Genius, gory and unpredictable: Wilder Girls by Rory Power @PRHGlobal #partner #WilderGirls #horror

GIFTED / I am so happy to bring you my review for the horror ya I read recently, and fell absolutely in love with it: Wilder Girls.
I want to thank the team from Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).
The book was released on July 9th 2019 by Delacorte Press and it has 353 pages.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS / It’s been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty’s life out from under her.

It started slow. First the teachers died one by one. Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don’t dare wander outside the school’s fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into everything.

But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that there’s more to their story, to their life at Raxter, than she could have ever thought true.

Review:

I don’t even know where to start when it comes to reviewing Wilder Girls.
It was gory, detailed and it is definitely not for readers with weak stomach, but at the same time it was brilliant!

I loved almost everything about this novel, from main to side characters, plot and the mystery, but what I liked the most was the creepy atmosphere that felt so real.

The writing style is excellent and I still can’t believe this is Power’s debut novel. I now want to read everything she writes in the future, that’s how impressed I am with her voice.

This book is written in first person, following two perspectives: Hetty’s and Byatt’s. I loved how their voices sound so different, that even if there weren’t note about change of perspective, readers would notice in no time.
Also, when one of the girls was drugged it was obvious in her voice, and I appreciate those little (important) things so much!

As I previously stated, this book is not for everyone. Lovers of gory scenes will love it, but those who are more sensitive will probably want to close their eyes at some scenes (but how can you close your eyes when reading, that is the question!).

I rarely find novels that keep me so invested from start to finish like this one has.
It was entertaining but also so mysterious that I just had to know what will happen’ to our girls and what is behind this Tox that caused all the trouble for them.

I loved how everything in this novel was backed up with logic and science, and how (in the end) it wasn’t too far from our real life.

The only thing I would change was to add an epilogue. You see, Wilder Girls have an open ending, and I usually don’t mind them (in fact, I am pretty fond of them) but this time I would be more happy if we found out what destiny there was for our characters after the point where the story ended.
The only (sort of) explanation that comes to my mind is that even if this was planned to be a standalone, maybe the publisher gave the writer a chance if the sales were good she could write the sequel (which I’ll be happy to read one day).

One more thing I have to mention: this book is the one that represents LGBTQ community, but at the same time it is not a love story and there is no romance. There is some chemistry but it is all we get (which is realistic because it those life conditions I assume love and sex come last to your mind).

Overall, I loved this book and I recommend it to lovers of gory scenes and stories, and to ya lovers with strong stomach.
It is appropriate to read at any time, but I suggest you to read it at night, in the fall or as a Halloween pick.