Since DNF-ing this book I have spoken with many other reviewers about its content and decided to give it another try.
I felt uncomfortable reading it, but also decided it was necessary to give it another shot so as to expand my reading tastes and to see how far I could make it.
I believe there should be far more trigger and content warnings in the beginning. I was able to side step any kinds of negative mental health affects from the book by listening to other review's advice for reading and digesting this story.
I believe the story and plot was interesting if not a bit rushed, and the characters had vibrant personalities. If only there wasn't such vivid and triggering body horror, I would have enjoyed the book more.

Wilder Girls had so much potential that all went down the drain when it's second part began. I had so much expectations for this book. The plot and the entire concept of the book was so unique and intriguing that I could not put the book down until I reached the part where the main character's friend has been taken away.

The book was lacking so much in substance when it reached to a certain point. It became too flat and borderline manic, it was everywhere and that maybe was the reason why it lost its charm.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was a one-night binge read. Absolutely fantastic/thrilling/terrifying.

WILDER GIRLS is beautifully written, with a truly unusual plot that kept me fully engaged. It is dystopian and yet completely current and illuminates how we treat "otherness", disease and things that we just can't understand. I loved it!

For me, this book had two things going really well for it before I read a single line. The cover is gorgeous and the synopsis was particularly enticing. A mysterious illness is ravaging an island where the only human inhabitants are the teachers and students of an all female boarding school. At first, I thought I was reading a feminist dystopian allegory and I was ALL FOR IT. That isn't what I got out of it at all. The book is well-written, but the story was slow, disjointed, and a little gory for me. I was enjoying some parts of the narrative, and then after about 2/3 I no longer cared to follow where the author was going with it. I struggled for the motivation to finish this one. I might read another Rory Power novel in the future, because I think she's a good writer, I just didn't enjoy this story.

I wanted this to be one of my favorite books of 2019, but sadly it was one of my least favorites. The idea was amazing and the synopsis had me totally sold on this idea of a group of young women trapped on an island as a disease takes its toll on each and every one of them. The problem is that what I really hoped would be a fast-paced and thrilling horror was sadly an underwhelming mess that didn't go anywhere.

The beginning of this book is really promising as it sets the stage by introducing us to our main characters, while also illustrating how the "Tox" is affecting them each differently. Each girl has different ailments to her body, some gruesome and others just downright debilitating. Strong warning for those who are sensitive to body horror.

The mystery that surrounds the island is great...until it isn't. The second half of this novel lacked so much of its primary appeal. Once the main character's friend is taken back to the mainland to be experimented on, the story lost me completely. I was no longer invested in what was happening, and the plot became harder and harder to follow until it reached its lackluster conclusion. This could have been an amazing book, but the execution of the story left much to be desired.

I imagine if something like this happened in real life, maybe it would go a little bit like it did in <em>Wilder Girls</em>. But honestly, in my opinion, that's not a <em>good</em> thing. And when I say that, it's my roundabout way of saying that there's no rhyme or reason to the way things go; they just <em>are</em>. Rory Power had an intriguing, if simultaneously horrifying, idea and that was about it. Everything else is kind of just a mashup of things the wind blows in. But, to tell you the truth, I didn't expect to like <em>Wilder Girls </em>in the first place.

Powers' novel is basically centered around the idea of this school for rich girls hidden away on an island and a disease of some sort, called the tox, that has infected them all and causes all sorts of weird things to happen. Main character Hetty has some sort of growth on her eye, another girl's arm is all kinds of messed up. And the government is sending them supplies, but also supposedly looking for a cure? And it seems the "tox" as it were is at least quarantined to their island.

How is it I left this book with more questions than when I started?

Other than the fact that certain people are corrupt and some people died, I don't think I really learned anything by the end. I kind of felt like I did at the end of that one horror movie I watched as a teenager (solely because Rider Strong was in it) where everyone was basically acting stupid, nothing of note really happens, everyone gets sick, and then, in the end, there's this kind of assumption that the disease will spread even further.

And then I'm just like, what was the point of <em>any of that? </em>

Looking back, there's really nothing about this book that stands out to me. I didn't really care about any of the characters. But then, I never actually felt like I got to know them, either? There wasn't a whole lot of development for anyone. The plot was pointless, the disease was just a horror-movie-esque way of creating a conflict, and I'm just left wondering why I bothered.

What was I even supposed to take away from this?

I sure didn't enjoy it. I didn't learn anything. There's no overarching theme or message to be gleaned. It was, frankly, just a massive disappointment. It wasn't <em>terrible</em> nor the worst thing I ever read, but the only thing I got from reading this book was lost time.

<em>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</em>

I did not realize that body horror would be a main aspect of this story which really turned me off and prohibited me from becoming invested. Hoping others who can tolerate that type of book will find more enjoyment than I did.

I was excited to read this book, as the premise sounded really cool. However, reviews have since come out that it features body horror elements, and that is not something that I can read. Though I've heard great things, and I'll be sure to recommend it to those who I think can handle reading these elements.

Wow! What a read. I was locked in from the very beginning and felt ALL kinds of emotions. The fact that I finished reading just as Covid-19 hit America added a whole new level of intrigue. I wasn’t impressed with the ending, I felt like the author sort of rushed and could have expanded more, it just sort of ended. I would love to read something from the perspective of the people on the main land. I would read more from this author and thought over all it was a great book!

This was definitely a disturbing, graphic read. It is basically a spin of Lord of the Flies, but female version. It is a diverse read and there is LGBTQIAP+ representation in this book. It has a stunning cover and the story was pretty decent. It wasn't a favorite of mine, but I also didn't care too much for Lord of the Flies. It is definitely a gritty story and not for the faint of heart.

3.5, would have been a 4, but felt a little let down by the ending...I wanted more answers.

I liked the premise of the book and found it very interesting. Similar to Annihilation (the movie at least, book it on my tbr list).

I liken this book to The X-Files meets Lord of the Flies. I would definitely recommend to older teens as this novel is bleak. There are no happy endings here.

I really enjoyed this book but I did think it was a bit short. I would have loved to see the characters developed a bit more and the plot concluded in a more satisfying way. But yay for meaningful rep!

Wonderful debut novel written in a genre that if written well is one of my favorites - Horror!! The author develops a great story of a contagious virus that is constantly mutating in its host. A story of survival and hope with an ending that leaves you wanting to read more.

I am all here for some feminist horror! I was so excited for this book, and did end up loving a lot about it. Unfortunately, I ended up feeling slightly let down by all the hype. Just because this kind of story is what many of us are craving, doesn't mean it itself is a home run. I found the writing distracting, mainly the constant lack of contractions. I get the effect that's intended to create, and were it used more sparingly it probably would have been more effective, but it was pretty ubiquitous. I read that in an earlier draft of this, Byatt was the main (only?) POV, and that Hetty was newer - I almost wonder if the Byatt chapters that were kept were ones the author couldn't let go of. They were good, but if Byatt was going to be a POV I wanted to have her be one throughout - a few chapters of her here and there felt more a cheat way to give the reader information Hetty didn't have. The ending was also a super confusing let down. I'm picking on the negatives here but there was still so much to love and admire about this book, its strange story, and its characters. I'll definitely read whatever is next from Power, but the hype for this one gave me expectations the book just didn't quite meet.

What made me pick this book up:
That cover! Seriously the cover is absolutely stunning. That combined with the title. Insta love!

What did I like about the cover:
Everything. The colors, the girl, how creepy it is. It's gorgeous.

What made me read this book:
It sounds like a good apocalyptic thriller mystery action type of book.

What did I like the most:
Okay well there wasn't much I liked in general about this book.

The idea of it is really interesting. That there's a "tox" that physically changes them. It mutates them. I feel like there's so much potential and creep factor that could have happened here.
I thought it was pretty interesting hearing about the different ways they were changed.

I did like the idea of them being stuck on an island and starving. As weird as that sounds. It adds to the scary part of it.

But that's really all that I liked.

No wait, I liked what Hetty was willing to do to get Byatt back. It really shows their friendship.

I also like the names in the book, they're very unique.

What didn't I like:
Yeah...

The romance fell flat. It felt awkward and forced.
The characters weren't written well and I honestly didn't give two craps what happened to them.
There wasn't anything particularly "scary" about the book except what I mentioned.
I couldn't picture the characters, the place they were, or anything about it. I just couldn't place myself there and therefore couldn't picture anything that was happening in my mind.
There was a big "twist" and it wasn't at all surprising.

I just honestly feel like this one fell so flat it hurt. It had SO MUCH POTENTIAL. There was SO MUCH THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED. I'm not trying to knock the author, because I feel like she really tried. But man I'm just 10000% disappointed in this book! I was so excited and it just... Meh. Just meh.

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
I would definitely give this author another shot! Just because this one fell flat for me doesn't mean another book would.




I am so disappointed. This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2019 and blah.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Wilder Girls.

Unfortunately this is a DNF for me. I just could not get myself to latch on to the characters or plot. It seemed a bit too scattered and what I felt like too much drama for the kind of story that it was.

I really enjoyed this book. It's hard to make a dystopian feel fresh, but this one does a great job. It leans more towards the horror side: blood, gore, a disease which creates some extremely grotesque deformities. I really loved the fact that the all female characters were so determined, sometimes unlikable, and independent. Oh, and this book is also very queer and it was lovely. Lovely is a weird word to choose to describe it, but there it is. The writing is actually very lovely as well. It has a sort of poetic flow to it, especially the Byatt sections. So, lovely, but twisted.

This book is an absolute tour de force of body horror, complicated characters, and the lengths people will go to survive. After a strange illness sweeps across their small island off the coast of Maine, the Raxter School for Girls goes under quarantine, forcing the young women inside to fight for survival against the disease mutating their bodies, the bizarre animals outside the school's fence, and each other. The story is broken into multiple POVs, which works wonderfully to escalate the tension after Byatt vanishes and Hetty and Reese have to figure out what's happened to her. I also loved the relationship between Hetty and Reese--while it certainly isn't the focus of the story, the inclusion of complex, flawed queer women in a horror narrative like this one delighted me. Power isn't afraid to show the dark sides of her characters and to let them make plenty of mistakes, but I always understood why they made the choices they did. I was a little unsatisfied with the ending, and it took me a while to settle into the writing style (it's a lot more literary than a lot of the YA I've read), but I adored this book overall and would absolutely recommend it to any horror reader, especially those who liked Jeff Vandermeer's Annihilation.