I loved this book and was enthralled with the writing. I loved the character study. Would read more from the author!

"Wild Failure" didn’t quite hit the mark for me. While the short stories had interesting premises, I found myself wanting more from the characters and the plotlines. The writing had potential, but it left me feeling a bit disconnected from the stories. I was hoping for deeper exploration of the characters or a more gripping narrative, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite deliver what I was looking for. It may resonate with some readers, but it wasn’t the right fit for me.

I will not be getting to this book soon, but I do hope to read it at some point. Also that cover is stunning.

I really loved this short story collection. The stories were clever and entertaining. I found myself wishing many of them wouldn't end.

Normally when I read a collection of short stories I’ll stumble across a few I hate and a few I love. When I say I didn’t like a single story… I DIDN’T LIKE A SINGLE STORY! They were all uncomfortable to say the least with a common theme of young x old couples. Over 18 is one thing, but 12 years old? NAHH Not for me!

The craziest part about this entire read is that I actually finished it. I simply could not add another novella to the DNF pile. It was literally under 200 pages. I forced myself to prevail. No matter how uncomfortable I was. Probably the first book I’ve ever given a 1/5-star rating. For a little bit I suggested maybe a 2/5-star rating, but the longer I read the harder it became to grant that mercy.

My thanks to Random House Publishing (Ballantine) and NetGalley for the Digital ARC. This book is ALREADY OUT!!! Go check it out for yourself and see what you think!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC: -Whittall is a wonderful writer, a new writer for me. The stories are about mostly queer women/non-binary people as they navigate relationships and aging. They are not inter-related but build upon similar themes. The stories are beautifully crafted with strong character development and insights. They are not light reading, despite their relative brevity. I appreciate her excellent writing.

Well written with important, sensitive themes treated with the seriousness they deserve.

The book largely didn't work for me, not due to fault in the narratives, however, but due to taste. I often have a hard time connecting with characters in short stories, and sadly this didn't give me enough to break that habit, even as close to home as some of the stories are.

That said, I would still recommend, to the right audience.

*Review provided by NetGalley & Random House - Ballantine*

Whittall’s latest book is a short story collection centering on (mostly) queer relationships. Most of the protagonists struggled with a variety of mental health challenges and their relationships were complicated. Though I generally enjoy short stories, these left me wanting more. I don’t need stories to have a satisfying conclusion, but many of the stories ended abruptly. I am a fan of Whittall’s beautiful prose, but perhaps I was not the audience for this collection.

My thanks to NetGalley for an Advanced Readers Copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in any way.

This book had to have been therapeutic for the author. There's a lot laid out on these pages and the stories hit on a number of themes. And, as many short stories do, they end. Often with precious little understanding of what the heck just happened. Not saying they're bad stories, they're actually written well and the main characters are well-crafted despite the small timeframe you're given them. I just don't really "get it" if that makes any sense.

This was a really quick, very well written book of short stories with a thread through all of them of feminism and queerness. I really enjoyed this easy read and found some of the stories funny, some heartbreaking. This was a great introduction to Zoe Whittall and I will definitely be reading more from her.

Big Zoe Whittall fan here, and not just because she writes about things so close to my heart. Like being a queer woman, and mental health struggles, and living in Ontario!

This was a really great collection of short stories. I would like to meet Zoe and say wow holy shit you made me feel so seen, the way you write about living with anxiety felt pulled from my own brain.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for the e-arc. I will continue to read everything Whittall writes and feel bummed that I'm out of the province for the Kingston Writers Fest.

If you enjoy short stories, I cannot recommend Wild Failure enough. I found each story to be so unique and enjoyable. Short story collections are newer for my shelf but this one was so good.

I’m usually a big short story fan. But some of these were a hit or miss. There are some stories that I skipped over halfway but the ones I did like, I really enjoyed. So perhaps readers might find some stories here that they like.

Some stories were so sad that they were funny. But I did feel taken in by the humanity in each story. This is about being woman. Being queer. Being a person in today’s world that makes it so easy to disconnect while being seemingly connected at every moment of every day.

Short story collections are one of the best ways to sample an author's writing skills and test your interest in their longer titles. WILD FAILURE captures moments in the lives of these women as they do their best to get by in a world that labels them by their sexual preferences. Zoe Whittall does a great job of pulling readers into the moment quickly and giving them a glance of how their differences affect their immediate surroundings, give us an ending that will set better with some more than others, but the point is well taken. Ten stories, ten life chapters, ten snapshots that caused this reader to visit Whittall's back library. That's what short stories do best, stir interest and fill gaps between series reading.

I always enjoy Zoe Whittall's books and could not wait to read her short story collection WILD FAILURE. It delivers. The 10 stories in this collection offer a range of characters who make mistakes and mess things up, but feel like people who could be the local skate park or live in your neighborhood, and so on. I pre-ordered this book after reading the second short story and can't wait to use this in one of my fiction classes this fall.

Really enjoyed this collection of strange but lovely short stories! They all had a very wry sense of humor, while still dealing some very real queer experiences .I was especially fond of the titular "Wild Failure" and "I'm Still Your Fag".

Wild Failure by Zoe Whittall is a phenomenal debut collection of ten powerful, feminist, and queer short stories.
What a powerful and compelling book this was.
I truly enjoyed each story and was hooked immediately.

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

A super interesting anthology that hooked me in and left me unable to stop reading. All of these stories were morbidly fascinating in a way that I couldn’t put it down until I devoured it all. This book is morbid, often horrifying, and a great collection of messy, dark queer stories

I learned about Zoe Whittall’s short story collection Wild Failure through her publisher on social media. I was really excited to receive an advance copy for review. While the stories are varied in nature, I was hoping for a more central theme to help tie everything together. While I think there is a deep sense of cleverness to many of her concepts, they lacked on execution. I personally don’t enjoy reading stories focused on trauma and was immediately put off by the opening story “Half Pipe.” The story concept I was most looking forward to was “Wild Failure,” a tale of an agoraphobic woman and her wilderness hiker partner, but I found the story anticlimactic, and really needing more background and buildup. I think many of Whittall’s ideas have potential, but I don’t think I will be returning to her writing anytime soon. Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for providing me with this short story collection in exchange for my honest option.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Zoe Whittall, and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

I always forget how much I adore short story collections until I pick up one after a long time!! This was an absolute treat that I devoured in less than 24 hours. Don't get me wrong, Whittall definitely deals with a lot of serious and tough themes throughout each story, and these definitely do not have happy endings. However, each story was perfectly crafted in terms of pacing and description. I left each one wanting MORE while also being so satisfied with what I had just read, which is hard to do! Whittall also included the perfect number of stories that were easily readable and not too long. I will definitely be checking out other work by Whittall because she did an excellent job of writing complex characters, especially queer ones. There was authenticity in this collection that I was pleasantly surprised by, and I know that several of these stories I will be thinking about for days to come.