Lang starts the story with sister’s Zadie who lives on her own and sometimes has the ability to see future events. Zadie is angry with her non present mother Nora, who without an explanation walked out of her and her sister’s life. Since they were only 13 and 8 at the time, Zadie’s sister Finn was placed in foster care. Nora disappeared 5 years ago without a trace. Now 17-year-old Finn has the ability to hear echoes of people memories, and she has been hearing her mothers. Determined that her mother is not dead, she decides that on her 18th birthday she wants for the sisters to go on a road trip to find their mother.
Both girls have been keeping secrets from one another, Zadie is keeping the fact that she is pregnant. While Finn is hiding the fact, that her foster parents want to adopt her. Finn tells Zadie that she wants the two of them to go on a road trip to find their mother. She tells her about the echoes that she has been hearing from Nora, and how she woke up in Nora’s world.
Zadie of course does not want Finn to go alone, decides to go to keep her safe.
Along the way, the girls meet other sixers who also have abilities, and people who help them learn to accept themselves for who they are.
The sisters learn along the way to form an unyielding bond, especially Zadie, when she almost loses Finn to the echoes.
Finn’s efforts to find their mother start to blur the line, between her own self and those of their mother.
Lang has authored a beautiful novel, full of wonderous twist and turns.
Her sense of magical realism draws the reader in, and you cannot help but feel a true connection between the 3 women.

Lang’s writing is impeccably done. And I cannot wait to read her next book.

An incredible piece of work!

Absolutely Stunning!

Bravissimo!

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang in exchange for an honest review. This was a very interesting book with a totally different writing style and feel. I enjoyed exploring the thoughts, feelings and adventures of the two sisters.

Noah wilder is an addictive character who will bring joy, laughter, mystery, and a bit of pain as well. The story is intriguing and honestly I’d read it again it was so good.

Finn has just graduated high school and her and her sister Zadie are going on a trip to the beach. But Finn wants to look for their mother who disappeared years ago. Finn and Zadie are special.. Finn can see “echoes” of memories, while Zadie gets premonitions. Was their mom special? Is that why she left? The girls set out on a journey, relying on Finns echoes to chase her footsteps.

This story was beautiful. The writing was provocative and wild. I could see each place clearly. I loved the girls finding all of the people that were special like them. And I loved the ending. Perfectly satisfying.

DNF for me. I think I was expecting more science fiction elements out of this than I got. I also think I've come to realize that sibling stories, whether in the conventional or non-conventional sense, are not really my cup of tea when it comes to my literature. And the other kicker here that road trips stories are hit or miss for me--in this case, it was a miss.

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

I wasn’t sure what to expect when reading this book but all of the twists had me always wanting to read the next page. Two sisters Zadie and Finn are abandoned by their mother reunite for a trip to the beach …. Their trip was so fun to read and and I can’t wait to read more by this author

The Wilderwomen is a beauty. Its speculative backbone holds strong in a quiet way throughout the entire book, giving stability to the emotional arcs of the main characters, two sisters named Zadie and Finn who experience the world in a unique way. Lang's prose is rich without being verbose, and is reflective of a deep love of nature. I really found myself savoring this one, and I wouldn't be surprised to find my way back to it in the future.

Loved it!

I've been eagerly awaiting another book by Ruth Emma Lang, and was not disappointed.

The is a story of reconciliation and exploration between two estranged sisters seeking to find their mother who disappeared five years previously. It is a tribute to the love family members have for each other, and the new families and love that we find along the way.

Lang’s characters are three-dimensional and, in the vein of Sarah Addison Allen or Alice Hoffman have poorly understood but extraordinary gifts. They set off on a week-long road trip and encounter new and old friends, learning along the way how to explore their talents in new ways.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this book, expected to be published November, 2022, in return for an honest review.

The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang is a family drama/coming of age tale that follows two sisters, Zadie and Finn, as they search for their mother and try to understand one another better along the way.

The book didn’t grab me from the get-go like I wanted it to. It did pick up and turn into a lovely story, but the first 10% was very slow and felt like a lot more information that was necessary.

I love magical realism and that aspect was well-done in The Wilderwomen. It felt like the sisters’ powers were two sides of the same coin, which was a lovely way to tie Zadie and Finn together but also define them separately.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review The Wilderwomen. My thoughts and opinions are entirely my own. I give The Wilderwomen a 3.5/5 (rounding up to 4) and would recommend it to fans of magical realism and tales of sisterhood and family.

The Wilderwomen follows sisters, Zadie and Finn Wilder, as they head out on a journey to find their mother who disappeared when the girls were young. Zadie thinks she is taking her younger sister Finn on a high school graduation trip, but Finn convinces her it's time to follow their instincts and go looking for their mom.

Sprinkled with magical realism, both girls have special gifts and they also believe their mom has a gift she kept hidden that is what lead to her disappearance. Zadie has premonitions of the future while Finn has echoes of the past. Following their gifts, they drive halfway across the country rekindling their relationship and making new friends along the way.

This is a very sweet book about the bond of sisters and the importance of family and those you make your family. Finding a sense of belonging also runs deep throughout the story. Lovers of Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe will also enjoy this book for its story and magical realism elements. The entire cast of characters is lovable, and Zadie and Finn's journey is one you don't want to put down.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book that releases on November 15th. This is a book you'll definitely want on your Fall TBR. Until then, I highly recommend Ruth Emmie Lang's first novel, Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstances. Another sweet story with an emotional journey and loveable characters.

Confused?! Was anyone else confused with this one? I was so confused with the writing and kept being distracted and putting the book down. I think it was kind of a heavy way to write a young adult book. I mean I know a lot of YA readers like myself are not young adults but still this was a lot. And in the end I think this one just wasn't for me.

I love a novel that bridges genres, moods, tones and emotions. For me, The WIlderwomen was a wonderful mix of family drama, science fiction, fantasy and general magic. Ruth Emmie Lang's unique voice brought these characters to life and made them feel real, like real women existing in the world - not an easy feat given the somewhat supernatural elements of the story. Overall, an outstanding read - many thanks to St. Martin's for providing me with an advanced reviewer copy in exchange for my honest opinion. I believe Wilderwomen will be a much talked about read for late 2022 and I can't wait for everyone to read it!

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️/ 5

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the gifted digital ARC!

Nora Wilder was not your typical mom: she took her girls on unplanned vacations, dyed their hair blue spontaneously, and sometimes didn't seem to be all there. Then one night, she disappeared. In the wake of her absence, sisters Zadie and Finn grew apart: Zadie shielding her heart and making a series of reckless decisions, and Finn seeking shelter in her foster family's normalcy. But when Finn graduates high school and the sisters set out on a road trip, the trail to their mother seems clear for the first time in five years. What will they find out about her - and themselves - along the way?

The Wilderwomen was an easy read, a road trip of discovery for two sisters. I enjoyed the changing perspectives, getting to see inside each character's motivations, as well as the flashbacks to round out the narrative. I felt that Ruth Emmie Lang's writing style was more successful, though, in the format she chose for her book Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance: a series of tangentially-connected micro stories. When her writing style is applied to a full-length novel like The Wilderwomen, the pacing became meandering. It was good, but not great.

Magical realism is one of my favorite sub genres of fiction, and The Wilderwomen didn't disappoint! This novel took me on an amazing journey despite feeling a little disjointed at times. (Which may not have been the writing; I had to keep putting the book down to finish other things). Ruth Emmie Lang is a new to me author and I'm going to look into her previous book now that I've finished Wilderwomen. I'm looking forward to more from her!

The Wilderwomen was a great read about sisters, coming of age, abandonment, and mystery. I loved the sisters' journey as well as the people they met. It felt authentic and the magical bits did not seem over the top.

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang. This story was about 2 sisters searching for their Mom who had left without a trace. This book was a travel book, as they go from place to place to collect clues. Both sisters have psychic abilities. I did not connect with either character.

Interesting writing style: conversational in some chapters. Very metaphorical and lyrical. My mind would wander right along with the vivid imagery - and the distracted writing style. ("Distracted" is probably not the right word, but I am having a hard time finding a fitting synonym for "wandering" this early in the morning.)

So many themes are woven into this one. At one point I thought to myself: is the literary device of magical realism being used as a thinly disguised explanation for abandonment? or as an excuse/apology for the actions taken and decisions made during an episode of mental illness? I suspected that this was the case, based on very little evidence, but I will leave this up to future readers to decide for themselves.

I couldn't connect with these characters: to me, they were so other-worldly, magically endowed, and all of them were searching or escaping or on a journey of self-discovery.

I'm rating this one a 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This book had vibrant characters and so many themes of the power and meaning of family & finding and understanding oneself wrapped into a modern Alice in Wonderland-type tale. The contemporary meets the fantastical, the mundane meets the psychic, leading to questions of how the world works.

This book had beautiful prose and delightful relationships, and that wonderful meandering spirit of a road trip. But something about the pace made it hard for me to invest emotion into the book, and that made it hard for me to fully appreciate the quirky complexities of the tale.

Perhaps I should give it another go to fully understand this novel.

The world need more books like this one. But something about it didn't have the flare I hoped it would.

Summary: Nora Wilder mysteriously leaves her house one day and doesn't come home, abandoning her two daughters, Zadie and Finn. 5 years later, the sisters go on a cross-country adventure, using their special abilities to attempt to find their mom.

This book was unlike anything I've read before! I love books with magical realism elements, and this was no exception. I was intrigued by the mystery of what happened to Nora, and I felt connected with the two sisters and their emotions - particularly Zadie - throughout the book.

In my opinion, side characters can make or break a book. In this case, the side characters were phenomenal. The sisters meet a variety of individuals as they go on their journey, and we spend just enough time with each of them to make an impact, but not distract from the main plot.

This book gets a big thumbs up from me. If you're looking for mystery and a little bit of magic, this is for you.

Five years ago, Nora Wilder walked off into the night, leaving behind her two daughters, Zadie and Finn. The former moved on, writing her mother off as irresponsible and finding new relationships. But Finn, even as she prepares for college and receives an offer of adoption from her caring foster family, never gave up hope. And when the two sisters reunite for a summer getaway, Finn has other ideas: she believes Nora is still out there.

Together, and much to Zadie’s chagrin, the two set off not for the beach, but on a journey to find their mother. They’re not completely unarmed, though: each of them has a “gift.” Zadie has psychic flashes, though she’s suppressed them for years. Finn reads—or, rather, lives—memories left behind in different locations. As they follow vague visions and cast-off echoes, they discover that the world is full of people like themselves. Unfortunately, their mother’s gift may have been her downfall… and it seems to be hitting Finn now, too.

The Wilderwomen soars when it covers its more paranormal subject matter: Finn’s echoes, Zadie’s encounters with her mother in the year before her disappearance, the strangers they meet who paint prophecies on stones and hear the songs of the stars. But it somehow feels out of touch when addressing standard real-world anecdotes, like graduation parties and diner breakfasts. Fortunately, the worldbuilding and mysteries keep the mundane aspects of the story upright when they falter. The ending may leave a reader feeling as though there are still answers left unspoken; whether this is by design is hard to tell, but the true heart of the story is still admirably resolved.

(This review was scheduled to be printed in the Fall 2022 issue of Sci Fi Magazine before the publication's cancellation.)