Wild Girls: A Novel
Written by Mary Stewart Atwell
Narrated by Shannon McManus
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Kate Riordan fears two things as she grows up in the small Appalachian town of Swan River: that she’ll be a frustrated townie forever or that she’ll turn into one of the mysterious and terrifying wild girls, killers who start fires and menace the community. Struggling to better her chances of escaping, Kate attends the posh Swan River Academy and finds herself divided between her hometown - and its dark history - and the realm of privilege and achievement at the Academy.
Explosive friendships with Mason, a boy from the wrong side of town, and Willow, a wealthy and popular queen bee from school, are slowly pulling her apart. Kate must decide who she is and where she belongs before she wakes up with cinders at her fingertips. Mary Stewart Atwell has written a novel that is at once funny and wise and stunningly inventive. Her wild girls are strange and fascinating creatures - a brilliant twist on the anger teenage girls can feel at their powerlessness - and a promise of the great things to come from this young writer.
Mary Stewart Atwell
Mary Stewart Atwell's short fiction has appeared in Best New American Voices and The Best American Mystery Stories. She grew up in southwest Virginia and now lives in Missouri.
Related to Wild Girls
Related audiobooks
The Stone Girl: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Friend of the Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Be True to Me Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Bone Orchard Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Age of Consent Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eyes Never Lie Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Darkest Place: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTell Me No Lies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lies That Bind Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFireworks Over Toccoa: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Y Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Leaves: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Gap Year Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Essential Maps for the Lost Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Across The Deep Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFar From Here Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Call My Name: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Life On Hold Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Summer Snow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Only the Rain: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5One More Day Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't Trust Me Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gin Palace Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Starboard Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Million Dollar Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Samurai Summer Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Only Ever You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Family Ship: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5In a Quiet Town Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of Not Breathing Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Literary Fiction For You
All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: A Hunger Games Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Covenant of Water Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Demon Copperhead: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Poisonwood Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Yellowface: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Bell Jar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stardust Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Their Eyes Were Watching God Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tom Lake: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Measure: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Song of Achilles: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Parable of the Sower Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Name of the Wind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nothing to See Here Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Road Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dutch House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kindred Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hate U Give Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anxious People: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Wild Girls
17 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I am happy to say that the circumstances under which I am reading this book is that this is a summer reading given to me by Hollins University, not only the college I am enrolled in but the college the author herself has graduated from. That said, I put off reading this book enough, I think.I came in with rather low expectations, partially because I believed due to past experience that books assigned by schools are really suckish and partially because of the cover art - it seems rather cheesy to me, like any other book of rebellious teenagers. Thus, the first thing I would change about this book is the cover art; in my opinion, it really does not do the story justice.The premise of the story is rather impressive. The "Wild Girls" in this book are like enchanted beings, bringing together the myths of witches and countless other legends, none of them completely accurate in describing just what they are. All the readers can know for certain is that random girls become homicidal primal women with the ability to control fire, fly, and possibly control the minds of a small group and turn them into Wild Girls as well.It really is a wonderful story, though there are a couple things that holds it back in my mind (other than the cover, I mean): for one, in my personal taste, it's too much drama and too little macabre - but, then again, I know many people will not feel the same way. My only other complaint is that, upon revealing who was behind creating more Wild Girls than what was already running rampant, he suffered a rather quick and pathetic end, leaving the only true threat of the story to be the Wild Girls themselves. Someone that could have been seen as more or less the mastermind of the evil bubbling up in the Appalachians could have come back after said end or at least extend the scene to make the situation a tad heavier.All of that being said, those are the only true negative points I could find. The cover, a certain death, and my personal taste. That's it. It may be the fact that I have the write an essay on this that I'm thinking more critically, but the personal growth of the main character, Kate, is remarkable. She grows in terms of the friends she keeps, her perception of her town and her family, and the so-called "minions" of her high school. Also, I could very much relate, as I think many others can, to the idea that a person's hometown is not only where you don't want to be in the future but also a place where you feel no one should live - that it is a complete trap of a town where it seems that no one who enters will reach their full potential. It was a very powerful theme throughout and really pulled the book together.Wild Girls is a supernatural spin on the angst and worries young women feel before starting life after high school. I especially recommend it as a YA book because as someone around the same age, myself included - having just graduated, a reader can really put themselves in the book and see the Wild Girls for what they really are, what had transformed them in the first place.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5There are times when the serendipity offered up by the New Books shelf at the library causes me great joy, and there are times when it causes me to curse the day I ever learned to read. Today it's the latter. I am not sure what exactly I expected (something 70s, with free love, I think), but horror was certainly not on my list for today. I stay away from horror on purpose, mostly because it's, um, horrifying. I stuck with it for the first 150 pages, but then I started to skip and skim and peek through my fingers and flinch and shudder. Things caught on fire. People died in gruesome fashions. Old men were skeevy and good men were apathetic. Girls got knocked up and knocked down.
Perhaps it's a good horror book, I don't know. I hated it. Maybe you'll like it. If you do, don't tell me. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I fell in love with Sawn River and was fascinated by the Wild Girls. Mary S. Atwell did a brillant job with character development as well and the "love triangle" as this young coming-of-age novel is anything but typical. I cannot wait for my daughter to read it so we can talk about it! Bright 5 stars from me!My rating system is as follows:5 stars - Excellent, Worth Every Penny, Made It Into My Personal Library!4 stars - Great book, but not a classic. 3 stars - Good overall, generally well written.2 stars - Would not recommend based on personal criteria.1 star - Difficult to read, hard to finish, or didn't finish. Wouldn't recommend purchasing or reading.In accordance with the FTC Guidelines for blogging and endorsements, you should assume that every book I review was provided to me by the publisher, media group or the author for free and no financial payments were received, unless specified otherwise.