I loved the premise of the book. Overall, the Wild Girls overlapped, and the only one with a distinct personality was Sunder. The magical realism did not add anything to the novel. I would have liked more of an explanation about where the girls came from. I found it in plausible that of the four girls only one would be reunited with family. Nonetheless, I did enjoy the journey of the girls from the wilderness into the modern Day world along with Rhi’s own journey of healing.

Very enjoyable tale. I felt kinship with the girls and enjoyed the writing style. Girls raised by an unknown man called ‘Mother’ in a fairy story life. They were wild and had magic. After Mothers passing their life became more difficult and the magic was fading. The struggle to blend into the real world was difficult and deadly..

This was such an amazing read. The smart, skillfully constructed story was completely captivating and tantalizingly intriguing. A wicked sharp edge of darkness is woven throughout, and it easily keeps you hanging on the edge as this gripping tale that's a potent combo of fairytale and raw realism.

. A dark story of a group of girls found in the woods and the girl who found them. If you like everything wrapped up in the end, this may not be the book for you. The story ended with a positive outlook. I think it provided good insight into complex PTSD.

I really loved the cover of the book

Addicting right from the start. Well written, fantastic story line, gut wrenching. This is a captivating exploration of adolescence, friendship, and the complexities of growing up in a small town.

I. Am. SPEECHLESS. This book was spellbinding. I was riveted from the very beginning. Be sure to read the synopsis for trigger warnings as there are many. The novel is very character-focused. The narrator is third person omniscient, so the reader can understand what all the main characters of the story are feeling/thinking. We see their bonds strengthen, weaken, become tangled with frustration and confusion, all for different reasons such as abuse, what it means to be family, media, societal expectations, and toxic masculinity. 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.

This is great read. The characters were engaging and I couldn't put the book down. I would recommend this book for a book club or a friend.

I wish that the descriptions of books would match the reality of books. I was looking for something with magic. What I got was yet another reminder that girls are treated very badly by people all around them. I wasn't in a good place to read this and definitely would have put off reading it.

The Wilderness of Girls by Madeline Claire Franklin is an intense story dealing with many traumatic themes. This book is still YA but I think it's best suited for older teens.
Eden's family life isn't great and when her father is arrested and her step mom bail she goes to live with her uncle. Right away I noticed her struggling with trauma and depression though it's not expressly stated what she's so upset about until later in the story. She is trying to start over in Happy Valley, where she changed her name to Rhi. While on a hike she discovers four teenage girls half-naked with wolves.
There are times when like the four girls the reader isn't sure if the magic they were told was real existed or if they just fell into the delusions of a madman. Each girl struggles to find their way in the real world compared with how they were raised as they come to terms with things that may not have ever been real.
There are a lot of triggers in this book including SA, child abuse, domestic abuse, death, cannibalism, and suicide.
This book made my heart hurt because so many children have to go through these things. I enjoyed the relationships and how the girls all lean on their bonds as sisters to make it through hard situations.
Thank you to Netgalley and Zando for this arc. I am writing this review voluntarily and all opinions expressed are my own.

The Wilderness of Girls
By: Madeline Claire Franklin


After Eden moves in with her uncle she is able to reinvent herself to leave her past, and the parts of herself she doesn’t like, behind. Introducing herself as Rhi she starts high school and struggles to fit in, but gets a job working with her uncle in a nature reserve. As she is working early one day she stumbles upon a group of wild girls- one of which has her foot caught in a trap, and is very injured. Surrounded by wolves and her protective sisters, Rhi is able to get the girls to a hospital to get them help- but that is just the start of their story unfolding. The girls are fearful and develop a trusting relationship with Rhi where they tell her about ‘mother,’ a prophet who was helping to prepare them, the princesses, to go back to their world… As the rest of the story unfolds, we try to untangle the girls’ story… Who are they? Is magic real? Will they go back? What is true? As the take unfolds we learn not only about girls, but Rhi has to come to grips with her own past.

TW: Sexual Assault, kidnapping?

This was the story of Eden, a teenage girl who gets sent to live with an uncle she barely knows after her father is sent to jail. She is working in the woods when she comes across a “pack” of 4 girls and one of them is injured. She helps the injured girl and the story follows Eden (now called Rhi) and the girls as they come to live in the real world after growing up in the forest being cared for by a man they called Mother. There is so much more to the story than this initial storyline, but I don’t want to give too much away. I could feel every emotion the girls felt in this beautifully written story. There were some serious and deep topics, but it never felt too heavy. Every young woman should read this book!! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced reader’s copy.

CW: for trauma, violence, abuse, child abuse, r*pe, death, mental health triggers. It's an intense book. Spoiler warning at end of review.

Rhi is in foster care, after a troubled childhood and desperate for a new start in a new location. While in the woods she discovers a pack of half-feral teenage girls, living wild and free with wolves as their guides. Are they really lost princesses from another land, as they claim, or are they missing children who had been kidnapped long ago?

The mystery of their origin deepens as the wild girls - Epiphanie, Oblivienne, Verity and Sunder - are introduced to the modern world, trying to reconcile with the prophesies they have been taught to believe. And as things spiral out of control, the lines between reality and the magic and identities they know to be true become more and more blurred.

This was an intense book. We have two stories interwoven together - that of the Wild Girls and their adaptation to the modern world after a lifetime living wild and isolated; that of Rhi, living in an abusive household. Both stories deal with trauma and mental health challenges that are strained under different stressors, but both are guided through by psychologist, Dr Ibanez, working to try and heal the wounds of the past and the now.

At it's core, this is more than a magic-realism book about wolf-pack women and magical prophesies - this is a book of healing, of identity, of empowerment in the face of immense challenges and despite the fact that "No one fucking listens to teenage girls".

This is technically classified YA, but I'd recommend it for older teens in that classification/age bracket.

~ Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~

==
**Spoiler warning/content warning:
One character does take their own life. This book does look at their mental state prior to the event, and the grief of those left behind.
There is also a depiction of child abuse and sexual assault

There is something so dark and so wonderful contained in these pages. It is a story about pain and terrible things, but it is also a story about the magic of women and the ways we can help each other.
This is a book that you absolutely need to check the trigger warnings before you read it. It doesn't shy away from the bad parts of these girls lives. They have been abused and beaten down, and life has not been kind to them. But it also shows a lot of love in the way these things are handled, and I think if you go into it knowing the extent of the bad stuff, you'll find a lot of comfort in the way the author goes about it.
I am a big lover of books about messed up teenage girls. I think it is a universal experience for all teenage girls, regardless of race or class or anything else, to be messed up in some way. And these girls are MESSY.
This is an important, haunting, and ultimately beautiful story. I highly recommend.

Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish. Did not finish.

The cover was brilliant, definitely caught my attention.

Story revolves around Rhi, a teenage girl who is neglected and mentally abused by her father and step mother.
The real story begins when she’s walking out in the woods and happens upon 4 feral young girls.
These young girls tell a story of being raised in the wild, cared for by a man they call “mother” and being taught that they are princesses from another dimension.
Despite their story, Rhi has an instant bonding with the girls that leads her to believe she is the lost “sister” they need to return “home”.
This book touches on some serious topics so be sure to read the trigger warnings in the synopsis.
There are some loose ends that I wish were touched on more but I was captivated with this story from the very beginning.
The author did a great job showing how society tries to shape and mold the minds and self concepts of young women.
Finding strength in our friends, realizing family isn’t always blood, learning to stand up for ourselves and giving ourselves permission to heal.
This is my take away from the book ❤️

I. Am. SPEECHLESS. This book was spellbinding. I was riveted from the very beginning. Be sure to read the synopsis for trigger warnings as there are many.

Rhi is a girl who has spent her life feeling unloved, and desperate for human touch. When her father is arrested and her stepmother abandons her she is taken in by an uncle that she has never had a relationship with. Her uncle works hard to help her heal and show her the love that she has always craved and deserved. One morning in the woods Rhi comes upon a pack of wild girls and their wolf protectors. One of the girls is injured and Rhi calls for help.

Through the course of the book Rhi discovers that these girls were raised in the woods by a man called “Mother” and they believe they are princesses destined to save a kingdom named Leutheria. They believe Rhi to be their fifth sister. Right up until the end I wasn’t sure if Leutheria was real or not.

This book discusses what it is like to grow up in this world as a female. How the world attempts to dim our light, douse our fire, and mold us into a compliant and meek person. You can see the world beating these girls down throughout the book and how viciously they fight to keep their wildness.

The author did a great job of making me feel what these girls were feeling. Their anger, their confusion, their fear…and the overpowering love that they had for each other.

Do yourself a favor and READ THIS BOOK. NOW.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for the opportunity to read this book.

This book takes sisterhood and being a woman, with all of its feral, angry and heartfelt energy and creates a narrative out of it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will read anything else this author writes

4.5 star on The Wilderness of Girls.

Thank you to Dreamscape Select, Zando Projects and NetGalley for sending me an ARC and Audiobook of this title in exchange for review.

The separate copies I received of this book must have been from different editing stages because the audiobook was quite different. Not in a huge subject changing way just dual reading with both I noticed a lot of the vocabulary was different. However the narrator for this was amazing. She gave emotion and depth and in no way sounded robotic or monotone like many other audiobooks I’ve listened to.

This book…. Wow. It had me in tears. You get the feeling straight away that it’s going to be a heavy book, and it definitely delivers on that. I’d check the TW if that is concerning to you, personally it was a lot but it made me fall into the story more and feel closer with the characters. The extremely strong found family in this book is beautiful I love girls just being girls (a little bit feral) and supporting each other. I will be preordering this as soon as I finish my review to have on my shelf (I think this comes out tomorrow!!!).

It hit me hard and had me interested from page one and now I’m going to google Madeline Claire Franklin and dive into all of her works.

Special shoutout to uncle Jimmy!!!

I first want to say that I loved the cover of this book and honestly it's what drew me in. I cannot say that I loved the book.

There were aspects of the story that I did enjoy. My favorite character was Eden/Rhi whose story was so emotional but so real.

I didn't always enjoy the 'wild girls' aspect of the book. It felt confusing, where was the magic? I also felt like there were loose ends, who was Mother? I would've loved to hear more of that story.

I just think this particular story wasn't for me, others will love it! I will try this author again.

Huge triggers in this story...sexual assault, rape, cannibalism, physical and mental abuse.
*The piece of the story with dismemberment and cannibalism was unnecessary in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley, Madeline Claire Franklin and Zando Young Readers for this e-arc version of this book. All opinions stated above are my own opinion.

I thought this book was going to be much different than it was. It had very heavy themes that were revealed slowly. By the end I understood why the author chose to give the girls the idea of magic but it was pretty misleading. I did enjoy the book and appreciated how the abusive pasts were handled but I would not have chosen to read this book had I known that it was primarily about such horribly abusive lives. Good book but not the kind of book I would normally read.