In Wilder Girls, the story is told by jumping every few chapters between Byatt and Hetty’s points-of-view. The two girls are in a relationship. They are quarantined on an island with the rest of their all-girls school. A strange illness has taken over the girls and the island. It is implied that this is related to climate change. The illness is known as “Tox”. It slowly rots the inside of living creatures. It mutates the girls and their teachers until it kills them. Flare-ups happen to the girls on a regular timetable. <Spoiler> I think it could be linked to their periods. <spoilers>.
Genre
The book is supposed to be a mystery horror. It is more of a mystery thriller. The book had some gore and there was some scary element but didn’t reach the level of horror.
Writing style
The writing was fast-paced and emotional. It was great at drawing you in and making you feel like you were there with the girls. But the beach scenes were awkwardly written.
The Ending
The ending was terrible. It felt more like the end was the middle or the climax instead of the ending of the book. Since this book is a stand-lone, the story is done but cut short. Several questions need to be answered. This was a highly disappointing ending.
Rating
I give Wilder Girls 3 out of 5 stars. The writing was great and the idea of the book was great. But the lack of an ending was enough for it to lose 2 stars for me. I feel like it needs another 300 pages.
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