Scan barcode
A review by knightreads
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I enjoyed this book. It wasn’t perfect by any means but it had enough there that I felt attached to the characters journey and invested in the different ways the characters were affected by the Tox. One of the things I highlighted most in the book was the varying ways the girls mutated from it, along with some beautiful descriptions.
I enjoyed the fact you’re thrown in over a year later rather than at the start, it creates some mystery around things that slowly gets pieces together as you read and it helps to understand why the characters act the way they do and how they’ve adapted and coped with a major traumatic event. And the moments of normal teenage girl drama sprinkled in helped solidify that oh wow these are kids who are dealing with monsters and death while also figuring out do they have a crush on their friend.
My major gripe with the book is it felt incomplete. To my knowledge there’s no sequel which means there’s a lot of loose ends that made it unsatisfying to finish and drove me mad because I want to know what happens next!
Spoilers for the Ending
The ending particularly felt hollow. When I thought Byatt was dead I was heartbroken and distraught that Hetty had done all this and still lost Byatt but it almost felt as if that was how it should have been so it felt a bit cheap for Byatt to suddenly come alive after it describing her losing more blood than a human should and being out in the snow for nearly a day and then she’s lost all memory? I don’t know if it was meant to be an extra cruelty for Hetty to have done so much, to get Byatt back alive but it’s not her Byatt anymore.
It just felt dumb and that the author wanted to keep Byatt alive but didn’t want to make it believable that she would be. The book felt unfinished, the girls out at sea with serious injuries and no closure for the reader as to what happens. It felt as if the author wrote themselves into a hole and rather than try to dig out of it they just went “I’ll end here I guess then I don’t have to.” The build up and urgency was done well but it fell flat when the ending is so unresolved.
I enjoyed the fact you’re thrown in over a year later rather than at the start, it creates some mystery around things that slowly gets pieces together as you read and it helps to understand why the characters act the way they do and how they’ve adapted and coped with a major traumatic event. And the moments of normal teenage girl drama sprinkled in helped solidify that oh wow these are kids who are dealing with monsters and death while also figuring out do they have a crush on their friend.
My major gripe with the book is it felt incomplete. To my knowledge there’s no sequel which means there’s a lot of loose ends that made it unsatisfying to finish and drove me mad because I want to know what happens next!
Spoilers for the Ending
It just felt dumb and that the author wanted to keep Byatt alive but didn’t want to make it believable that she would be. The book felt unfinished, the girls out at sea with serious injuries and no closure for the reader as to what happens. It felt as if the author wrote themselves into a hole and rather than try to dig out of it they just went “I’ll end here I guess then I don’t have to.” The build up and urgency was done well but it fell flat when the ending is so unresolved.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide