Wild Pets follows Iris, Ezra and Nance in the years following university. Iris is in New York to write and is studying, Ezra is in band back in London which is gaining popularity, and Nance has become involved with an older man. This tackles mental health, being a person in your 20s, political and social problems we must grapple with.

This took me a while to get into, it is a slower novel, but it is still compelling to read. The novel is raw and honest looking at mental illness, the MeToo movement and power imbalances. I do think the author really captures what it is like in your early 20s, all the highs and the lows. I think it portrayed mental health really well also.

It explores the difficulties and complexities in relationships, both romantic and friendships, how they aren’t all plain sailing and that sometimes we can bring out bad things in each other. I enjoyed how the imagery of salt was used throughout the novel, it was really clever.

I was glad majority of the novel was told from Iris’ perspective as Ezra’s perspectives didn’t really do anything for me and left me feeling a little bored. Sometimes, the writing didn’t work for me unfortunately, but I think that was more of a me problem as I have seen people really love the writing.

Overall, a strong debut from a promising author who portrays those entering the independence of early adulthood in a realistic way. I would be interested to see what the author writes next.

Initially this book took me a while to get into but once I did I could not stop reading. This is an exciting novel from a debut author, Amber Medland and I am looking forward to reading what she writes next.

Medland's novel is raw and honest, covering emotional and often difficult topics such as mental illness, the #MeToo movement and abuse. 'Wild Pets' explores the complexity of friendships and relationships through characters who bring out the worst in each other under the guise of love.

I enjoyed the writing style and the language used; specifically the use of 'salt' that weaves it's way throughout the novel. The ending of the novel might not satisfy everyone as it is left ambiguous. However, although perhaps predicable, I thought the ending was inevitable.

Overall, this was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed so thank you for letting me read an advance copy in return for an honest review.

Wild Pets by Amber Medland is about learning to be an adult and dealing with mental health problems, friendships, relationships. I definitely preferred the sections that were told from the perspective of Iris and found the sections that moved to being about Ezra less compelling.