The Wild One is a fantastic thriller from start to finish. Filled to the brim with twists and a captivating plot, this one is sure to keep readers hooked. The characters are well-developed. The story is incredibly fast-paced. This is one not to be missed! Highly recommended! Be sure to check out The Wild One asap.

Amanda is living a picture-perfect life —graduate school, Tribeca apartment, hot boyfriend — but a secret from her summer at Camp Catalpa comes to light and threatens everything.

I really wish this hadn’t been marketed as a thriller because it was really a coming-of-age story about the (extremely) dark side of female friendships.

I loved how McKeegan portrayed the back and forth of tween/teenage girls’ relationships and the desperate need to belong and not be the outsider, even if means throwing other girls who are (or could be) your friends under the bus to get the attention of the alpha girl. She really nailed that dynamic and captured the wild and seemingly random swings between all-consuming adoration and all-out brutal viciousness…. aaagh.

The story is told in dual timeline (camp days and the present), and I was much more interested in the camp sections and who the girls were then vs. who they turned into. There weren’t any big twists or unsolved mysteries, but the story is exciting and moving and I overall really loved this book.

One minor gripe (which another person mentioned, but I forgot who it was - sorry!): I love the cover photo, but the red ribbon makes no sense! The camp had blue and green hair ribbons…

ANYWAY. Read this for all the t(w)een girl drama and be happy you aren’t that age anymore. (And if you are… best of luck, and it gets better.)

I liked this book, but something was lacking for me. I was expecting it to be more of a thriller but everything was predictable and there wasn’t an “OMG” moment for me. It took about 3/4 of the book before I felt invested, but once I was invested it was hard to put it down. This felt more YA mystery/thriller and I think if it was marketed that way I would have enjoyed it more.

Our MC, Amanda, is living her dream life in New York when her past comes back to haunt her. The summer she spent at camp could ruin her life forever. The author does a fabulous job showing the dynamics of being a tween and that desire to fit in with certain friend groups. The way she intertwined those past relationships into the relationships you form in early adulthood is what kept me reading. I really resonated with wanting to put on those rose-colored glasses thinking everything was fine because change can be scary sometimes.

I will say, while it was mostly predictable, the ending had a bit of a shock. I truly did not think it was going to end the way it did. There certainly wasn’t a gasp at how it turned out, but it was good nonetheless.

This was a very good coming of age story and if you’re looking for more of a YA thriller then I would definitely recommend picking this one up. If you’re looking for something that is going to keep you on the edge of your seat, you might want to pass.

This book has a theme that seems too often used and too predictable. It’s death by summer camp and then keeping the big secret of how it happened. I didn’t find tge characters especially engaging and certainly could have reeled out the plot before I finished the book.

I’m afraid this just wasn’t for me.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

Yet another "perfect woman lives perfect life" until deep dark buried secrets threaten to ruin everything plot... maybe it's just me, but I am getting a little tired of all the new books with this EXACT storyline. This was just so-so.

🅣🅗🅔 🅦🅘🅛🅓 🅞🅝🅔
By Colleen McKeegan
Release date 06/14/2022

They’ve not seen each other since the fateful night in the Poconos, an eight-week summer camp they all went to at the age of 12. Amanda, Meg, and Catherine all attended, and all were involved one fateful night together that they never forget.
Amanda is in New York, Catherine is in Boston, and both are grad students.
Meg was local and worked in a casino 20 miles from the woods; the murder happened. Amanda’s broken the pact of silence to her BF Jackson, and now they’re suddenly back in each other’s lives. At first, you’ll love Jackson Amanda’s BF, but as this past and present book flows, it’s a super fast-paced read - you realize he’s a controlling putz.
When your life feels out of control for years, someone controlling may feel helpful rather than a manipulating - stifling boyfriend. he gaslights her consistently (and reading this particular book truly opened my eyes to a time in my life when I was gaslighted and that vindicated me - so thank you, Colleen )
Now they’re back in the woods together because the pact is broken. They have to fix it. But how?
You won’t believe the twists in this book; they will leave your jaw on the floor 😵😵😵
5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟S҉T҉A҉R҉S҉

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This thriller is full of twists, turns, and surprises - right up until the very end, which I did NOT see coming and absolutely loved. McKeegan had me hooked from the beginning. She also poignantly chronicles female friendships from the fraught high school years through adulthood and deftly delves into what it's like to be in a toxic relationship with a 20-something man. A must-read, I can't recommend it enough.

Twisty and fast-paced, this will be a perfect summer read. A recommended purchase for collections where thrillers are popular.

I want to read this book because I love a summer camp mystery. However this book turned out to be so much more. It shows how one act can change your life forever. It also highlights what it means to be in an abusive or toxic relationship. There are a lot of heavy themes in this book but the story more than carries them all. Another strong point is the extremely strong characterization. I felt like I absolutely knew the characters and could be them. I highly recommend this book!

This book is so much more than just a mystery.
It’s a deep, intertwined tell of how the past is never truly the past.

From the beginning to the end, we see how each small movement in our life determines how we end up. We relive our younger days - of being the newbie, of being alone - the need to be accepted and fit it. We see how it slowly eats away at us, until we spiral.

Jackson was such a disgusting character. The gaslighting he exhibits toward Amanda is so, so sad. We as readers watch as the abuse escalates - slowly seeing the signs of isolation, gaslighting, manipulation. It’s all so sickening, but done so well.

The camp aspect was written very, very well. I felt like I was at camp along side them. Seeing Amanda’s need for approval in her real life and her camp life was really hard hitting. She didn’t want to be this way, but she craved it. She needed the love, and adoration which ultimately led to her relationship with Jackson.

This book was so good, with great plot twists at the end. I recommend.

Jumping in time between Amanda’s summer spent at Camp Catalpa and her adult life in NYC, The Wild One tells the story of how trauma and social dynamics impact women throughout their lives. Amanda has spent her whole life building walls around herself to distance herself from what happened at camp the summer she was 12 years old. When she finally reveals the truth to somebody she trusts, her world threatens to crumble and she is forced to confront her past.
Media that delves into the complex dynamics of young women has always fascinated me, and summer camp provides a unique microcosm of these social hierarchies. No matter where you fit into this social structure, you can relate to somebody and McKeegan really nails the emotions of longing to belong somewhere. The story also hits on the fact that this isn’t unique to teens; for many women these dynamics never go away.
I loved how the story plays with our perceptions of truth and how they are different for everybody. Three different people can be present but each brings their own history, perceptions and experiences to define their own truth. So who is correct, and how does that shape the person you become?
This compelling book is beautifully written with touches of nostalgia for the teenagers we once were, and hit a sweet spot for me of mystery mixed with complicated female relationships.
Thank you to NetGalley and Colleen McKeegan for this copy, I cannot wait to read more from this debut author!

I was looking forward to reading this novel about a young woman and her summer camp experience gone wrong. The author really hits the nail on the head with the power dynamics between young adolescent women and their social tribes...then she hits that same nail on the head over and over and over and over again to the point where I was confused who the book is written for. The thematic repetition seems like something that would help a younger more inexperienced audience grasp the psychological concepts, but the frequent sexual content and substance abuse is a little heavy for a teen audience. At about three quarters of the way through the plot line picks up steam, however my desire to read what even happens has completely petered off by then because of the overly explained obsession with being best friends with the cool girl.