3.5 stars!
Wilder Girls is a difficult story for me to rate. On one hand, I was draw in by the writing, found the mysteries and the Tox (the horrific disease) in the story intriguing, and appreciated the addition of a new queer YA horror to the market. Rory Powers does such a great job with descriptions and mood - the Tox is fairly gruesome and some of the scenes in the book had me shivering!
On the other hand, I found myself mostly uninterested in the characters and their interactions. The main character is part of a group of three best friends, but I didn't feel invested in their friendship or the f/f romance. And the story gives you just enough to tantalize you, but it's not fully satisfying in the end. A lot is left unexplained and the ending is fairly open.
So I guess that's where the difficulty lies - it's hard to love a book when you're not that invested in the characters. I will say that this book was very different from anything I've read -- and I really, really enjoyed uncovering the big mystery! There are some great ideas in this story and I think it's a solid debut novel -- I'd be interested in reading more from this author.
Thank you Delacorte Press for providing a free advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Wilder Girls is a difficult story for me to rate. On one hand, I was draw in by the writing, found the mysteries and the Tox (the horrific disease) in the story intriguing, and appreciated the addition of a new queer YA horror to the market. Rory Powers does such a great job with descriptions and mood - the Tox is fairly gruesome and some of the scenes in the book had me shivering!
On the other hand, I found myself mostly uninterested in the characters and their interactions. The main character is part of a group of three best friends, but I didn't feel invested in their friendship or the f/f romance. And the story gives you just enough to tantalize you, but it's not fully satisfying in the end. A lot is left unexplained and the ending is fairly open.
So I guess that's where the difficulty lies - it's hard to love a book when you're not that invested in the characters. I will say that this book was very different from anything I've read -- and I really, really enjoyed uncovering the big mystery! There are some great ideas in this story and I think it's a solid debut novel -- I'd be interested in reading more from this author.
Thank you Delacorte Press for providing a free advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.