"Wild Things" by Laura Kay is a novel that explores the complexities of relationships, self-discovery, and the pursuit of happiness. While the premise and themes are intriguing, I found myself struggling with the pacing, making it a slow read overall.
The characters themselves are well-developed, with their flaws and strengths adding depth to the story. I appreciated the complexity of their relationships and the genuine emotions they convey. Kay has a talent for crafting relatable characters with realistic struggles, making them feel authentic and human.
"Wild Things" by Laura Kay is a novel that explores important themes and presents well-crafted characters. While the book has its merits, the slow pacing proved to be a significant hurdle for my reading experience. If you enjoy character-driven stories and don't mind a more contemplative pace, this book may resonate with you.
Thank you to NetGalley, Vintage Anchor, and Vintage for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A light, fun read.
Manythanks to Anchor Vintage and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

One thing I absolutely loved in this book was the rep!

Imagine you move out into the countryside with a group of your friends, buy a house and form a little gay commune? Well, if you have or haven't, then Wild Things is for you!
I enjoyed this book, but I did put it down multiple times and pick up other books instead of finishing this. Even though I eventually did, there was just something missing for me. I do think other people would love this!

This was an absolutely delightful rom com that started off slow, but as I got to know and love the characters, I truly could not wait to see where they ended up.

El is trying to have a wild year. Despite being stuck in a dead end job, living with a room mate she hates, and being hopelessly in love with her best friend, this is going to be her year. Which is how she ends up buying and moving into a house in the country with said best friend and two other friends, the newly christened Lavender House.

This book felt like everything I should love in a book. It sounds like a dream, right? Queer friends moving into a home together, raising chickens, and making lovely friends with the neighbors in their amazing open village. I loved the parts of the book that focused on the friendships and village life. It was utterly charming, and I don't think I could ever get enough.

Unfortunately, I found the romance between El and Ray almost painful to read. El just seemed to lack agency, and I genuinely had no idea if Ray was 1) so oblivious that I wonder if she's even actually friends with El or 2) aware of El's feelings and stringing her along. I really mostly leaned towards 2, which made me almost angry when they ended up actually getting together. Especially because El seemed to stumble into most everything that happened in the book. Just because she is risk-averse doesn't mean she can't make moves towards what she wants; I think it would have been more satisfying if she had learned enough from her experience building Lavender House to actually start going towards what she wants, instead of everyone having to bring opportunities to her.

Anyone who's ever struggled to see their path forward in life will relate to El's Wild Year. This book's also for all the people who ever dreamed about owning a home with their found family.

The worst part about this book is that *I* can't just piggyback off my token straight best friend to form a queer commune fall in love with my best friend/roommate! Jokes aside, I adored this quaint but deeply relatable romance about a queer woman who wants to live more on the wild side and then learns that the wild side lives within herself. I adored the setting. I adored the messy human feelings. I adored the millennium antics. I adored it all.

a cute and charming romcom that was delightful.

thank you to netgalley and to the publisher for this review copy.

Slow to start, but once you get to know Eleanor and this found family of hers it settles and is full of quirk, fun characters and cozy moments. The book balances romance with a ton of personal growth for El. I love the idea of tackling one big idea a month to push the bounds of a comfort zone! Overall a happily cozy, light-hearted read! 3.5⭐️

This one just wasn’t for me- the protagonist’s indecision grated on my nerves. I did really enjoy some of the side characters and their journeys, and would’ve enjoyed more of them!

I can't believe how much I loved reading Wild Things. As a anxious bisexual, I immediately felt connected to El. The idea of pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, because you know it's something that will honestly make your life better, is something I've struggled with as well. Reading about such a relatable character really made this such a great book to read.

I also loved all the side characters in the book, especially all the quirky neighbors from around the village. It made the book feel so full of love because each of these characters were unique. The idea of moving out to the country with 3 of your closest friends, and then become a part of this quaint community, honestly sounds like a dream.

The romance part of this book was very cute, and I'm always a fan of friends to lovers. I liked that the story showed how complicated those types of relationships can be, but I was so glad that El took the time to figure out what she needed before moving forward with Ray. It felt like the mature thing to do, while still being authentic to the character and the book.

I really loved this book and can't wait to read more books by Laura Kay in the future.

Wild Things is a lovely, warm, big-hearted hug of a book, a wholesome yet funny tale of friendship, family (mostly but not entirely of the found variety), and farming (well...almost). Joyfully and delightfully queer, with a relatably (or is that telling on myself?) uncertain protagonist struggling, like her friends, to figure out who she's supposed to be and how she's supposed to get on in the world. It's a slow burn of a book, with a somewhat meandering, occasionally repetitive, plot up until the final act when everyone is finally prodded into action. But honestly, isn't that pretty accurate to life? I still read it in a day, and felt like smiling nearly the whole time.

Thanks to Vintage Anchor for the advance review copy.

This one was a DNF for me. I just couldn't get into it. I gave it a three star though because I can't honestly say what the remainder of the book is.

A warmhearted, hilarious queer rom-com about what happens when a group of friends are actually brave enough to live the dream and give up their dreary city apartments to buy a house in the country together.

This was a sweet book, but not exactly what I was looking for. The characters were likeable and the story was cute, but it was a bit too much of a slow burn/self-discovery tour for me. Nothing really...happened. But it was cute and you will probably like it too.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Wild Things is a fantastic queer rom-com that's a perfect summer read. Eleanor is on her year of WILD to break out of her mundane ordinary life. She's spending the year doing things that push her out of her comfort zone. This leads to her buying in on a house in the country with her 3 best friends. But she's been keeping a secret from her best friend, Ray. El's been crushing on Ray for a long time and now she'll be living across the hall from El. What could possibly happen?!?
This is a wonderful slow-burn queer romance that was just lovely. I really enjoyed that El's story of personal growth outside of her comfort zone was a primary part of this story. While El does pine for Ray, it was a perfect amount - not over the top or cumbersome - it was just right for me. I loved the found family characters in this story. Will and Jamie were so endearing and charming. I would regret not mentioning the chickens which just added the cutest thread of humor and affection. I enjoyed this story so much, I revisited it in audio as soon as it was released and I was delighted with the narrator's performance. She did an amazing job bringing these characters to life and I think I almost loved the audiobook version the best. I read this book at the perfect time. I was just swept away and loved every minute!
Thank you to Laura Kay, Penguin Random House, and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Nice story, Mainly focused on El who decides to do one wild thing a month for a year, she finds herself, what she really wants in life. Great characters, good feel good story .

Loved the concept so much, but wasn't able to get into the writing. I was so excited for the rep in this book but sadly DNF'd at 40% after not feeling drawn to pick it up.

Wild Things follows a group of (mostly) queer friends as they move out of the city and make themselves a home in the country. The main focus is on Eleanor and the rut she has fallen into with her life at a relatively young age that includes a massive unrequited crush one of the friends in her group. I'm a big fan of coming-of-age stories - at any age - and this one did not disappoint! While I did enjoy it, the pacing was very slow until about halfway through, but I like the author's writing style and wanted to see Eleanor find her confidence and her happiness. The diverse cast of side characters were wonderful and they gave major "found family" vibes, which is one of my favorite tropes. I really started loving the book after the group made their move to the countryside and that is what sold me on it. I wanted way more development of the romance as it was very secondary compared to the rest of the story. Definitely don't pick this.up if you want a swoony British romance. But if you want a comfy ride to self discovery with a dash of romance, this is the book for you!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a copy. All opinions are my own.

A cute contemporary queer romance about taking a chance and doing "Wild Things." The story had a good flow and takes us along on the main character's journey of doing wild things and being brave. I think this is a book many could relate to and maybe even push them to do something brave in their life.

This is marketed as a romance novel but reads more like women’s fiction. Most of the book is focused on El’s personal challenge to do something wild every month, and on the queer commune/DIY home renovation that she and her friends started. The home renovation and friend group shenanigans were my favorite part of the story. Jaime is hilarious with his IG account “TheVillagePeople69” and his chickens! And I loved the mentor relationship El has with Rozália, who treats El like she’s an embarrassing mom. I basically loved all of the supporting characters but then the romance aspect between El and Ray falls flat. Nothing really happens between them until about 85% in and even then it wasn’t well developed. I don’t recommend this one if you’re wanting romance, but do recommend for light hearted chuckles.
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