Reviews with content warning for Murder - Wilder Girls

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

128 reviews

parkerluck's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-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? N/A

2.75

This was fine. It was a quick read with some neat concepts that don't really get dug into. I didn't find Hetty particularly compelling and the plot beats were all pretty par the course for a story like this. Didn't really have the tension/descent to warrant the Lord of the Flies billing, honestly.

I also found it distracting that

the bear was just a photocopy of the Annihilation bear?? No one wanted to make that a different animal during the editing process?

Something I might rec to a younger family member as gateway horror, but not something I will remember for long now that I'm finished it.

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apolloniablooms's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It really choked at the end, which felt rushed. Overall glad I read it, but it feels like a shadow of books like Annihilation and Inspection which do the same thing but feel more complete.

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wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

5.0

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gyllenlock's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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persephonefoxx's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.5

I did enjoy this book. I smashed through it in two sittings. But I found the pacing odd and like many others in the reviews, I needed just like 10 more pages at the end!

The concept was fascinating, the location immersive, and the characters wonderfully flawed. But about half-way(ish) through the book there is a pace change that left me wanting more. That third perspective switch, changing from Byatt to Hetty signified a hard switch in the narrative pace.

It most certainly an action packed final act, but it was almost as if too much was happening. Events were squeezing themselves in as if aware that the end of the book was fast approaching. Moment after moment seemed to pile on top of each other in quick succession, leaving little time to process what had only just happened. Which in fairness, does put the reader in the shoes of Hetty who is experiencing it in real time. But there is a fine line between a high action sequence and confusion that leaves you having to reread paragraphs to try work out what is happening.

Then the ending came. It felt abrupt. To the point where I turned the page completely expecting another chapter to find none. How I long for more pages!

But as I said. I enjoyed this book. Sapphic horror, and I mean real sapphic horror - one that isn’t an excuse to enact violence on its diverse characters, is a joy for me to read. And the section from Byatt’s perspective was the highlight for me.

The body horror made my body cringe (I do not do well with eye things!). The characters were all so deliciously flawed, which I loved. 3.5 stars!

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thenareads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

this book was so... just so good. i read it weeks ago & i still think of it sometimes now. it essentially was very dystopian and apocalyptic, without an actual apocalypse occurring. even though it meant to explore (at least i think?) human behaviours in post-apocalyptic situations, i feel like the book imparted me w more commentary on authoritative figures, government, and rebellion. it really made me think, especially towards the end.

hetty and reese’s breach of quarantine seemed like it was fuelled by justice for byatt, but it actually ended up leading to the downfall of them all. that part especially will never leave me because it worries me that acts of rebellion fuelled by a sense of justice may only worsen what we’re trying to help. it also worries me because, in part, it was fuelled by hetty’s hatred for her teacher, but she realised too late that she only meant to help and headmistress was the one who truly didn’t care. what if, in the chase of justice, we misplace our trust? how much will it cost us?

it was overall very thought-provoking and i could ramble on about everything in this book. my only two critics are that there is absolutely zero diversity. the school is literally all just a bunch of cis, white girls & one asian girl. i think it would’ve been much more interesting if girls of different backgrounds were included—not just race-wise, but class-wise, gender identity-wise, etc etc. this would’ve made for more complex and differing character dynamics & as well as plot progression, but even with all that aside, there’s no good reason why there couldn’t have been more diverse characters. my second critic is particular to the ending, but i think there was too much plot armour at the end, which really stunted the main character’s growth.

for example, when hetty and reese went to reese’s house, reese dying would’ve forced hetty to reflect and determined whether everything was worth it. it would’ve been nice to see if hetty’s fierce determination to get off the island and save byatt would’ve remained if reese died. but reese living was somewhat plausible. what i don’t think should’ve happened at ALL was byatt living at the end. that moment where tension grew between reese and hetty, as they had opposing views on what to do with byatt was such good potential for their character growth & dynamic with each other. but, instead, byatt “came back to life” and squashed all that. from that point onward, i just remember feeling like the ending was suddenly cut short, like the author had planned for this to be a duology, with the second book lingering on their escape, but was suddenly told that wouldn’t be possible. or maybe the author thought to drive the point home of reese and byatt being hetty’s girls, they all needed to see the end. i’m not sure what the reason was, but byatt logically should’ve died.

also! another piece of criticism i just remembered now. i feel like reese’s character was done dirty, especially in some bits. i’m not sure if the author was trying to antagonise reese for their dynamic or hetty is an unreliable narrator, but around the middle to end of the book i started to realise that reese’s earlier actions

(her choking hetty)

made no sense with the characterisation that was being revealed. even though hetty reflected on some of their past interactions, it just felt like the author forgot certain things reese said or did and wrote an almost completely different character for the second to third arc of the book. i obviously preferred her in those parts, but the inconsistency in characterisation really doesn’t make sense to me. i feel like it’s also part of the reason people don’t like reese because, out of the three, i personally believe she had the least fatal flaws and reasonable, realistic reactions to the plot. but that may just be my personal bias. overall, this was a very good book. i would definitely recommend it to a friend (i already have) and i can’t wait to reread it in the far future!

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