The Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad {BLOG TOUR: Review & Favorite Quotes}

Welcome to my tour stop for The Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad, hosted by Turn the Page Tours. I'm really excited to be a part of this and can't wait to share what I got! Hope you enjoy my thoughts and a few favorite quotes from this book, and please feel free to check out the other tour stops listed in Turn the Page Tours Welcome Post!

From William C. Morris Finalist Nafiza Azad comes a thrilling, feminist fantasy about a group of teenage girls endowed with special powers who must band together to save the life of the boy whose magic saved them all.

Meet the Wild Ones: girls who have been hurt, abandoned, and betrayed all their lives. It all began with Paheli, who was once betrayed by her mother and sold to a man in exchange for a favor. When Paheli escapes, she runs headlong into a boy with stars in his eyes. This boy, as battered as she is, tosses Paheli a box of stars before disappearing.

With the stars, Paheli gains access to the Between, a place of pure magic and mystery. Now, Paheli collects girls like herself and these Wild Ones use their magic to travel the world, helping the hopeless and saving others from the fates they suffered.

Then Paheli and the Wild Ones learn that the boy who gave them the stars, Taraana, is in danger. He’s on the run from powerful forces within the world of magic. But if Taraana is no longer safe and free, neither are the Wild Ones. And that…is a fate the Wild Ones refuse to accept. Ever again. 

 

Book Title: The Wild Ones

Author: Nafiza Azad

Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy
Publication Date: August 3rd 2021 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

Buy link: Bookshop

          

My Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars

Thoughts:

I have heard about and seen the mixed reviews circulating about The Wild Ones, and I still wanted to give it a go because of the wide range of rep happening here and also because I need more fantasy books written by Muslim female authors. Not to mention, the cover. Have you seen the cover? Just like its title says, it looks...wild. It looks like madness. And power. And lots of magic. So yeah. Definitely needed to try this.

First and foremost, it is important to know that The Wild Ones several sensitive topics and the author herself has made it clear on Goodreads as well. Please make sure you're aware of the content warnings and feel free to pass it on if you feel you won't be comfortable.

The premise of The Wild Ones is AMAZING. The summaries/blurbs I read prior to getting into the story all showed great promise and potential to deliver something memorable. It is the premise alone that made me give it a 3 star. I am glad Nafiza decided to tell this story because this is quite different from what I've read in the recent years in BIPOC novels. The setup, the characters, diverse character names and some of the central themes made reading The Wild Ones a worthwhile experience for me.

My biggest issues with The Wild Ones are its writing style and the worldbuilding. Every reader is different, and so is every author. I assume some people might get Nafiza's writing style but I was not one of them. It took me a while to get into the story, and even then I kept feeling disconnected throughout. Moreover, the world Nafiza builds here seems to lack pieces here and there, which when reading made me question so many things that are just vaguely picturized in the book. I honestly would've rated this book much higher if it didn't interrupt my reading experience as much.

I have always loved multiple narrators because to me it allows the readers to look at the overall story more closely. It allows the readers to look at the intricacies of each of the characters in so much more detail. While I LOVE how The Wild Ones isn't just Paheli narrating everything that happens, I wish the points of view were handled with a little more finesse. In my opinion, one of the books' strongest aspects is sort of this 'ensemble' it has--all the characters who have something or other to contribute to the story. There are times when it might seem to 'in-your-face' with its messages and dialogues but overall, it was nice to see a story relying so much on its female characters alone. 

The Wild Ones is many things and at times, that fact does seem to impact it being something solid and mesmerizing in particular. However, having said that, I do think it's something to consider and try if you're looking for gritty, hard-hitting BIPOC books about sisterhood and strong females. Again, please make sure you're aware of its triggers warnings.

Quote love:

"Would giving specific names to our tragedies make you know us better? Get black paint then and mark us victims of rape, sexual, physical, and verbal abuse. Stalked. Sold. Made destitute. Abandoned. Hated. Silenced. Does these words make us more or less to you?"

"I have been a Wild One for a very long time. Too long, my bones grumble, and sometimes there's an ache in me for green things. Not that I would know what to do with a forest if I found myself inside one, but still, I like dreaming."

"...we, too, are naturally invisible to human beings...we pretend it's a superpower, and in some ways, it might as well be."

Author Information:

Nafiza Azad is a self-identified island girl. She has hurricanes in her blood and dreams of a time she can exist solely on mangoes and pineapple. Born in Lautoka, Fiji, she currently resides in British Columbia, Canada where she reads too many books, watches too many K-dramas, and writes stories about girls taking over the world. Her debut YA fantasy was the Morris Award–nominated The Candle and the Flame. The Wild Ones is her second novel.

- Lady Inck