Reviews

The Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad

popthebutterfly's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

 

Disclaimer: I got this book from the library! Support your local libraries! All opinions are my own. 

 

Book: The Wild Ones 

 

Author: Nafiza Azad 

 

Book Series: Standalone 

 

Rating: 2.5/5 

 

Diversity: BIPOC MC and characters, queer characters 

 

Recommended For...: young adult readers, fantasy, witches, queer 

 

Publication Date: August 3, 2021 

 

Genre: YA Fantasy 

 

Age Relevance: 15+ (sexual content, sexism, poverty, child trafficking, slavery, grief, suicide) 

 

Explanation of Above: There is some mentions of sexual content. There are mentions and showings of poverty and child trafficking. Sexism is shown, as well as slavery and grief. There are also mentions of suicide. 

 

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books 

 

Pages: 352 

 

Synopsis: Meet the Wild Ones: girls who have been hurt, abandoned, and betrayed all their lives. It all began with Paheli, who was once betrayed by her mother and sold to a man in exchange for a favor. When Paheli escapes, she runs headlong into a boy with stars in his eyes. This boy, as battered as she is, tosses Paheli a box of stars before disappearing. With the stars, Paheli gains access to the Between, a place of pure magic and mystery. Now, Paheli collects girls like herself and these Wild Ones use their magic to travel the world, helping the hopeless and saving others from the fates they suffered. Then Paheli and the Wild Ones learn that the boy who gave them the stars, Taraana, is in danger. He’s on the run from powerful forces within the world of magic. But if Taraana is no longer safe and free, neither are the Wild Ones. And that…is a fate the Wild Ones refuse to accept. Ever again. 

 

Review: For the most part, this was an okay book. The book focuses on this group of girls who have had really tragic lives and they band together using their magic to travel the world and save or recruit other girls who have been hurt in various forms or other. The book was okay and I really liked how it was set up. And while the book was mostly comprised of prose, I do feel like it was fairly okay to follow along to, even if you're not a prose lover.
 
 However, this book was really hard for me. I am really not a prose lover and it just made it really hard for me to follow along sometimes. It also took me a bit to figure out what was going on in the book and I did have to read the synopsis on the back to get the gist of it. I also felt like aside from two characters that the other characters in the book were not fully fleshed out and they just kind of faded a lot into the background. I also would have liked a little bit more world building. 

 

Verdict: It was not entirely for me unfortunately. But it might be for you! 

chroniclesofareader22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

wordwoonders's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

This book solidified that YA is not for me anymore. Because although I enjoyed it and I absolutely adore Nafiza Azad's writing, I couldn't get into it properly like I know I would have few years ago, like I did with the author's debut The Candle and the Flame. 

This is a severe case of it's not you, it's me. I loved the found family element, the discussion of women's traumas in a patriarchal world and the fact that it is what brings these women together, the way they give each other space to learn, heal, be messy, angry, traumatised, to feel their feelings and above all, be themselves. So yes, the themes were amazing, the writing was amazing, the concept of the in between was also really interesting, but the way it was all tied together just missed the mark for me, and I felt like the character lacked depth. 

I would genuinely still recommend this book if you are a YA reader.

ashes_book_cave's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

joyscott13's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

marisamoo's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Cute !

andrea_ereads's review against another edition

I ended up feeling so confused with this book. I truly wanted to learn more about each character because I thought they had the potential to be interesting. But alas, there were so many of them. Despite them having their own pov, I still didn't know much about them. I feel like the book focused so much on each character's trauma and not ecnough on their growth. 

flori_pop's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

lesbiantoad's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

codenamekittyhawk's review against another edition

2.5

Disappointing.