Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

111 reviews

qu1rr3l's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

may_emmy's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

that was....something. i hoped it would be better but expected it to be worse. its good but not exceptional or fantastic. im probabl not gonna reread it but i guess im glad that i read it once. i screamed at the book from time to time, and thats a good thing, and i didnt see all the plotpoints/-twists coming.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Self harm, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Suicide, and Death of parent

Content and Trigger Warnings are at the end of the book

charleshasalibrary's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

I wanted to give this book a chance despite the lower rating, but it was worse even than I expected. For context, I rarely if ever give a book less than 3 stars. But Wilder Girls earned it. First of all, the characters were completely undeveloped. I was supposed to apparently feel something about these girls' relationships to one another, but it's like we were thrown into the story halfway through and I was given no substantial background to understand their dynamics. So I didn't care about them or emotionally believe the story at all. Secondly, the writing truly felt like my middle school self wrote it. Over the top, trying too hard to be lyrical when it didn't need to be. It made the whole book feel even more cringe-worthy. Lastly, the plot! The plot was the one thing that kept me reading this book, because I found it so intriguing and wanted to understand the mystery. But the explanations were so poorly given. The ending in general was terribly executed. For someone who apparently felt so much guilt for what she'd done, the main character chose to be incredibly selfish at the end. I won't say more so as not to give spoilers, but all in all - I hate that this book got any hype at all. It truly feels like it was written by a 14 year old.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, and Death of parent

Moderate: Self harm

nagem's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Medical content

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

iguanasarespicy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, and Murder

parkerluck's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

2.75

This was fine. It was a quick read with some neat concepts that don't really get dug into. I didn't find Hetty particularly compelling and the plot beats were all pretty par the course for a story like this. Didn't really have the tension/descent to warrant the Lord of the Flies billing, honestly. 

I also found it distracting that

the bear was just a photocopy of the Annihilation bear?? No one wanted to make that a different animal during the editing process?

Something I might rec to a younger family member as gateway horror, but not something I will remember for long now that I'm finished it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Violence

Moderate: Self harm, Medical content, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Torture, and Murder

onemorepagecrew's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

Wilder Girls by Rory Power strikes me as a book that some will enjoy, and others will wish they had never picked up – very niche in its audience.  Personally, I was into it and would selectively recommend it.  

 

The story is set at a boarding school for girls that has been put under quarantine by the CDC.  We jump in after they have already adjusted and fallen into a routine, then slowly learn bits about the early days when the isolation first began.  It’s an effective way to tell the story without reading through the whole event.  Instead, the book focuses on what happens when a few girls start disappearing and the protagonist, Hetty, starts looking for answers.  

 

The book is categorized as YA lgbtqia+ horror and that felt inaccurate.  There are romantic relationships between girls in the school, but their world is so bleak that it’s not the focus, more of an implied afterthought.  And horror is a tough bar to clear.  This was suspenseful at times but never tense (for me), definitely not scary (again, for me), but did have a few graphic descriptions.  It’s more of a creepy mystery through a lens of survival dystopia. 

 

It is an interesting look at how powerful information can be, especially when it is withheld.  How isolation can be achieved by manufactured fear.  If you enjoyed books like Devolution, Dry, or Unwind then this might be a good one for you. 

 

Content warnings: Gore, Death, Self-harm, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Medical trauma

apolloniablooms's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

3.0

It really choked at the end, which felt rushed.  Overall glad I read it, but it feels like a shadow of books like Annihilation and Inspection which do the same thing but feel more complete.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail