A review by onemorepagecrew
Wilder Girls by Rory Power

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

4.0

Wilder Girls by Rory Power strikes me as a book that some will enjoy, and others will wish they had never picked up – very niche in its audience.  Personally, I was into it and would selectively recommend it.  
 
The story is set at a boarding school for girls that has been put under quarantine by the CDC.  We jump in after they have already adjusted and fallen into a routine, then slowly learn bits about the early days when the isolation first began.  It’s an effective way to tell the story without reading through the whole event.  Instead, the book focuses on what happens when a few girls start disappearing and the protagonist, Hetty, starts looking for answers.  
 
The book is categorized as YA lgbtqia+ horror and that felt inaccurate.  There are romantic relationships between girls in the school, but their world is so bleak that it’s not the focus, more of an implied afterthought.  And horror is a tough bar to clear.  This was suspenseful at times but never tense (for me), definitely not scary (again, for me), but did have a few graphic descriptions.  It’s more of a creepy mystery through a lens of survival dystopia. 
 
It is an interesting look at how powerful information can be, especially when it is withheld.  How isolation can be achieved by manufactured fear.  If you enjoyed books like Devolution, Dry, or Unwind then this might be a good one for you. 
 
Content warnings: Gore, Death, Self-harm, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma 
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