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thechiaraface's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This is a speculative fiction novel (could also be shelved as dystopian/sci-fi) that follows mother-daughter duo Bea and Agnes. This is set in a future/alternate(?) world where everyone lives in The City and there is only one Wilderness area left. Because of the over-population and over-pollution many children are dying in The City – Agnes is one of these children. Bea, Agnes, and her husband Glen in an attempt to save Agnes, they sign up for a research experiment in The Wilderness State to see if humans can co-exist with nature as nomads as they did once-upon-a-time. This book tells the story of their time in The Wilderness State. This book explores wildness, motherhood and daughterhood, group dynamics, and what people are willing to do to survive.
I found this book captivating and utterly compelling, and yet I struggle to explain what I liked so much about it. The writing was stellar, but I definitely did not 'get' everything, there definitely were some deeper metaphors and symbolism that went right over my head. This book deeply explores a mother-daughter relationship pushed to its limits when they have to rely so much more on survival instincts versus the norms/constraints of typical 'civilized human society'. Both Bea and Agnes are fascinating characters to follow around, neither extremely likeable but their very different motivations are complex, well-developed, and just so interesting. The book was thought-provoking in how the story unfolded (not by spelling things out for you to think about) which I appreciated. This book made me really ponder human nature and motherhood.
I feel like this book has some similar vibes to The Hunger Games (just the first book) in terms of surviving the outdoors/wilderness and still having an outside force guiding the experience. I also haven't read Lord of the Flies in a long time (and remember distinctly hating it when I read it in high school because everyone was so awful), but this seems in the same vein of exploring human nature and group dynamics – although this book is more closely investigating motherhood/the relationship between child and parent.
In conclusion, I loved this book. I feel similar about this as I did about The Dutch House, I loved it but don't feel like I can adequately explain why. A couple warnings/caveats though: 1. this book doesn't really have a clear, satisfying ending - it's a pretty ambiguous, kind-of chaotic ending. 2. The book opens with a couple of death scenes (including a still-born baby), while these scenes aren't graphic or gratuitous in my opinion, the topic/details are not danced around. Overall, definitely recommend if you those caveats don't deter you.
I found this book captivating and utterly compelling, and yet I struggle to explain what I liked so much about it. The writing was stellar, but I definitely did not 'get' everything, there definitely were some deeper metaphors and symbolism that went right over my head. This book deeply explores a mother-daughter relationship pushed to its limits when they have to rely so much more on survival instincts versus the norms/constraints of typical 'civilized human society'. Both Bea and Agnes are fascinating characters to follow around, neither extremely likeable but their very different motivations are complex, well-developed, and just so interesting. The book was thought-provoking in how the story unfolded (not by spelling things out for you to think about) which I appreciated. This book made me really ponder human nature and motherhood.
I feel like this book has some similar vibes to The Hunger Games (just the first book) in terms of surviving the outdoors/wilderness and still having an outside force guiding the experience. I also haven't read Lord of the Flies in a long time (and remember distinctly hating it when I read it in high school because everyone was so awful), but this seems in the same vein of exploring human nature and group dynamics – although this book is more closely investigating motherhood/the relationship between child and parent.
In conclusion, I loved this book. I feel similar about this as I did about The Dutch House, I loved it but don't feel like I can adequately explain why. A couple warnings/caveats though: 1. this book doesn't really have a clear, satisfying ending - it's a pretty ambiguous, kind-of chaotic ending. 2. The book opens with a couple of death scenes (including a still-born baby), while these scenes aren't graphic or gratuitous in my opinion, the topic/details are not danced around. Overall, definitely recommend if you those caveats don't deter you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, and Violence
katjoyphil's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Miscarriage, and Vomit
amressing's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Death
leekaufman's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Grief
coraline_wilde's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Abortion, Animal death, Blood, Death, Miscarriage, and Sexual content
This book could be read by minors, but could be a little intense. There's some very adult situations covered.booknerdnative's review
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The New Wilderness shocked me in a deep way. It was far more introspective and reflective than I anticipated going into it. I never expected an adult Dystopian novel to be as hard hitting and inward looking. I think that this would be a fantastic book club pick, as it offers so many questions about the land, our government, and how people survive as communities. What does it mean to be a leader? Is it possible to survive without government, and how do we manage to make our own self governing rules? What are ethics, and what is right and wrong? How do our decisions for a group affect us as individuals, and how do they affect the land around us? How do our decisions for ourselves affect the group, and the land around us?
It's hard to write a review for this one without demonstrating the kinds of questions that this book asks, because I feel that it was entirely the point of the novel. I think that this book has a lot to offer for a lot of different readers. There is a clear plot and narrative direction. There is a wide cast of characters with sweeping story arcs. It's adventurous and challenging, but also emotional and contemplative. The narrative has a clean enough ending, with still many questions to be answered and ideas to reflect upon.
I loved this one for the same reasons I loved Station Eleven - for the questions it asked and the for the way it made me look at the world through a clearer lens.
It's hard to write a review for this one without demonstrating the kinds of questions that this book asks, because I feel that it was entirely the point of the novel. I think that this book has a lot to offer for a lot of different readers. There is a clear plot and narrative direction. There is a wide cast of characters with sweeping story arcs. It's adventurous and challenging, but also emotional and contemplative. The narrative has a clean enough ending, with still many questions to be answered and ideas to reflect upon.
I loved this one for the same reasons I loved Station Eleven - for the questions it asked and the for the way it made me look at the world through a clearer lens.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Miscarriage, Blood, Animal death, and Grief
Moderate: Violence and Police brutality
lottelow's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Death, Grief, and Infidelity
shelfmadewoman's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Major pacing problems. A fantastic concept. Just fell as little flat.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Miscarriage
Moderate: Animal death and Police brutality
annabunce's review
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Something just didn't do it for me with this novel. I appreciated a post-apocalyptic world where a complex mother-daughter relationship is a focus, but there was just something throughout that felt false and hollow about so much of this book. The relationships, the motivations of the characters, the world itself - it felt like pieces of the puzzle were missing (and not in an interesting satisfying way) On top of it all, the way Cook chose to portray a hunting and gathering community as one so callous about human life in relation to material objects just felt inappropriate and wrong. The author acknowledges the Indigenous peoples whose lands and cultures provided her with inspiration (which I appreciated) but her portrayal of hunting and gathering communities is reminiscent of an armchair anthropologist from the 1800s. But, all this said, I still wanted to finish the book so that's something I guess.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Animal death and Violence
nora__reads's review
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
An interesting dystopian(ish) future, told through the relationship between Bea and her daughter Agnes.
20 people have been chosen to enter The Wilderness State to assess whether people can live there without leaving a trace. Bea and Agnes are among the 20.
The story meanders along, covering many years and hundreds of miles, following the group as they learn to cope with living together, the whims of the mysterious rangers and unexpected changes to their new home.
This is a book which chooses to ask questions above and beyond the words on the pages, with the occasional lapse in plot.
A really good book for anyone interested in eco-literature or unusual family dramas.
20 people have been chosen to enter The Wilderness State to assess whether people can live there without leaving a trace. Bea and Agnes are among the 20.
The story meanders along, covering many years and hundreds of miles, following the group as they learn to cope with living together, the whims of the mysterious rangers and unexpected changes to their new home.
This is a book which chooses to ask questions above and beyond the words on the pages, with the occasional lapse in plot.
A really good book for anyone interested in eco-literature or unusual family dramas.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Death, Animal death, Ableism, and Blood