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caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Cursing, Abandonment, Miscarriage, Blood, Child death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Infidelity
Moderate: Sexual content and Pregnancy
rachaelwho's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Colonisation, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Blood, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual content
Hunting, survival sexoceanxbluess's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Animal death, and Sexual content
lasamviela's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, and Animal death
Moderate: Animal death, Grief, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Child death, Miscarriage, and Blood
Minor: Vomit, Animal cruelty, Child death, Medical trauma, and Excrement
amynbell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Death, Excrement, and Infidelity
brynne_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Miscarriage, and Blood
Moderate: Death
merle_bookdragon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The book is divided into 7 parts and it started out really well until around parts 5 and 6 where it took a bit of a downward spiral. I do not want to spoiler too much but I think was mostly bothered me that nothing was explained, not even at the very end. There is no explanation as to what the state of the world is to make living in it so horrible except for "there is a lot of smog" but that's nothing new. Additionally, between time jumps, especially one character changes their personality quite a bit, which could have been explained. Without any explanation, I started to instantly dislike them and kept wondering what the hell had happened at this time. I understand that keeping readers in the dark is a common tactic but without any resolve, in the end, it is simply unsatisfying. For example, as a second book for my MA, I read The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He. In this book, I was also very confused for a long time because a lot of information is withheld from the reader for a long time. But in the end, you still receive an explanation, which might not make you like the story or the characters more but at least you learn about a motive. That was really missing in The New Wilderness.
Also, this is really just personal preference but
Graphic: Child death, Animal death, Abandonment, Blood, Death, Sexual content, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Death of parent, and Grief
maddiebusick's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence
ruthie_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Death and Miscarriage
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Violence
bookmaddie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Cook writes beautifully and imaginatively of the natural world, and I appreciated her note at the end of the real lands that inspired her fictional creations. The whole experiment is quite interesting to read about. Cook has written a really great group of characters, and she explores the tensions that arise when you're with a group of people for so long, and then when that is disrupted by new arrivals. Her social observations are spot on, and she has quite the skill for building up the tension, even in situations that might seem somewhat insignificant.
Agnes really annoyed me in the beginning, when the story is narrated by Bea (whose narration I enjoyed most). I really don't like children characters who never speak and act kind of oddly with no explanation, and Agnes fit the mold for the first quarter of the book. However, when we read from Agnes' point-of-view, I found her much more interesting. Her narration, from the perspective of a child, adds a lot of mystery to this story, as there is a lot she doesn't understand about the social mechanisms of the group. Even so, Agnes is very observant and often picked up on things that the adults ignored. While I grew to enjoy her narration a lot, I do wish there had been more explanation of some elements. I was especially curious to know what happened to Bea, and get a final glimpse from her perspective, as she is the one who started this whole story.
Still a great read, and one I'd definitely recommend for fans of nature writing, slight dystopian reads, or any of the books I mentioned earlier.
Graphic: Death and Miscarriage
Moderate: Animal death and Blood
Minor: Death of parent