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A review by ls1314
Wild Life by Victoria Woods
3.25
This had fun Tarzan vibes but lacked in the relationship department for me. Maris is bat scientist (a chiropterologist, which is a word I just learned), who gets stranded on an isolated, deserted island. She is rescued by Aleki, who has been stranded for 24 years. Aleki thinks Maris is loud and annoying and Maris thinks Aleki is a stand-offish brute, but the sexual tension be tensioning. Sexual lessons happen without sand getting everywhere while Maris and Aleki fall for each other.
The premise requires some suspending of disbelief but I was okay with that (though the epilogue required a little too much for me but alas). Having Aleki and Maris be stranded meant we got fun tropes like forced proximity, so I bought in even though I have lingering questions (he created a shower but does he have some sort of soap? Why do people keep throwing books in plastic bags into the ocean and they keep winding up at the island?).
I liked Maris -- she was sassy, dry, not afraid of a sex joke, and pretty self aware about her bad behaviors. I liked her unpredictability. I felt like we lost her essence for a little chunk in the last third of the book sadly. I also won't spoil anything but I felt like in the end, she didn't fight hard enough for Aleki which felt off for what we knew about her.
Aleki was fun. We got to discover the island through him and I find it thoroughly funny that even a man who has had no human interaction for over two decades, left alone with a woman, instinctively says "good girl" in bed.
I wish that we got a little more from their relationship though. I felt like we definitely saw them infatuated with each other and maybe love adjacent but I didn't feel like they were in love. Maybe it was the pacing? They spent a good chunk annoyed with each other, a good chunk boning, and then a small chunk building a relationship outside of sex. I think I needed more of the third to feel the love love.
I really enjoyed all of the bat related information. I genuinely feel like I learned a ton about bats which is a nice side effect of this book.
Thank you Victoria Woods and Luna Literary for the eARC! All opinions are my own.
The premise requires some suspending of disbelief but I was okay with that (though the epilogue required a little too much for me but alas). Having Aleki and Maris be stranded meant we got fun tropes like forced proximity, so I bought in even though I have lingering questions (he created a shower but does he have some sort of soap? Why do people keep throwing books in plastic bags into the ocean and they keep winding up at the island?).
I liked Maris -- she was sassy, dry, not afraid of a sex joke, and pretty self aware about her bad behaviors. I liked her unpredictability. I felt like we lost her essence for a little chunk in the last third of the book sadly. I also won't spoil anything but I felt like in the end, she didn't fight hard enough for Aleki which felt off for what we knew about her.
Aleki was fun. We got to discover the island through him and I find it thoroughly funny that even a man who has had no human interaction for over two decades, left alone with a woman, instinctively says "good girl" in bed.
I wish that we got a little more from their relationship though. I felt like we definitely saw them infatuated with each other and maybe love adjacent but I didn't feel like they were in love. Maybe it was the pacing? They spent a good chunk annoyed with each other, a good chunk boning, and then a small chunk building a relationship outside of sex. I think I needed more of the third to feel the love love.
I really enjoyed all of the bat related information. I genuinely feel like I learned a ton about bats which is a nice side effect of this book.
Thank you Victoria Woods and Luna Literary for the eARC! All opinions are my own.