Before I get into the review, here is a trigger warning. This book deals with themes of sexual and physical violence, so do not proceed if those topics are triggering for you.
The Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad caught my eyes at the bookstore immediately because of its absolutely gorgeous cover. The vibrant colors stand out on the shelf and the illustrations are too beautiful to resist. I wish that the story within had been as captivating to me, but it’s unfortunately my least favorite book I’ve read this year.
When I tried describing the plot to a friend, I found that I was unable to articulate it clearly because it felt as if the book focused on everything but the plot. Beneath all the vivid details and long descriptions of food, and between the eleven girls’ one liners, is the actual plot that isn’t strong enough to drive a strong story. It took me a very long time to get through this book. I found myself forcing my way through it, making myself sit down and read a set number of pages to finish it. I usually don’t mind setting a book as a DNF, but after a difficult two years where I couldn’t finish a single book, I couldn’t accept a DNF. So, I trudged through, and I have many thoughts.
Our mothers. Would they love us still now that we have turned into the cautionary tales they used to tell?
The Wild Ones, p.33
I will start by saying that my thoughts on the book are in no way indicative of the quality of the book. It has a pretty divided response on Goodreads. Slightly over 1/3 of reviews are 3 stars or lower, with another 1/3 of reviews giving it a 4-star rating. People either loved the book and the themes it explores, or they share the same complaints that I have. I think it all comes down to what type of reader you are. If you’re like me and rely on strong, distinct characters, this may not be the book for you. But if you love vivid worlds and strong themes, then I believe this book is the right fit.
After Paheli is betrayed by her mother, she stumbles on Taraana, a boy with stars in his eyes. He gives her box of stars and she becomes an In Betweener, drifting between the real world and the world of magic. Over time, she collects more girls like her, giving them a star. When Taraana reappears, he’s being hunted by a middle worlder and the girls take him in and protect him from those seeking to steal his stars.
As lovely as the details of this world were and how much I wanted to be enthralled by the many characters, the story lacked substance. It was a weird amalgamation of too much and not enough. It was too many characters, not even time for the reader to get to know them. So many beautiful cities in the world, not enough time to spent there to really appreciate it. Too many chase scenes, not enough tension. To summarize, I love the idea of this novel but not the execution.
I do have positives to share about the book. First and foremost, I love stories about found families. Where people who felt like outcasts or had horrible families come together and make their own family. The Wild Ones are their own family. They are girls that were broken and have found healing with one another. They find themselves with a voice and the power to help girls like them.
Obviously, we are still not completely safe, but to be a Wild One, you have to be comfortable with walking on dark roads. The road to becoming a Wild One is dark.
The Wild Ones, p.179
I also love the feminity of this book. Not once does the book shy away from the femininity that is often rejected for being considered weak. Paheli boasts pink hair and the girls douse themselves in glitter and flowers. They are unashamedly girly and I am here for it.
Now I’ll be getting into the spoiler part of the review, so click off if you haven’t read the book.
The lack of tension is a real turn off for me. The Wild Ones have taken on the role of protector for the Keeper of the Between, Taraana. They are chased by Baarish and his middle worlder minions all around the world as they try to keep Taraana safe. But the stakes never feel life or death. It’s established immediately in their first meeting with Baarish that middle worlders’ magic does nothing to them, so they can’t be harmed by them, and they escape easily by disappearing to the In Between. At most, they are simply inconvenienced by Baarish and this is not enough to carry a story.
There are too many characters and we don’t get to know who they are. Paheli is the only clear member of the Wild Ones, with Valentina getting some individuality. All the rest are presented as a single conglomerate of girls, even referring themselves as an ocean.
Just because we talk in one voice doesn’t mean we are of one mind. We are different shades of one color. We do not represent other girls around the world who might be in situations similar to ours. Would you ask a drop of salt water if it represented an entire ocean?
The Wild Ones, p.35
But they feel like one single entity. I don’t know who these girls are. Not even the ‘Book of Memories’ snippets we get interspersed through the book, written in very lyrical and hard to decipher text, give any clarity. All it does it tell me their name, where they are from, and that they suffered some form of trauma, which is what bonds all the girls. There are very few unique traits given to each girl and it’s easy to miss them. So by the end, it felt as if there were actually only four main characters: Paheli, Valentina, Taraana, and the conglomeration of girls. It was distracting trying to keep track of who each girl was and eventually, I just morphed them into a single entity in my head.
In trying to figure out the characters, I had to look to Goodreads and found a response from the author detailing that the LGBTQIA+ representation in the book includes characters that are lesbian, trans, and non-binary. I truly cannot tell who these characters are, aside from Valentina who ends up with Tabassum Naaz in the end. I would’ve loved to read about a trans girl finding her place in this found family, who take her in after whatever trauma she faced in her previous life. The same goes for the non-binary character. There is so much potential here and it feels wasted on surface level stuff and way, way too many references to mangoes.
It also focuses a lot on the romance between Paheli and Taraana. I really did not like Taraana. He seemed to change personalities quickly, without proper development. One minute, he’s a scared little boy who clings to Paheli, then he’s lovesick and awkward, then he’s arguing with Paheli every other page about her putting herself in danger. We are told that some time passes but we don’t get to really experience it, so this shift is jarring. I couldn’t connect with him because I didn’t know who he would be in the next chapter. While I do appreciate the idea of navigating a relationship after you’ve been hurt so badly, like Paheli was, but it seemed to take up too much space in an already crammed story. There is too much going on and I think the romance was one of the weakest parts of the story.
It seems like the author only wanted to write about the beautiful cities in the world that get very little recognition. I love the places we got to visit in this book. From Latouka City to Agra to Beirut, each was detailed in beautiful prose that allowed me to feel each soul.
Cities have souls, you know. They are alive and sometimes they die. They grow old either gracefully or shamefully. They shrink and they expand. They grieve and celebrate.
The Wild Ones, p.16
In each of these cities, we get many descriptions of the large quantities of food they eat. It seemed like every other page, the girls were eating something new and rushing off to another city. This made the book feel rushed, even when nothing was happening. And the details of food took up precious space that could’ve been used detailing one of the girls or actually helping another girl in need. In fact, we get very few encounters with other girls who have been hurt and even after we lose a Wild One who chooses to move on, we don’t gain another. I would’ve loved to see them take in a new girl and grow their found family.
But we survived. If not in entirety, then in fragments.
The Wild Ones, p.28
The last half of the book was much stronger than the first half. It still dragged in most parts, but I loved when Azad showed us the unique parts of this world, especially the magic. I wish we had learned more about it and it was used more throughout the story, rather than just existing in the background. Magic is important to the story so it should’ve been more prevalent throughout, not sprinkled in until it mattered. Also, ghosts were brought in, but only for one scene and I feel cheated. The chapters in Marrakech were by far the best in the whole book and I would’ve loved an entire book that matched this, instead of the slow-paced, crowded story we have instead.
Magic is thick in places where blood has been spilled.
The Wild Ones p.261
The book often gets repetitive, reiterating the same mantra over and over again. It discusses how the Wild Ones will never again allow themselves to be hurt again, how they are more than their trauma, but it doesn’t have the impact the author was going for. This goes back to the lack of stakes and lack of character development. How am I supposed to care about their plight if I don’t know who they are? Of course, I feel for them after the trauma they endured but it would be so much more powerful if I knew who Ligaya from Cebu is or what happened to Sevda of Marmaris. I don’t know their past, or even their present. They are nothing more than drops of water in the ocean that is the Wild Ones. It’s incredibly difficult to navigate a story that deals with sexual and physical abuse, and I don’t need elaborate, detailed descriptions of what they endured. But I need to know something otherwise it reads as virtue signaling. I truly don’t believe that the author had that intention and I see that there are positive reviews of the book, so this means that my experience is not universal.
I was pretty disappointed in this book. I wish it had been more and that it took the time to focus on character, rather than details. There was so much potential here, but I am glad to see that many people did love it. Azad shared a powerful story that resonates with a lot of readers. It takes a serious topic of trauma that is very hard to write about and I love all the beauty Azad brings in this story. For me, it fell flat and lacked a lot of things I look for in a story, but to many others, it’s a beacon of light, and that’s what matters.
Be Bold 