Before I start I am going to put the TW that Rory Power has on her website. If any of these topics make you uncomfortable, or could trigger you in some way I would advise you to not read this review.
Graphic violence and body horror. Gore.
On the page character death, parental death, and animal death (the animals are not pets).
Behavior and descriptive language akin to self h*rm, and references to such.
Food scarcity and starvation. Emesis.
A scene depicting chemical gassing.
S*icide and s*icidal ideation.
Non-consensual medical treatment.
Title: Wilder Girls
Author: Rory Power
Genre: Young Adult Horror
Page Count: 357
Date Published: July 9th 2019
Published By: Delacorte Press
Rating: 5/5
Similar Books: Sawkill Girls, The Grace Year, Bunny, Girls on the Verge
Summary: It's been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty's life out from under her.
It started slow. First the teachers died one by one. Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don't dare wander outside the school's fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into everything.
But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that there's more to their story, to their life at Raxter, than she could have ever thought true.
When I first picked up "Wilder Girls" I was quite skeptical seeing as how sci-fi isn't my thing most of the time. I would also be lying to say that the BEAUTIFUL cover didn't play at least a small part in my wanting to read this book, but I'm getting off topic.
I think one of the things I struggle with most when reading sci-fi is the world building. Now of course that isn't always the fault of the author, but that is part of why sci-fi isn't my fist choice when picking a book. I'm explaining all of this to say that Rory Power's world building with this novel was nothing short of phenomenal. Hetty, Byatt, and Reese were all introduced in a way that made them very easy to remember, and the way that each one of them developed was beautiful.
Now getting into the story. I truly adored this plot, and the fact that we are placed right in the middle of the action from the very beginning. This allowed for the all important world building to occur naturally, and not feel forced.
I really love the idea of the setting being an all girls school. I think some YA novels in the past have depended too heavily on the attractive man helping save the day. It was so refreshing to see these girls surviving without the help of a man.
Quite honestly I could go on for hours about everything I love about this book. I finished it in three days, and still can't stop thinking about it. On the other hand I think I should also talk about my one major issue with this book, and that is the ending.
I'm going to do my best to explain my issue with the ending without spoiling it. So if this seems a little vague I'm just trying to keep from spoiling if for anyone who has not read it. The whole explanation with the tox, and how the gas worked wasn't put into enough detail for me, and just felt more like an afterthought. I had the same issue with the whole part about the raxter blues. I don't know if I missed something, but I just didn't understand what they were saying. I also was DESPERATE for more detail about what would happen after the end of the book. I wanted there to be at least three more chapters that would nicely wrap the whole thing up. I think part of the reason that was left out is because it seems like most of us can agree on what's going to happen. Now with all this being said I absolutely adored this novel. I totally recommend it, but make sure that you have read the TW so that you know what you're in for