REVIEW: Wilder Girls – Rory Power
“A wilderness in everyone, like the one I’ve always felt in me. Only real this time. In my body, and not just my head.”
Wilder Girls by Rory Power blew. Me. AWAY! I finished this novel a few weeks ago, but this was definitely one I needed to sit with for a bit before jumping in to a review. It’s been hard for me to try to order my thoughts into a coherent fashion for this review because just about all of the elements that I enjoyed the most are areas that I know a lot of people don’t like.
First off, this book is not for everyone. It is gritty and harsh and at times can verge on the disgusting. The main characters are highly imperfect, at times selfish and brutal. There are passages that may be difficult for people who have had or are dealing with eating disorders or self harm.
In short, this was a beautifully gruesome read.
“Above us the pines stumble up to the sky. Taller than they should be, trunks broader, branches splitting a thousand times and the canopy filtering what sun there is, turning the light muddy and clinging. It all feels forgotten, like we’re the first people where in a hundred years. No tire tracks left on the road, no sign this was ever anything but what it is now. We shouldn’t be here. This place isn’t ours anymore.”
The word of the day for this novel is atmospheric. The prose throws you in so deeply you feel that you are there with sea mist on your face. The pace is slow and you are forced to really sit with the imagery and feel of the setting and story. I absolutely loved the immersive atmosphere, but if you’re someone who needs a story to move forward at breakneck speed, this book won’t be for you. This novel is for those who want to feel it in their bones.
“It was the two of you and then me, and that’s fine. Because people are messy and that’s how it goes. But let’s not pretend.”
Split between two points of view between three friends, who’s friendship is just as stark and gnarled as the Tox twisted wilderness outside the protective gate surrounding the school. Hetty, our primary narrator and protagonist, has a complicated, volatile relationship with her two closest friends, Byatt and Reese. These dynamics are the true driving force of the plot and what made me fall so deeply in love with this novel.
Each of the girls has their own complex motivations, sometimes at odds and counter to the well being of the larger group. If you like your heroines squeaky clean and noble, then you probably won’t connect with this story the way I did. But if you like your girls gritty and real and vicious and not always good… these ladies will rock you to your core.
Nothing is straightforward in their feelings and how they relate to each other; there’s levels of darkness mixed in to their extreme, possibly unhealthy attachments that goes beyond just the intensity of having to survive a devastating disease together. As each new layer in their relationships were revealed, I felt myself get sucked deeper and deeper into this harsh world.
The book ends in a way that is clearly setting up for a sequel and I almost regret reading an ARC because that means I’ll have to wait even longer for the next installment.
(I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)