This book showed a lot of different aspect of england. This girl named NAJ. A. L limped in leads. With your mother name christie. Mother was very part of her because she was never around and she did not know her father. Weren't she was younger?Her mother really did take care of her.But as she got older , her mother got into drugs and alcohol and t M e n. So she met this man who ran a pub.And they moved to this place and this is where she met. D e s I n e. The grandmother was the cook at the pub His mother was white and his father was black. It was hard for him to be in this town because his father would show up and everybody looked at him. Christy worked in The pub and it was attracted to all men. She sent her daughter to a private school but it didn't really work out for her. Her friend went to a public school and he really didn't like it there because of his skin color. Christ.
Ie's mother took off one day with his father and just abandoned her. Things got really wild at this point. She became just like her mother. She tried to make it work with her boyfriend , but it just didn't seem to pan out. When the grandmother died things got really bad. Father is resting his son and she had nowhere to go because she was a Hooked on drugs. You fall the story really interesting because there's so many Twist in terms. To this story. His son was really into plants. In the beginning of this Book , you'll find out why the father wanted to contact her. You will find out through flashbacks how everything gets tied together. Very interesting book and how people are different in london.

Perseverance is the word that best describes our main character, Neef. She’s raised by a poor excuse of a mother, treated like trash by everyone because of her mother, and seen as a sex object due to the actions of her mother.
When Neef moves to a small Yorkshire town with her stepfather, she meets Danny, who is also treated as an outcast due to being Jamaican and his older brother’s bad history.
These two unwanted souls find acceptance with each other and a deep friendship quickly blooms. But as with everything else in their life, it’s out of their control when they’re separated and forced to hate each other. The story continues to follow Neef for years as she struggles to be something or someone. Her fortune turns when she meets Fionnoula and Ali, a spirited couple who run a restaurant. They give Neef a job and a room upstairs to stay in. Things are looking up, and Neef has created a spot for herself. Until the past shows up and rips out Neff’s heart once again.
A love story of friendship, bonds that save and bonds that pull you down, covering years in the life of Neef. At times you love her, at times you’re screaming at her, but you can’t quit turning the page.
Thanks so much to Random House Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I had such a difficult time finishing this book. As a retired social worker, I found it extremely realistic, however, that meant it was incredibly sad. I found myself expecting and wanting a moment of positivity but they were very few. I do appreciate the opportunity to read the book but it was a tough one. Thanks #NetGalley

3.5 stars

This was not an easy read, but I felt the ending made it worth pushing through the hard parts, which was much of the story. If you're looking for an uplifting story, then this is not it. But if you're looking for a story that is raw and real and perhaps holds some hope for the main character at the end, then you should check out this story. The characters are all imperfect, perpetuating generational damage, and despite the fact that I did not like Danny's father from the beginning, I could also understand where he and Danny were coming from. Ultimately, I feel that this was a case of the adults completely failing the children, and there were so many times when I kept thinking that if only so-and-so weren't so immediately judgmental. They all made mistakes and yes, the kids did too. But part of those mistakes was because they had terrible role models. Even the teachers who were supposed to be better role models immediately judged Danny or Neef, which led to bad choices. I do wonder what would have happened if Neef had allowed her English teacher to help her. I do think that her heart was in the right place, even if she had some of the savior complex happening. And Mary could have helped Danny and Neef, but I feel that her instant judgment of what they were like prevented her from truly reaching them.

This was particularly tough because it was such an unhappy book. And yet, I think the author succeeded in us seeing that as flawed as these characters were, even someone like Denz had redeeming features. While the damage that he probably caused Danny and Neef was likely permanent, I also think that some of what he did probably was good for them, even if they never speak to him again. The ending is open-ended in some ways, but ultimately hopeful.

Hands-down my favorite characters were Ali and Fionnoula as well as their community. They brought some light to what was otherwise a very depressing book. I really liked the conversations Ali had with Neef/Jen, especially about making peace with her past. Not forgetting her past, but accepting it and then letting it go. And although she would never have a relationship with Denz, I liked that she was finally able to see things from his and Danny's perspective, about being a black male in a society that automatically judges you on the color of your skin.

In the end, I would be open to reading another book by this author--she's a good writer and she drew me into Neef and Danny's story despite it being a downer. Would I recommend this book? Yes, depending on what kind of read you're looking for. Content warnings include casual drug use (both weed and much harder drugs), alcohol abuse, sexual assault and victim blaming, racism, and mental illness.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Neef lives with only her mother at the beginning of the book. Then, she meets an intriguing boy who doesn't fit the molds that people hold. She and Danny become friends, and are drawn to one another.

As they age, romance begins to bloom. It isn't easy despite their deep love for the other.

Sometimes, the pressures of everything are just too much.

Unfortunately, I was unable to finish the book. I appreciate the slow start to build the story, but it is difficult for me to continue reading a story that is still slow nearly halfway through. I would love to try to reread this book at a later time. Hopefully, the outcome will be different.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of "Wild Ground" by Emily Usher. Usher's writing style in this novel is evocative and lyrical, vividly capturing the rugged beauty of the natural world and the emotional landscapes of her characters. The story intertwines themes of resilience and redemption as protagonist Jess confronts her past amidst the untamed wilderness of Alaska. While the pacing is deliberate, allowing for introspection and character development, the narrative maintains a sense of urgency and suspense. "Wild Ground" is a compelling blend of adventure and introspection, offering a poignant exploration of personal growth and the healing power of nature.

"Wild Ground" by Emily Usher is a poignant exploration of first love amidst the challenges of class, prejudice, and addiction. This bittersweet debut follows Neef and Danny, whose relationship blossoms despite the adversities they face in their small Yorkshire town.

Neef's tumultuous childhood with her mother Chrissy and stepfather Barry sets the stage for her deep connection with Danny, a boy marked as an outcast due to his mixed-race heritage. Their bond offers a haven from their harsh realities, but the forces of racism, poverty, and substance abuse continually test their love.

Usher's narrative, split between past and present, masterfully depicts Neef's journey from her troubled adolescence to her sober adult life in London. The author’s prose captures the intensity of first love and the pain of separation with an authenticity that resonates deeply. The characters are richly developed, making their struggles and joys profoundly felt.

While the novel's unrelenting gloom might be overwhelming for some, it also shines a light on resilience and hope. Usher does not shy away from the harsh truths of life but balances them with moments of tender connection and hope. The ending, open yet fitting, leaves readers contemplating the future of these vivid characters.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An emotional tale of two young people living the roughest edges of life amongst the community of poverty, addiction and abuse who find the life support they needed in each other. As their feelings for each other mature, their lives will surge and ebb as a tide that will eventually leave them with only memories.

While the description of this book sounded right up my alley, unfortunately the writing style just didn't mesh with me. I enjoy coming-of-age books, but it is hard for me to read books that lack quotation marks. Because of this, I ended up DNFing the book at 21%. If you don't mind not having quotation marks around dialogue then I would still recommend this, as what I did read was interesting.

🌶️ HOT TAKE: While extreme codependency borne from too many outside socio-economic forces is likely to transform into a toxic relationship, the promise of a healthy future together after time apart might just be enough to manifest it.

🧶 THE SUMMARY:
Jennifer (formerly Neef) is struggling to adjust to her quiet life working in a small London cafe alongside its charitable owners, a multiracial couple. When a man from her past finds her at the cafe seeking absolution for the part he played in her troubled childhood and asking for help finding his son, her first love, whom she hasn’t seen in 15 years, the past she has spent so long running from is forced to the surface. Through memories, Neef reflects on her life growing up above the local pub of rural Yorkshire town and her consuming relationship with the grandson of the pub’s cook. Confronted with too many systemic and circumstantial obstacles, their relationship had proved too harmful to last.

💁🏻‍♀️ MY THOUGHTS:
🔸 This book was not what I expected from the excerpt, and while I was able to recalibrate my expectations after realizing that the tone was to be different, it did color my experience of this book, which was to put it mildly, difficult to read. Neef and Danny were subject to so much adversity at such a young age and this book lacked the interspersed levity to keep the reader on track and promise closure worth pushing through the book for. As a professed reader of sad books, this was honestly just too sad for me to really enjoy.

🔸 Out of the myriad of challenges facing Neef and Danny, I found the racial politics and tensions of the book to be the most interesting, and I wished that the author had chosen to confront these issues more deeply, even if it was at the expense of including some of the others. Danny’s grandmother’s racism in particular was layered because of her caretaker role and contrasted well against more explicit instigations by more removed characters. That being said, Neef’s persisting color-blindness and naivity detracted from the novel’s ability to seriously confront racial prejudice’s role in Danny’s coming of age.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc, provided in exchange for an honest review.

This is a heavy, slow, heartbreaking book, but also one that left me feeling a little bit hopeful.

I was intrigued by the synopsis of this book, because who doesn't remember the heady feeling of first love? This book includes the highs and lows of that love, but also incorporates much larger, heavier, deeper, and darker struggles that both of the main characters experience within their relationship and beyond.

The book also explores the bonds between parents and children and how difficult and damaging those relationships can be, especially when they aren't what you expect or realize they should be. The characters in this book did not have easy family lives and the story shows what can happen to two young, directionless, poverty-stricken teenagers without great support systems.

I actually really liked the book. I was moved by it, could feel the pain that these kids endured, and thought it was a very real story. Where I struggled a bit was with the pace. It took me a long time to get through this book, and when I checked the page count after reading it (I read the ebook, so didn't know page numbers), I was surprised it wasn't longer. It felt like it was 500 pages or more to me, based on the pace and the amount of time it took me to progress through the book.

That said, I will also note that the book is filled with English slang and dialect, so I think I had to read it slower to understand what was being said. And in several cases, I had no clue what some of the words meant, even when trying to use the context around them to figure it out. It took me quite a while to adapt to reading the dialect.

What I think I loved most about the book, however, was that some people didn't turn out to be who you thought they were. Most of the book you gain an understanding of certain characters only through the eyes of other characters. But when you later hear directly from those characters themselves, it gives you a whole new perspective and understanding. I thought it was beautifully done and it kept me thinking long after I finished the book.

I personally really enjoyed this one, but do think you need to be prepared for a slow, heavy, character-driven novel. If that's your jam, I suspect you'll enjoy this one as well.

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wild ground by Emily usher is a deep story of a young girl growing up with a single mother in the 1990s in Britain. The story then moves her throughout time as she meets and falls in love with Danny. Their relationship grows and unravels as they age and suddenly, she must learn to life without Danny and forget her existed. However, the past has a way of always returning and neef must face the past and the choices made. The story tackles racism, addiction, poverty, mental illness, and loss. Due to the author evoking the dialect of the region and not using quotes to distinguish which characters are talking when, it can be difficult to follow the story. It is also a sad story of grief and despair, making it a tough read.

Thanks to the publisher for providing the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Random House for allowing me to read and review Wild Ground on NetGalley.

Published: 06/04/24

Stars: 2.5

Not for me. I had a difficult time from the beginning and started the book twice with a couple weeks in between. I didn't connect nor care. I struggled with the English slang? Just as I would get some momentum I came to a screeching halt.

It fell short as a story. If the synopsis appeals to you (it did me) and you can read slang I suggest trying.

This novel explores racism, addiction , poverty and systemic injustices. The writing crackles with urgency, capturing the rawness. It is gritty, and character driven.
Many thanks to Random House and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you random house for the review copy of Wild Ground. this is a complex book to review, it is an important story filled with themes that resonate, and require attention, including themes on addiction and poverty, race and social class, and how these experiences intersect and influence young lives. and a progression towards an ending that is discussion worthy.
I will say this is not a read that is easy or light, the tone is heavy and at times, perhaps due to the tone, the book feels slow but also with topics that are hard to return to (some of this might be that I am coming off the end of a really busy time for me and just want things that aren't too much emotional drain). I recommend this for a book discussion that is open to big topics and as an option that is worth attention during Pride month.

Wild Ground by Emily Usher was an intriguing yet difficult story to read.
I enjoyed these characters and their journey. Very descriptive and well written.
This love story is real, raw and very realistic. Which is why I was so engaged.
Overall, I thought it was a really great read.

Thank You NetGalley and Random House for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I am a little conflicted on my final feelings about this book. On one hand, I think Usher did an excellent job developing the two main characters and detailing the bleakness of their lives and love story. However, it did drag at certain points and nothing was resolved by the end. I would definitely read more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC.

The themes throughout this book will break your heart. It tackles some truly big and important topics. I always struggle a bit with books set in England no matter how hard I try. But, nonetheless, a poignant read.

Wild Ground was a difficult book for me to get into. A lot of issues are addressed including racism, classism/poverty, addiction, etc. The writing is raw and the story is very bleak at times - but overall this is a thought-provoking debut novel.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this novel.