Wilder Girls by Rory Power is a dystopian sci-fi for young adults. I read an excerpt on Bookish First and was so grateful that I had an ARC from NetGalley and Delacorte Press/Random House so I could finish reading the book immediately! The opening frightened and piqued my curiosity. I also felt sorry for the Tox survivors because civilization deserted them, except for limited, intermittent supply drops from the Navy. Told in alternating points of view between friends, Hetty and Byatt. (I cannot seem to get out of my mind, the fact that if the first letters of both names are exchanged, the names would be Betty and Hyatt);) Hetty starts the story and continues until Byatt suffers a Tox episode and is taken away. Hetty searches for her, can’t find her and overhears one of the leaders on the radio talking about an exchange. Then it’s Byatt’s turn to tell the story. She wakes up in a strange place and she struggles to talk. Soon, she’s surrounded by people in surgical clothing and is forced to take a bitter tasting pill. Byatt has a few more experiences to share but the majority of the story is told through Hetty’s perspective. Strange and frightening discoveries are made and the story ends with a wide opening for more to come. I do enjoy science fiction when it’s in dystopian form and the ending left me wondering what’s next! 4 stars!

Have you ever read a book that is so perfectly catered to your tastes that it felt like a personal attack?

This book came into my home and assassinated me.

I've really tried to write any sort of coherent review, but I know there are a. better reviews and b. I loved this book So Much. The creepy atmosphere, the pacing, the ending, all of it hit every button I possess. I love ruthless girls and their inexplicable friendships.

I don't want a sequel, prequel, or any other supplemental stories. I ate this up and it was a full meal.

Really solid debut novel! I am a huge fan of "The Troop" by Nick Cutter and this reminded me of a female spin on this book. The prose was beautiful; imagery amazing. I felt like in the beginning a lot was unexplained, but it does wrap up in the end. However, I was quite disapointed by the ending. It leaves much to be desired, and I feel like the novel is lacking an epilogue. I'm glad that a "cure" was identified - but if those as Camp Nash saw them coming, would they have blown up the boat? Do Byatt, Reese and Hetty survive? The end is what knocked it down a star for me.

Overall I am very impressed; YA novels typically lack the depth I want on tougher subjects but Rory Power had a very nice balance and I think it would appeal to YA and adult readers alike. Will look forward to what comes next for this author!

5/5 stars

I loved this creeptastic YA thriller so much! It pulled me in from the start and wouldn't let me go. I just had to keep reading to find out what was truly happening on Raxter island and how it would end.

<u>Synopsis</u>
It's been almost two years since signs of the 'Tox' appeared on Raxter island and Raxter's School for Girls was quarantined. No one knows what the 'Tox' is for sure, but it's slowly changing the teachers, girls and island in disturbing ways. When Hetty's best friend Byatt goes missing, Hetty risks everything to find out what happened to her and discovers everything on the island isn't what it seems.

<u>Pacing, Points of View & World Building</u>
The overall pacing was lightning quick! I couldn't put this one down, but I also didn't feel like the story rushed over parts. There were three main points of view which were Hetty, Byatt, and Reese. I honestly enjoyed every character's point of view and never felt like speed reading past any one character's part. The world building was amazing! When the characters walk through the woods on Raxter island, it felt extremely realistic, eerie and mysterious. The oddness of those woods crept off the page and threatened to suck you into it's murky depths! This story's world truly had me on the edge of my seat and questioned whether I really needed the light off at night to sleep!

<u>Characters</u>
The dynamics between the three main female characters was very raw and real. I loved reading about Hetty, Byatt, and Reese. All of the characters within the story were survivors, but with that survival came emotional baggage. It showed in the raw interactions between them especially when one fell ill or during meal time. The drive to do anything to survive reared it's ugly yet entertaining head a few times in this story and I loved the realness of it all.

<u>Overall</u>
Overall, I loved this thrilling survival story about the bonds between those people and the strange situation that is Raxter island. Please do yourself a favor and grab this one if you're in the mood for a fast read that's filled with eerie mystery and raw emotions!

I feel ridiculously lucky that I was granted an advanced NetGalley copy. Thank you so much to NetGalley, Random House Children's and Delacorte Press for allowing me the opportunity to read this amazing digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. I cannot recommend this book enough to thrill seekers and anyone who loves survival stories!

The thing you should know before starting Wilder Girls by Rory Power is that it is excruciatingly beautiful and excruciatingly brutal. The prose packs a punch that steals your breath away from the get-go until you’re 300 something pages in and still breathless, unable to catch your breath or still your heart due to the fast-paced plot.

It’s hard not to come across some mention of the book — a modern feminist answer to The Lord of the Flies — among “Best of” lists and recommended reading around the internet this summer. Usually the buzz falls flat after a book comes out as anticipation gives way for other books on the horizon, but I’m here to tell you that the buzz is spot-on and this is a book you want to devour. Devour it quickly before the story worms its way into your heart, sticking with you after every break and pause in the reading. I went to bed thinking about the Tox, about Raxter, and the island off the coast of Maine, of the girls with their inhuman flare-ups and the wild woods that threaten to swallow them whole. Rory Power vividly captures your attention as she describes the sickness that claimed the lives of half of a boarding school and its teachers. The urgency that I felt while reading made the Tox and the fate of protagonist Hetty and her friends even more important to me.

There’s no spoiler here when I tell you that things aren’t easy for these girls. They’ve clawed their way through the wilderness, clawed at each other and dragged themselves through, each day doing what they had to to survive. The cost of living day-to-day as the virus takes hold is insurmountable. And once you’ve started reading, even as the horror sets in, it truly is hard to stop.

But I think one of the main reasons I couldn’t look away was because of the strength of the Raxter girls–not only Hetty, Byatt and Reese but all the other students was inspiring. It drove the story as much as the mystery of the Tox and whether a cure will come in time before the whole school is wiped out. The layers of love and compassion that most of the girls shared in small ways (saving a scrap of crackers for each other, looking out for the smaller girls) kept the novel from being too grotesque. Hetty’s love for her friends (which borders on co-dependence but honestly but who can blame her) is buffeted by the kindness the girls show each other, even as their school falls apart. They turn on each other only in necessary moments — to fight for food fair and square, to steal a blanket not properly claimed for example, and never sacrifice each other needlessly. I could see this replacing Lord of the Flies in schools or at the very least being read alongside it. It’s more powerful in the way the girls lean on each other and don’t tear each other to pieces at the lack of humanity around them.

Another thing before I let you go to get your nearest copy as soon as possible: What blossoms and unfolds between Hetty and Reese, at the worst time, is so stunning and human. I loved the way they found each other. It gave me some hope when it looked like the rest of the book would be bleak. That through the darkest and deepest despair in their year and a half with the Tox, Hetty, Reese and Byatt loved each other enough to survive for them. It was deeply affecting to read and took me out of the grittiness of the setting. If the stunning prose, fascinating mystery of the Tox and whether this school can survive under its influence doesn’t sway you to pick it up immediately, hopefully the promise of this impactful relationship will.

I was left stunned by the ending in a way that I wasn’t expecting. I wish I knew if a sequel was possible but the book stands alone too well for a need for a follow-up, even though I’m desperate for more. Even then, if this is Rory Power’s debut, I can’t wait for the rest of her novels. I’m sure they will wreck me (in a good way) just as this one did. Go read Wilder Girls and find out why.

Savage, raw, beautiful debut that reads like a cross between LORD OF THE FLIES and Libba Bray's BEAUTY QUEENS. Perfect for readers who love their prose sharp, their plot a bit strange, and their protagonists strong as hell.

4 stars

First, can we talk about how STUNNING that cover is? My goodness, the cover alone made me want to read this book. But when I read the synopsis, I practically screeched. It sounded exactly like the kind of book I would love. And I did. It kept me on my toes the entire time I was reading.

The entire plot of the tox infecting an all-girl school on an island is probably one of the greatest concepts I can imagine. Its the PERFECT SETTING for a story like this. I mean "A feminist Lord of the Flies," made me instantly fall in love with this concept. That is why I ended up devouring this book. I found it almost impossible to put down.

"Wilder Girls" has so many amazing characters that I related to on so many different levels. Each character was different, but our main three characters were strong and badass. Also, slightly scary. Seriously, I would be terrified in a situation like that, but they were pros. Hetty, our main character was obviously my favorite of the bunch. Even with her tox symptoms, she was pretty damn badass. Her interactions with Byatt and Resse were sweet and tender, I loved their friendship instantly.

As for the plot, again I was obsessed. I think we have grasped that by now but I just want to again say I loved it. The idea of the tox is scary, but it's even scarier when you don't know what's causing it and you don't know what your symptoms will be. It's just fascinating to think about. My only issue with this book was the ending. I would have personally liked a bit more and for it to be a little less rushed. Or you know a sequel. This is the kind of book that needs a sequel.

If you love some f/f romance, slight dystopian/horror vibes, and a fascinating story then give this book a try. It comes out today so go get your copy!!!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Delacorte Press for sending me this arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Monstrous, horribly real, and addicting. Wilder Girls by Rory Power is a bright shining star of a fresh voice, she's hypnotic with he emotions she evokes with her storytelling, and gut punches you with real shit when the horrible, terrible, and monstrous situation these girls are in takes it's damnable toll.

It’s been nearly two years since the Tox first started altering the girls from Raxter School for Girls. It impacts everyone differently—whether from growing extra vertebrae, developing a reptilian hand, or a just-out-of-reach fluttering behind your now-blind eye. The school has been on quarantine all these months, and now, slowly, the supplies are dwindling, and their communication with the outside world is further and farther between.

If you want to survive you have to keep close those you can count on. For Hetty, she has Reese and Byatt. When Byatt goes missing, Hetty decides to break quarantine and leave the gated confines of the school to search for her. With Reese’s help, they set off searching the island that has become their purgatory. Little do they know the island still has some secrets left, and it won’t share them easily.

First off, can we just admire that gorgeous cover?! It really captures the horrific beauty that runs throughout the book. The grotesque and scary changes happening to the girls are given this strange ethereal quality in the hands of Rory Power’s wordsmithing. It’s not just the girls, either, but everything happening on Raxter Island. From the nuanced changes to the more dynamic.

Wilder Girls is definitely a character-driven story with the mystery of the Tox taking second-stage to the need for Hetty to find Byatt.

Rory Power makes a clear distinction between Hetty’s deep sisterly connection to Byatt and her more romantic feelings for Reese. It’s a wonderful coming-of-age story with a dystopian setting backdrop, but I loved the moments of clarity—for both Reese and Hetty—in discovering their true feelings for one another, like a moment of quiet in the eye of a storm. Yet also seeing the unflinching devotion Hetty carries for Byatt which sets the pacing rushing forward towards the inevitable conclusion.

Hetty, and on alternate chapters Byatt, is a perfect navigator through this strange world. Hetty still keeps hope alive that a cure is forthcoming, yet she also is realistic in that she understands that in order to benefit from said cure, you must first survive. That means fighting against the outside forces, but also fighting against your own body.

I will say I wanted more time exploring the island outside the gates of Raxter School. The slow way that the Tox inhabits not only humans but seems to consume everything around it in varying ways was fascinating, yet just shy of satisfying my curiosity for it all. Overall, I’d say I was satisfied for what we find out about the Tox, but that in and of itself felt very quick, instead it’s the mystery of maybe why this seems to be happening that is slowly pieced together until the very end.

Wilder Girls is written with such flowing prose often used in flowery and metaphorical ways; it may not satisfy those who like to have a structured buttoned-up conclusion. For me, I love these types of stories, when done right of course, because they are so open for interpretation and just beg for a reread which typically results in a discovery of new perspectives.

Wilder Girls has been a very hyped book. Rory Power’s debut certainly packs a punch. After resting on it a bit, I wouldn’t be surprised if I found myself opening the book again.

The girls used to be normal. They used to number almost a hundred students at Raxter before the Tox came. Before everyone was transformed into something different.

‘It’s like that, with all of us here. Sick, strange, and we don’t know why. Things bursting out of us, bits missing and pieces sloughing off, and then we harden and smooth over.’

As time passed, the girls’ numbers dwindled but the ones that survived continued holding out hope for a cure that was promised.

Wilder Girls begins with an otherworldly air. A girl with a second spine, another with an eye that has fused shut with something growing underneath. It’s eerie and unsettling and their story only gets better (or worse, depending on how you look at it.) Much like the cover, the horrors within have their own sort of twisted beauty that is equal parts horrifying and mesmerizing. Horrific, yes, but at the heart of Wilder Girls though is a story of love and friendship. After Hetty’s best friend Byatt experiences a flare-up and is sent to the infirmary which many girls never return from, Hetty begins a dangerous search for answers. Her search quickly disturbs the delicate veil of secrecy that surrounded the school to keep the girls in the dark from what was truly happening to them.

The horrors of the island and the girls themselves were perfectly described and I found the comparisons to Annihilation to be apt. I wanted more questions answered about the island, the effect on the animals, and the irises, but I also wanted the resolutions we did get to still be rooted in that otherworldly horror. They were instead stripped of that mystery, made the answer far too simplistic, and made me wonder if any of the horror was truly real at all. Powers is a skilled horror writer and her debut proves this. I anticipate that Wilder Girls is just a dip in the pond of the horror stories she has in store for us.

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

I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the author, Random House and Netgalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The hype around this book is extraordinary and I expected an extraordinary read. I was completely disappointed in this book. The premise seems plausible, a private girls' school becomes the scene of an outbreak of unknown origin. Predictably, all hell breaks loose. Early on, the story drags without character development and no reason to empathize with them in their situation. Of course, there is a lesbianism trope, because would it be considered feminist if it didn't?

In the end, the cause of the outbreak, is as preposterous as the rest of the novel. It ends without an ending, honestly.

1 out of 5 stars. Do not recommend.

This book is hands down one of the most engrossing hooks I have ever read! Heartbreaking, and chilling! Would recommend to everyone! 10/5 Stars!

I have mixed feelings. The first half of this book dragged a lot, but after getting past that I couldn't put it down! Based on how hard it was to get through the first half I'm giving it a lower rating, but other than that I really liked the story. It was gross and really messed up but also really really good. I love these characters, and even though I don't think a sequel is going to happen I really want to know what happens next in their story!

Rory Power's debut is haunting, poetic, and page-turning. Her sparse prose sucks you in immediately to the world of Raxter Island, where a school for girls has been infected with "the Tox." The Tox affects everyone differently, taking Hetty's one eye and fusing it shut, giving Reese a scaly silver hand, and blooming a second spine from Byatt's back. Some are killed quickly by the disease, and others slowly become wild things to be feared and put down.

Wilder Girls is a feminist answer to Lord of the Flies and a terrifying portrayal of the pain of being a teenage girl. This book is made even more special by the tense and delicate relationship between two of the main characters, putting a beautiful LGBTQ spin on the dystopian love stories we have grown to love since The Hunger Games.

While it is a little gory and contains some swearing, I can see this being a really popular teen book this year. Highly recommend!

My oh my, I did NOT expect this book to be a new all time favorite, BUT HERE WE ARE!

I’ll be honest, I wanted this book because the cover was so beautiful. Sure, being described as a feminist Lord of the Flies sure helped, but I had no idea how captivating I would find this novel. From the first page I was hooked. You know when you start a novel and before the first chapter is even over you know this book will be incredible? That was me with Wilder Girls.

The writing was so wonderful and easy to fall into. With some books there is an adjustment period to understand not only the story, but how the author writes. But Rory Power has such effortless writing that the adjustment period was nonexistent. It was such a natural way of reading and telling a story that I never had to stop and reread weird sentences or how the timeline was laid out. It flowed so beautifully with such wonderful imagery and character development that I almost felt like I was seeing the island in front of me.

Writing aside, the plot is obviously captivating and alluring in itself. The island feels like a whole new plant where nothing acts the same as you are used to. It brings a whole new mystery to the world around you, nevermind the real mystery of the Tox that was the catalyst for everything.

Honestly, comparing this novel to Lord of the Flies is only a fraction of all this novel has to offer. It is so much more than a group of girls stuck on an island fighting for their lives and battling sickness. It is a story of female empowerment and fighting for your loved ones no matter the cost. It blurs the lines between good and evil and leaves you with the understanding that people aren’t as black and white as they seem.

Yes, the plot unfolding is what kept me reading. I never wanted to put the book down - I had to keep going. However, I highly attribute that to the brilliant cast of characters Power created. Each character has such a strong personality and sense of self that no one ever got lost in the mix. It was so easy to fall in love with these characters, even the ‘evil’ ones. No matter who it was, you could empathize with all of them and understand the irrational ways they acted. None of them were perfect. They all had morally gray areas, but that’s what made them feel so utterly human.

I could go on and on of my love for this novel. I honestly don’t really have anything to complain about. Such a beautiful, captivating novel deserves to be read. I am so grateful for the breathtaking cover of this novel that got me to pick it up. And even more grateful for Rory Power and the rest of the team behind Wilder Girls. If for some reason you have yet to pick up Wilder Girls, please do yourself a favor and read it. Personally, I can not wait to read it again.

Wilder Girls is honestly a book I probably wouldn't have picked up if I hadn't heard so many people hyping it up. I was planning on borrowing it from the library after release to see if I would enjoy it, but then received an ARC through Netgalley. I'm so glad I did because I devoured it. I didn't know what to really expect going into it. I never had to read Lord of the Flies while in high school because of being out my last year of high school so I don't have that to compare it to.

Rory Power has posted a list of content and trigger warnings on her website. I was not aware of most of them before going into the story. To be concise and accurate, I will be listing them exactly as she has on her website. I appreciate that she has compiled this list of warnings and has even left a note at the bottom of the page that states the list will be updated as necessary and if someone finds something that should have a content warning or trigger warning, do not hesitate to contact her.

-Graphic violence and body horror. Gore.
-On the page character death, parental death, and animal death, though the animals are not pets.
-Behavior and descriptive language akin to self harm, and references to such.
-Food scarcity and starvation. Emesis.
-A scene depicting chemical gassing.
-Suicide and suicidal ideation.
-Non-consensual medical treatment.

Wilder Girls is told in two POVs throughout the story. I really enjoyed how the switch between points of view were done. Instead of continuously going back and forth between the two characters, we get several chapters from one character and then a switch to the other for a few chapters. Since we stuck with a character for a while, I felt like I was able to connect with each of the girls better.

There is also a unique stylistic choice in how the story was written and how certain things were portrayed. I think this ended up lending well to the creepy vibe that I continuously got from Wilder Girls.

As someone who doesn't really enjoy horror because I despise jump scares, I actually really enjoyed this story. It was more so a make your skin crawl type of horror with creepiness and bits of the story that mess with your mind.

This is definitely a story about finding out the truth about what is really happening on the island. I appreciate that Wilder Girls starts off where it did. Instead of the story leading up to the quarantine, it starts off after the quarantine has happened. We learn about the time leading up to quarantine in bits and pieces throughout the story. I liked that as the reader, you are kind of just dropped right in the middle of everything happening.

At the start of the story, there are two teachers and only a handful of students. The students each have daily duties around the school and island. There is a select group of students that are chosen to be the girls who go with one of the teachers to collect the supplies that are delivered to the island periodically. As time has gone on, the quality and quantity of the supplies has worsened. As things get worse, the girls are almost starving on the island and they ration supplies to make it to the next delivery as they each await their next outbreak.

The outbreaks were hard to read at times. They're detailed and intense. If the girls survive an outbreak, they're left with a physical reminder of it. These are things like: glowing hair, silver scales, bones protruding through the skin, or eyes fused shut with “something” growing underneath.

I found it interesting that there's a sort of rite of passage when a girl has her first flare up. There's a total our changing bodies sort of vibe. Girls are all too aware of body transformations of puberty. The Tox is even more than that. Girls continue to die and it's unclear as to what is causing it, but while affecting the girls, it's also affecting the creatures who inhabit that island. It has caused creatures like fox, bobcats, and bears to be a little larger, to be more aggressive, and to be misshapen like the girls.

I unfortunately am unable to compare it to the things that the book has been pitched to be parts of as I haven't read of Lord of the Flies. I've also seen people compare it to Annihilation, which is something else I'm not familiar with.

I absolutely loved the characters in the story and how we got multiple points of view to show different parts of the island. There's a lot of tension and some amazing authoritative moves and decisions. The ending of the book though. It left a lot unresolved for me. Many things in the story are wrapped up, but I definitely found myself wanting a little more.

I did really enjoy Wilder Girls though! This is a solid 4.5 book for me. The ending wasn't exactly what I was wanting from it which is why I knocked the book down a little bit. This had just enough horror for this newbie to the genre and definitely messed with my mind throughout the story. I absolutely can't wait for more from Rory Power in the future and can't wait for more people to read her debut novel.

Say hello to the latest in a string of new favorite books! Wilder Girls is lyrical and monstrous and captivating and I love it so much. Rory Power is definitely going to be a name to know in the future of YA.

First I want to scream about the atmosphere. The environmental horror? The body horror? Never things I thought I would enjoy, but I'm somehow addicted to them here. The descriptions of life at the Raxter School made my skin crawl, and I loved it. Power's writing alternates between intense horror and lush prose, a juxtaposition which creates a sense of dread while piquing curiosity about the island.

Parts of this novel reminded me of Sawkill Girls, by Claire Legrand, another book I adore. That sense of "don't go into the woods," that "stay where it's safe" feeling that any main character has to ignore is amplified in Wilder Girls. Certain girls, the Boat Shift, are assigned to go outside of the walls and pick up supplies left by the Navy. On the island, the girls are not the only ones affected. Animals--bears, deer, foxes--are also mutated by the Tox, and are ready to attack. I loved the sense that this island is the only place on Earth with the Tox. That aspect alone is different from almost all other dystopian/contagion novels, and created urgency and desperation for the people outside Raxter to save the girls. The tension is so delicious.

I could spend hours talking about how atmospheric and visceral Raxter is, but then I wouldn't get to talk about the characters! Hetty, Byatt, and Reese are three of the older girls at the school, and are doing their best to survive together. Something grows behind Hetty's eye, Reese's hand is silver-scaled, and Byatt has a painful second spine, but they will still fight to care for each other. I loved their loyalty and unquestionable bond. Thus, when Byatt goes missing and isn't in the infirmary, I wanted to find her just as much as Hetty did.

I only have two wishes about this book: First, that the sapphic relationship that was lauded so much in early promotion was more developed, and that the ending was a bit tighter. If Wilder Girls is getting a sequel, then this would be fine, but as it is, I have so many questions!

Regardless, Wilder Girls earns 5/5 stars from me and is on my list of Best Books of 2019.

Wilder Girls has been one of the most hyped books of the summer. I was so excited to have gotten an ARC. The synopsis sounded SO GOOD! A YA horror-mystery? I'm in! Once I started reading it, right off the bat I was so confused. There was no explanation about the Tox, about why the girls were stuck on that island in the first place and there were no real introductions to the characters. There was no backstory or world-building. But I gave it a chance with the hope that that would eventually develop throughout the rest of the book. What I ended up with were more questions.

About 40% through, I wanted to give up but I forced myself to read through the rest of it. I couldn't get past how gross this book was - gross in terms of being extremely descriptive with blood, flesh mutations, sicknesses, and diseases. That is also just not my thing and possibly another reason why I was so turned off by it.

The characters - I couldn't even develop any kind of emotional attachment to them. I just didn't care at all. Byatt was better than Hetty though, and although I enjoyed her chapters more, it still wasn't enough to save this book for me.

Overall, Wilder Girls fell short of the high expectations I had. The 1.5 stars are for the concept alone. The rest of the book was a hot, confusing mess.

This book absolutely broke my brain. Left me wide open and incapable of forming complete sentences. I want it to break everyone; I need the world to read this book and be broken completely into tiny little pieces by this book so it can build us back up again the right way. Because this book knows things. It very appropriately seems to have a mind of its own, and it will get under your skin, you can count on that. It’s a slow kind of creep, as it snakes its way through you, but this book will devour you just as you devour it.

It is worth noting that I have never in my life read a Stephen King book. This is basically sacrilege as a born and raised Mainer, but that kind of horror has never really interested me. I was absolutely willing to try a feminist YA horror though, but I was not prepared for the feeling I have now. Wilder Girls takes place on a fictional Maine island, but one so similar to many of the literal thousands of coastal islands we have that Raxter Island is basically real. I have not read any horror set in my own state before. Now, if I had read some King books previously, I’m sure I would be used to this dread that has settled in me as I look around outside. It’s one thing to read a scary story, another thing entirely to read a scary story that references places you actually know and visit. It’s definitely left an even bigger impact on me than this book was destined to make, and while it is a little freaky, I am thankful for it.

The book follows a group of boarding school girls, quarantined on Raxter Island, which is home to wilderness, the school, and now, the Tox. We jump in just over a year after the quarantine started, so the girls are pretty adjusted to this life. Their bodies are being manipulated and mutated by something, which they’ve named the Tox. It gives some of them things like a hand covered in scales, a second spine, a blind eye. And from some it only takes. And when it takes too much… let’s just say they are at about half the population they were when it all started. We read from the perspective of Hetty, who’s 16 and forgetting what it was ever like to live before the Tox. We also get a good section of chapters from the perspective of her best friend, sister of her heart, Byatt, who worms her way into our hearts without even trying. But mostly we’re with Hetty, and she is exactly as flawed and human as we need a protagonist to be. She never should have had to shoulder the things she has or make the decisions she has to make. Her life shouldn’t have been this hard. But the Tox changed everything, for all of them, forever. But they’ve found a new normal, while waiting on the CDC and Navy to find them a cure. Until Byatt goes missing after a flare-up, and Hetty knows she has to do everything she can to find her. Including breaking quarantine. And what she finds when she does flips her life upside down again, and may just destroy the little life they’ve managed to build on Raxter living with the Tox.

The plot Power has come up with here would be enough to carry this book into being one of more memorable books of the year. But her writing style is what seals the deal, what will make this one I will always remember and throw at everyone I can until the whole world has read this book. It draws you in from page one and doesn’t let go. Even after you reach the end, you’ll still be gripped by these characters, by the tragedies that visit them and the things they uncover. The consequences of humanity are brought to light and it is nothing short of terrifying. A deep and primal horror sets in while reading and it doesn’t stop when you close the book. It keeps you thinking and fearing and wanting to do anything to fix this world. And honestly, more books should leave you feeling that way.

This is an author to watch, there’s no question about that. Power came out of the gate running and I am so excited to follow her work, even if it does absolutely terrify me. I had to make sure I had enough time for at least one episode of dumb tv before bed each night after reading because it was definitely too Spooky™ and I was not prepared. But that is not all it was. It was powerful and heart-wrenching. It was filled with unexpected twists and choices to be made that will break your heart. It showcases characters that love fiercely and stubbornly, that do whatever it takes to survive in an environment that is viciously fighting back. They will grow in your heart the same way the plot grows in your bones. It will dig in and not let go, and I hope it infects everyone.

really enjoyed this one! The whole vibe was so deliciously so eerie, the author really nailed making me feel like this is an island full of awfulness. The ambiance reminded me of The Call, which is an absolutely good thing. The Tox is... well, it sounds dreadful. It has taken the lives of many, and left its survivors with a whole host of physical maladies.

The characters are appropriately desperate to survive, to save each other, to do whatever it takes to live another day. The main focus is on three surviving roommates/friends, Hetty, Byatt, and Reese, though Hetty's POV is the main one. Hetty cares deeply for those she's come to love as family, even as she fights for her own life. Hetty's blossoming relationship with Reese despite the horrific landscape around them is beautiful, and makes the world seem slightly less dismal. We even get some insight into Byatt in her own POV chapters after the girls become separated.

One of the things I found refreshing was that these young women had the same issues that others have in our current world. Fights and hurt feelings didn't end just because the world seemingly had. Sure, they became different, but in fact the worth and value of their friendships skyrocketed, making them feel even more deeply. Setting the story in an isolated school was a great choice too, as it led to further opportunity for secrets and lies , but also opportunities for familial-like closeness among the characters as a whole.

My only real qualm with the book occurs toward the end so I am spoiler-tagging it. (view spoiler)

Bottom Line: Wholly atmospheric and delightfully messed up, this tale of young women clinging to survival- and each other- will do nothing less than captivate