Wilder Girls

I loved the atmosphere of this book. Great descriptions of this new world created by the Tox, and lots of tension created by how these school girls were dealing with this situation.

The romance to me was okay, it was actually hard for me to picture the two girls together, as it seemed like they were always on completely different pages of thought for me.

I'm okay with the open ending I suppose but some of the stuff leading up to the ending I just didn't love. As another reviewer points out some of the character motivations were hard to understand, a little flat. This makes me wish the book was longer so we could have filled in some more back stories or details for them.

I did like this a lot however and I think it will stick on my mind.

Really 3.5 stars, but rounding up because I did compulsively read it over 2 days, and THAT COVER!This definitely owes a lot to Annihilation - both the book and the movie adaptation. It also has a few echoes of Lord of the Flies, a bit of the feel of Hunger Games (though really no plot similarities), and of course plenty of tropes from body horror / plague narratives. The one that leaps to mind is the TV show Helix.For most of its duration, the story deftly balances secrets and disclosure - learning about the tox but wondering what The Authorities are keeping hidden kept me fully engaged. However, I felt like this balance was lost toward the end, with the rather ham-fisted expedient of the Navy doctors running away, and the two adults at the school excused from any explanations of their actions, knowledge, or motivations by one killing herself and the other losing her mind. The upshot is there isn't much pay-off to the mysteries. There are a couple developments that lead to guessed-at explanations, but I didn't find it satisfying. Meanwhile, the mystery/horror/adventure story was woven with interpersonal mechanics that were mostly reasonable character development, though sometimes had me rolling my eyes at the adolescent drama (I acknowledge that I'm not the target age bracket by a mile!). Then towards the end, the driving issue for me (the mystery) was relegated and the interpersonal drama became the point of the exercise. I can see the potential in that approach, but the execution fell flat for me. (For a much better example, check out [b:My Best Friend's Exorcism 41015038 My Best Friend's Exorcism Grady Hendrix https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533059241l/41015038.SY75.jpg 46065002].)This is definitely worth picking up at the library and bingeing your way through. Not only is the mystery and horror compelling, it was also lovely to see such a female-centered story, and very matter-of-fact LGBTQ+ representation! Just know that the ending may not deliver everything one might hope.(A note about the audio book: I'm glad I got it because I needed to know what happened next, and it really helped me get more reading in. However, I didn't much care for the Hetty reader, and the Byatt reader annoyed me like hell. Also, I don't think you can hear Byatt in the Audible sample. So caveat emptor.)

(Content warnings from author here: https://itsrorypower.com/books/wilder-girls/. Hard agree on the body horror warning in particular.)

This isn't usually my thing and I'm not quite sure how to review it - I enjoyed it but I wanted more answers, and I wish the ending had been a little less abrupt. The writing was excellent and I enjoyed the slow reveal of what was going on with all the girls and the Tox (by the way, this is quite a book to read in the second year of a pandemic, though the Tox is very different than Covid-19). I tend to prefer lighter works, but this was compelling and I had to know what was going to happen.

I legit hated this. None of the worldbuilding made any sense to me. All the characters were so much the same that I could not remember their names or who was who. The main character is a horrible person with no empathy. But we are supposed to rote for her. Everything in this novel happened because people did stupid shit but it's not framed as a lesson either. 

Then out of nowhere it suddenly switched perspectives, with some horrible grammar so I guess signify a slower thought process because she is sick? But it was not done very well and getting through it took so much effort. Then she is also totally incompetent and basically kills a guy because she wanted a kiss. None of the characters are likeable. 

The ending was immensely anticlimactic and basically meaningless. 

I kinda wanna give it 1 star but I only do that if the book included unnecessary racism, homophobia, transphobia or sexism. Tho I would also like to mention fucking everyone in this book is white. Anyway fuck this, 2 stars

I really wanted to like Wilder Girls but personally, I just could not connect with the characters. From the beginning, I did not feel like I was introduced to the world well. It felt like I was just dropped in without any context. I did not feel a connection to any of the characters mainly because I felt like they had no voice in the writing. I felt no personality. Teenagers are full of feelings and I feel like this situation would make them angry yet I got nothing from them to indicate that. The love interests felt force. I think the book would have been fine without them since we felt no connection to that love either. The ending was a disappointment as well... I feel like the entire book was just a lead up to the last 2 chapters where you learn the purpose of the disease and then that is it.

Creepy and unsettling (in the best possible way). I could not put this book down.

The ending left far more questions than answers but I'm assuming that it's being set up as a trilogy.

I loved that it's a tiny bit queer, but also that there's no romance (I hate the predictable love triangles in YA sci-fi). A lot of the dread in the book is tied to the disorienting experience of being a young woman in a body that's changing in ways you can't control and don't fully understand, which was very effective. And I looooove the cover.

This book was a lot better than I expected it to be. It reminded me a bit of Annihilation (the movie, I have not read the book) in the best way. I really liked the main character and the way she describes things. I am also very happy that the romance was not the main part of the book, that wouldn't have suited the tone at all. Aside from that, the world building and suspense was very atmospheric and realistic. There were a few things in the book that I did not care about that much, but the plot twists made me forget about those little things. Maybe this is not for everyone, though I do suggest you give it a try.

I was hesitant to read this because Lord of the Flies is not a favorite, but it is not a retelling of Lord of the Flies, but like Lord of the Flies mixed with body horror sci-fi. So I enjoyed it. The ending felt incomplete, so I was expecting to see a sequel, but I didn't. So the ending was a little disappointing, but it fits. I liked the interaction between the girls. I liked seeing from Byatt and Hetty's perpective. The body horror was not too gory, so the body mutations were ineteresting and added well to the story. There some things that weren't directly answered, but you can guess what the answers are.
I guess overall I wasn't ready to leave yet. I want to see more with these girls.

Was going to be 3 stars but I am another person who got mad at the ending. The pacing was also wayyy off and nothing seemed to happen then things finally happened then it ended?

Maybe I read too many horror novels and I couldn't give this one “points for originality” since I thoroughly have other original horror novels I enjoyed much more.

Rating: 3.4 leaves out of 5
Characters: 2.5/5
Cover: 5/5
Story: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Genre: SciFi/Dystopian Fiction
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: Kinda

Another book I found on Tiktok. I will admit that the cover had a major play in me reading this book. I have been putting off YA novels for a reason but I decided to give it a go.

Is it a horror? Not really but the description of the Tox is disgusting. I love horror, not gore. The mystery around the virus is what kind of kept me going for most of it though the characters played a good part in it too.

HETTY 5/10
I never know who she likes. The book makes her all out for Byatt but then somehow she is supposedly in love with Reese? She literally makes no sense. The only thing that makes her bearable is her determination. Hetty rushes into things and doesn't think of who she is hurting behind her.

BYATT 8/10
I don't know much about her besides that she lies a lot. She seems to be caring towards the girls. Hetty makes it seem like she is super soft and caring whereas Reese says she is someone totally different with her. I was really confused if she liked Hetty as a friend of more. Though it seemed to be a big theme in this book. During her time with the scientist I kinda liked her more except for what she did to that poor guy.

REESE 7.9/10
She is as stubborn as a mule, dumb in her anger, and maybe almost the most likeable character. Byatt one by a hair. If only Reese hadn't fallen for Hetty. It just didn't make sense. Especially with how she started beating one Hetty for getting a spot she wanted though Hetty hadn't wanted it.

I really wish we got all three girls' side of the story. It was really dumb to just do two. I felt like a good chunk of the book was missing. I really loved Byatt's story. It gave us so much more answer but sadly also that much more questions.

What I really hated was the lameness of what was causing the virus and the ending. The girls all come together and leave the island after most of them died from the virus or the killer bear. We don't know if they made it on shore or what happened after that. The author was VERY lazy with the ending and I almost rated the book a 2 because of it.