In Wildman by J.C. Geiger an auto breakdown strands a valedictorian in rural Washington days before graduation. Lance has a full scholarship to Oregon State University to study Business, but he still auditioned for a music school in Seattle. If he dumps his car, Lance can return home in time to party with his girlfriend, but the old Buick is all Lance has left from his deadbeat dad. In a classic teen boy dilemma, Lance must choose between his car and his girl.

What makes this young adult novel special is the strong sense of place. Inside the gorgeous cover, the story is scented with fragrant pines, motel mildew, and cheap beer. Every night a cargo train blasts through Trainsong at two in the morning. Lance is warned to get out while he still can, but waiting at a dive bar, he bonds with hard-luck young adults who jump trains for fun. A quirky young woman makes Lance question his life choices. Wildman reminded me of the TV series Northern Exposure, set in Alaska.

The setting enhanced the menacing drama:

"The road got darker, more remote. Like they weren't travelling across the wilderness so much as tunneling into it."

Although the writing was often lyrical, the voice and imagery were true to a teenage boy:
"He rifled through his stories like a deck of old baseball cards. What had he ever done?"

The unfiltered teen boy perspective was pitch perfect for its intended audience but might offend other readers. Female characters were rated by their sexual allure and a fat woman enjoying her food was observed with disgust. There was underage drinking, infidelity, barroom violence, and false testimony to the police with few consequences. From the limits of Lance's point-of-view, the ending was a bit confusing, but I loved the final imagery. Wildman is a fast and fun read, which teenage boys will enjoy. After this impressive debut, I'm eager to see what J.C. Geiger writes next.

A joyous, bumpy coming of age book about someone who needed to back up in order to move forward.

I think Wildman would most likely be called a coming-of-age book. When I read a coming-of-age book, I expect the main character to go through trials and hardships to reach a better place physically or emotionally. I am not convinced that Lance reaches that better place at the end of the book. I had a lot of trouble staying interested in the plot, and I didn't particularly like the characters.

I received an ARC copy of this title through Netgalley.

Wildman has all of the makings of a great YA novel: a little mystery, a clear crossroads moment, and a hint of romance. However, Geiger's main man, Lance, fall short in the likeability category. For me, his distant persona made it difficult to connect with his character even though his budding romantic relationship with Dakota brings some added depth. Overall, I'm not really sure which patron I would recommend read this book

I received an ARC ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 of 5 stars

WILDMAN is one of those stuck-in-I-want-to-don't-want-to kind of story, where days seems to be the same and also very different (as contradicting as this sounds). Lace becomes a fish-out-of-water, from living a perhaps to comfortable life, to things going weird, like very, very weird, all the way to low-tech, the country life, trains, and whatnot. It's as if stepping back in time, but not quite.

The narrative voice is great and engaging, but it does have some valleys that made me want to speed read to see what happened next. Nevertheless, a great, entertaining story.

It's a nice quick read, not to hard to get through. I did feel myself wandering off all the time. I kept doing other things than reading this book. My attention was not really there, that's the reason I gave the book 3 stars.

Pros
Cover and story: You think you've figured out the cover pretty quick, but you don't! It gets explained in the final chapter and that was beautiful. I got a flutter in my heart because of the explanation, I really liked the aspect. The cover actually adds something to the story right now!
Hidden message: Be yourself, make your own choices and live with the day. The hidden messages in this story are great. I feel like this could be a book for people struggling with choices in life.
Transformation: I like the transformation Lance is undergoing in this book. He's so awesome the last few chapters, I like him a lot like that. I hope he'll stay that way!!

Cons
Lance: Until the last part of the book I didn't really get Lance. It was so hard to understand for me that he wanted to go home, but was not taking any action to get home. I understand the fact that the Buick is important for him, that got clearer during the time he spent away from home. But the first few days he was stranded I was like; You had 20 opportunities to get home, do something! It's hard for me to understand somebody who doesn't really know what he wants...
"Friendship?": So Lance gets to know a group of kids who call themselves friends. I don't get the conversations they have and the things they do with and to each other. I usually enjoy conversations in a book, but not with this book, I didn't really understand...
Kept wandering off: Like I said before; I kept wandering off. It was hard at some parts to keep reading and I wasn't really excited to pick up the book again. The last few chapters really added something and made me more at peace with the book.

If you like contemporary, I think this is a book for you. This book has such beautiful life lessons and you go on a trip with someone who is getting to know himself. Lance is finding himself is starting to make his own choices. Finally he is enjoying his freedom. That was the most exciting part about the book for me.

“The beginning of his second life was a dusty wooden floor with two plastic soda bottles and a gray penny.”

Lance wasn’t supposed to be here. With a group of strangers, drinking, jumping trains. He was supposed to be at home in Bend, at The Party, with his perfect girlfriend. Preparing for graduation. With his overbearing mom, who has his future all mapped out for him. And yet here he was, all because his car broke down outside of a small town in the middle of nowhere. Almost as if it had other plans for him….

J.C. Geiger’s Wildman is a true coming-of-age story. It’s angsty and moody in all the right ways. The writing was so flawless that it was hard not to feel Lance’s inner struggles, as he grows from the kid everyone expects him to be, to the man he truly wants to be. At times the plot can seem somewhat predictable, but sometimes you just have to go back to the classic tropes. Predictable can be very comforting, and Gieger managed to do a fantastic job at writing a story that will keep readers engaged, and coming back for more.

What a nice surprise is J.C. Geiger's Wildman! The book is a fun read, but more than that, there were many passages that were beautifully written in such a way it almost felt like poetry. Of the books I've read recently (and there are many) Wildman stands out as the most entertaining and thought provoking at the same time. The book stretches over a few days before high school graduation for Lance and his class. Lance is about 300 miles from home and separated from his home, school and friends. The culture and society of the place where Lance is stranded appears to be completely alien to Lance. After all, Lance is the valedictorian of his class and first chair trumpet player. He's also got a pretty girlfriend, perfect for his lifestyle.
These few days stranded turn out to be life changing for Wildman (formerly known as Lance). Give the book a try. I think you'll enjoy the adventure.

This book had an eerie vibe in that I always thought something scary *might* *could* happen...just wasn't sure, you know? But then it was sort of haunting and beautiful at the same time. Evocative might be a word to describe it.

It ended so sadly...hopeful amidst such sadness. That is perhaps my favorite kind of ending. I think I'm going to add another star actually!