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Everyone loses something to the Tox; Hetty lost her eye, Reese's hand has changed, and Byatt just disappeared completely.
It’s been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put in quarantine. The Tox turned the students strange and savage, the teachers died off one by one. Cut off from the mainland, the girls don’t dare wander past the school’s fence where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure as the Tox takes; their bodies becoming sick and foreign, things bursting out of them, bits missing.
But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her best friend, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie in the wilderness past the fence. As she digs deeper, she learns disturbing truths about her school and what else is living on Raxter Island. And that the cure might not be a cure at all . . .
*Book of the Month for the Rainbow Readers Book Club, #1*
~Trigger Warnings: vivid descriptions of gore, death, and suicide~
Wilder Girls by Rory Power follows Hetty, Reese and Byatt, three friends attending an all-girls, boarding school in Raxter. Their lives are turned around by the spread of a mysterious disease that breaks out – The Tox. Forced to quarantine, Power takes us through the experiences of the girls, and how their school manages to deal with such a situation. Romance, jealousy, and friendship are key themes of this book, with twists and turns throughout, leading to many of the schoolgirls questioning their peers’ loyalty. Can they survive?
While this was the book I voted for in the monthly poll for Rainbow Readers Book Club, I was genuinely surprised at how much I loved it. Sometimes described as a YA book (though I will dispute this), I am often wary of books with characters who are teenagers and/or school students as I think they fall into simple and overdone tropes, but I didn’t feel that with this book!
My favourite aspect of the book was the environmental factor. Even though the main focus is how the Tox affects the students at Raxter, Power weaves in the environmental beginnings and impact. This environmental horror aspect was completely new to me and I absolutely adored it. Nothing hits home more than descriptions of earth slowly dying.
Additionally, the characters were extremely likable and well-defined, knowing their values but also not being afraid to reveal a different side to them. Though not complex characters, the girls must be praised for dealing with The Tox the way they did and still managed to find hope, love, and hospitality in those situations in a manner that was believable and engaging.
I found the pace of the novel quite appealing too, with nothing happening too fast or slow. Throughout, I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the deformity the girls take on because of The Tox, as well as the inter-play between characters, always trying to figure out if anyone has ulterior motives.
The only issue I have, though nothing major, was the lack of queer content compared to how it had been advertised. I was expecting the queer aspect to be more of a central theme, considering the book club recommendation and reviews across social platforms. However, the effort was there, and the queer content present was wholesome enough for someone to slowly start getting more involved in reading LGBTQIA+ content!
Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to read queer content, or even a book about being in quarantine, though I’m aware many prefer escapism, not realism at the moment. This book’s strong environmental horror depictions and good character development, with an even pace to keep up with, make for a really good October read. This book has no faults for me, so I’d definitely recommend it.
Rating:
Purchase from: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Amazon UK here.
Amazon US here.