no

not really sure how to feel about this one! it is well written and the characters and their relationships are compelling, but also: it's confusing due to the switching POVs, and more graphic than I was expecting.

though the POV switching was often confusing, I did like how personal the short one-or-two sentence ones were. I just wish there was a better way to differentiate between Her thoughts, the others' thoughts, shared thoughts, etc.--they're all italicized! it might have worked better with small caps and/or bolding.

Surprisingly good! I was wary of the whole dark academia billing, as I dislike TikTok trends/aesthetics/what-have-you, but it was very enjoyable! I'm not a huge fan of fairy myth or romance, but both elements worked out well. One of the few romantic subplots I've actually enjoyed is in this book! The characters fit well together, and had a healthy relationship. The prose is deliciously descriptive, but not overbearing. I also enjoyed the in-world quotes that preceded each chapter.

Issues:

I couldn't decide on a rough time period that the book is based on, so details like television, the common use of cars, and women wearing pants in a misogynistic society threw me off. I was thinking the world building was 1920s-30s-ish, but I'm getting a 50s, maybe even 60s impression now. I really don't know. It doesn't matter much.

Lastly, Preston is just a bit too perfect. Sure, he's arrogant, but no-one ever treats their partners well all the time. I wish that wasn't the case in books or real life, but, considering the goings-on of the story, he should have at least one minor mistake interacting with Effy. On the flip side, she does make mistakes relationship-wise, making her portrayal stick out less in a book of messed-up people.

Written by Cheryl Strayed, Wild is a memoir focused on Strayed's navigation of her grief and the mountain wildernesses of the western US. After the death of her mother, Strayed decides to hike the PCT with little planning to "fill the hole in [her] heart."

I've always been curious of hiking (especially backpacking) as my dad loved to tell me stories about the time he spent hiking a section of the Appalachian Trail. I haven't gotten to experience much hiking because I live in Texas, so I was quite excited when I came across this book.

One fault of the book is how similar many of the scenes are. Repetition is an important element of writing, but Strayed overuses it, using more or less the same turns of phrase to describe her emotions. I would have liked to see more of her struggles with grief on the trail itself, not just her grief before she went on her hike. Presumably, she also went through negative emotions on the trail along with the positive + the expected exhaustion.

Frankly, it's amazing Strayed safely navigated the trail alone. She hitchhiked with complete strangers on many occasions, encountered rattlesnakes, carried too little water and a too heavy bag, and walked for a few days with duct-taped sandals as shoes. I can imagine there was a little embellishment involved, but it's still an absolute feat. This comment is separate from my writing judgements.

Wild is an entertaining book for those who love memoirs of nature and grief. I was absorbed by Strayed's story, though some of her arrogance pulled me out of it.

I don't think I'm the target audience here--my school's book club voted for this because it's a horror book and works well for October. However, it's a middle grade book. I am in a high school book club that usually only reads YA, and my personal taste is a mixture of YA and adult.

In conclusion: I'm too old for this book and I think it's dumb.

I took the time to write a nice long review for this, but I forgot to save it before switching to the dates read page :(

A brief summary: good book that was interesting and different from the others in the series, but had problems with subtlety. As a fluid person myself, I think that Jeri didn't need to explain their gender each time they met a new character. Readers are smart, just put something like "the characters made small talk, and found that they had a few things in common." They'll understand!

Additionally, the sections between chapters that are annotations of a Tonist text are really funny and accurate to irl religion. As someone raised Christian, that is exactly what goes on in the adult Sunday school classes.