Set in a small, rural town, the story follows the experiences of a teenage girl named Wren, who is grappling with the complexities of identity, friendship, and the pressure to conform to societal expectations. As Wren navigates her relationships with her friends, her family, and the boys around her, she must also confront the darker side of small-town life and the subtle ways in which power and control are exerted over young women.

Franklin’s writing is both lyrical and sharp, capturing the intense emotional landscape of growing up in a world that often feels both stifling and unpredictable. The book’s themes of girlhood, desire, and the search for agency are explored with sensitivity and depth. Wren’s evolving friendships, particularly with her best friend and a new, enigmatic girl in town, form the emotional core of the narrative, drawing readers into a web of tension, jealousy, and intimacy.

The novel’s strength lies in its portrayal of the wilderness—not just the literal one of the natural world, but the metaphorical wilderness that young girls often find themselves navigating. Franklin deftly examines the complexities of female relationships, the burden of societal expectations, and the search for autonomy in a world that constantly pushes girls to define themselves in relation to others.

When I saw that this was a good book for fans of The Hazel Wood I had to read it. I loved this story. It was just so, so well done and really stayed with me for days after reading. I would highly recommend this book.

When her father is arrested, stepmother takes off, and stepbrother abroad at college, Eden is placed in the care of her maternal uncle, Jimmy. She starts a new life with him in Happy Valley and decides to start her new life with a new name- Rhi. Once she settles down in Happy Valley, she get a job with her Uncle at the Happy Valley Wildlife Preserve. Rhi is working in the preserve when she comes across wolves and 4 "feral" girls. One girl is badly injured and caught in a bear trap. After rescuing the girls who call themselves sisters/a pack, Rhi feels connected to them. They begin to tell her a story of 5 princesses that are from a faraway land that must return to save their kingdoms and that they believe Rhi is the fifth princess. However, the real world has different plans for these wild girls and they must figure out a way to survive, stick together, and make it back home.

I loved this book so much- it was so beautifully written and truly made me feel. I could really connect to how when the "real world" tried to get the girls to assimilate, what that really meant is that society wanted to extinguish the "wildness" from the girls and to dim the magic that the girls all believed in and felt. After a close call with the law, Verity speaks about how in order to remain free, she must play their game and go along with the "good girl facade" instead of speaking her truth. I know that feeling and I'm sure so many others have as well. This book healed a part of me in it's earnestness and honesty.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Zando Projects for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I think I found one of my new favorite books of the year! This had everything I am looking for in a YA book--it was just such a satisfying read!

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

When Eden’s father is arrested for embezzlement, money laundering, and drug trafficking, her stepmother takes off, and she’s sent to live with her Uncle Jimmy. She decides to reinvent herself as Rhi, leaving behind the trauma of her old life (which we’ll catch glimpses of as the book unfolds).

Working part-time for her uncle at the Happy Valley Wilderness Preserve, Rhi is out on the trails when she discovers five girls, wild and feral, accompanied by two wolves. One of the girls is injured—she has a bear trap clamped onto her leg—and Rhi calls for help, becoming part of the viral news story about the Wild Girls of Happy Valley.

The nation is obsessed with the story of these four girls who lived for decades in the wilderness under the care of an old man they called Mother—after all, their story involves kidnapping, cannibalism, and four girls who insist they are princesses, gifted with magic and destined to return to a fairy-tale kingdom. As much as Rhi knows their story of magic can’t be true, she wants to believe it’s true, that she is the fifth princess they’ve been looking for, and their lives are destined for a safer world than this one.

As the four girls adjust to life in civilization, Rhi is right by their side, and it turns out that Rhi has a lot of healing of her own to do.

This novel was a surprisingly rich and gorgeous exploration of the dangers of growing up as a young woman. Franklin uses the story of the Wild Girls of Happy Valley to metaphorically highlight and contrast Rhi’s own trauma, and we think (sadly) many young women will see echoes of their own story in Rhi’s. While telling an important story, there is quite a bit of mature and disturbing content (and some profanity), so this is a recommendation for older teens, and students may want to search out content warnings before diving in.

Thank you NetGalley and Zando Young Readers for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are our own.

Review will be posted at https://threeheads.works/category/blog/ya-books/ on October 30, 2024.

What a beautiful book.
I love books that straddle (defy?) genre, and this is why.
This story is simply too big to fit neatly anywhere. Is it speculative? Contemporary? I'm not sure, and it doesn't really matter. I love it, just the way it is.
The characters are the heart of the story here and I fell in love with each and every wild girl, especially Rhi, whose revelations broke my heart. I loved everything this book had to say about being a girl in todays world and all the rage and grief that comes along with that. I loved this book and will be reading everything this author writes going forward.

"It is hard...to balance who you really are with what the world expects you to be. Sometimes the world is correct, sometimes it is not. It seems like a person could spend their whole life learning to tell the difference."

I'm not sure what I expected when I started this book, but what I found was definitely something different in a good way.

Sixteen year old Rhi's life has just been turned upside down. Her father is in prison, her stepmother abandoned her, and she's living with an uncle she barely knows in upstate New York. If that wasn't enough, she's working a part time job as a ranger when she discovers four feral girls in the woods. After gaining their trust, she brings them back to civilization, where they explain that they are the future rulers of a mythical kingdom and she's their long-lost fifth sister. Unsure what to believe, she's nonetheless completely unprepared for how drawn she will be to them - or how much they'll help to change her.

This book took on a lot - foster care, kidnapping, mental health, abuse (physical, mental, and sexual), family, suicide - but wrapped it in the continuing theme of society's expectations for girls and what can happen when we don't meet them. I thought it handled everything with the sensitivity it deserved, although I'm not sure we needed the cannibalism. I'd overall describe the book as magical realism - mostly based in reality with some magical elements you can choose to believe or not - but it was nonetheless very real. Franklin could have given the fairy tale ending, but chose to do the harder work of showing life as it is. All four wild girls have their own personalities and emerge very quickly as individuals, and reconning with their shared experience affects each one differently. If all you have is what you believe, what happens when it turns out those beliefs might not be true.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was fantastic! Honestly, I cannot say how much I loved this book with justice. It was intense and raw and so beautiful. It straddles so many genres, like thriller and fantasy with a literary edge, which only assists at delivering a powerful and memorable story. The characters are well-rounded, Rhi/Eden in particular, and so very resonating and empathetic, that you can't keep yourself from turning the page to find out what happens to them next. There's an interesting juxtaposition between the chapters with the snippets from newspaper articles and a memoir to show the impact of the storyline on the outside world, creating both an introspective, insular world but also teasing the edges in a great way! If you are looking for a narrative that is both haunting and exciting, teenage girls you will love to root for, and a call to adventure that is picked apart, this is the book for you!

I loved the premise of this one and couldn't wait to dive in. I hate to say that this debut wasn't quite for me. I will pick up other novels from this author and look forward to what they produce next.

The Wilderness of Girls is an exceptional YA fantasy that seamlessly blends mystery, thriller, and magical realism. Franklin's writing is nothing short of stellar, bringing the characters and their world to life with such vivid detail that readers are transported directly into the heart of the story.

This book is a perfect escape for anyone who has ever dreamed of stepping into a fairytale world, of battling dragons to confront the very real monsters—both seen and unseen—that haunt our lives.

I was thoroughly captivated by the novel’s multiple perspectives, the memoir excerpts, and the deep character development. The narrative's lyrical and almost ethereal quality added a hauntingly beautiful touch to the story.

The Wilderness of Girls by Madeline Claire Franklin is a stunning and evocative novel that immerses readers in a richly textured world of emotional depth and lyrical prose. Franklin’s masterful storytelling and complex character development create a powerful and captivating narrative that resonates deeply. This book is a remarkable achievement, offering both profound insight and an unforgettable reading experience.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

The Wilderness of Girls is a look into what it's like when the wildness is tamed out of girls and women. When Rhi's father is sent to prison and her stepmother abandons her, she goes to live with her uncle. While working in the forest one day, she comes across a group of girls around her age, but they're different. Wild. Free. Helping them means introducing them into a world where wildness is seen as a flaw.

This book is well crafted and engaging. It covers a lot of topics, so check your triggers. It's both heartbreaking and beautiful and an honest look at what it means to be a girl in the world.

This was such an interesting book! It was an enoyable book and I LOVED the characters!! I think that the characters in this book really lifted it to the next level! They weren’t flat and all had such different and fun personalities and characteristics that really made this book enjoyable.

Y'all had me on; <i>Are the Wild Girls of Happy Valley lost princesses from a faraway land, as they believe, or are they brainwashed victims of a deranged kidnapper?</i> Because I love princesses and true crime and this just sounds like both of my favourite things smashed into one book. And it did not disappoint!

The Wilderness of Girls is like its name suggests; a wild ride. A ride which I thoroughly enjoyed. Maybe more as an audiobook if I had had access to that? It was quite a heavy book at times and it's hard to read through your tears.

I also started this forever ago and then I put it down because I was busy and then picked it up again later on. And then I had to put it down again. And then I was a bit lost with the plot but I am an idiot who absolutely refuses to go back to reread things. So, I think if I had been able to read this all in a shorter period of time, this would absolutely have been a five-star read - 100% on me though. And like, I still enjoyed this very much.

This is also why y'all are getting such a bad review, I simply have the memory of a goldfish (which is actually bad saying as goldfish do in fact have pretty good memory. It's a myth that they have bad memory, poor little fish!) Anyways, I was saying I have a bad memory - <i>poor little me!</i> So this review is based on pure vibes and the vibes were amazing!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Idk if there are words to describe how this book made me feel.

The sense of belonging and family was so strong. I loved each girl-it’s hard to say who my favorites are because they’re all so interesting and complex. I really connected with Rhi when she talked about what she’d gone through and narrated her inner thoughts at the time. Girl same my god ouchie. I loved Sunder’s personality and I thought Epiphanie seemed so kind. Verity was also very interesting and I loved Grace’s growth and how they bonded. Oblivienne was my least favorite, but I still enjoyed her povs. I loved the way perspective was used/written throughout the story. There were so many well written likable character: Uncle Jimmy, Dallas, Giovanna, the Quakers. I absolutely loved this story and how much care was put into writing it. I felt fully immersed within their world by the end and loved these girls so much.

There’s no better book than a group of girls bonding like no other. Blood or not the bond between girls can be so intense and deep and I love the way it was portrayed.

I also loved the magical realism aspect. It’s hard to tell whether what’s going on is real, but you want to believe it the whole time. I mean Sunder’s leg?? Come on🙄 magic. I would’ve liked to see them go to Luetheria, but I did end up liking the way it was wrapped up.

This is such a unique story and world I can’t compare another to it. This is the type of book that would make an amazing 10 episode series. It needs more attention asap!!!

I feel like I’m forgetting other things but😭

I loved the way this book didn’t need a romance to make it intriguing. There was no need for romantic love when there was so much platonic love right there. It was so visceral you could feel it in your chest.

Also, I’m so surprised Dr. Ibanez isn’t evil?!? Was totally expecting a switch up.

Oh! And I found it very relatable how Rhi felt disconnected from herself and wanted to run from her past and change her name to feel free.

There are so many gorgeous lines to quote as well:)

“And as time goes on and their hair grows back, so too will the broken places in their hearts heal. Even if there is now a hole inside of each of them, forever.”

“It was just how we lived. We may no longer be caged or medicated now, but we are not free. I fear we may never be truly free again.”

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this early copy. I listened to the finished book from my local library. This book took me out. I had a 10 hour drive and I did nothing but devour this story. The way it was written was so good. The imagery and description and vivid character descriptions were so well done. I think all women understand the feeling of wanting to run away and live in the woods. It spoke to my wild girl soul and I really loved it.

I really like the message of this book! We - girls in particular - can be wild as we navigate a world that tries to tame us. And we're stronger together.
Unfortunately, the execution became a little muddled at the end when it turned into preaching. The author seemed to try to cram a bunch of therapy sessions into the ending, which made it seem less like a novel and more like a self-help book.
Also, the content contains a lot of activators, including a sexual assault scene I was not expecting - I actually wanted to stop reading at that point. Other potential emotional activators include complex-PTSD, suicide and suicidal ideation, disordered eating, body shaming, family and domestic violence, emotional abuse, and cannibalism.
The story itself was interesting and engaging. As I read, I wasn't sure if the girls were really wild and from another world or if they were kidnapped. That question isn't resolved and created much tension in me and in the characters. That theme was also not the focus of the book's ending, which went in another direction.
I probably would read more books by this author but will read content warnings first.

This one wasn’t what i was expecting and i am glad for that. It was really good and i am grateful for that. It was so good.

The Wilderness of Girls by Madeline Claire Franklin is a captivating story about teen Eden, who renames herself 'Rhi' to start fresh after her father's imprisonment and her stepmother's abandonment. Living with her Uncle Jimmy, a Ranger, Rhi discovers four girls in the forest, one trapped in a bear trap. The girls, who claim to be princesses from another land, believe Rhi is their lost sister.

As the girls struggle to adapt to the modern world, their bond weakens, and Rhi's own life begins to fall apart with her father's impending release. Despite the allure of a magical kingdom, it may not solve her problems.

The book is beautifully written, exploring themes of trauma and resilience. The writing is compelling and builds empathy for the girls, making it a gripping and emotional read.