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The Blurb On The Back:
While hiking, Rhi discovers four young women living wild and guarded by wolves. The girls tell her that they are lost princesses raised by a man called Mother.
Shocked, Rhi takes them to hospital, all the while haunted by memories of her family trauma. Surely, the girls have been abducted, misled or abused? Yet she can see a bond between them that blurs fantasy and reality.
As media hysteria surrounding the young women grows, Rhi comes to a decision that will change all of their lives forever.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Madeline Claire Franklin’s debut YA novel maintains a satisfying ambiguity between its contemporary and fantasy elements in a way that’s mature without feeling like a cop out. Character-driven, it deals sensitively with the difficult topic of abuse (trigger warning for cannibalism) and combines it with themes of found family and survivorship. This is one of the strongest YA debuts I’ve read and I look forward to reading Franklin’s next book.
THE WILDERNESS OF GIRLS was released in the United Kingdom on 2 January 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
While hiking, Rhi discovers four young women living wild and guarded by wolves. The girls tell her that they are lost princesses raised by a man called Mother.
Shocked, Rhi takes them to hospital, all the while haunted by memories of her family trauma. Surely, the girls have been abducted, misled or abused? Yet she can see a bond between them that blurs fantasy and reality.
As media hysteria surrounding the young women grows, Rhi comes to a decision that will change all of their lives forever.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Madeline Claire Franklin’s debut YA novel maintains a satisfying ambiguity between its contemporary and fantasy elements in a way that’s mature without feeling like a cop out. Character-driven, it deals sensitively with the difficult topic of abuse (trigger warning for cannibalism) and combines it with themes of found family and survivorship. This is one of the strongest YA debuts I’ve read and I look forward to reading Franklin’s next book.
THE WILDERNESS OF GIRLS was released in the United Kingdom on 2 January 2025. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
