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A review by afterplague
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
The premise of Wilder Girls is so good it's really hard to rate the book anything less than 3 stars, but unfortunately I just don't think the rest of the book justifies that rating.
The middle section of the novel is just extremely dead, and the ending was a bit too far outside the realm of reality for me. I also didn't really enjoy the explanation for what the Tox is because I don't think it really makes sense within the context of what it does. I'll go into a little more detail about what I mean in the spoilers section.
Primarily, I was interested in the world of Wilder Girls. It's extremely reminiscent of Annihilation, so if you enjoyed some of the ideas set up in that novel, Wilder Girls is like the Young Adult version of that.
Let's go into spoilers below.
Our main character is Hettie, a girl at Raxter school for girls. Two years ago, a mysterious disease broke out and the island was quarantined while the CDC researches them and looks for a cure. Hettie doesn't have much of a personality that shines through in the novel. She cares a lot about her friends and is intelligent and untrusting, but she felt rather flat to me. She was mutated by the Tox to have one eye that's permanently sealed shut. Occasionally, it weeps blood and she can feel something moving beneath it.
The other two main characters are Byatt, Hettie's closest friend with a secondary boney spine growing from her back, and Reese, a stand-offish girl with a hand covered in silver scales. Byatt is the motivation for the story. She develops a new mutation after a flare-up of the Tox and is taken to be researched by the CDC.
I think there are a few mysteries that are good and interesting, starting with why Mrs. Welch is throwing away seemingly good food, the disappearance of Byatt, Reese's quest for her missing father, and primarily, what is the Tox? All of these questions do eventually get answers, but everything felt scattered and a little unsatisfying.
For example, the food mystery. It turns out Mrs. Welch was throwing away the food because the CDC was putting "stuff" in it to experiment on the girls with the Tox. I just don't understand how this makes any sense. There could've been something in there that could prevent flare-ups. There could've been medication in the food. The CDC is never explicitly rendered evil in the story, so I don't know why one of the only adults on the island would specifically go against the orders of an organization that, as far as we know, is trying to help them.
Another issue is the romance. Hettie and Reese have a thing for each other. I think it makes perfect sense that they would get together, but I felt kind of like the romance came out of nowhere, and was extremely short lived before they broke up. It's understandable why they broke up too, but it just felt so weirdly paced.
Byatt is another really weird character. I listened to this as an audiobook, and I really didn't like Byatt's sections. The narrator was doing her best, but because Byatt is drugged and sick a lot of the time, the writing is so disjointed and choppy. I wouldn't really recommend the audiobook for this reason. Byatt has the most backstory out of anyone in the book. She was a neglected child who developed manipulative tendencies because of it, I think? The whole thing with her and Teddy was extremely confusing.
Firstly, Teddy is a 19-year-old working at the CDC. How is someone that young in such a classified position? Secondly, why did Byatt kiss him? Was it just because she wanted to? Was it for power? I understand that the Tox might've made her actions worse. It does seem to make the girls more violent, but Teddy straight up caught the Tox and DIED from it. Additionally, that action partially led to the girls getting bombed at the end.
The ending was horrible, in my opinion. I think there were too many crises going on at the same time. There was the bear, the gas, the attempted poisoning, and then the bombers? I think maybe we needed to stick with one. It also bothered me how Hettie saved a girl, Emmy, from the bear and then immediately abandoned her to go find Byatt. Like, girl you did not need to risk your life for her if you were just going to leave her to die.
I also REALLY disliked what the Tox ended up being. It's a wormlike parasite which I would buy except it seems to affect inanimate and non-living objects. The humans and animals are affected, yes, but the trees and flowers are also affected. Plants can have parasites, sure, but then Reese's dad's house is also affected. The descriptions say that the Tox causes things to decay more rapidly. I don't think a parasite can do that. The Tox is also a parasite that used to be in the permafrost, but because of rising temperatures has been released, but how did it get to Raxter. There's never really indication of where Raxter is. My guess was somewhere in Canada, but I have no idea. Also, the Tox is apparently trying to evolve things so they're better, but why would that give each girl a unique flare-up? What is better about losing one of your eyes?
I think all of this would've made more sense if the Tox was a mold of some kind.
I don't think I can recommend Wilder Girls. Some of the ideas for the world-building are scary and excellently described. It reminds me a little of the game Darkwood.
However, the writing is a little choppy and not very immersive, and I think there are some major character and story issues that needed to be worked out.
The middle section of the novel is just extremely dead, and the ending was a bit too far outside the realm of reality for me. I also didn't really enjoy the explanation for what the Tox is because I don't think it really makes sense within the context of what it does. I'll go into a little more detail about what I mean in the spoilers section.
Primarily, I was interested in the world of Wilder Girls. It's extremely reminiscent of Annihilation, so if you enjoyed some of the ideas set up in that novel, Wilder Girls is like the Young Adult version of that.
Let's go into spoilers below.
Our main character is Hettie, a girl at Raxter school for girls. Two years ago, a mysterious disease broke out and the island was quarantined while the CDC researches them and looks for a cure. Hettie doesn't have much of a personality that shines through in the novel. She cares a lot about her friends and is intelligent and untrusting, but she felt rather flat to me. She was mutated by the Tox to have one eye that's permanently sealed shut. Occasionally, it weeps blood and she can feel something moving beneath it.
The other two main characters are Byatt, Hettie's closest friend with a secondary boney spine growing from her back, and Reese, a stand-offish girl with a hand covered in silver scales. Byatt is the motivation for the story. She develops a new mutation after a flare-up of the Tox and is taken to be researched by the CDC.
I think there are a few mysteries that are good and interesting, starting with why Mrs. Welch is throwing away seemingly good food, the disappearance of Byatt, Reese's quest for her missing father, and primarily, what is the Tox? All of these questions do eventually get answers, but everything felt scattered and a little unsatisfying.
For example, the food mystery. It turns out Mrs. Welch was throwing away the food because the CDC was putting "stuff" in it to experiment on the girls with the Tox. I just don't understand how this makes any sense. There could've been something in there that could prevent flare-ups. There could've been medication in the food. The CDC is never explicitly rendered evil in the story, so I don't know why one of the only adults on the island would specifically go against the orders of an organization that, as far as we know, is trying to help them.
Another issue is the romance. Hettie and Reese have a thing for each other. I think it makes perfect sense that they would get together, but I felt kind of like the romance came out of nowhere, and was extremely short lived before they broke up. It's understandable why they broke up too, but it just felt so weirdly paced.
Byatt is another really weird character. I listened to this as an audiobook, and I really didn't like Byatt's sections. The narrator was doing her best, but because Byatt is drugged and sick a lot of the time, the writing is so disjointed and choppy. I wouldn't really recommend the audiobook for this reason. Byatt has the most backstory out of anyone in the book. She was a neglected child who developed manipulative tendencies because of it, I think? The whole thing with her and Teddy was extremely confusing.
Firstly, Teddy is a 19-year-old working at the CDC. How is someone that young in such a classified position? Secondly, why did Byatt kiss him? Was it just because she wanted to? Was it for power? I understand that the Tox might've made her actions worse. It does seem to make the girls more violent, but Teddy straight up caught the Tox and DIED from it. Additionally, that action partially led to the girls getting bombed at the end.
The ending was horrible, in my opinion. I think there were too many crises going on at the same time. There was the bear, the gas, the attempted poisoning, and then the bombers? I think maybe we needed to stick with one. It also bothered me how Hettie saved a girl, Emmy, from the bear and then immediately abandoned her to go find Byatt. Like, girl you did not need to risk your life for her if you were just going to leave her to die.
I also REALLY disliked what the Tox ended up being. It's a wormlike parasite which I would buy except it seems to affect inanimate and non-living objects. The humans and animals are affected, yes, but the trees and flowers are also affected. Plants can have parasites, sure, but then Reese's dad's house is also affected. The descriptions say that the Tox causes things to decay more rapidly. I don't think a parasite can do that. The Tox is also a parasite that used to be in the permafrost, but because of rising temperatures has been released, but how did it get to Raxter. There's never really indication of where Raxter is. My guess was somewhere in Canada, but I have no idea. Also, the Tox is apparently trying to evolve things so they're better, but why would that give each girl a unique flare-up? What is better about losing one of your eyes?
I think all of this would've made more sense if the Tox was a mold of some kind.
I don't think I can recommend Wilder Girls. Some of the ideas for the world-building are scary and excellently described. It reminds me a little of the game Darkwood.
However, the writing is a little choppy and not very immersive, and I think there are some major character and story issues that needed to be worked out.