A cute, and heartwarming queer romcom, featuring a friends to lovers romance that will keep you entertained until the very last page.
I really loved this one, it was filled with banter and characters that I loved and really rooted for.

I sped through this book, which is always a good sign that I'm enjoying it.

A fun queer read about a group of friends buying a house in the countryside together. Only one of them (our fearful protagonist) has an enormous crush on one of the housemates (their best friend). Comedy and chaos ensue.

I really loved the premise of friends pitching in to create their dream home. It's something I would love to do. Plus, the story is a helpful reminder that not saying the things that need to be said means you're sowing the seeds for more drama and pain later.

I think the 'wild thing every month' challenge was a little clunky and didn't always work in harmony with the rest of the story, but otherwise, a lovely read.

Great for fluff lovers!
I adored this book! It was funny from the get-go, and I found myself laughing out loud quite often! There is found family, cottage life completed with chickens and very lovable side-characters!
As a queer person in their late 20s that sometimes daydreams about leaving everything and go to live in the woods, this was very cozy to read! And nothing goes wrong - there were a few things I thought might go very wrong - like <spoiler> one of the friends abandoning them, or the chickens dying, or someone being a victim of a hate crime...</spoiler>. There was even redemption arcs where I didn't expect them!
The central story is more about this found family of 4 people, I think: they move from London to a village 45min by train, they adopt chickens and they are happy in their new life and new acquaintances. The romance that is mentioned in the blurb is present but mostly has an probably unrequited thing for most of the novel - <spoiler> I'd actually would have preferred if they didn't end up together, I think, even if their scenes at the end are very cute; quite shocked that they did end up together really </spoiler> .
Other things: I really enjoyed the tone and I thought the writing flowed really well.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Off I go to order my own copy!

I found this book a easy light read. A perfect filler book for in between heavier reads. It was super fluffy & cute.

El came across a lot younger than how I thought she would and can seem quite naive. My main dislike about this was that the resolution happened too easily/quickly and I felt like there could've been more communication.

I also loved all the side characters in the book, especially the neighbours from around the village. It made the book feel so full of love, I just wanted to squish them all!

Wild things is a joyous story of love and friendship and finding your people. The main protagonist, El, is hopelessly in love with her best friend Ray, and equally hopelessly stuck in a rut. So as a New Year resolution she decides to try a new wild thing every month. And what can be wilder than moving to a country house in urgent need of repairs with three of her best friends?
El, Ray, Jamie and Will are all absolute darlings, especially Jamie who becomes an internet sensation after he sets up an Instagram account @TheVillagePeople69, becomes instant friends with all locals and adopts chickens. But although I would LOVE to read the book about house renovations (and chickens), Wild Things is a story about El growing more confident and learning to reach out for what she wants. This gentle queer love story is a perfect read for the summer, and it firmly establishes Laura Kay as one of my favourite authors.

3.5
Cute, cozy, and heartwarming.
Wish there was more village antics/ somehow more chicken content.
I liked that this felt like a woman finds herself after divorce book but the divorce was with her old fearful self.
Truly deeply loved Jamie, what a gem.

Wild Things was great – a solid four-star read. Eleanor Evans, who works as an administrator at a newspaper and is hopelessly in love with her best friend Ray, is in the middle of doing her year of wild things when she decides to move to a house in the countryside with three of her best friends – including Ray. This was such a fun read with so many great little quips. (Swipe to see what I sent my friend Kyle – who is also gay and has a moustache.) I loved the house set-up and Jamie in particular was such a brilliant character – I really wish I could follow his house renovation Instagram! My only complaint was that I never warmed to Ray and so was never rooting for her and Eleanor to get together, which feels quite important for a book with such a central romance...

as the title suggests, this book is wild! buying an old house in the country and turning it into a gay commune with your best friends- very iconic.

i feel like this book did a great job at describing that feeling in your 20s/30s where you feel like you aren't "winning" at life. where everyone is on their own path and it feels like you are lost.

i am a sucker for the countryside and this has strengthened my argument for getting chickens!

This book was an unexpected pleasure. The audiobook absolutely made it a great reading experience - the narrator brought the characters and their emotions to life, I cannot praise them enough. The cast of characters in this novel are loveable and relatable, and entirely human. It's hard to get someone invested in a short standalone contemporary novel (and for it to have a lasting effect), but Wild Things did just that. A month later, and I cannot stop thinking about it. The story is full of humour, friendship, romance, and the most loveable found family friendship group. I can't recommend this enough!

One of my new favourite tropes is found family, and this has it in it. Such a delight to read. I havent read anything by this author but I will definately be doing so in the future.

After loving Laura’s last book “Tell Me Everything”, I was thrilled to be accepted for a review copy of Wild Things via Netgalley - thank you Quercus!

Laura Kay is the queen of LGBTQ+ romcoms and Wild Things has bags of charm and warmth to it. The story follows El, Ray and their two closest friends as they decide to leave London behind and buy a house together. It counts as part of El’s plans to “be more wild” in a year where she’s meant to be stepping out of her comfort zone. What follows is a fun tale of El adapting to life in the countryside and the challenges that comes with, while also navigating life and the problems that come with being a little bit in love with her best friend.

What I love about Laura’s books is that amid the fun and chaos, there’s always an undertone of warmth to her characters that slowly makes you root for their success and hope that things pan out for them. I found myself eagerly reading on in hopes that the “commune” style living situation would prove blissful and that Ray would reciprocate El’s feelings. It’s a comforting and warm queer romance that everyone should delve into this summer.

I would have preferred more focus to be on the friendship group and how things with the house developed - especially the chickens and the wider community - and the end did feel a tad too neatly tied up but I also love that about it

I've not read anything by Laura Kay before so was intrigued to read Wild Things. The plot sounded good - the sort of book I could pick up and read on the beach. And that's exactly the kind of book it was. Easy reading, cute story and characters that you root for.

Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy.

El Evans is stuck in a dead-end job, hopelessly in unrequited love with her best friend, Ray, and in need of a major life change. After a New Year's resolution to 'Be More Wild', El is soon in possession of one (small) tattoo, one (bad) hangover . . but she's trying and surely it can only get better?
So when the chance comes for El, Ray and their two closest friends to ditch the big city and move into a house in the middle of the English countryside, El decides to make this her big chance for a fresh start. But as they start plotting their bright new future and making preparations for a grand housewarming party, El is forced to confront her feelings for Ray—the feelings that she’s been desperately trying to keep buried. Is it worth ruining a perfectly good friendship for a chance at love?

A heartwarming, laugh out loud queer romance! A wonderful cosy feel good read, for when you need something to binge. I read this one so quickly.
Loved the representation in this book, across all the characters!

Fantastic!! Really great queer fiction, and a perfect summer read. Definitely would recommend for fans of Emily Henry and the author's previous titles.

I really enjoyed this little gay commune in the countryside. It did feel a little bit "Big City People Live The Country Bumpkin Life" for me at times but overall it was enjoyable.

I'm not sure I liked El and Ray together. I would have loved to see some more of Ray's feelings on El, as when they do get together it felt rather out of the blue on Ray's side.

I would read a book about Jamie and the chickens forever.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc of this book.

I’m used to reading a lot of YA, but since I’m mid twenties now (I don’t want to talk about it) I’ve noticed that the problems of teenage kids aren’t always as relatable to me anymore.
I felt like I could relate to this story a lot more than I expected. I mean, I have fantasised about living in big house with my queer friends (bbys if you’re reading this, I know we were joking but I would absolutely be up to it, I’ll even take out the trash)

I love how not everything went right, there was conflict and doubt, just like in real life. Overal I really enjoyed this book and would totally pick up a physical copy if I came across one.

This book was enjoyable but did not completely grip me. It started off strong and I enjoyed the other characters, but the main character annoyed me, and I just felt as if the story did not really go anywhere. The friends moving to the countryside section of the book was fun though and I enjoyed them meeting people in the town and adjusting to country life. As a romance book though it just falls a little flat.

I loved loved loved it. I have been a fan of all of Laura Kay's books but this one is the winner for me - sharp, funny, emotional and charming.

Now I've read it I want to take all my best friends and go and live in a commune with some chickens and some wild swimming, whilst charming all our new neighbours and holding massive parties in our garden - is that too much to ask in life?

El has been in love with her best friend Ray for years, watching her date from afar, pining over every glance or touch from Ray. All of their friends know it, and are urging El to say something, but Ray is oblivious - and El has resigned herself to watching from the side-lines, too scared to say anything for fear of ruining the friendship and losing Ray completely.

Until El, Ray and two other best friends- the social media superstar Jamie, and heartbroken Will - decide to buy a house in a small village, and live there together in an LGBT+ super-commune. How can El bear to live with Ray without saying anything - but how can she bear not to?

This beautifully pitched romcom has everything that I want in a book - the tension between El and Ray was palpable and I could totally see why El didn't want to say anything, whilst equally willing her on to say something. Jamie is an absolute dream to read about- more about him please! - and Will is quietly in the background, soothing his broken heart and finding out what he wants from life.

Oh and the gorgeous pink and green cover! To be honest I was sold before I'd even opened the book - but the story inside totally lives up to the promise .

A solid 5 stars

A book about friends that live in London then move to an English village to renovate an old house that they name The Lavender House and then name their chickens after Bella, Edward and Jacob? Sign me up. This book was so fun. I enjoyed reading about their friendship, but the part I liked the most was El’s journey.

Oh my god Laura writes the most stunningly heartfelt stories. I think it would be hard for anyone not to see themselves in Eleanor at least once through this story, be it her feeling lost or her yearning for someone she can’t have. I particularly loved the found family aspect of this book and i honestly don’t think i’ll ever be happy if I don’t get to live in a queer countryside commune with vampire chickens.