Review: Wilder Girls

Title: Wilder Girls
Author: Rory Power
Release Date: July 9th, 2019
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“They told us, ‘Wait, and stay alive,’ and we thought it would be easy.”

Oh. My. God. I’m immediately adding Rory Power to my auto-buy author list because I’ve fallen in love with her writing and world-building.

This book is one of those ones that’s chilling and leaves you thinking about it way after you put it down. It’s incredibly atmospheric and full of developed characters. It’s a world that’s new to us with twists and turns every step of the way. It’s a book that’s not afraid to be dark.

It’s absolutely one of my new favourite books.

The story starts in an unusual spot. It’s a year and a half after Raxter is hit and affected by the Tox and now we’re joining the story after a lot has happened. We don’t spend time filling in all the details of how we got there. We’re thrown right into what’s going down now. We get enough info to get us going, but then thrust into the story with just as many questions as our MC, Hetty, has.

The character’s aren’t particularly likeable, but they’re exceptionally written and that’s exactly what makes me love them. There’s such a dynamic between our three main girls, Hetty, Byatt, and Reese, and it’s really what made this story stood out. Of course the plot for this was unlike anything I’ve ever read, but the characters really make it shine. I’ve seen this described as a “feminist horror” book and yknow what, I’m so here for it. It’s also unapologetically queer. I can confidently confirm that this book delivers on both of these fronts. And I love it.

I honestly just want to hold this book and shout to the world how much I loved it. The writing shines throughout and each chapter made me fall more and more in love with it. As much as I feel like the ending just came too quick and I needed more, I’m also really here for vague endings like that. But I’m also really dying to have a sequel. I’m crossing my fingers for this one!

I need to applaud how well this book does switching POVs.This often isn’t done well in books, but here we have a debut author who executes this so well. When in each POV, there’s no mistaking who’s you’re in. The creative writing choice for the other POV works so damn well and adds so much to the story.

One of the things that really makes this book stand out to me is that it doesn’t hesitate to be brutal. It shows us the reality of the situation the characters are in. Often, stories will shy away from getting dark or violent while trying to convince us how harsh a situation is. Here, this book doesn’t shy away from it. The pages are filled with blood, pain, gore, and other gross stuff. The creatures of this world are horrifying. The way they’re mutilated and described. The writing makes it impossible to not picture the scenes in detail.

Do I recommend this book? Yes. A thousand times yes. Especially if hearing “feminist horror” gets you excited. It does feel like a slower read at times, and it’s definitely weird, but if an atmospheric dark survival story is what you’re looking for, look no further.

*ARC provided by publisher for an honest review*