Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Published: July 9th, 2019 by Delacorte Press

Genre: Young adult, Sci-fi

Format: Hardcover, 353 pages, Library

Rating: 4 stars

Publisher's 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.

My Thoughts:

I don't know how to fully articulate my thoughts on this book. I loved it. I know that. It was creepy and weird and gorgeous.

It's a quick read. I whipped through it. Power gives you just enough of her world but not too much. We know that a toxin has spread through the island and has hit Raxter. Over half of the girls have not survived, most of the staff as well. Now that everything's gone to the dogs, a new set of rules and hierarchy has been set up. How long can this new and dangerous social order hold up? Hetty, Byatt, and Reese look out for each other. Now, this is where I adored the book. These relationships right here between these three were beautiful to watch unfold.

I truly don't know how Power folded all of these threads and ideas together and in such a small amount of space, but she does it with aplomb. We've got love, grief, friendship, loyalty, government lies, and environmental collapse all thrown into one gorgeous and freaky book.

*Read for R.I.P. XIVth