5/5 ⭐️
“I’m not sorry I helped you, but you….all of you…you were wild. You were free. And I can’t help feeling like it’s my fault the world is going to tame you. “
“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.”
Why does your story matter? This is a question Abbie Emmon asks in her YouTube series helping writers with their craft. This is a question I have found lacking in some stories lately, or not pushed far enough, but this story answered it. Why does this story matter? It beautifully asks the question of what it means to be a young woman in this society by showing us the struggles and ordeals this group of girls go through. It explores environmentalism and PTSD and trauma and individuality and freedom without being hit-you-over-the-head obvious. But it is also so wonderfully crafted that I felt such strong emotions while reading. The words might be simple, but I felt anger and darkness and hollowness. I felt their love. I especially felt their sadness. This was an exceptional story, one that I think is perfect for fans of The Grace Year by Kim Liggett and When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill. I look forward to seeing what else this author puts out.
Thank you to NetGalley and Zando Projects for providing an advance reader copy of this book for my honest review.

In THE WILDERNESS OF GIRLS, Rhi finds four feral girls in the forest and introduces them to society, wondering if they ought to be tamed, or if she should embrace her own sense of wild?

TW: sexual assault, suicide

The mystery around the four feral girls captivated me. I read the first half of the book in a single sitting. The juxtaposition between Rhi, who grew up in society, and the girls, who grew up completely in the wild, led to very interesting questions on girlhood.

Ultimately though, I felt like the novel tried to do too much. As someone who has recently been touched by teen suicide, I wish the novel had handled the issue more sensitively. While Rhi's assault was integral to her character arc and the central themes of violence (violence in the wilderness versus violence in society and violence against women), I felt that the suicide wasn't needed to tell the story the author set out to tell.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Madeline Claire Franklin for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Wilderness of Girls coming out June 11, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I really loved the beginning of this book. I thought the summary was really interesting and I was excited to read it. I thought Rhi was an interesting character who had been through a lot. It was good to see her have a fresh start in life. I thought there was a lot of mystery surrounding the girls she found in the woods. I thought it was all very dark and atmospheric. I was interested in their story and why they were in that situation. I think I lost some interest halfway through the book. There were parts that seemed a bit repetitive. There was a lot of build up with the girls and them wanting to go back to Mother. It just seemed to be a lot of the same. It was somewhat long at 400 pages, but I thought the short chapters and different formats were good. There were some really dark themes that I wasn’t expecting. I thought it would go in a different direction. I don’t think this book was quite for me. The themes were a little too much without a lot of a wrap up. I felt like there should’ve been more of an ending after all that. I would check out other books by this author.

OOF. This was nothing like what I expected and I am so pleased to have been given the opportunity to read and review it early. I love stories about girls and womanhood, especially ones focusing on their identities and strengths. I wasn't sure that this book would be that, but it was, and it completely nailed it in a brand new way.

Eden is a young girl in an unstable home, and shortly into the book finds herself a ward of her uncle. There is clearly unmentioned history of Eden's past, and we get snippets to which one can form conclusions, that drives a low-frequency anxiety throughout the whole book-making a reader committed to Eden's story and strive for her success- even though she's only one in an ensemble of incredible and unique characters- girls and boys, men and women, doctors or family, front and center or otherwise.

The "Wild Girls of Happy Valley" have their own story that abruptly intersects Eden's story - and the five work through their trials as a pack- from institutionalization to a reckoning about their destiny. The girls were not parodied either- every character was well described without being verbose; I felt like I fully understood everyone in this book.

The plot feels brand new to me and it did not disappoint. Lately, I've heard this amazing plots and the books do not rise to the challenge. This plot was thorough, dissected, and profound. It did not make a mockery of any of the girls or their experiences, of which there were many heartbreaking ones.
Nor was gratuitous or "sympathy porn" in any way- it talked about some brutal topics with clarity and directness but without harshness. I tend to avoid "depressing" books whose sole purpose is to make the reader feel pained/heartbroken/sympathetic etc- I would NOT consider this to be one of them. The girls' histories are significant, but not the entire plot.

My thanks to NetGalley and Zando Young Readers for the ARC of "The Wilderness of Girls" in exchange for an honest review.
Let's get right to the point here. This book can easily break your heart multiple times and on multiple levels. The amount of emotional hurt on display is unrelenting and the story kept a lock on my full attention from first page to the last. The phrase 'immersive read' doesn't even begin to describe it.
The primal storyline is a trope we've all seen in books and films......that of a wild, feral child taken away from its natural habitat and brought into contact with a modern world determined to alter the child's nature, to adjust their behavior to civilized normality. Madeline Claire Franklin's remarkable debut novel presents us with a sisterhood of four such girls. living in the woods. The three teens and a tween are found by Rhi, a girl close to their own ages, working as a part time park ranger for her Uncle.
The girls' story is all at once bizarre, fantastic and heartrending - they believe they're lost Princesses from a fanciful kingdom, raised by an all-knowing, mystical mentor they knew only as 'Mother'. But to the modern world they're brought into, they can only be kidnapped, brainwashed children, whose abductor filled their minds with the elaborate fantasies he created for them to live in.
This becomes as much Rhi's story as the girls' They bond with her immediately, thinking of her as the fifth lost princess whose appearance portends a return to their mythical kingdom. And they're not far off about the 'lost' part - Rhi's Uncle has also become her guardian in the aftermath damage from her dysfunctional family. and she's internalized her own painful and terrible secrets. So it's no wonder that she finds herself gravitating to the imaginary Never Neverland the feral girls believed was true. But then the real world and the girls' entry into different foster homes, touches off no end of catastrophic events for everyone involved.
I can't say enough about the how the ambitious conception of this book impressed me. Author Franklin wisely (and cleverly) deals with a host of dire distressing issues that affect girls and women throughout the world (In both current and past history). But most importantly, she accomplishes all this while keeping a reader riveted to every twist and turn of the plot. Readers can decide for themselves about whether there's magic at play, but there's no denying there's some true storytelling magic at work here. A 'don't miss' read for this year.

The Wilderness of Girls deals with the dangers and issues tied to being a young woman. While I did appreciate the inclusion of these topics, and the overall message for young women, I found that message to be heavy-handed at times. Characters said things that were not believable from them as a character, but were clearly the author talking through them.

I also found the supernatural element unnecessary. In he end, it is not explained or resolved, so I would have preferred either more exploration of that element or removal of that element.

What a haunting, unique book! The Wilderness of Girls will stay with me a while which is not typically what happens after I finish reading a book. The premise of the novel is that 4 girls are found in the wilderness by another girl of similar age. They say that they were taken care of by "Mother" who is an adult male. Who are these girls? Where are they from? And who is Mother? The story unfolds throughout including the story of Rhi, the girl who found the 4 girls in the woods. While this novel is listed as YA, I don't think it's appropriate for children and is most geared for 18+. But wow, I was so engrossed in this book and didn't want it to end.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ THE WILDERNESS OF GIRLS by Madeline Claire Franklin

Days after I finished it and I'm still thinking about this book. What a wild ride.

"After being placed in foster care, Rhi starts working at the Happy Valley Wildlife Preserve and discovers a pack of wolves guarding four feral girls who claim to be princesses from another land. Unsure what to believe, Rhi brings the girls to civilization, facing societal uproar, and as strange phenomena blur the line between fantasy and reality, she must make a life-changing decision."

This is a debut YA thriller with a touch of magical realism. At some points, it's hard to tell if something is actually happening, but it makes the story that much more intriguing. There were times I was audibly gasping at the book.

Not only is the story compelling, but there is a lot of meat here. The theme was so well done that I found myself stopping to try to highlight on my kindle often. If you teach LORD OF THE FLIES or THE GRACE YEAR, this would be an excellent accompaniment. I'd definitely consider it for a literature circle selection. The novel is so beautifully written that I'm willing to bet you could find tons of mentor sentences in it, too. It is a bit gritty with tons of content warnings (see below), but I'd consider it for grades 11+.

Thanks to Netgalley and Zando Young Readers for the ARC. Thoughts, as always, are my own. Out June 11, 2024. (Note: This is not at all the fault of the author, but I've never read an ARC that was in such bad shape. Between the formatting, spacing, and typos, I almost had to stop reading. Thankfully Franklin's writing is so good I kept going, but sheesh.)

CW: sexual assault, pedophilia, child abuse, cannibalism, disordered eating, PTSD, physical violence, suicide (probably missing a few here honestly, but I gave it a shot)

What a messy, complicated, heartbreaking, fascinating story. At first, things felt unbalanced with the four “wild” girls and the one “normal” one, all dealing with their trauma in a messy spaghetti pile of pain and hope and anger and grief. I still think I would have liked a lot more from Grace and Rhi in the middle when the tangled whirlwind of the wild girls’ thoughts felt so overwhelming, but that too felt like a metaphor. And when we finally cracked Rhi open, spreading apart her ribs to see all the messy, scarred insides, I think Grace was the perfect one to witness.

This book is a heavy one, and there’s a good list of content warnings provided by the author at the beginning of the book.

Part of me really liked that we didn’t get all of the answers, and part of me wanted more. Because in the real world we very rarely get an answer for everything, but fiction has the freedom to be so much neater. Kinda wish we got to know which of the girls was writing the memoir we got excerpts from throughout, though; I think I have an idea, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Overall, a very solid offering with a lot to think about (and mourn)

An unflinching YA debut about a troubled teen who discovers a pack of feral girls in the woods and is swept up in the ensuing mystery: 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?

This was soooo good. I loved the characters and the atmosphere and the writing style. Well done!

First I would like to say if you are triggered by child 🍇/SA then this is your warning. It’s not super graphic but still figured I’d let you know.
Now that that’s out of the way, this was certainly different. I’ll start with what I didn’t like. The third person multiple povs. I just found this to be extremely jarring. I am already not a huge fan of third person when I’m reading because I like to be in the mind of the character but then to tack on multiple povs in third person, just wasn’t a fan. Then it doesn’t help that a lot of the povs are jumbled because 3 of the girls are literal wildlings. Lol. But just to help you see I’ll try to name every character we had to read from.
•Rhi/Eden
•Oblivienne
•Epiphanine
•Sunder
•Grace
•Verity
•Dr. Ibanez (The psychiatrist)
•The excerpts from the wild days(no one in particular)
And each one of these (minus the wild land excerpts) was trauma filled and confusing at times. I also was not a fan of the open endedness of Mother. But that is my own hang up. I am not a person who likes living with theoreticals. I don’t like to put so much time into something just to walk away with questions that I will never have answered. Lol. So where someone may love this and feel it leaves it open for readers different interpretations I just prefer to know flat out whatever it is. Now once you get past that it was a wonderful story. We follow a group of teenage girls and watch them come to grips with their traumatic pasts each in their own way and come through it on the other side. Some of the story is incredibly heartbreaking and then other parts are incredibly heartwarming. This is one of those books that evokes strong emotions from you and I always say no matter what it is you’re feeling it made you feel something strongly and that’s the best thing an author can do. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. I have a soft spot for stories that touch on the supernatural without ever confirming if it is real and Franklin executed this trope to new heights. The Wilderness of Girls asks questions of the reader and does not give easy answers; the novel is better for it. This is one of the best books about girlhood I've ever read—it looks unflinchingly into the darkest parts of our world and still manages to be full of love.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

This was an interesting look at trauma and how teenage girls may or may not process that. This was a beautifully described novel, with an interesting and unique perspective. I think there were some definite plot holes but for a first time novel the neat and tidy is not always present.
Things I loved: the friendships felt real,the settings, the fact that the focus was on the girls and not the man.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I reaaaaally wanted to love this. I thought the beginning was really strong, the pacing was great, and it set up a really intriguing story. However, the book started to start going downhill around the 40%. The magic of the beginning was lost, the characters and plot seemed messy, and there were many references that really took me out of the book. I know it’s YA, but I really don’t need references to TikTok. Despite its flaws this book had a lot of promise, and I am still very interested in what else this author will come out with.

ARC provided by NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Zando for a truly exciting book

I am an adult and really enjoyed this book. It is listed as a YA fantasy mystery, but I was totally engaged.

I would not recomnent for Young teens or immature youth. More toward the older age teens and college level. More mature YA level. It was disturbing at points, but not over the top. I loved the magical element.

Recommend.

This story took me quite off GUARD, I do not know what I was expecting but this was so much better then what I thought this was going to be! I loved this book!! The Plot was wonderful and the flow of said plot was 10/10

The Wilderness of Girls was not what I expected. To be honest, I feel the blurb is to blame, as it misleadingly suggests a story brimming with magic. Perhaps I missed that part of the narrative, but there is a completely different side to the story. The beginning really drew me in with its fantastic pace and a likable main character. However, after the discovery of the girls, the story seemed to decline. The storytelling slowed and became repetitive. The main plot, as suggested by the blurb, was not resolved, leaving many questions unanswered. While I understand that some ambiguity is intentional, as it is in an allegory, it still left me unsatisfied. Additionally, the book seriously lacks trigger warnings for suicide, sexual abuse, and child abuse.

What a wonderful plot! Finding a world to escape to from reality, who doesn’t want that?
This book kept me needing more from every page but also had me bawling like a baby.

This book really drew me in. Starting with the GORGEOUS cover then slapping me with an incredible character-rich story. Even though the heavy themes are dealt with well, please do read all the trigger warnings! They were well explored for a YA book.
I struggled to put this book down even when life required it of me! I found the slow reveals of both Eden & the wild girls backstories really helped connect me to the story & feel for the characters.