I was so excited to jump into this book after her last novel. Her writing moves along with the characters, which is a phenomenal skill. I love the way she navigates loss and love and centering ourselves within the everyday (and not-so-everyday) extraordinary. I would absolutely recommend this for someone who loves stories of mending things that are broken and self-discovery.

Within the pages of this book is a poignant journey of two gifted sisters, each trying to heal as they try to solve the reason behind the disappearance of their mother. I absolutely loved that this story had so much emotion and was written in such a way that I almost felt like I was Finn, having an echo of what they experienced during their search for answers about Nora and her disappearance.

This was truly a beautifully woven story with details so intricate it was like a movie was playing out in my mind. This is a book I will recommend endlessly!

I enjoyed the Wilderwomen but for me the magic realism didn’t really appeal to me. I loved the storyline of the estranged sisters coming together for the truth. It held my attention and was a page turner. While I connected with both Zadie and Finn and liked the story telling something still was missing for me

3.5

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced copy in exchange for my review.

Three years ago in late October I read Ruth Emmie Lang’s Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance , I was mesmerized by that beautifully written story, so when I saw that she had a new one coming out, I knew I wanted to read it. Lang excels in creating a wonderful sense of atmosphere in both stories, she has a gift of making the extraordinary come alive without it seeming unbelievable, as well as crafting a story that is both heartwarming and unforgettably beautiful.

As this story begins, Nora Wilder has been gone from her two daughters’ lives for five years. Zadie is trying to gather all of her belongings, her clothes, towels and the collection of cassettes her mother had left behind when she walked away from her life and her children. Her soon-to-officially-be-ex-boyfriend will be leaving work soon, and she wants to be gone before he returns. Zadie’s psychic abilities typically allow her to predict what’s about to happen, but - as with many things - her ability to foretell things isn’t something she ‘summons’ as much as it is something that just appears, which sometimes leaves her wondering.

Zadie’s younger sister, Finn, now lives with a foster family who has no idea of Zadie’s psychic abilities, or Finn’s for that matter. Finn doesn’t share Zadie’s ability to predict events, she can’t predict anything, but she not only retains her own memories, but the ’echo’ of the memories of others. On the day of her graduation party that her foster parents have happily invited many of their friends and family to, one of these ’echoes’ catches her off guard, and she runs away from the party. She ends up passed out in the zoological gardens’ aviary, and when she comes to, she remembers a song, a bird, and her mom reaching out to her.

Soon after, Zadie and Finn head out on what is supposed to be a short vacation for the two sisters. A chance to bond again after living away from each other for so long. As their journey continues it morphs into something more than either one of them anticipate as they end up chasing and following clues on where their mother went after she left, and to see if they can find out what happened to her with Finn’s echoes charting their path. Along the way they stop at places they are drawn to in the hopes of finding someone who might know where she is.

There’s such a beautiful sense of atmosphere in each place they are led to, and such lovely settings, as well, shared with a dash of magical realism. As their journey continues, as they search to complete this puzzle with a full picture of what happened to their mother, they meet several people along the way who add more to this story. Is it an easy journey? No. It is occasionally fraught with pitfalls, but it is also filled with the kindness of strangers, as well.

It’s rare that I read a story where both the prose and the story kept me completely engaged from the first page to the last, but I loved joining Zadie and Finn, as well as the other characters, in their search.



Pub Date: 15 Nov 2022

Many thanks, once again, to St. Martin’s Press for the ARC

I enjoyed this book from the first pages, and it kept pulling me along relentlessly, right to the end. I loved the dynamic between the sisters, who were well portrayed and very different in personality. The magic realism was well done and intriguing, and I loved seeing the world through the sisters’ eyes. Their modern-day quest to find their mother was a journey of love and trust in each other, as they dove into the unknown. This is a unique story and I found it delightful to read a book where I couldn’t guess what would happen next.

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the arc. I will be submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion on Goodreads immediately, and on Amazon and my Instagram account after publication.

This book was good. It kept me engaged for the most of it, but it definitely didn't fully go the way I expected it to go. This book is worth the read if you enjoy fantasy reads!

Zadie and Finn are sisters who couldn't be more different. One of the only things they have in common are their "gifts", -- Zadie is psychic, and Finn hears echoes of people's memories. Since their mother's disappearance 5 years ago, the girls have been separated --Zadie on her own, and Finn in a foster home. After Finn's graduation from high school, the girls are taking a vacation to the beach. When Finn proposes using the trip to find their mother, Zadie reluctantly agrees.

I enjoyed this book. I found all the magical/mystical storylines interesting, and thought it was an easy read.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

I thought this book was just okay. I didn't hate but I also didn't love it. A lot of the themes were really interesting and I thought the concept was unique but it just fell a bit flat for me.

This is a solid 3 for me. The plot and prose are going to captivate a wide audience but it just fell flat for me. I found both Zadie & Finn insufferable and the longer their “just one week” trip dragged on the less I cared about what happened to their mom, Nora, when she disappeared 5ish years in the past.

Objectively, this was well written and had an interesting interweave of magic & modernity. I just couldn’t get wrapped up in it like I expected.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for letting me enjoy this early in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book! From the very beginning, I was invested in the storyline and the main characters were incredibly lovable and so was their dynamic. I love a good story of sisterhood and family and this one delivered. The magical/supernatural aspects of everything made it even more interesting to me and I had a great time reading this. I did think the ending felt a little jumbled but overall, I got the story and it made enough sense to suspend disbelief. Great book!

I really enjoyed this novel! I may even say I enjoyed it more than the author’s previous popular novel, Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance. Ruth Emmie Lang is a magical realism expert. I found this one fast paced, entertaining and lovely! I always enjoy her nature themes sprinkled with magic. Would recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an electronic ARC in return for my honest review.

The cover totally sucked me in so after reading the blurb/synopsis I knew I wanted to read this book.

I really enjoyed this book. I stepped out of my comfort zone in reading outside of my preferred genres and was thoroughly impressed. I liked the characters. Zadie and Finn felt realistic to me especially the back and forth arguing. I wasn't expecting the ending, but I really enjoyed how it was tied up.

The writing style was a little different than what I usually read. It felt all over the place at some parts. I'm not sure how to describe it.

Overall, I liked the book and will definitely read more from this author!

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

Thanks to NetGalley for giving me access to this ARC!

I went in with an idea of what this story was but it turned into much more. I was hooked at a few parts and could have done without a couple parts.

The story was enjoyable. I guess it snuck in some fantasy genre that I do not tend to read. I'll look into other works by the author in the future.

THE WILDERWOMEN by Ruth Emmie Lang

I don’t normally choose books in the fantasy category but, I do enjoy magical realism and these two genres tend to intermingle a lot. What drew me to request this ARC was the premise - two estranged half-sisters working together to find their missing mom.

I thought some of the “sixth sense” abilities the author gave the sisters and other characters were really unique and creative. Finn can see/re-live the memories of other people and Zadie can see into the future. One of the supporting characters had the ability to HEAR the stars as musical notes and some were able to communicate with trees - very cool!

I didn’t care for the slow pacing and meandering plot. The people the girls meet during their journey (very) conveniently help them figure out where their mom might be. That’s great and all, but not very realistic. Also, it seems the tagalong ex-boyfriend didn’t really serve a purpose to the girl’s journey.

Overall, this was enjoyable. There are themes of self-acceptance, appreciating one’s strengths and weaknesses, and learning/growing to love people. This would be well received by those who love YA novels.


**ARC courtesy of @NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press

Rating: 3.5/5 ⭐️

This was a very fun book, and I loved it! The adventure, the sister's love, and the discovery made it an adventure that was well worth taking. Along with that, it is definitely a feel-good book, despite some of the heavier topics.

What a wonderful story of the Wilder sisters, Zaddie and Finn, who decide to use their own special powers to go find their mom who disappeared years ago.Whole searching for their mom the girls not only reconnect but discover a bit about themselves. Just like her previous story Ms Lang did a wonderful job with her character development, making me love them all.

Zadie and Finn are sisters with certain “abilities.” Zadie gets visions of the future and Finn can see echoes of peoples’ past memories. Even with these abilities, they did not expect their mom to walk out without so much as a word of explanation. Five years later, they decide to go looking. But what will they have to endure to find her?

This book was so incredible I’m not sure I have the words for it yet. It explores themes of family, love and loss, healing, and forgiveness. I slowed down while reading this to really draw it out and I still wanted more! The writing and voices were fantastic!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Five years ago, Finn and Zadie's mother left their house and never came back. The two sisters handled the trauma and view their mother in very different ways, and their lives have taken divergent paths. But the Wilder women are different from most women, each has special "abilities." Zadie has verbal premonitions that, unfortunately, are not always particularly clear in their meaning. Finn experiences "echoes," experiencing the actual memories of others as if she was that person, which naturally can be both terrifying and extraordinarily enlightening. When Finn realizes she may have clues and possible echoes of her mother, however, she convinces her sister to set off on a quest to find her, or find out what happened to her, and maybe find each other and themselves in the process.
I found this extremely original and enjoyable. The sister dynamic was well-drawn and believable, especially the differing views of their mother and how they've dealt with it over the years. The action is smoothly plotted and never drags, all the secondary characters are well-realized, and the special 'abilities" as presented appear perfectly plausible. Highly recommended.
My copy was a eARC given from NetGalley for an honest review.

Five years ago, Nora Wilder disappeared leaving behind her two daughters, Zadie and Finn. Even though she's a psychic, Zadie didn't foresee her mother's disappearance. When Finn seizes an echo of a memory of Nora, she believes their mother is still alive and convinces Zadie to accompany her on a journey into their mother's past. But as Finn starts losing herself in Nora's memories, Zadie must decide where to draw the line or risk losing them both.

Ruth Emmie Lang employs subtle magical realism in The Wilderwomen. Instead of X-Men-like powers, Zadie and Finn have slightly useless flashes of abilities. The plot focuses on the estranged sisters discovering their past, but I had difficulty staying engaged with the meandering story. Plus, the strange ending made the whole novel feel pointless to me.

I finished this book about a month ago, and the more time that's passed since I read it the more I like it! I struggled to connect with the characters while reading, and since the characters and their journey was very important to this book, I wasn't able to fully immerse myself in the story while I read. However, it's undeniably well-written and original, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy in a naturalistic setting. 3,5 stars for me, but potentially 5 stars for another reader.

This review has also been posted to Goodreads and Storygraph, and a TikTok review is located here: https://www.tiktok.com/@allyzinnia/video/7127343586798144814?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7101329330955257390

Thank you St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the review copy!