Wilder Girls by Rory Power Review

Title: Wilder Girls

Author: Rory Power

Age Group: Teen/Young Adult

Genre: Horror

Series: Standalone

Star Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

                I borrowed this book from my local library and reviewed it.

                I heard about Wilder Girls through one of the sites I follow, and as soon as I read the description, I was hooked. It’s been sitting in my library stack for a while now, and since I couldn’t renew it anymore, I pushed it to the top of my stack before I even finished No Beast so Fierce. I devoured this debut in less than a day, and I’m happy to report to you all that the hype you hear about this book? Real, one hundred percent. Billed as a feminist, LBGTQIA retelling of the classic Lord of the Flies, Wilder Girls is a novel that exhibits a wholly new and distinct sort of horror. Yet the friendship and love at its center made me love it all the more. I’ve never read the novel that inspired this one, and I don’t want to, because this book was just perfect. Easily one of my favorite books of 2019! Rory Wilder is an author to keep your eye on!

                Hetty Chaplan hardly remembers a time before The Tox, a deadly disease, took over the globe, or Raxter Island, where she was certain that she would die. But the disease, with her and her classmates, is also strangely symbiotic, granting unknowable powers to them. Desperate to get off the island and uncover the truth about the virus that has been killing her and her friends, Hetty begins to dig. But she and her friends have no idea that the threat lies so much closer to home than they ever could’ve realized…

                This book was so strange, dark, and frightening. It was also thought-provoking and compelling, even in all of its horror. I’m such a sucker for survivalist stories, and I always forget it until I come across one, especially one such as this. Even in all of its gore and gruesomeness, the friendships and love between the characters shone through it all. It also screamed girl power, which I adored. Brutal, gorgeous, and I couldn’t look away. For all the horrors conjured in this book, unique and truly horrific, there were bright spots to be had. I loved the characters and the unsettling, silent chill of the abandoned Raxter Island. But my favorite thing about this book was that the scariest part about it was the horror. I won’t spoil it; it’s too good for that. But I will say that Wilder Girls is a debut unlike any you’ve ever read before, and I can guarantee it. A true gem and an amazingly thoughtful, tender addition to the YA genre. The bottom line: Thought-provoking, terrifying, and beautiful, Wilder Girls is a survivalist story unlike any other; I loved it so much! Rory Power is a brilliant force of nature! Next on deck: The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu!