Cover Image: Wilder Girls

Wilder Girls

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Member Reviews

This book was received as an ARC from Random House Children's - Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have never been so mesmerized by a book than I was with Wilder Girls. There were so many plot twists and turning points that my heart started racing and along for the thrilling ride that is sure to capture many young hearts. I am a fan of lord of the flies so it was a refreshing treat to read a similar book and the fact that it was an all girls school and that there were a few female protagonists made me even happier. I have never been so excited to share a book with my teen book club since the release of the House of Night series and I am sure they will embrace it as much as I did and will generate sparking discussions that I can't wait for.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

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This was terrifying. There was a point within the first few chapters that I thought I was going to have to DNF it because I don't like body horror, but I had already been pulled in so much that I couldn't stop reading, much in the same way that you can't look away from horrific things. The writing is perfectly atmospheric for something this sinister. I also really appreciated the sapphic representation! I don't read much horror, so I don't have much to compare this to, but if you're looking for something deeply disturbing, you've found it.

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So this book has been on my TBR since the first time I laid eyes on the cover. My expectations for the book were really high and Rory Power kind of delivered.

So this book follows three best friends,Byatt, Reese and Hetty at a bording school where the whole school got infected by the Tox which causes their bodies to mutate or causes them to die. You follow live through their everyday struggle to survive and then when Byatt gets sick and Reese and Hetty can't find her they leave the safety of the school to go find her.

This book started off slow and then it got really good. The ending though was rough. It was almost like the last few chapters of the book was missing but instead that was the actual ending. To say I was disappointed when it came to the ending is an understatement. But the book up until that point was great.

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A solid YA novel that was a good purchase for my library. Students have read and enjoyed it, and I purchased it because of this review copy.

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I gave this a four out of five star. I liked the characters in this one. I really liked the atmosphere in this, it would be a good one to read in the autumn. The ending fell a little short for me, I wish there was more action. I really liked Reese's character. I want to know what happens next.

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Since DNF-ing this book I have spoken with many other reviewers about its content and decided to give it another try.
I felt uncomfortable reading it, but also decided it was necessary to give it another shot so as to expand my reading tastes and to see how far I could make it.
I believe there should be far more trigger and content warnings in the beginning. I was able to side step any kinds of negative mental health affects from the book by listening to other review's advice for reading and digesting this story.
I believe the story and plot was interesting if not a bit rushed, and the characters had vibrant personalities. If only there wasn't such vivid and triggering body horror, I would have enjoyed the book more.

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Wilder Girls had so much potential that all went down the drain when it's second part began. I had so much expectations for this book. The plot and the entire concept of the book was so unique and intriguing that I could not put the book down until I reached the part where the main character's friend has been taken away.

The book was lacking so much in substance when it reached to a certain point. It became too flat and borderline manic, it was everywhere and that maybe was the reason why it lost its charm.

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I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was a one-night binge read. Absolutely fantastic/thrilling/terrifying.

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Wilder Girls is a book that should not be read during a global pandemic. Unless you like thinking about the worst possibly scenarios. Wilder Girls sends you into an untamed wilderness that you will feel you cannot leave. You will feel the pain these girls go through as they lose loved ones and best friends to this unknown illness that has taken over.

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WILDER GIRLS is beautifully written, with a truly unusual plot that kept me fully engaged. It is dystopian and yet completely current and illuminates how we treat "otherness", disease and things that we just can't understand. I loved it!

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For me, this book had two things going really well for it before I read a single line. The cover is gorgeous and the synopsis was particularly enticing. A mysterious illness is ravaging an island where the only human inhabitants are the teachers and students of an all female boarding school. At first, I thought I was reading a feminist dystopian allegory and I was ALL FOR IT. That isn't what I got out of it at all. The book is well-written, but the story was slow, disjointed, and a little gory for me. I was enjoying some parts of the narrative, and then after about 2/3 I no longer cared to follow where the author was going with it. I struggled for the motivation to finish this one. I might read another Rory Power novel in the future, because I think she's a good writer, I just didn't enjoy this story.

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While I loved the idea of an all female-group a la Lord of the Flies, but with body horror, the book felt too slow in a lot of parts to keep me continually engaged. I also couldn't connect with a lot of the characters, which was unfortunate. I do love Rory Power's writing, and her ability to weave a creepy, unsettling atmosphere is what kept me reading. I look forward to more from her.

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I wanted this to be one of my favorite books of 2019, but sadly it was one of my least favorites. The idea was amazing and the synopsis had me totally sold on this idea of a group of young women trapped on an island as a disease takes its toll on each and every one of them. The problem is that what I really hoped would be a fast-paced and thrilling horror was sadly an underwhelming mess that didn't go anywhere.

The beginning of this book is really promising as it sets the stage by introducing us to our main characters, while also illustrating how the "Tox" is affecting them each differently. Each girl has different ailments to her body, some gruesome and others just downright debilitating. Strong warning for those who are sensitive to body horror.

The mystery that surrounds the island is great...until it isn't. The second half of this novel lacked so much of its primary appeal. Once the main character's friend is taken back to the mainland to be experimented on, the story lost me completely. I was no longer invested in what was happening, and the plot became harder and harder to follow until it reached its lackluster conclusion. This could have been an amazing book, but the execution of the story left much to be desired.

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I imagine if something like this happened in real life, maybe it would go a little bit like it did in <em>Wilder Girls</em>. But honestly, in my opinion, that's not a <em>good</em> thing. And when I say that, it's my roundabout way of saying that there's no rhyme or reason to the way things go; they just <em>are</em>. Rory Power had an intriguing, if simultaneously horrifying, idea and that was about it. Everything else is kind of just a mashup of things the wind blows in. But, to tell you the truth, I didn't expect to like <em>Wilder Girls </em>in the first place.

Powers' novel is basically centered around the idea of this school for rich girls hidden away on an island and a disease of some sort, called the tox, that has infected them all and causes all sorts of weird things to happen. Main character Hetty has some sort of growth on her eye, another girl's arm is all kinds of messed up. And the government is sending them supplies, but also supposedly looking for a cure? And it seems the "tox" as it were is at least quarantined to their island.

How is it I left this book with more questions than when I started?

Other than the fact that certain people are corrupt and some people died, I don't think I really learned anything by the end. I kind of felt like I did at the end of that one horror movie I watched as a teenager (solely because Rider Strong was in it) where everyone was basically acting stupid, nothing of note really happens, everyone gets sick, and then, in the end, there's this kind of assumption that the disease will spread even further.

And then I'm just like, what was the point of <em>any of that? </em>

Looking back, there's really nothing about this book that stands out to me. I didn't really care about any of the characters. But then, I never actually felt like I got to know them, either? There wasn't a whole lot of development for anyone. The plot was pointless, the disease was just a horror-movie-esque way of creating a conflict, and I'm just left wondering why I bothered.

What was I even supposed to take away from this?

I sure didn't enjoy it. I didn't learn anything. There's no overarching theme or message to be gleaned. It was, frankly, just a massive disappointment. It wasn't <em>terrible</em> nor the worst thing I ever read, but the only thing I got from reading this book was lost time.

<em>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</em>

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I did not realize that body horror would be a main aspect of this story which really turned me off and prohibited me from becoming invested. Hoping others who can tolerate that type of book will find more enjoyment than I did.

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I was excited to read this book, as the premise sounded really cool. However, reviews have since come out that it features body horror elements, and that is not something that I can read. Though I've heard great things, and I'll be sure to recommend it to those who I think can handle reading these elements.

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Hetty goes to a boarding school on a remote island that has been put under quarantine following a mysterious illness, the Tox, which affects each girl in a strange and different way. The girls can do nothing but wait for a cure to be delivered, but when Hetty’s friend, Byatt, goes missing, she must break quarantine and discover the secrets behind the disease.

Wilder Girls was dark and fascinating. It could be kind of gory in places, but a lot of the defects that the Tox made were really interesting. The characters were complex, brave, and apologetic. The writing is poetic and interesting, and it was a fast-paced and mysterious read.

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Wow! What a read. I was locked in from the very beginning and felt ALL kinds of emotions. The fact that I finished reading just as Covid-19 hit America added a whole new level of intrigue. I wasn’t impressed with the ending, I felt like the author sort of rushed and could have expanded more, it just sort of ended. I would love to read something from the perspective of the people on the main land. I would read more from this author and thought over all it was a great book!

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Combining the weird fiction of The Southern Reaches with the intense bonds of female friendship, Wilder Girls is both coming-of-age story and a body horror experience unlike anything I've ever read in YA before. This debut novel is both terrifying and gorgeous, much like our own teenage years.

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This was definitely a disturbing, graphic read. It is basically a spin of Lord of the Flies, but female version. It is a diverse read and there is LGBTQIAP+ representation in this book. It has a stunning cover and the story was pretty decent. It wasn't a favorite of mine, but I also didn't care too much for Lord of the Flies. It is definitely a gritty story and not for the faint of heart.

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