My Five Word TL:DR Review: A Little Slow to Start

I enjoyed The Wilding.  The writing is really good, very evocative and the author sets the scene very well.  Yes, it was a little slow to start as we get to know the characters.  To be honest, on the one hand, I’m not totally sure that all the character building was totally necessary as some of these characters are about to meet a grisly end, but, on the other hand, if the author just skimmed over these characters and gave them no depth it would be immediately obvious that their roles were going to be short lived, so, for me, it’s worth taking the time to get to know these people as it definitely makes their sudden demise much more shocking.

The premise of the story is a group of rangers and young adults, going into the wild to spend a night, at one with nature.  It’s an unlikely group of characters in some respects.  Lisa, the MC, is longing for a new start in life at University and in fact this little wilderness trek is probably going to be her last mission.  The other young adults don’t particularly come across as enthusiastic (at least not all of them) about this little jaunt into the wild and have an almost bored, are we really doing this, attitude, but they’re going to get a sudden jolt of nasty reality in fairly short order.

The author sets the scene early.  There have been unexplained attacks on farm animals and other unexplained incidences.  The setting feeds into the atmosphere perfectly.  This is a rewilding project based deep in rural island where the locals, the project itself and nature are struggling to come to a balance and, well, ultimately failing it would seem.  There’s a lovely build up of tension, I would say that at one point I was on the brink of wondering when the action would kick in but then suddenly I was in the middle of chaos.  When the proverbial hits the fan things go batpoop crazy.  The wilderness seems to take on a mind of its own causing confusion and driving the party deeper into the bog.  There’s bad weather, marshy boglands, bugs and that awful feeling of being watched coupled with the hysteria and panic created when people are desperately trying to survive. And there are some really unusual settings where our little group find shelter.

I don’t really want to say too much more for fear of spoiling the read for others.  I enjoyed this, it had a slightly slow start but I think that initial build up makes the story more dramatic.  There is definite horror and blood and guts.  I don’t know whether I’d call this a folk story.  It’s more like nature as a whole – showing us it’s power coupled with the journey of one character in particular – Lisa – who starts the story longing to move on before going on something of a self discovery jaunt herself, becoming very protective of the young people in her charge and throwing caution to the wind as she tries to keep them alive.

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

My rating 3.5 of 5 stars rounded to 4 for the strange and dark appeal