My Five Word TL:DR Review : My Favourite of the Series

The Wilds is the third and final instalment of the Elin Warner series that started with The Sanatorium, and then continued with The Retreat and this is definitely my favourite of the three although I still had a few issues here and there.

Elin and her brother Issac are taking a holiday together in Portugal’s national park, the aim to try and mend bridges and reconnect.  It soon becomes apparent that Issac has a secondary mission, he’s promised a friend to follow up on the disappearance of his sister (Kier), last seen camping in the spot that Elin and Issac are now staying near.  Although Elin doesn’t initially want to get involved her naturally instincts eventually win out and the two find themselves following in Kier’s footsteps and trying to find clues as to where she was last seen.

The story is told in dual timelines.  We flit back and forth between Elin and her brother Issac walking the trails over in Portugal and chatting to the residents from a local camp in search of clues and then we jump back to events from 2018 and witness Kier and her boyfriend Zeph, they’re staying in Devon in their camper van whilst awaiting the wedding of Kier’s brother.  I found myself really intrigued by Kier’s story, her relationship with Zeph is soon revealed to be abusive and I became worried for her safety.

What I liked about this was the way Pearse creates tension as the relationship between Kier and Zeph starts to fray.  Kier begins to question Zeph’s past relationship and starts to look more closely into his comings and goings. I definitely started to feel very worried for Kier.

I was more invested in Elin’s story than I was with the previous two books.  She and her brother are looking for clues to a mystery that may (or may not) have taken place a few years ago and with this in mind they’ve become very interested in the local camp who seem to be hiding something.  I felt like the focus was much stronger on the mystery with less muddying of the waters with too many personal dramas.

For those who have been following the series the mystery element that has followed Elin is finally revealed.  I’m not totally convinced with this element to the story, it just felt messy and a bit convoluted but it does tie up all the loose ends.

Overall, a series that I’ve had ups and downs with but I felt ended on a high.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publishers, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating 3.5 of 5 stars (rounded to 4)