In this installment of YA Book Club, Mary and Emily discuss a book they chose because of its pretty cover. And it all worked out fine.

WARNING: SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

Mary: Today we’re discussing Wilder Girls, Rory Power’s debut novel. The novel takes place at the Raxter School for Girls, an isolated boarding school. What was once an idyllic island paradise has turned into a dangerous, overgrown mess ever since the Tox hit the school and began transforming both the environment and the girls themselves. With most of the teachers dead, and most of the girls in various stages of illness, protagonist Hetty isn’t sure if a cure is coming or not. She does the best she can, hanging out with her best friends Byatt and Reese and scrounging as much food from the sporadic government shipments as she can. But when Byatt goes missing, and Hetty becomes part of the infamous Boat Crew, everything changes. Mysteries begin to unravel and the island’s hierarchy crashes around the girls. Can they survive?

Notably (for me!), this book has been compared a lot to Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation, which I might have mentioned once or twice on the podcast and blog. I think it gets that comparison (even from Vandermeer himself!) because Wilder Girls focuses a lot on nature and what happens when man’s relationship with nature begins to deteriorate. What did you think of the nature themes in the book?

Emily: I definitely see the Vandermeer comparison. Oddly enough, this reminded me more of the film version of Annihilation rather than the book. But heck, we even get a bear in this book. I was ready for it to start screaming "help me" in Reese's father's voice or something. I think the connection to nature is interesting. I feel like the book is trying to say something about our abilities to adapt to a world that is changing around us. If that is the case, it makes sense that the younger people are able to adapt to the Tox more easily than older people. But what to make of the issue of estrogen? It is made clear that estrogen levels affect one's ability to live with the Tox. So, like, women who are no longer menstruating have a harder time handling the Tox. And men clearly don't have a great time with this either. What did you think of this, in connection to nature and adapting? Or were you thinking of the nature themes differently?

Mary: I was just particularly interested in the way nature reclaimed the island--like Reese's childhood home--and how it could claim humans as well--again, like Reese's father. I'm not sure what I made of the Tox just affecting women (and outright killing men)--is it bad for me to say I was just kind of cool with that? It definitely makes sense that the younger people can handle the Tox better, but OOOOF even they didn't handle it easily. That was my favorite part of the book—seeing how it manifested in everyone and mutated them.

Emily: Yes, the image of Reese's father essentially having a tree grow out of him was pretty intense, right?

Mary: It was very intense! I think it worked well in the narrative as a whole because the novel really built up Reese's connection to the island, and her dedication to her father, who she believed was still out there, still himself. Her seeing him was not only intense in a visceral way, but in an emotional way.

Emily: Yes, and her reaction to them having to kill him. Like, he was going to kill them both, but she was still so angry at Hetty for killing him. And I got that. I really did.

Mary: It makes sense. You can understand it had to happen and still wish it didn't. You can't see someone kill a person you love and be okay with it, even if it was the only option.

Emily: Okay I did want to go back to the mutating and talk about that a little bit. At the end of the book, Hetty finally finds Byatt, and she's a shell of her former self. And Hetty realizes that Byatt has pulled the Tox out of herself. It turns out the Tox is a parasite that burrows itself inside of its hosts and does whatever it can to make the host's bodies a better home for it. So really, what the Tox is trying to do is strengthen these girls' bodies in some way. Or at least that's what it seems like. But it doesn't always work out this way. With that in mind, let's examine the mutations of these girls. I want to talk about Hetty, specifically. She loses an eye. I'm not really sure how this particular mutation makes sense? She also vomits up a second heart when she's trying to get the parasite out of her body. What do you make of these mutations? What is the parasite trying to do? It feels so random to me.

Mary: The types of mutations that happened didn't always make sense to me either. It seemed like a lot of them served to deteriorate the girls' bodies when really they were supposed to be strengthening it. The only one that made sense to me was the one girl who grew extra bones. That, at least, seemed like a kind of reinforcement. But I guess then we're assuming that this parasite is very intelligent? To be honest, it seemed like the mutations were more in service of being gross and scary than making sense, which is a fault in my opinion.

Emily: Yes, I agree. It did seem to me like Byatt was the strongest because of her mutations. She grows extra bones. And she has this thing where if she speaks, she can cause pain.

Mary: Yes, that's very good! It comes in handy.

Emily: I could see that being, like, an X-Men superpower if harnessed correctly.

Mary: Definitely--and a cool one, at that. I think one of the X-Men does that...Banshee? Siren? Something like that.

Emily: Girl you know you know more about comics than I do. But yeah, I did think the randomness of some of this book's imagery was a let down. It made it less interesting. I hate weird for the sake of being weird. And some of this felt that way. Like yes, be weird, but have it serve a purpose.

Mary: For the most part of the novel, I was completely on board. I loved the setting of the school, how the girls had converted it into this weird post-apocalyptic home. I liked the mystery slowly unravelling--finding out that the government quarantined them and that the rest of the world is (maybe?) fine. I especially enjoyed seeing Byatt's side of the story while she was being experimented on in a government facility. It was terrifying! I liked all of that sort of stuff, but—and it's a big BUT—the novel sort of fell apart in the end for me. Because it seems ambiguous in a way that might set up a sequel, but there's not going to be a sequel.

Emily: I agree 100%. My favorite parts were the Byatt sections.

Mary: They were scary!

Emily: Also because the wandering around the island was more of the random stuff. And the Byatt sections were purposeful. I do love how scrappy all the girls were though. I love a group of scrappy girls.

Mary: Yes! Such a good group of scrappy, tough girls. I enjoyed seeing the hierarchy the girls created for themselves--like how the Boat Girls ruled over everything and were the protectors. All of that stuff with the school seemed to have so much potential, but I felt let down by the way the narrative unraveled. For example, when the girls kept having to go out into the wilderness in order to do different things, they saw all sorts of weird animals and creatures, but...what were they really? There were some things that were clear (like Reese's dad), but a lot of it just felt vague and mysterious for the sake of being mysterious.

Which, if we're going with the comparison to Annihilation, that makes sense to a point. That novel did the same thing, BUT it all came together in the end. And the end doesn't really bring anything together here! It made me reevaluate the whole novel.

Emily: Yes. And while we do find out why the food is being thrown out, it's not a satisfying answer. Like... I wanted it to be more.

Mary: Me too!

Emily: It was just like "oh, they're trying to kill us." Okay.

Mary: Yeaaaaah—it's not super complicated. It just seems like the government is trying to kill off the girls so they aren't a problem anymore. Their parents already think they're dead anyway.

Emily: Yeah. Bummer. I just kinda felt like Lost. Where the set up was really good but then you get to the end and you're like "is this where you were going the whole time because this isn't that interesting?" So you don’t think there will be a sequel?

Mary: I'm not sure. As of now, it seems like Power has another book coming out sometime soon that is completely different. There's been a bit of a public outcry (that might be exaggerating) about the ending of Wilder Girls, though, so if it's successful enough she might consider continuing the story.

Emily: Yeah... I just feel like she didn't know where she was going.

Mary: One of my favorite Bookstagrammers, Perpetual Page Turner has talked about the ending on her social media platforms, and how disappointing it was, and everyone seemed to respond like, *sigh* yes. It made me feel good that I wasn't the only one feeling this way--and I'm glad you felt this way too. It's so sad because this book had tons of potential!

Emily: Yeah. I feel like we totally agree on this book.

That feeling when Mary and Emily are of one mind

Emily: We need to talk about the romance. Because this is YA, you know there is a romance.

Mary: Yes, but this time a queer romance!

Emily: Yes. How did you feel about it?

Mary: At first, I was into it, but as the novel became more complicated--and specifically after Hetty killed Reese's dad--I was like, well, there's no coming back from this. I don't know how you can be romantically into someone who killed your dad like that. Even given the circumstances. And really, Hetty seemed way more into Byatt to me, but maybe I was misreading their ~vibes~

Emily: Yeah I agree. But in the end, she calls Byatt her sister. So maybe it was more like that. And Byatt does kiss a man at the lab.

Mary: And kills him heheheheh. That felt weirdly satisfying. Dangerous love!

Emily: Haha and she's just like "oops we kissed.”

Mary: Knowing full well it's not going to end well.

Emily: But yeah, either way, the Hetty/Reese romance just kind of fizzled. They have one hot makeout sesh after target practice, and then nothing.

Mary: Which, sometimes stuff like that does fizzle. I don't know if there's time for romance amidst trying to escape a weird infected island. They were busy!

Emily: True.

Mary: I did wish it had been more developed, though. Romance-wise.

Emily: Same.

Mary: My final take is that it's atmospherically great, and the premise is solid. BUT it kind of falls apart in the end. Miscellaneous comment: the cover is absolutely stunning. I'd hang a print of it up in my house.

Emily: Yes, I agree. Also check out this badass fanart of Reese, Hetty, and Byatt. So cool.

Mary: I love it!

Emily: I gave this book three stars.

Mary: I did too. We are on the same brainwave with this book.

Emily: What's next for YA BOOK CLUB?

Mary: WELL.

Emily: YES!

Mary: There is another book with a bomb cover and spicy title that seems very exciting.

Emily: I mean. All I needed was the title, and I was sold.

Mary: The Babysitters Coven by Kate Williams!

Emily: Yessssss! We're going to try to get this one in mid-December, but as you know, sometimes, we take a little longer because I am a slow reader. But I'm doing this one on audio so we should be good.

Mary: Also life happens! And we are reading other books at the same time. It works out. Our true YA peeps are here.

Emily: SEE YOU NEXT TIME!