Reviews

Julia Fine is a damn fine writer. When she gets weird, bold, and freaky with her writing, it's sensuous and delicious. However, the story meanders from the meat of the story and Fine's strengths too frequently for my liking. It makes me wonder if this was a request from the publisher to make it more palatable for audiences (?), but either way, it leaves the pacing and prose feeling uneven.

I look forward to seeing what else she writes.

yasmin4y's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

onespaceymother's review against another edition

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4.0

I really enjoyed this audio book. Very complex plot that was a bit shaky but the analogies the author was hinting at were interesting and compelling.

maggienack's review against another edition

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3.0

A dark story of a magical girl’s coming of age. I really wanted to like it more. The plot and characters were too familiar without enough spark to make it fresh.

wanderlustqueen's review against another edition

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5.0

THIS WAS SO GOOD. It's been a while since I read a book that made me not care about bedtimes.

missbibliography's review against another edition

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4.0

What Should Be Wild is a twisting complex novel. It follows the story of a girl who is born with an unusual power- the power to kill and bring back to life with a single touch. As a result, her mother dies while she is in the womb, and she forgoes physical touch with anything living her entire life, always covered under clothes or gloves, etc. The woods near her home hold their own magic, or possibly curse, and when her father goes missing, she must finally venture in.

I went in expecting magic and lots of fairytale tropes and storylines. However, much like the dark cover of the novel, the storyline is very much a gothic, classical fairytale rather than the lighter “happily-ever-after” style I was expecting. Repeated throughout is the mantra that everything requires sacrifice, and for our heroine to have her “happily-ever-after” she must go down a dark and twisted road. There were times when I couldn’t tell whether she was heroine or villain and I think that was the point that Fine meant to make. It was a read that I enjoyed, but also a heavier read than I expected. I wouldn’t suggest this if you want something light and happy, but if you want something steeped in classic goth storytelling, with what reminded me of Celtic influence, this is the book for you.

re_oanslay's review against another edition

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2.0

The premise of this novel was so deeply interesting and original to me. For the first third, I read it hungrily. However, I feel like the pacing began to limp along at the introduction of Rafe and the entire kidnapped and held hostage bit felt more like a slog than a tense situation. By the end, I had so many questions left unanswered and much of it felt like wasted potential.

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