This book reminded me of a modern day Lord of the Flies. Aside from the stunning front cover, the story line was gripping from the beginning and was full of gore and definition to send your mind spinning. The writing style was really on point, I'm surprised it was Rory Power's debut novel! I look forward to reading the next instalment and more work from this author

I really enjoyed Wilder Girls - it reminded me of The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. Perfect for fans of YA.

Wilder Girls is definitely a marmite book - you're either going to love it or you'll hate it. I'm firmly on the side of those who love this book. I would describe it as something akin to The Maze Runner in terms of the dystopian, secluded setting. I know this book is categorised as horror and it definitely would have to be if this was produced as a film, in particular, due to how gory it is. As a book, though, I don't know that horror is the right genre, though that might just be me!

I loved the characters, they were all badass yet simultaneously vulnerable. There's a queer romance in this, but it's so subtle that it doesn't take away from the action and intensity of the book. Beware that this book is VERY open-ended, to the point where it can feel a little inconclusive. However, I thought the ending worked perfectly. I don't think there was ever a chance of this book's narrative having a closed, neatly wrapped ending.

I was intrigued by the concept of this book but found it to be quite slow paced and had very little pay off. Some parts were interesting but unfortunately I think this book/writing style was not to my taste

Showcasing the life of a school of girls returning to their primal nature, this novel is rich in horror.

I absolutely loved this! Intriguing to the last page, it kept me guessing throughout. Really well done.

I've heard lots of great things about Wilder Girls and I was really excited to finally read it and see what all the fuss was about. Raxter Island is home to a group of teenage girls who find themselves quarantined at their boarding school following an outbreak of a disease called 'The Tox'. This pandemic is unlike the usual flu symptoms or viral outbreaks you may have read in other books, this disease takes host in the girls and proceeds to twist, change and manipulate their bodies in the most horrific of ways. I was surprised at how gory this book was at times but it was never gratuitous. The ways in which each girl is affected by The Tox is different and their bodies take on forms that are sometimes at one with the nature that surrounds them on the island. I loved the body horror aspects of the book and the queer representation was a welcome change. Unfortunately I was seriously disappointed with the rest of the story overall. The pacing was slow and nothing happened for the first 100 pages or so which is disconcerting for such a short book. All of the girls seemed so similar I sometimes struggled to differentiate who was who and the sense of isolation I was expecting just wasn't there. There was so much potential with the premise but the story did not provide any pay off and by the end it fizzled out to nothing, such a shame.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

Eighteen months since Raxter School was put under quarantine. For what? No one knows. The Tox has slowly been infecting the students, one by one, in unique ways. One girl can lose an arm while another gains one. Now, cut off from the world, the girls don't attempt to leave their school grounds, as the tox has also infected the wildlife, making even the smallest of animals a deadlier prey. When Hetty discovers her best friend, Byatt, has gone missing, her actions to find her, including breaking quarantine, reveals an even sinister secret lurking beneath.

I won't lie reading this while under an actual quarantine made this a lot spookier than I had originally expected it to be. Wilder Girls is beyond creepy and immensely gritty. Alternating between POV, we see the world through the eyes of Hetty and Byatt as they both realise what is happening to them. This story is very atmospheric, and I felt uncomfortable as we slowly discover how the tox infected the girls. And that discomfort was very great at compelling you to read on.

You're probably wondering why the low rating? The premise was SO good, but I just lost interest. There is nothing bad about this book. It was just one of those books where I couldn't really describe it, but it's more of a feeling. Which is why I can't really note anything negative, aside from the ending. Opening endings aren't bad, but for a plot like this, some closure would've made it a lot of impact and enjoyable for me. That being said, I can see how someone else would think otherwise. This is definitely a book that would be enjoyed by another reader that isn't me.

Reading the blurb I thought I would be blown away with this book, sadly I was left feeling a little disappointed. Don’t get me wrong it was a good read and was written well but the ending was deflating, it felt unfinished. I would still give it a 3.5 star rating though because it did have many good bits and it was just the ending that let me down.

An incredibly gripping tale of a group of school girls quarantined on an island with a malevolent disease called the Tox. This book is every bit a YA version of Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy, neatly rolled into a chilling package that ties in body horror with puberty and all the uncertainties that come with adolescence.

2.5 stars

For eighteen months, the students of Raxter School for Girls have been stuck on the island and in the school in quarantine. The Tox has ravaged the wildlife as well as the humans living there, killing most of the teachers and changing the girls in peculiar ways.
The girls count on supplies from the outside world while they wait for a cure.
When Hetty's best friend Byatt goes missing, Hetty is determined to find her, daring to enter the woods, where strange creatures roam, and breaking the quarantine.
Hetty's search for Byatt leads to her making discoveries about the school and the Tox.
Will the cure work?
Will Hetty find Byatt?

Wilder Girls is an odd book and I'm not really sure what to think about it. There were things that I liked and things that I didn't like about it.
Hetty was the main character and I feel a bit mixed about her. She was an OK character but I didn't really feel that I fully connected to her.
There weren't really any characters that stood out for me, but Byatt and Reece were both complicated characters who I didn't really like.
The setting and the concept of the Tox were interesting.
The plot was OK but not much really happened and I wasn't gripped by what was happening, despite there being some action.
The writing style took me a while to get used to and I struggled a little at times to connect with the storyline and to care about the characters.

Overall, this was an OK read.

Possibly not the best book to read during this time (it features its own pandemic) but a fast-paced and mystery filled book. Creepy at times and a open ending - leaves readers asking, what will happen to the Raxter girls?

Boarding school body horror. This genre-breaking novel is leading the charge away from books about mean girls, queen bees and outcasts; this story’s led by girls who build each other up and work together to keep each other sane and safe. Several threats and mysteries combine to make this book an unputdownable one. Fans of body horrors like Black Hole and the works of Junji Ito who want to try a YA novel instead of a graphic one, and fans of women-led horror movies like The Craft and Assassination Nation should give Wilder Girls a read. I will recommend this book to fans of YA mysteries and anyone who wants to form their own girl squad.

It’s disappointing to mark my first read of the year as a one star, but I found this book terrible. It’s not long enough for everything that happens, so the pace is lighting-fast and the plot ends up making little sense. It’s a shame because the basic plot is a good idea, but it’s poorly executed. At least the cover is nice, I guess?

Wow. I think the first thing to mention about this book is that prose! Oh my goodness; it is raw and powerful, disturbing and horrifying, and it hooked me from the very beginning. I was drawn in by the charcaters, the setting, the intrigue and the mystery. It rather reminded me of the Grace Year by Kim Liggett, which I absolutely adored.

The only criticism is that I felt a bit let down by the ending. It was a bit confusing which is a shame. I don’t know what I was hoping for, but it wasn’t that. Saying that, it wouldn’t put me off recommending it to anyone who is after a powerfully, dark and pacy YA read.

Another dystopian young adult book. I felt that it was original enough to keep me interested. Well written, plenty of scope for a sequel without being left wide open.

This has sat on my TBR for a while now. I’m not sure what took me so long to pick it up, but I’m very glad I have. Wilder Girls has been described as a feminist Lord of the Files retelling. Personally, I have never read Lord of the Files but from what I know I can see the comparison. This is very much a world where you have to fend for yourself.

The Story and Characters

The girls on Raxter island have been put under quarantine due to the Tox. A disease that changes their bodies, kills some and damages the entire environment of the island. Conditions are harsh, there isn’t enough food or basic necessities and learning to shoot is an essential skill.

Hetty, Reese and Byatt are three of the girls. Fierce friends looking out for each other and getting by. For the first part of the story we are told everything from Hetty’s point of view and it is through her eyes, that we start to sense that maybe things are not quite as the girls have been told.

Once Byatt goes missing, we start to switch between Hetty’s point of view and Byatt’s. It really helped to evolve the story for me and we began to see just how the relationship between the girls works.

Life is hard for these girls and I thought I would find it hard to become emotionally involved in their story, that was not the case. It was easy to understand why they are like the way they are and I became very invested in their plight. In some respects, they are quite self-aware and sure of themselves, however, there is the underlying vulnerability that comes with being a teenager.

Horror?

Raxter is a Tox invested island, the Tox is a disease that has devastating effects on the body. Rory Power has done a great job with the atmosphere of this book. It is not jump scare horror but it is gory, bloody and extremely creepy. This is skin crawling type horror. It gave me that itchy under your skin type feeling.

Final Thoughts

This was a fairly easy read for me. The pacing of this book is great, short chapters encourage you to keep reading (well they do me). I loved the way the story unfolded, the mystery behind what was going on was cleverly constructed and I genuinely had no idea how it was going to end. The ending left me with so many questions, who else has read this? Come find me on twitter I need to discuss it.

I will definitely be looking out for further books from Rory.

My thanks to the publishers for a copy of the book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book a while ago from NetGalley, and I ended up actually buying this on paperback. Please note that I read this book before lockdown started, and there is a trigger warning regarding quarantine and infection.

I thought the premise of this book sounded so fascinating, about a school on an island that was on lockdown due to something called Tox infecting the student body.

I really wanted to enjoy this, and don't get me wrong I did like the book, but I just was expecting a lot more than it actually gave me.

I found myself liking Hetty, and found the relationships between the girls (Reese, Byatt, and Hetty), to be so complex and they all had issues and were trying to get through quarantine.

What I didn't like about the book is that nothing is fully explained by the end of the book, I wanted more explanation regarding the Tox, and why the Government were acting so shady, and it just was not forthcoming.

Overall, it was an OK book, but I just wanted more than this book was willing to give me.

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

From what I could actually grasp from this book it was good.

Major problems hit me in the face.

What’s the plot line? Not going to lie here I was confused. I felt like I was on the edge of my seat waiting for something to happen and well I feel like I might have missed something important and that but bugs me. I don’t know if I did miss something or Rory was just building up to something that never actually happens.

It was slightly boring. There was a lot of world building which is fine because I like a backstory but it just lost me there.

I loved the idea of the story but I feel like it could have been slightly more developed especially where the central plot was because like I said, something was lacking.

I actually really liked the characters. It was good to have technically all female book selection of characters. And I loved the LGBTQ trend that was in the book. Rory made it fit well for this book and it was good. It wasn’t forced upon me and that’s what I liked.

Overall it was an okay book it just didn’t draw me in as much as I hoped.