Wilder Girls

I am not sure that I’m going to finish this book. The premise is interesting, but the writing is terribly difficult to wade through. I find that particularly ironic because the opening paragraph is written by the Random House editor who brags about how the book is so well-written.

I don’t find it to be well-written at all – at least not from a perspective of “readability” or any sort of poetic license. I found it difficult to read, and I found myself going back and re-reading sentences to make sure that I had understood them correctly – which distracts me from enjoying the story and takes me out of the world that the author is supposed to be building for me, and drags me back into my seventh grade sentence-diagramming class with Mrs. Spencer (who I loved dearly, but didn’t count on spending so much time recalling so many years later, just to try and read a book!)

I have read a couple of books or three, and I appreciate authors who immediately draw you into a story and make you forget you are reading, and instead paint a picture in your mind of a world that comes to life through your imagination. This book is not doing that. Authors like Brandon Sanderson, Orson Scott Card, Stephen King, and Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games was my first Vine review that I recall, and I remember thinking how amazing it was and that she was going to be a star!) and their mastery of language do this, but so far Wilder Girls has not.

To be fair, the STORY sounds outstanding. I’m very intrigued by the plot and characters and to find out where the story leads. But I am trudging through it slowly and begrudgingly. Perhaps it will be worth it, if I can make it through. I remember struggling a great deal with Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged and thinking that I would not get past the first 100 pages to find out what made it so great to so many people. But ultimately I enjoyed it and consider it one of my favorite books of all time.

That is why I haven’t given up on Wilder Girls yet. But let me give you an example of what I am talking about…

“Through the sight, noon sun bleaching the world, I can see the woods stretching out to the island’s edge, the ocean beyond. Pines bristling thick like always, rising high above the house. Here and there, gaps where the oak and birch have shed their leaves, but most of the canopy is woven tight, needles stiff with frost. Only the radio antenna breaking through, useless now the signal’s out.”

I realize that each of us will find that passage to be different. Some will see poetry in the baroque style (most editors will tell you, “don’t use a large, obscure word when a diminutive one will do the job.”) but I find myself being distracted by the overly ostentatious word choices and I find myself dashing off to check and see if the words are being used properly, rather than thinking about the STORY and PEOPLE. (P.S. Yes, I used magniloquence in this review on purpose to illustrate my point.)

I found myself trying to figure out how pines would bristle thick (like always!) and I had to re-read the last sentence to see if there was a missing conjunction, thinking perhaps it should have said, “useless now THAT the signal’s out.” I suppose it could be written the way the author wrote it, but it stopped me, took me out of the story, and made me think about the sentence structure and language instead of wondering why the signal was out and why there was a radio antenna. Surely that isn’t what the author wanted me to do there?

Here’s another…

“Up the road someone yells, and out of the trees, there’s Boat Shift coming home. It’s only a few who can make the trip, all the way across the island to where the Navy delivers rations and clothes at the pier the ferries used to come and go from. The rest of us stay behind the fence, pray they make it home safe.”

Ok, “…there’s Boat Shift coming home.” Is Boat Shift a person? It is capitalized. It doesn’t say “there’s the boat shift” or “there’s the Boat Shift.” It just says “there’s Boat Shift coming home. You can say I’m being picky. And if I was criticizing it because I was a grammar freak, you would be right. But that isn’t my issue. My problem is that I am yanked away from the story and the images I am trying to create in my mind, and instead find myself trying to decipher the meaning of the sentence or the language structure.

I am going to try and wade through the book and come back and add to the review if I make it. To be fair, there are some intriguing things about the story.

One last passage really explains the situation… “Byatt lowers her gun, rests it on the railing. Road clear. I keep mine up, just in case, keep the sight raised to my left eye. My other eye’s dead, gone dark in a flare-up. Lid fused shut, something growing underneath. It’s like that, with all of us here. Sick, strange, and we don’t know why. Things bursting out of us, bits missing and pieces sloughing off, and then we harden and smooth over.”

The girl who is sharing this with us is named Hetty. Byatt is another character. Aside from the odd comma in “It’s like that, with all of us here” this particular passage is more readable and interesting. I actually want to know what is happening with these girls and what they are going to do… I just don’t know if I can get past the writing “style” and apparent lack of editing, or whatever the reasoning is behind the lack of good grammar in the book.

I am reminded of the meme that tells us that commas save lives:

Let’s eat, grandma or Let’s eat grandma? You decide… Maybe this book is so good that the author should be allowed to ignore the rules and conventions of grammar and the English language, but I’m finding it a bit brazen and insulting to be asked to give that much latitude to an author who is not established yet to my knowledge. If Stephen King were asking for this much grace, I might be inclined to give it to him. But Rory Power isn’t a household name to me yet, and I can’t concentrate on her story because I keep getting tripped up on the grammar and language.

I was really looking forward to this book. The blurb sounded so good and interesting and I was ready for a disease/outbreak book. Give me all the paranoia. Give me all the fear. Sadly, that was not what I got.

SPOILERS! SPOILER WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD! YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!
I was ready for the paranoia when we found Welch was throwing out food. I thought that was odd, but I also thought it was odd the Navy/CDC would send them opened food. Like what the heck? So, I was on Welch’s side. Better safe than sorry. But nothing really happened from that besides the start of Hetty’s never ending guilt.

I think things really started picking up when Byatt was found missing but not by much. It was interesting to see Byatt’s perspective though. I really wish I would’ve known more about the girls. I didn’t feel connected to these characters. I didn’t really know who they were. Byatt likes lying, Reese is closed off, and Hetty is guilt-ridden. That’s all I can tell you about them honestly. I’ll forget about these characters by tomorrow. They felt flat to me with no real personality. I related to their friendship where 2 are closer with one “extra” but that’s about it.

I also feel like there was a huge plot hole. So the disease is not really a disease but a parasite? Fine. But there were 8 other girls beside Byatt. The Navy/CDC has 8 bodies. Hetty even mentioned they probably did an autopsy on Mona’s body… SO WOULDN’T THEY HAVE FOUND THE WORM during said autopsy??? Makes no sense to me??? I suppose the worm could’ve hopped out of their bodies, but wouldn’t someone have noticed a 5 inch worm crawling around? And how did Teddy get infected then? Byatt still had the worm in her body because she dug it out herself. Unless she had 2 worms and one decided to move out? I have so many questions.

I also don’t understand why Headmistress would allow the Navy/CDC to conduct this investigation. She knew something was wrong before everything started. Why didn’t she leave the island herself? Was she getting paid for this? I don’t care how much money I was offered; I wouldn’t willingly let myself become infected with an unknown disease with an unknown cure. ‘Nuff said.

I’m also really mad at Hetty by the end. She literally signed the other girl’s death warrants. Not only did she end their food supply (and also cause the Navy/CDC to send the kill juice), but she let a bear onto the school grounds (and if that doesn’t work bombs are coming). She literally ruined 40 girls lives. All of their blood is on her hands. She felt oh soooo guilty, but did she try and figure out a way to save them? NO! She only saved herself. The boat could’ve saved more of them. They could’ve tried to make return trips to save as many lives as possible. But the thought didn’t even cross her mind. What a b@%*&. She deserved to go down with the ship. I know she didn’t mean to, and she was just trying to find her friend. But she killed all those girls and didn’t think twice about trying to help them.

I didn’t enjoy the writing style either. I was so confused in the beginning. It kept jumping from past to present in such a weird way. Not my cup of tea.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this book. It was a quick read, but I’m left with too many questions for a standalone novel. Even if a sequel was released, I don’t think I’d waste my time on it. I feel really disappointed because I was really feeling the blurb, but it didn’t live up to it.

This book had the potential to be so much more. The plot was awesome, and the writing style was really interesting and engaging. There could have been 100-200 more pages to better flesh out the backstory and give it a proper ending. The story development took a long time only for the climax and ending to happen really abruptly. When I finished it, I thought “that’s it?”. There were so many references to things that would have made the story deeper and more engaging, but they never got mentioned again. Disappointed.

I don’t actually know what I was expecting with this book as I hadn’t read much about it. The cover is captivating for a start; and we all judge a book by its cover. I thought it was going to be a girly YA book that I was only reading because it was chosen as a book club read. In that regard, I am so glad I went in almost-blind (sorry Hetty). I thoroughly enjoyed this story, a lot more than I thought I would.

“…they taught us how to crack a bullet open. How to… swallow the gunpowder like poison, just in case we ever need to die.”

Its target audience is clearly teenagers, so I’m ever-so-slightly a bit older than the intended demographic, but I still connected with a few of the characters. There was your standard teenage bickering involved, but also that strength you have as a teen, where it is your against the world and you will win, nothing can hurt you. So despite the existence of the Tox, and the painful flare-ups the girls have to endure, there is a resilience there that conveys maybe, just maybe, the kids are gonna be alright.

There is a LGBTQ+ vein running throughout the story, but I wouldn’t say the romance purveys the story much, it is definitely more of a feminist dystopian horror. But there is enough inner monologue that I feel the target audience will relate to in regards to exploring their own sexuality.

The science behind the Tox, explained mainly through the eyes of our young protagonists, has clearly been well-researched by Rory Power, and I found it simply fascinating. Power manages to capture the childlike naivety to the horrors of the world really well, but not in a patronising way, our characters are still intelligent and mature, they just lack adultlike cynicism. The fast-flowing narrative sucks you in, these kids have experienced something horrific, but they are not just going to roll over and let the world beat them down any further, they want to live.

For almost two years, the Raxter School for Girls has been cut off, quarantined from the mainland due to the Tox. It either kills you or physically changes your body – giving you an extra spine or your hand becomes covered in silver scales. Even the animals on the island have been affected (cannibal deer, for one). Most of the teachers have died and the remaining girls are left with just two adults who organise them into working groups such as Gun Shift (protection), and Boat Shift (they retrieve the food and other supplies left each week). When one of three close friends goes missing, the other two break the rules to find her.

The story is told from the alternating viewpoints of Hetty and Byatt, BFFs with a third friend, Reese, involved in the plot. I had high hopes upon reading the first half, but I think it lost its way in the second half, and the conclusion was a bit of a disappointment. I expected something a bit darker to have been going on and I didn’t feel as if enough had been adequately explained. I’m hoping there may be a sequel to go more into what was behind the quarantine.

TW: violence, animal death, sickness, self-harm.

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