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thegiraffelife's review against another edition
4.0
I was already sucked in when I found out Sib and I share the same attack plan for high school parties - but then the author dropped in pulchritudinous and I was sold.
stormydawnc's review against another edition
4.0
Really liked this one! The writing really hit home for me, and I loved the themes of friendship & female sexuality. The last 15% didn't hold the same magic most of the book did, but I still enjoyed it and I know I'll be recommending it a lot.
Full review to come.
Full review to come.
tiffyofthemonts's review against another edition
3.0
The characters were interesting but I would have loved to see them all drawn out a bit more. As is, they feel more like sketches.
Lou felt like a broken record at times, still dealing with grief over a character we didn't really get to meet (I didn't realize this was a companion book to Six Impossible Things?) and battling between "should I insert myself in Sib's life or let her be" and it felt kind of tedious after a while. But I loved how introspective and thoughtful and kind she was. It was refreshing to explore a character that felt authentic.
Sib was probably the hardest narrative to read because she was ultimately responsible for her decisions and failure to act or respond or stand up for herself. I find it really difficult to read about pushover female characters because so much of that exists in fiction and real life already.
Michael was one of my favorite characters - I would love to read his own standalone novel.
I really wish the consequences in this book had been more significant, more impactful - there was so much buildup throughout the story - the tension between Sib/Holly, Ben/Holly, Sib/Ben, Holly/Lou, etc. but everything felt anti-climactic and too easy. Sib, Lou and Michael had to go through so much crap that I really expected a stronger ending to the story for them.
Lou felt like a broken record at times, still dealing with grief over a character we didn't really get to meet (I didn't realize this was a companion book to Six Impossible Things?) and battling between "should I insert myself in Sib's life or let her be" and it felt kind of tedious after a while. But I loved how introspective and thoughtful and kind she was. It was refreshing to explore a character that felt authentic.
Sib was probably the hardest narrative to read because she was ultimately responsible for her decisions and failure to act or respond or stand up for herself. I find it really difficult to read about pushover female characters because so much of that exists in fiction and real life already.
Michael was one of my favorite characters - I would love to read his own standalone novel.
I really wish the consequences in this book had been more significant, more impactful - there was so much buildup throughout the story - the tension between Sib/Holly, Ben/Holly, Sib/Ben, Holly/Lou, etc. but everything felt anti-climactic and too easy. Sib, Lou and Michael had to go through so much crap that I really expected a stronger ending to the story for them.
haklh's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. Wildlife blew me away. Perhaps it is because it deals with weightier matters; somehow Wildlife seems significantly more sophisticated, complex and impactful than its predecessor, Six Impossible Things. (Six Impossible Things is nonetheless very enjoyable. But Wildlife is very much better)
Wildlife is the story of Sib and Lou, two teenage girls in a private high school spending a semester in their wilderness campus. Sib is a quiet and bookish sort, unexpectedly catapulted into the spotlight when she was scouted for an advertising campaign. The resultant attention causes (the usual sort of) teenage turmoil, including a love interest, backstabbing and angst about loyalty and friendships.
Lou is our carryover from Six Impossible Things (the two are loosely related). The friendship group from SIT has been torn apart by an unexpected tragedy, leaving everyone to grieve and cope as best they can. Lou has changed schools and is determined to be a silent and cynical observer of the teenage machinations around her. Only when Lou's and Sib's stories converge did she finally find a way to release her grief and move on with her life.
Both Lou and Sib are likeable characters with authentic voices. The author has captured the cocooned / incestuous / claustrophobic nature of teenage society (and specifically of a big group of teenagers "on camp") very well. The plot is tight and grabs you from the first chapter, not letting up until the last. Wildlife well deserves its CBCA Book of the Year award.
Wildlife is the story of Sib and Lou, two teenage girls in a private high school spending a semester in their wilderness campus. Sib is a quiet and bookish sort, unexpectedly catapulted into the spotlight when she was scouted for an advertising campaign. The resultant attention causes (the usual sort of) teenage turmoil, including a love interest, backstabbing and angst about loyalty and friendships.
Lou is our carryover from Six Impossible Things (the two are loosely related). The friendship group from SIT has been torn apart by an unexpected tragedy, leaving everyone to grieve and cope as best they can. Lou has changed schools and is determined to be a silent and cynical observer of the teenage machinations around her. Only when Lou's and Sib's stories converge did she finally find a way to release her grief and move on with her life.
Both Lou and Sib are likeable characters with authentic voices. The author has captured the cocooned / incestuous / claustrophobic nature of teenage society (and specifically of a big group of teenagers "on camp") very well. The plot is tight and grabs you from the first chapter, not letting up until the last. Wildlife well deserves its CBCA Book of the Year award.
n3lla's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed Six Impossible Things immensely and was really looking forward to seeing Fiona Wood at Reading Matters this year. Then, the lovely Robin Clark from Macmillan gave me a reading copy of Wildlife. Wow – Fiona Wood hasn’t lost her touch.
Instead of going on exchange to France as her friends, Dan, Estelle and Janie have done, a grieving Lou transfers to her mother’s old school for the wilderness experience/”jolly outdoorsy camp” term. There she is in a hut with Sibylla and Holly, the wickedest “best friend” since Iago. Sibylla is learning how to cope with her new found fame – being a billboard model for a perfume ad and kissing Ben Capaldi, the most popular boy in the year level. Michael, Sibylla’s real best friend, a nerdy runner, is the other main character in this contemporary boarding school style novel. The writing is unpretentious and realistic; the characterisation is perfect A poignant novel.
Instead of going on exchange to France as her friends, Dan, Estelle and Janie have done, a grieving Lou transfers to her mother’s old school for the wilderness experience/”jolly outdoorsy camp” term. There she is in a hut with Sibylla and Holly, the wickedest “best friend” since Iago. Sibylla is learning how to cope with her new found fame – being a billboard model for a perfume ad and kissing Ben Capaldi, the most popular boy in the year level. Michael, Sibylla’s real best friend, a nerdy runner, is the other main character in this contemporary boarding school style novel. The writing is unpretentious and realistic; the characterisation is perfect A poignant novel.
janelofton's review against another edition
4.0
Sib and Lou, two teenaged girls attending an outdoor education semester as part of their school curriculum, work through different issues including first love, friendship, friendship betrayal, and loss, to come to terms with who they are and what they want. Set in Australia where Fiona Wood lives, this is her first book to be published in the United States.
alanaes's review against another edition
5.0
Easily one of the best books I've read this year. Fiona Wood masterfully weaves the voices of our two narrators together to create a touching, biting, funny, heartbreaking and heartfelt story of finding selfhood in the wilderness (actual or relationship-constructed). Sybilla and Lou are two very different girls who paths come together during a high school semester in the Australian wilderness. Syb is insecure but independent, navigating her first relationship. Lou is recovering from a life-changing, consuming loss and learning to be herself again. Both girls need to find a way to survive living with their classmates for several weeks of little-to-no privacy in the woods (with some less-than-kind frenemies). Alternately laugh-out-loud funny and tearjerkingly poignant, Wood's writing perfectly captures a realistic portrait of life in those murky find-yourself years. I can't recommend this one highly enough. (For fans of [a:E. Lockhart|173491|E. Lockhart|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1399077200p2/173491.jpg], [a:Jaclyn Moriarty|47290|Jaclyn Moriarty|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1199066598p2/47290.jpg], [a:Melina Marchetta|47104|Melina Marchetta|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1277655889p2/47104.jpg], etc.)
I received an e-galley of this title in exchange for an honest review. Thanks, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley!
I received an e-galley of this title in exchange for an honest review. Thanks, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers and NetGalley!
ambni's review against another edition
3.0
I wasn’t sure what to rate this book, I kind of wanted to give it 2 stars but settled for 3. I was able to finish the story eventually, but it felt so long and felt more like a book I was forced to read for school. The point of this book was super fuzzy for me, I kept asking myself, what’s the purpose? Am I reading to finally see Sib grow up and realize what’s happening?
Sib was annoyingly blind to everything. I liked her, but I also really hated her at the same time. Holly was the absolute worst character and it’s obvious from the start, except it’s not obvious to Sib. The whole book is Holly being a straight out of high school bitch to Sib, and the readers just dealing with it because that’s “just what Holly does”. It made the read very annoying. It was also incredibly obvious how to the Ben and Holly situation was gonna unfold.
Overall, the book was kind of bland and predictable, it drug on for a long time.
Sib was annoyingly blind to everything. I liked her, but I also really hated her at the same time. Holly was the absolute worst character and it’s obvious from the start, except it’s not obvious to Sib. The whole book is Holly being a straight out of high school bitch to Sib, and the readers just dealing with it because that’s “just what Holly does”. It made the read very annoying. It was also incredibly obvious how to the Ben and Holly situation was gonna unfold.
Overall, the book was kind of bland and predictable, it drug on for a long time.