I've heard lots about Wilder Girls and the cover is absolute perfection so I was really excited to read this. The book is really dark, gritty YA with some LGBT themes. This is the type of YA that you read without even really considering whether it's YA or not or which genre it fits in because it's just so so good. All round excellent.

Wilder Girls is a dark YA novel that combines a kind of lockdown tension with body horror and female relationships. It is a year and a half since Raxter School for Girls was put into quarantine after everyone there was slowly turned by the Tox, become wild and strange and having their bodies morphed in different ways. Trapped in the school's boundaries on an island off Maine, they wait for a cure and live under the new rules forged by those remaining. When Hetty's best friend Byatt disappears, she's determined to find her, but the horrors of their situation don't just seem to be the feral animals outside the fence also taken by the Tox.

Rory Power takes the mysterious outbreak trope and uses it to explore the bonds between teenage girls—friendships, romance, power struggles—whilst implying a lot about the darkness not only within people, but that might come from the outside when disaster strikes. This is a different kind of book set at a girls' school, and it is not one for the squeamish, with much of the horror being around what happens to their bodies and the violence of what they must do. The tension is gripping, and the narrative is more focused on the here and now than on explanations or deep exploration of characters' pasts; it is easy to see from this how it could be adapted into an (admittedly pretty dark) film. The romantic subplot and the depiction of Hetty and Byatt's friendship are two elements that make it more than just a kind of shock horror story, and though some people might not like the ambiguity of the ending, it suits the outbreak narrative to not have a neat conclusion.

This is visceral YA fiction, real in its character relationships and bloody and dark in its content. It combines some of the best thing about young adult novels with cleverly used body horror, and though it will make some readers wish there was more explanation, it is a thrilling read.

The last book review I wrote was a little different. It was an excuse to reference my favourite movie, one I love deeply and felt could portray my love for the book too.

So today I’m going to continue trying something a little different too. I’m going to tell a small story, and in return, I hope you understand my love for Wilder Girls.

I had a craving, a need, to find more books to sit alongside Other Words for Smoke. To blur fantasy and horror. To feel very “Me”.

Which is when Wilder Girls by Rory Power caught my eye. It seemed like it could fill that hole, take a seat by OWFS in my heart. I pre-ordered it from B&N to get it early (as it’s not out in the UK yet). But that wasn’t soon enough, so I traded to get a US ARC to have it even earlier. And then I got anxious that it wouldn’t be the book I needed.

By this point I had read Smoke three times to try and escape from it’s grip, but it only sank deeper into my bones. Ink into my skin. This book was my book… and what if I could never feel as passionately about another again?

“I think I’d been looking for it all my life
a storm in my body to match the one in my head.”

Why bother mentioning another book so much? It’s simple. Because I do feel as strongly about Wilder Girls. And it happened very quickly too! Only two chapters in I could feel my insides SCREAMING and how very ME this book is. It’s so perfectly what I needed.

Much like the Tox blossomed within these girls, my love bloomed too.

I had to keep reading to get to know these wilder girls better, to know their disfigurations, wants and needs. To understand how they survived on their quarantined island.

ALSO IT IS VERY GAY, which honestly is a plus for any book. Sexuality is so fluid, open to explore, and seeing more queer YA books now really makes me happy. It makes me appreciate there will be less teens out there who will find themselves hurrying to say “No I’m straight, I just have a good taste in women”. Instead they can welcome the fact that actually being straight doesn’t have to be the default or “norm”. It’s okay to like girls, to be enamoured by them. But also a little scared.

If you didn’t already know, consider this my coming out post. My one of many. Girls are so breathtaking! (Other people are pretty too)

[ related note: if you need a gay pop playlist, my 2019 wrapped up is pretty handy ]

However, Ive reached the end of the notes I had scribbled on a piece of paper. The end of the small story I had crafted to gush about Wilder Girls (and Other Words for Smoke and just girls in general).

But I don’t feel ready to end this review, even though I do feel ready for bed.

So instead, I’ll give a little run down on some reasons why I think you should read Wilder Girls:

beautiful body horror
nature taking over
a love letter to encourage us to save our world
it’s very gay
strong and compelling character dynamics – I’m so ready to protect these girls!
an open ending – so good for thinking about the future of this world
dual narrative: flawed and realistic characters
it reads as beautifully as the movie Annihilation was filmed
the atmosphere of this book fits perfectly with the terror they’re experiencing

Lastly, if you know of any books that’ll fill me with love like these two have please let me know. I’m ready to give myself to the Owl and the Tox.

I was expecting to get turned down for this arc (for which I am nevertheless very grateful) after waiting a long time so I’d already bought the book. I love the concept. The world building was rich and immersive. The characters were compelling and I enjoyed how this played up to its Lord of the Flies roots (although if you want a subversive LotF retelling with a female cast I recommend Libba Bray’s Beauty Queens). This is a great dystopian novel, but the style got in the way for me a little. I can see how it’s very Marmite for readers. Intrigued to see what the author does next.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Theme: Horror, Gore, Dystopia, F/F, Girls, Change, LGBTQ, Virus,

Summary: Raxter School for Girls have been under quarantine for more then a year. It seems no help is coming and The Tox isn't just changing their surroundings - it is changing the girls - pushing them through 'Flares,' leaving them different in ways no one could have imagined, hardened, lost, added to, yet missing pieces.
But the promise of a cure keeps the girls from the Forest where the changed animals and the woods itself will kill them if it can.
Hetty's life is small enough behind the barrier - but when her friend Byatt goes missing she will risk everything to get her back. Even break the one rule that is meant to keep them safe.

Thoughts: First off, there is no apology in this book. No holding back, no softness, and the kindness there exists is still sharp enough to cute. And we will need to talk about this cover because it is literally giving me life.
Second! I knew this book had some polarising views - some people thought it was too much - too much gore, too much horror, too much terrible circumstances. Some not quite enough living up to the intense hype. Some thought it brilliant - though the ending much too short. And I felt all of those feelings while devouring this book - BUT overshadowing all of those voices, my overwhelming thought was: oh my god where has this Sappic intensely grotesque love story been all my life!
Honestly I felt like these characters looked through me, grabbed me by the heart, making it hard to breathe, and didn't let go - not even now.

The book is told from two points of view - Hetty and Byatt, thought mainly Hetty - and I loved the intense look into their psyche this gave us. Their flaws and their needs, as well as their drive for survival. And then, hidden behind intense emotions - the tiny piece of them that tried hard to cling to their humanity - something seemingly impossible in the world Power has build around them. All told in writing that is gripping and gritty and yet sometimes almost lyrical. The violence is swift and almost surprising, even if the characters aren't disturbed by it in the least.
The ending had me wanting to chuck my phone across the room (thank you kindle) but mainly just because I couldn't believe the suddenness of it... but the longer I have had to process, the more it makes complete sense. Everything in this book is written with cutting precision, without mercy, with no sugarcoating. And it is fitting that the book ends in a similar way.

Pros: The characters are hard and beautiful and queer as hell. The feelings intense and sudden and human and the writing like nothing I have read in a long time.
Cons: There are some underlying currents between the main characters (Byatt and our third almost main Reese) and it is like Power wants to tell us something about Byatt. But I couldnt quite find out what?