I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. While magic plays a prominent role, the overlying importance of family provides warmth and brings the story together. Zadie and Finn, polar opposites, use their abilities to search for their mother who disappeared without a trace. while Zadie desires to leave her mother in the past, Finn wants to fill in the gaping hole with answers. Zadie’s hesitance to open her heart back up to the person that left her as a crumpled piece of paper speaks volumes, adding an emotional aspect that travels figuratively and literally with Zadie and Finn. Finn’s enthusiasm is contagious. I wanted nothing more than to get to the bottom of this mystery as much as her. I loved both the characters and the plot, each unique and complex. The ending did leave me wishing for more. Even though there was an epilogue, the truth behind Nora seemed dull compared to the intrigue of the rest of the novel, specifically the climax. The hopeful story touched my heart, portraying a beautiful narrative that many others should read!

My review will be posted to my Instagram on date of publication 11/15/2022.

3 1/2 STARS

This is a paranormal mystery. I liked the characters but the storyline just didn't interest me as much as I thought it would. It's a well-written book and I liked it but I didn't feel like it was a story I would want to reread. I think fans of paranormal mysteries will like it.

I really tried to like this one but it just wasn’t for me. It probably would’ve been a DNF if it wasn’t a NetGalley read because I wanted to give it fair shot. The plot was tedious and in the end I’m not even sure what the point was honestly. Obviously we had to stretch our imagination to believe the sixth sense pieces but other parts also didn’t make a ton of sense. Running into Joel was too happenstance. Why did they keep meeting other sixes? Was the mom drawn to them? What even was Nora’s power/sense? It all felt very disjointed to me. The sister pieces were nice and added to the story. I’m not sure who I would recommend this one too.

I received an arc, ahead of release, through Netgalley. All thoughts are my own.


Content Warnings: Pregnancy, abandonment, dementia, blood, and injury.

This was an interesting story about how the trauma of their mother's disappearance affected two sisters differently. We get to journey with them as they try to find their mother while also finding themselves at the same time.

I really enjoyed reading about these two sisters, who seem only to share the fact that their mother is missing, slowly find their bond, and as they journey to find their mom learn more about themselves as well.

The ending of this book, though happy, left me with more questions and a little disappointed. I really wish the book had been slightly longer so we could have explored the ending a bit more.

Five big fat stars!!
I absolutely adored this book!
I laughed throughout the entire book and cried the last 10%!
I have already posted about it on my Facebook, highly recommending it to everyone!
Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and the awesome author who created this wonderful book!

I read this one early because word has it that it might be a pick of a certain book club for next month.

We first meet Zadie who is in her early 20s, newly pregnant but leaving her relationship, trying to figure out her next move. Zadie has psychic abilities, but she couldn’t stop her mother Nora from leaving Zadie and her younger sister, Finn, five years ago.

After Nora abandoned her girls, Finn was fostered by a loving couple who ant to adopt her. Zadie has to figure things out on her own. Finn also has an ability to receive other people’s memories, that often leave her in a trance-like state.

For Finn’s graduation, the girls plan to leave San Antonio and head for the Gavelston-area beach to relax, reconnect and read romance novels (at last Zadie will). Instead, the end up on a road-trip covering thousands of miles looking for their mom.

On their way, they meet a bunch of other folks who have various supernatural powers. These characters seem random and just thrown into the plot. They are just a stop, in my opinion, but they don’t enhance the story or add in any powerful way.

The ending of the book felt very forced and the overall story fell flat. I was not invested and even when things were explained, I was not moved.

Thank you to @stmartinspress and @netgalley for an free e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I had to take a step back and digest this one a bit. My eyes were glued to the page (or in this case, kindle) for the entire book. My interest never wavered, so for that, it should get five stars, however I do wish the relationship between the sisters was explored just a tiny bit more. For some reason, I just didn’t really understand where they sat in their relationship with one another. I think this may have just been me and not the book. Sometimes I get a little wary of everything when magical realism is involved. I can’t explain it.

Overall, this book has an interesting plot, good characters, and unique magic. I really liked it and would definitely recommend.

4+ stars
This author is just so good!
I absolutely loved her first novel,
Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance
So when I found out she had this new book, I was so excited.
As in her first novel there is some magical realism.. but not anything unbelievable.
Two sisters who have been separated for 5 yrs since their mother, Nora wandered off and left them (when Zadie was 18 and her sister Finn was 12) go to search for her.
Finn has just graduated high school and is living with loving foster parents and Zadie has just left her boyfriend and is pregnant.
They go on this journey together to find her and they use their psychic and memory reading abilities in their search. It’s a gift that they both have in different forms as does their mother.
This ended up being a really lovely story
and I hope Ruth Emmie Lang will be writing more stories!

Thank you to Netgalley and St.Martin’s Press for the ARC!

I utterly adored this captivating magical realism book about sisterhood and family.

Zadie and Finn both have special abilities: Zadie gets psychic premonitions and Finn is able to relive people's memories. Zadie can see the future, Finn can see the past, but neither of them see their mother, Nora, disappearing.In the next five years that follow, they hear nothing from her, and the sisters drift apart as a consequence of Finn being put into foster care while Zadie, then 18, is left to her own devices. Upon Finn's high school graduation, the sisters are supposed to take a beach vacation, but instead end up on a road trip attempting to find their mom.

This is a coming-of-age story set within a psychic roadtrip, a combination that I didn't know that I needed until I read it. Admittedly, I'm generally a big fan of magical realism, but I think even if you aren't, you can still appreciate the care and thought that Ruth Emmie Lang has once again put into crafting a possible world. So much of her magic, both here and in Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance, centers around nature. The thought of listening to the songs of the stars or what the trees have to say is my idea of a perfect power.

There is magic here, but there is also magic in the ordinary relationships the characters have with each other. I love the Wilder women's relationships with each other, in all their fragile, tangled glory. I was intrigued by the mystery of Nora's disappearance, but the relationship between Zadie and Finn really drives the story (no pun intended).

At its heart, this is a story about sisterhood and family, and about the dichotomy between growing roots and taking flight. Once again, Ruth Emmie Lang shows that she's a powerful storyteller with evocative, descriptive prose that tugs on your heartstrings.

Nora Wilder disappeared five years ago and her two daughters, Zadie and Finn, have no idea why or where she went. Both sisters have a sixth sense: Zadie is psychic and Finn can sense other people's memories and dreams. Right after Finn graduates from high school, the two sister plan a beach vacation in Galveston, but when Finn finds herself landing in what have to be her mother's memories, they decide to go search for Nora instead.

After reading the descriptions and the positive reviews left by others, I really expected to like this novel a lot. Usually I enjoy books about missing persons but I just couldn't connect with the characters and the storyline. The author's wandering writing style didn't appeal to me, either. I'm not a fan of magical realism but I'm sure readers who enjoy authors like Alice Hoffman will also enjoy The Wilderwomen.

Release Date: November 15, 2022

*Thank you to @netgalley & @stmartinspress for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

Upfront: This book is HEAVY on magical realism. (Which I love) So your mind has to be prepared to suspend reality, k? K.

I loved this book. It took me a hot minute to get into it, but then I found myself wondering when I'd get a chance to pick it back up again. It was one big road trip adventure, where they met some quirky people along the way. (Other "Sixes" [people with special abilities/a six sense]) It almost felt like every time I picked it back up to read, I was jumping back in the car with the sisters.

It's a sweet story of sisterhood & family. The epilogue wrapped everything up nicely.

I do feel like some more information on Mom's backstory was lacking. I was still left a tad confused about her past... but I still really enjoyed it!

[Review going up on Instagram tomorrow (Thursday 10/20)]

The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang

Is an amazingly magical read! It is amazing how Ruth is able to write about semi normal- almost realistic- fictional characters with exceptional abilities! This book is full of family secrets, sisterhood and forgiveness and I loved every second of it! I loved Zadie resiliency and determination to keep the only family she had left together which was her sister. I fell in love with Finn and her determination. The magical elements were a bonus!

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The is a very lyrical novel written with a ton of magical realism. This is about two sisters, but also about memories and secrets and the future.

One of the biggest plot lines of this book is about the disfunction of the Wilder family. The missing mother, the two sisters. The writing style is odd...but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Conversational, dreamlike, songs...this is one of the strangest books I've read in a long time. It's quite beautiful.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in advance of its release.

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

Well guys, I've really tried but I think I just need to call it quits on the magical realism. I love fantasy and "100 Years of Solitude" is one of my favorite classics, but magical realism as a whole just never works out the way I hope. The Wilderwomen was a DNF for me, but I think I'm just the wrong reader. I was just bored from literally page one and found the fantastical elements underwhelming.

Reading The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang was like going on an adventure, following the sisters Zadie and Finn as they use their unique and fantastic abilities to solve the mystery of where their mother had disappeared to five years earlier,
I found the book to be imaginative, the characters complex, and the mystery intriguing. The cross-country trek added another fascinating feature to the storyline as well.
Lang is an excellent writer who easily draws the reader in, and has produced a page-turner of a book that is difficult to put down.
I am grateful to #NetGalley for providing me with a copy of #The Wilderwomen and introducing me to this wonderful author.

”If losing myself is what it takes to find Mom, then that’s what I’ll do…”

Five years ago, Nora Wilder disappeared. Her daughters, Finn and Zadie, are determined to find her, and they’ll do whatever it takes: even if they have to look into the past, or the future. The Wilder girls are “sixes,” each born with a sixth-sense of sorts. Zadie has premonitions of the future, and Finn can see flashbacks of the past by experiencing people’s memories. And maybe, if they combine their gifts, they can figure out where their mother went… and what made her leave in the first place.

”Finn was right to think something was wrong with their mom. It was even possible that Nora had a sixth sense she’d been hiding from them; in fact Zadie was almost sure she did. But was it the sole reason she’d walked out on her daughters?”

I love Ruth Emmie Lang’s writing style and was really excited to read more from her after loving Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance. She has a gift for strong characterization, and that is evident in The Wilderwomen - her characters are three-dimensional and layered, and they draw you in to their lives.

”Nic and I have worked hard to make this a place where people feel like they can be themselves, no matter how the rest of the world sees them. I gave up hiding a long time ago.”

I loved reading about the “sixes” and their unique gifts - some of these were so creative and well-thought out. Lang struck exactly the right balance with the magical realism elements, giving just enough to make the story feel simultaneously fantastical yet believable.

”Wings were not meant for flying in place…”

The plot of this book fell a little flat to me, as the hunt for Zadie and Finn’s mother ultimately grew repetitive and anti-climactic. Even in the end, I never felt like I’d gotten a full explanation of Finn or Nora’s gifts, or why their gifts caused them to experience the things they went through, so I still have a lot of unanswered questions.

——

A huge thank you to Ruth Emmie Lang, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you St. Martin's for this lovely book. I LOVED The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang. This is a recommended read for fans of magical realism (the magical realism here is a focus, not just woven into the background), sister relationships, and coming of age themes. I loved how lyrical and engaging this story was, I was drawn in so quickly to the writing, the story, and to Zadie's and Finn's individual and shared story and their desire to understand and reunite with their mother Nora.

I loved the richness of the writing and the examination of memories and visions, how Zadie could have visions of what was going to happen while Finn was surrounded by echoes of people's past; the element of music is well done too, dropped in to the story to add depth to the magical realism. The writing is poetic and lyrical as well, the author captures the sway of music, voices, and even nature, the feeling of echoes and visions and memories surrounding the sisters' lives, and the overall sense of what it feels like to yearn to feel both free and grounded at the same time.

Lang has a knack for creating quirky characters that worm their way into your heart. After loving Beasts, I was beyond excited to get my hands on an early copy of Wilderwomen. This was a combination of coming of age and discovering family.
While some parts seemed a bit cliche, the whole book together warms your heart. There is a little mystery, intrigue, quirkiness, and forgiveness. This book was another journey I won’t soon forget.
Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this extraordinary book. The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang is the story of two sisters searching for their mother, who has been missing for five years. Zadie and Finn’s mother, Nora drove out of their lives. The Wilderwomen tells the story of the sisters’ journey as they go on a cross country trek.

I loved the characters as well as the actual story. If you are a fan of magical realism, you will enjoy this novel. Each main character has a special gift and several other characters along the way are also gifted. It’s a warm, deep, moving book.

Somehow I missed the author’s debut novel, Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstances, but it will definitely be added to my TBR list. I highly recommend this author!

Nora disappeared 5 years ago. Her psychic daughters Zadie and Finn begin having visions that she may still be alive. They begin their search and encounter people like themselves along the way.
This was a good book and pretty much held my attention.
Thanks NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC!