I’ve sat here staring at my laptop screen for a bit, trying to think of the best way to start out this book review because I just can’t stay away from the word “ineffable” when it comes to this book. When I pull away from the intricacies and intimacies of the story and look at it from afar, it’s just something so enigmatic and beautiful I simply don’t know where to start with it.

Why don’t I try starting with the plot, boiled down to its base elements? This book is, at its roots, a Great American Road Trip novel. It’s the story of two sisters who decide to set out and find their mother, who has been missing for five years, and now that they’re both adults they decide to find out once and for all what her fate was, because they think they have the tools to do so. This wouldn’t be a special book at all if it weren’t for the sheer, raw talent and imagination of Ruth Emmie Lang.

Characters and atmosphere are what drive this book, and both are magnificent engines. I’d say atmosphere carries slightly more weight than the characters, but that may be due to the fact that Lang’s mesmerizing, earnest, and almost hypnotic prose lends the atmosphere strength, while only half of characterization is carried by prose (the rest being carried by heartfelt, well-written, and sometimes heartbreakingly vulnerable dialogue).

The themes of sisterhood, motherhood, guilt, shame, secrets, and regret are all central to this book, overlaid with mystical melodies surrounding memory, music, birds, and migration. These themes and literary melodies are where the book gets ineffable for me, because I feel I could write a whole essay about how memory, music, birds, and migration patterns all tie into one another, but that would never fit into a book review. This one is running long as it is.

Our two main characters, Finn and Zadie, are both wonderful and heartbreaking to read, with their opposite worldviews and personalities. If you have a sister you might know that feeling of simultaneously wanting to hug them and throttle them but you’ll do whatever it takes to keep them safe. When it comes to their disparate world views regarding their missing mother, you can also see that big sister/little sister dynamic in action as they both regard their mother and her actions in different ways, memories and emotions colored differently by their age when the events happened and whether or not they were there when certain things happened. It causes strife and discord as Zadie tries to shield and protect Finn from what happened in the last six months their mother was around before she disappeared, but it’s hard to stop those protective instincts, and you can feel the weight of Zadie’s emotions regarding the matter.

Yes, I cried.

There are fabulous interludes throughout the book as Zadie and Finn travel from Texas to Washington in their endeavor to find their mom, from stargazing in Arizona to communing with trees in the Cascades. Every new supporting character that’s brought into the story contributes something significant to the story and never takes away from the plot or feels like filler material. It’s just one more stepping stone and one more mile to go.

I simply loved it. Everything about it. It was compelling from the first sentence, reeling me in immediately and it kept me captivated to the very end. It won’t disappoint you.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for granting me access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review.

File Under: Coming of Age/Magical Realism/New Adult/Mystery

This was a phenomenally written, at times meandering (in a good way), compelling novel of two sisters, their supernatural abilities, a trip to find their missing mother, and their relationship with each other. Their relationships with each other and all the people they met on the way were so intriguing and it kept changing and turning that I could not tell you what was going to happen next. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves a good sister plot line or is intrigued by events and abilities we can't quite explain!

I thought this book was very intriguing. The story is really quite different, and I felt quite fresh. I found myself quickly consumed by the unfolding story and the many questions that desperately needed answers. The twists are plentiful, and a lush aura of tension and anxiety permeates this gripping tale.

For me, the writing was the most interesting part of this book. It was fun soaking up these words and the story and the characters. I recommend to those that aren’t looking for a terribly heavy read.

Thank you for this opportunity!

In 2017 I read [book:Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance|33574161].
Ruth Emmie Lang managed to rip out my heart, give it a hug and place it back in my chest.
To say that book destroyed me would be an understatement.
Did I have high hopes for her sophomore book?
Maybe a little.
I may have put off reading this for a couple months because I was worried it wouldn't live up to my expectations. I regret that decision.
Finn & Zadie are beautifully developed characters with fantastic personalities and a deep well of emotions. It's about sisters in need of reconnecting, add a road trip, psychic abilities, and a mystery surrounding their mum and I'm not really sure why I was worried about reading it now.
Sooo freaking good!
Much love to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press & Ruth Emmie Lang for my ARC!

WOW.

I was really blown away by the time I finished this book.
The Wilderwomen had the (in my opinion) perfect blend of women's family fiction and magical realism.
And while almost erratic feeling at times, the story flowed really well and it wasn't difficult to keep up with character changes, "flashbacks", etc.

The characters were not the most rounded, but I felt they were all likable, nonetheless.

I was always invested in what may happen next and felt the length of the book suited just fine.
For myself, this was a hard one to put down and I was constantly wandering what was going to happen next and where our main characters were going to end up.

Kudos to Ms. Lang, the author. And thanks to NetGalley and pubisher for the early read!
4/5 stars

4/5 stars

Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for the eARC of THE WILDERWOMEN!

I’m so thrilled that another Ruth Emmie Lang book is out in the world. I adored BEASTS OF EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCE and if you missed it when it came out in 2017, you must go back and read it!

THE WILDERWOMEN has some of my favorite elements in a book: a story about sisters, magical realism, a mystery, a road trip and characters coming to terms with their powers.
Zadie and Finn’s mother Nora disappeared one morning 5 years ago. They haven’t heard a thing from her since she left. Which is surprising since Zadie is a psychic and Finn can read the echoes of memories left behind by people. On the day of her high school graduation party, Finn stumbles across an echo from their mother. She convinces Zadie that Nora is out there somewhere and they must find her!

Cue a sister’s road trip montage. Along the way they meet more extraordinary people with unique powers and begin to heal the wounds in their relationship.

Interwoven with Zadie and Finn’s chapters are flashbacks to Nora leading up to the day that she disappeared.

Ruth Emmie Lang’s writing is beautiful and comforting. I didn’t want the story to end. If you love magical realism, gorgeous writing or books about sisters, definitely pick this one up!

THE WILDERWOMEN is out 11/15!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4649430528?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ck_TpYUJSGD/

Rating 3.5

A road trip of a lifetime for two sisters who set out to find their missing mother. The Wilderwomen features elements of magical realism for a unique journey of love for ones mother. There were truly heartwarming moments and those filled with incredible sadness. The pavement is bumpy as each girl learns to forgive and overcome guilt and anger to mend their broken hearts.

Thank you St. Martin's Press for the complimentary copy.

This book was so different than what I normally read. Very well written. The characters are definitely likable. I enjoyed it.

I loved the writing style but was expecting something a little
more plot driven than character driven. I think the premise had a lot of potential but fell a little flat for me. I would still read more from this author!

🥰 This is one of those reads where I knew even as I was reading it-my brain wouldn’t be able to put into words just how much this book touched my heart.

👩‍👧‍👧 The Wilderwomen is a compelling love-story between both sisters and mothers. Ruth Emile Lang has done a fantastic job of creating a world of magical realism and scenarios that have you rooting for the characters during each hi-jinx they find themselves in.

As always here are a few of my favorite elements from this book:

✨ magic-realism
✨ psychic karaoke
✨ roadtrips with your older sister and a bunch of tape decks….who gets to be DJ?!
✨ “talking” trees
✨ flashbacks between past and present

♥️ Ruth Emmie Lang hi lights the different dynamics of sisterhood and how growing up in the same home can lead to such vastly different personas and memories.

🪞I loved the fact that we also got to visualize the lengths to which siblings will go to protect one another, even if it becomes the sole meaning of their existence. Which in turn leads to exploring the concept of motherhood and the evolution of how we view our mothers as we are adolescents and the grace that we learn as we become mothers ourselves.

Zadie has the ability to see things coming, but not when her mother Nora disappears. Her sister Finn can see echos left behind, sort of a memory trace. Finn wakes with a vision that isn’t her but her mothers so she convinces Zadie their mother is still alive and they must find her. This begins their journey, learning more about their mother and relying on each other.

I loved the story of sisters and mother relationship because not every relationship is strong or percent as people make them out to be. As people were more complex than we show and many different sides. It’s a very heartwarming story. And the writing grabs your attention with its symmetry. It was a very lyrical magical realism story, and for a debut I really enjoyed the magic that was woven.

This book absolutely slapped! I was so into it start to finish. Now I need to go back and read her last book asap!

This was okay. I was drawn to the cover at first. It's so intriguing and beautiful. I liked the road trip/scavenger hunt concept, the storyline between the sisters and the bond that they were trying to reconnect. I liked the growth of each of the sisters throughout, Zadie more so than Finn. There was no reason for the introduction of Joel in my opinion, he added nothing to the plot. There were a decent amount of twists and turns that definitely kept the story moving and my interested slightly piqued but I found myself saying “would you just find her already so we can move on?” The end felt very anticlimactic, especially after all the build up to get there. I think this story has a target audience who would really enjoy it. I think it could be a good book for a YA reader who likes a little magic and fantasy. .

I had really high expectations for "The Wilderwomen" by Ruth Emmie Lang because the author's other work, "Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance" is one of my all time favorite books. "The Wilderwomen" is a story of family and sisterhood, love and loss...with a bit of magic thrown in for good measure. It follows Zadie's and Finn's journey to find their mother, Nora, who abruptly left her daughters five years prior to the start of this story. The writing is atmospheric and the story original and creative. I was a bit disappointed in the ending though; I guess I expected more emotion and the big reveal didn't really wow me. I wish Zadie's and Finn's characters had been more fully developed so I would have been more invested in their story. While I was entertained, I never became completely immersed in their world.

I don't think "The Wilderwomen" was as good as "Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance," but I do think it will still appeal to a wide audience. For me, it lacked the power that this author's previous work had. It was a bit too YA for my taste.

I have so many mixed feelings about this book, but the major takeaway is that I thought it was such an amazing reading experience…until the end 😂

Ruth Emmie Lang has such an amazing ability to create characters you fall in love with instantly. It was my favorite part of her last book (Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance), and it’s my favorite part of this book. I love Finn and Zadie like they’re my own family.

The journey of this book was so much fun to read, but at the end I felt like I was left with so many unanswered questions. I felt like it wrapped up too quickly and didn’t give the resolution the time it deserved. Up until the last 40 pages, I was certain this was going to end up as a favorite of the year, but I’m not so sure anymore 😭

I still highly recommend this book because I had a really great time reading it. The characters and the unique magical elements make it totally worth your time! Just be prepared to not be totally satisfied by the wrap-up.

3.5 stars rounded up!

This is a really unique read about two sisters searching for their mother, but add in some magical realism with a coming of age story and you’ve got a really atmospheric read!

This book is unlike my usual reads! Magical realism isn’t my go-to, and this felt like such a unique storyline. The characters are well-developed, and I loved the flashbacks where you get to know Nora. The build up to the mystery was great, and I was so excited to see where this story went.

Once the sisters got on the road, I thought “yes! Let’s see where their journey goes!” But their journey was very meandering, and I thought it would all tie together a little more at the end. After I finished, there were a few parts of the book where I wasn’t sure why certain things were included. If they had taken a more direct path, I think I would have liked it more and probably given it 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the gifted copy in exchange for my honest review!

This book was a good read! It was full of adventure, magical realism, friendship, and heartbreak. I enjoyed reading every part of the story and following the sisters on the adventure of a lifetime, and all the memories and shocking revelations that were found on the way.

* Thanks to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for an advance copy for review purposes *

Two estranged sisters with special powers set out on a roadtrip to find their mother, one of them reluctantly, the other filled with hope and expectations. The character development is superb, and the sisters' abilities adds to the underlying theme of self acceptance. The mystery of what happened to their mother is a little forced, constructed by funneling information through switching back and forth between past and present, however, the mystery itself is secondary to the growth of the characters.

💜𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲💜
THE WILDERWOMEN
🤍𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: magical realism
𝗠𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4 ⭐️
📖 326 pages
🥳 𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲: 11/15/2022 (today!)

🎉!𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗽𝘂𝗯 𝗱𝗮𝘆!🎉

Thank you @stmartinspress & @netgalley for this #gifted copy of this beautiful hardcover ARC.

This was such a beautiful story and really pulled me in. At times it even reminded me of Practical Magic with the 2 sisters at odds over their differences and struggling with their magical gifts. I also really liked the alternating POV’s between sisters Zadie and Finn throughout.

It’s funny bc even though I really enjoyed this, at the same time it felt like not much happened? Or maybe I just read it so quickly it felt like that somehow 😅 . Whatever the reason, this story really enraptured me and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it 😊

With the temperature drop in Chicago this past weekend and the first snow ❄️ today, I couldn’t help but put my Christmas 🎄 decorations up. Bring on #cozyseason