they interacting, but in general I thought it was really sweet that their friendship from the beginning is still intact and that they protected each other and were there for each other. Of course... there is also a bit more between them, at least Hetty has feelings.
As the story continues we learn bit by bit what the Tox is, and what it does. But also we learn some more shocking information on it. It was really interesting and I was delighted with each nugget of information. I loved how everything just clicked together.
However.. the ending is were it falls apart. There were parts of the ending I loved, it was very fast-paced, and OMG whut? But the last pages... were just not my cup of tea. Too open-ended for my liking. That is why I am deducing 0.5 stars from the total.
And sure, there were some parts that had me rolling my eyes, but in general I just loved this book to bits. Just a shame of the ending.
Oh, and I also have to fangirl over this amazing cover! I already loved it when I first saw the book, loved the details, but with the book read... it became even more special and beautiful.
Another quote I just loved: “Byatt’s carved her initials over and over. BW. BW. BW. She does that everywhere. On the bunk, on her desk in every class we had, on the trees in the grove by the water. Marking Raxter as hers, and sometimes I think if she asked, I’d let her do the same to me.”
And there were many other quotes that I just adored to bits. The book is truly beautifully written. All in all, I would highly recommend this one.
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/
emi_oz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
afterplague's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
The premise of Wilder Girls is so good it's really hard to rate the book anything less than 3 stars, but unfortunately I just don't think the rest of the book justifies that rating.
The middle section of the novel is just extremely dead, and the ending was a bit too far outside the realm of reality for me. I also didn't really enjoy the explanation for what the Tox is because I don't think it really makes sense within the context of what it does. I'll go into a little more detail about what I mean in the spoilers section.
Primarily, I was interested in the world of Wilder Girls. It's extremely reminiscent of Annihilation, so if you enjoyed some of the ideas set up in that novel, Wilder Girls is like the Young Adult version of that.
Let's go into spoilers below.
Our main character is Hettie, a girl at Raxter school for girls. Two years ago, a mysterious disease broke out and the island was quarantined while the CDC researches them and looks for a cure. Hettie doesn't have much of a personality that shines through in the novel. She cares a lot about her friends and is intelligent and untrusting, but she felt rather flat to me. She was mutated by the Tox to have one eye that's permanently sealed shut. Occasionally, it weeps blood and she can feel something moving beneath it.
The other two main characters are Byatt, Hettie's closest friend with a secondary boney spine growing from her back, and Reese, a stand-offish girl with a hand covered in silver scales. Byatt is the motivation for the story. She develops a new mutation after a flare-up of the Tox and is taken to be researched by the CDC.
I think there are a few mysteries that are good and interesting, starting with why Mrs. Welch is throwing away seemingly good food, the disappearance of Byatt, Reese's quest for her missing father, and primarily, what is the Tox? All of these questions do eventually get answers, but everything felt scattered and a little unsatisfying.
For example, the food mystery. It turns out Mrs. Welch was throwing away the food because the CDC was putting "stuff" in it to experiment on the girls with the Tox. I just don't understand how this makes any sense. There could've been something in there that could prevent flare-ups. There could've been medication in the food. The CDC is never explicitly rendered evil in the story, so I don't know why one of the only adults on the island would specifically go against the orders of an organization that, as far as we know, is trying to help them.
Another issue is the romance. Hettie and Reese have a thing for each other. I think it makes perfect sense that they would get together, but I felt kind of like the romance came out of nowhere, and was extremely short lived before they broke up. It's understandable why they broke up too, but it just felt so weirdly paced.
Byatt is another really weird character. I listened to this as an audiobook, and I really didn't like Byatt's sections. The narrator was doing her best, but because Byatt is drugged and sick a lot of the time, the writing is so disjointed and choppy. I wouldn't really recommend the audiobook for this reason. Byatt has the most backstory out of anyone in the book. She was a neglected child who developed manipulative tendencies because of it, I think? The whole thing with her and Teddy was extremely confusing.
Firstly, Teddy is a 19-year-old working at the CDC. How is someone that young in such a classified position? Secondly, why did Byatt kiss him? Was it just because she wanted to? Was it for power? I understand that the Tox might've made her actions worse. It does seem to make the girls more violent, but Teddy straight up caught the Tox and DIED from it. Additionally, that action partially led to the girls getting bombed at the end.
The ending was horrible, in my opinion. I think there were too many crises going on at the same time. There was the bear, the gas, the attempted poisoning, and then the bombers? I think maybe we needed to stick with one. It also bothered me how Hettie saved a girl, Emmy, from the bear and then immediately abandoned her to go find Byatt. Like, girl you did not need to risk your life for her if you were just going to leave her to die.
I also REALLY disliked what the Tox ended up being. It's a wormlike parasite which I would buy except it seems to affect inanimate and non-living objects. The humans and animals are affected, yes, but the trees and flowers are also affected. Plants can have parasites, sure, but then Reese's dad's house is also affected. The descriptions say that the Tox causes things to decay more rapidly. I don't think a parasite can do that. The Tox is also a parasite that used to be in the permafrost, but because of rising temperatures has been released, but how did it get to Raxter. There's never really indication of where Raxter is. My guess was somewhere in Canada, but I have no idea. Also, the Tox is apparently trying to evolve things so they're better, but why would that give each girl a unique flare-up? What is better about losing one of your eyes?
I think all of this would've made more sense if the Tox was a mold of some kind.
I don't think I can recommend Wilder Girls. Some of the ideas for the world-building are scary and excellently described. It reminds me a little of the game Darkwood.
However, the writing is a little choppy and not very immersive, and I think there are some major character and story issues that needed to be worked out.
The middle section of the novel is just extremely dead, and the ending was a bit too far outside the realm of reality for me. I also didn't really enjoy the explanation for what the Tox is because I don't think it really makes sense within the context of what it does. I'll go into a little more detail about what I mean in the spoilers section.
Primarily, I was interested in the world of Wilder Girls. It's extremely reminiscent of Annihilation, so if you enjoyed some of the ideas set up in that novel, Wilder Girls is like the Young Adult version of that.
Let's go into spoilers below.
Our main character is Hettie, a girl at Raxter school for girls. Two years ago, a mysterious disease broke out and the island was quarantined while the CDC researches them and looks for a cure. Hettie doesn't have much of a personality that shines through in the novel. She cares a lot about her friends and is intelligent and untrusting, but she felt rather flat to me. She was mutated by the Tox to have one eye that's permanently sealed shut. Occasionally, it weeps blood and she can feel something moving beneath it.
The other two main characters are Byatt, Hettie's closest friend with a secondary boney spine growing from her back, and Reese, a stand-offish girl with a hand covered in silver scales. Byatt is the motivation for the story. She develops a new mutation after a flare-up of the Tox and is taken to be researched by the CDC.
I think there are a few mysteries that are good and interesting, starting with why Mrs. Welch is throwing away seemingly good food, the disappearance of Byatt, Reese's quest for her missing father, and primarily, what is the Tox? All of these questions do eventually get answers, but everything felt scattered and a little unsatisfying.
For example, the food mystery. It turns out Mrs. Welch was throwing away the food because the CDC was putting "stuff" in it to experiment on the girls with the Tox. I just don't understand how this makes any sense. There could've been something in there that could prevent flare-ups. There could've been medication in the food. The CDC is never explicitly rendered evil in the story, so I don't know why one of the only adults on the island would specifically go against the orders of an organization that, as far as we know, is trying to help them.
Another issue is the romance. Hettie and Reese have a thing for each other. I think it makes perfect sense that they would get together, but I felt kind of like the romance came out of nowhere, and was extremely short lived before they broke up. It's understandable why they broke up too, but it just felt so weirdly paced.
Byatt is another really weird character. I listened to this as an audiobook, and I really didn't like Byatt's sections. The narrator was doing her best, but because Byatt is drugged and sick a lot of the time, the writing is so disjointed and choppy. I wouldn't really recommend the audiobook for this reason. Byatt has the most backstory out of anyone in the book. She was a neglected child who developed manipulative tendencies because of it, I think? The whole thing with her and Teddy was extremely confusing.
Firstly, Teddy is a 19-year-old working at the CDC. How is someone that young in such a classified position? Secondly, why did Byatt kiss him? Was it just because she wanted to? Was it for power? I understand that the Tox might've made her actions worse. It does seem to make the girls more violent, but Teddy straight up caught the Tox and DIED from it. Additionally, that action partially led to the girls getting bombed at the end.
The ending was horrible, in my opinion. I think there were too many crises going on at the same time. There was the bear, the gas, the attempted poisoning, and then the bombers? I think maybe we needed to stick with one. It also bothered me how Hettie saved a girl, Emmy, from the bear and then immediately abandoned her to go find Byatt. Like, girl you did not need to risk your life for her if you were just going to leave her to die.
I also REALLY disliked what the Tox ended up being. It's a wormlike parasite which I would buy except it seems to affect inanimate and non-living objects. The humans and animals are affected, yes, but the trees and flowers are also affected. Plants can have parasites, sure, but then Reese's dad's house is also affected. The descriptions say that the Tox causes things to decay more rapidly. I don't think a parasite can do that. The Tox is also a parasite that used to be in the permafrost, but because of rising temperatures has been released, but how did it get to Raxter. There's never really indication of where Raxter is. My guess was somewhere in Canada, but I have no idea. Also, the Tox is apparently trying to evolve things so they're better, but why would that give each girl a unique flare-up? What is better about losing one of your eyes?
I think all of this would've made more sense if the Tox was a mold of some kind.
I don't think I can recommend Wilder Girls. Some of the ideas for the world-building are scary and excellently described. It reminds me a little of the game Darkwood.
However, the writing is a little choppy and not very immersive, and I think there are some major character and story issues that needed to be worked out.
palette78's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75