This was such a lovely, wholesome story about friendship and love. It really had me gripped from start to finish and I was laughing and crying throughout.

3.75/5 stars! The premise of this book is super fun and I was looking forward to reading it. This is a cozy, light-hearted read. I, too, have wanted to abandon my big-city lifestyle and go raise chickens in the countryside, so I feel like this story was written for me. Overall, it was sweet and enjoyable and had great LGBTQ+ representation. My only complaint was that I didn't really connect with the character, which made the story a bit dull for me.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Wild things is about Eleanor. She is not happy with her life and on a drink new years eve she decides to do a year of wild things. Like get a tattoo, have a threesome or move to the countryside with a couple of friends one of which the girl she has been in love with for ages. Will she finally tell her about het feelings.

I loved the premise a group of friends buying a house together. But this was such a Slow burn. So very very slow. There is barely any time of them actually being together. Bonus there also wasn't a third act break up because well you know they where not together for long enough.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you publisher for my ARC of Wild Things from NetGalley.

Our protagonist Eleanor finds herself adrift in ordinary life, and decides to do a new wild something each month. The turning point of the events come as El moves with her group of alphabet mafia friends to their own 'commune' - a run down home in need of work in the English countryside but still commuting distance to London.
The story is witty and amusing, heart-warming and genuine. The dialogue was snappy. The romance is slow-brewed and tender.

I would have appreciated it if the ending was a bit more developed, as a lot of the resolutions seemed to get thrown together pretty quickly.
This book is a warm and fuzzy rom-com of a bisexual friends to lovers. Will they, won't they?

A refreshing and encouraging tale.

This year, El wants to make a change from the monotony her life has become. As the New Year rings in, she promises herself this year she's going to be wild, she's going to live. But so far, instead of leaving her soul-crushing job, moving out of her awful flat share and having crazy adventures; she's managed a small tattoo, broken up with her boyfriend, had a very unsatisfying threesome and given herself a huge headache. And then of course, there's the issue that no matter how wild she tries to be, she's still hopelessly in love with her best friend, Ray - who is not only the most beautiful woman she's ever seen but who knows how to live on the wild side.

So when the perfect chance for a new start, for a wild adventure comes up - she grabs it. Her, Ray and their two friends leave the city behind and move into the countryside to live together in their own personal commune, to start a life together, be closer to nature and make something beautiful in this run down manor in the middle of nowhere.

But now they're here, trying to live in perfect harmony, can she ever tell Ray how she feels? Would she love her back, or will it ruin the life they've worked so hard to build forever?

"The version of myself that only exists in my head, the one who takes chances, steps out of my room and spends the night running wild."

Gloriously funny and brimming with heart, Wild Things shows you exactly why they call it a crush - it's tough enough being crazy for someone and not knowing how they feel, but imagine living with them, meeting their dates, hugging them and still having to act normal? I almost felt in love with Ray myself a few chapters into this book.

Eleanor and Ramona - El and Ray - were sides of the same coin; shy and confident, calculated and impulsive, quiet and loud, but it just worked. Their friends and now co-commune owners, Will and Jamie complete the group to make an honestly stunning display of friendship and love - supporting, nurturing, caring - but so playful and fun. The characters are really the driving force of this story and it's clear how they've all been shaped by not only each other but the other people in their lives that have left a part of them along the way. They're all very different people, with different backgrounds, sexualities, personalities, but they share their love for each other (and Pret sandwiches!)

El is a brilliant narrator, always ready with a witty observation or joke just for us. The pace moves quickly and naturally, showing us little moments of real life that fly by before you've even realised - as El reflects on the past and anxiously over-thinks even now she's a wild woman, letting us into her thoughts in a personal style that makes it feel like a diary or a conversation with a friend. It was like little snapshots, patchwork moments strung together like a memory or a scrapbook and I absolutely loved it. I absolutely adored the way Kay set the scene throughout - the peaceful village life and the bustling business of the city (also, Polo Bar? Wow, that took me back to my own wild nights!)

The romance in this story is slow, sweet, a little steamy and so heartwarmingly tender - but this isn't just a love story, in fact romance is just one part of life that El is trying to work out. It's a story about a woman stuck in her life and trying to find her place, her people and her purpose. A brilliantly queer, painfully relatable and joyously uplifting story about love in it's countless forms.

Really loved this book. Found myself wrapped up in the story that I almost missed my train stop. Such a wonderful read with awesome characters and a dab storyline

I was absolutely thrilled to have been sent an advanced reader’s copy of Laura Kay’s new book, Wild Things. Wild Things follows the main character Eleanor and her adventure of doing one wild thing each month, a goal she set herself in fear of being seen as boring by her best friend/crush of many years.
This book is classed as LGBTQIA+ as well as General Fiction (Adult) and is set to be released in May 2023.

What I liked about it
Wild Things has been a refreshing change of pace compared to the kind of books I usually read. As someone who has anxiety and is bisexual, I found myself connecting with El instantly and recognising a lot of my own behaviours throughout the book. I feel as though I might just need a wild year myself. As the reader we witness El grow as she tackles unrequited feelings, being stuck in a job she hates, the minefield that is the dating scene and, more interestingly, buying a house in the countryside with her friends and converting it into a “gay commune” :). Honestly, this book was amazing and truly worth the read.

What I didn’t like about it
To be completely honest, I don’t even know why I include this section in my reviews. I never actually have anything relevant, let alone constructive to say.

El is secretly in love with her close friend Ray and lives in a crappy flat in London with a live in landlord. After going through a break up, another friend suggests that four of them buy a house together in the countryside. I thought this was a really fun and original story. It wasn’t predictable and I flew through it!

El is hopelessly in love with her best friend, Ray, but the feelings are seemingly not reciprocated. Hence, El pining and fantasising but not making a move. But a dare from Ray leads El into a year of wild things. As El agrees to do one wild thing each month, adventures ensue. When her friend Will breaks up with his girlfriend, he decides he still wants to buy the house he intended to buy with his now-ex, but he can't get a mortgage by himself. The solution? The group of friends - El, Ray, Will, and the fabulous Jamie, decide to buy the house together and turn it into a queer commune (plus the token straight friend, Will). What follows is a truly delightful story of a found family moving in together, fixing up their house, having a great time in the countryside, and befriending the locals - their new neighbours. However, El eventually leaves the commune after getting her heart broken. But eventually, she finds her way back to her found family and her home. This story is about friendship, found family, and doing wild things. Honestly, I picked this one up for the queer commune and stayed for the romance.

Wild Things is a romantic comedy about a woman who resolves to be more wild and ends up moving to a falling apart house in the countryside with her three friends, whilst hiding from the fact that she's in love with one of them. El has been stuck doing admin at a newspaper in London for years, where the only perk is that she can see her best friend Ray, who she also has a crush on. After El starts trying to do a wild thing a month on Ray's suggestion, El finds that she's not really enjoying these wild things, until the wild thing is a suggestion for El, Ray and their friends Will and Jamie to move to a house a 45 minute train journey from London and to attempt to do it up. As they start their queer (apart from token straight Will) commune, can El handle living so close to Ray?

This is exactly the kind of light romcom that it's easy to get into and read quickly (I stayed up late to finish and then write this review), as you follow El's ups and downs. Though her crush on Ray, and Ray's presence in general, is important in the novel, the romantic plotline isn't the only thing in the book, as there's also the whole moving to the countryside with your friends element, which is more of the concept of the book than the romance is. In light of the housing crisis, it's a concept that isn't so far away from reality, even if this version of moving with your friends to be a queer commune is very idealised and simple, because it is a romantic comedy. The vision of the countryside and the village they live in is very much how characters who lived in London would see the countryside, and probably if you grew up in an English village, as I did, then you do question a bit how harmonious it would actually be, and if people would be so community-spirited, but it is meant to be escapism, and maybe aimed more at people who have lived in cities or large towns more.

The narrative is very light and clearly going to end up happily (the main troubles in the book are the crush, somewhat absent parents, and a dead-end job), which makes it ideal for people looking for that sort of thing. It is cosy and sweet and though it isn't really the kind of thing I would usually read (it's more saccharine I think than Kay's other books, which I've also read), I did enjoy it, and it had a satisfying romcom plotline.

Thank you to Quercus for my eARC of this book. I adored Laura’s last 2 books so was v excited for this. It didn’t disappoint.
I absolutely loved the bisexual rep, and loved the (mostly) queer group of friends and their home. I loved the village setting and I also loved El’s family, how it was messy and imperfect but wholesome in its own way.
The romance element was actually my least favourite part, and that’s not to say it was bad because it wasn’t, but I didn’t love the dynamic between El and Ray at times. I felt like there could have been more chemistry and most showing instead of telling.
Overall I really enjoyed his book. I love reading queer joy and can’t wait to read what Kay writes next!

This is the first of author Kay’s three books that I’ve read, despite attending an event she spoke at in summer. I kept meaning to pick up previous titles but couldn’t get my hands on them (in a northern city). After reading this- which I could not put down- int he space of 2 and a half days I’m racing out to ask my local bookshop to order her titles in.

El(eanor) is in love with her best friend, Ray. Part of their group of four friends- mainly queer- knows and the rest, Ray included, don’t. That’s all I’ll say on the plot to avoid spoilers. It felt refreshing to read about queer characters where the storyline wasn’t coming out. The character’s sexuality wasn’t an afterthought but also wasn’t the storyline and they all (apart from maybe Mona- you’ll know her when you read it) had so much depth. I felt like I knew these characters. It’s very rare that I finish a book and hope it’s to be part of a series, that I’ll see the characters again (and in this book I’m very much treating/seeing Lavender Cottage as a character)- I usually find that feeling is exclusive to Marian Keyes’ books- but this is a plea to Kay to please write more. I need to know more! The epilogue left my imagination running wild I’m hungry to hear about the next 5 years for these characters then the next 10.

It’s rare that a book makes you laugh, makes you cry, has brilliant characters and a great plot to boot. This is definitely going to be in my top reads of 2023- regardless of having read it in February.

(I read an ARC of the book via NetGalley.)
5 stars.