~ Bite 5 ~

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Plot: Young Rhi has just been sent to live with her estranged Uncle Jimmy after her father is arrested. When she’s not in school, she works at the Happy Valley Wildlife Preserve, which places her deep in the woods where she one day finds a group of disheveled young girls surrounded by wolves. Thinking she’s hallucinating, she immediately calls her uncle and with help from the community, the young malnourished girls are taken to the hospital. Everyone in the town believes the girls were kidnapped by a crazy psychopath named Mother, but Rhi instantly forms a bond with the “wild girls” and proves there is more to the story than anyone realizes.

Main Characters:

Eden: who has changed her name to Rhi

Four sisters:

Verity: tall, blonde

Sunder: youngest sister who injures her leg in a bear trap in the woods

Oblivienne: Oldest sister of the four 

Epiphanie: the soft sister

Main Thoughts:

This book is marketed towards teens and young adults as a YA fiction book, however though impactful for these readers, I think it might be even more impactful for adult readers who have experienced abuse, which is thorougly examined in this book by Madeline Claire Franklin. At its core, this is book about sisterhood, found family, and magic, but if you explore deeper it is a letter and reminder to woman to never be tamed by society.

This book is beautifully written with vivid depictions of the wilderness, as well as visual descriptions of Wild Girls who are discovered in the woods and are quickly thrust into the “real world” of modern civilization which includes real bathrooms, brushed hair, showers, grocery stores, electronics, school, therapy sessions, and so much more. 

Each girl described in this story has a distinct personality and distinct journey that is explored in this book. When I read the description of this story, I expected a heartwarming story about finding girls who were kidnapped and kept in the woods away from civilization and yes, you get this part of the plot. However, this story read as a thriller with lots of twists and turns, heavy emotions and no pun-intended it was a wild ride. There was so much that happened in this story that I did not expect and it kept me guessing. Even if you aren’t considered a young-adult reader you will still enjoy this story of tragic magic. 

Final Thoughts on the ending:

This book had a very redemptive and peaceful ending when you consider the tumultuous journey each girl went on in this book.

Final sentence to describe this book.

We are all born wild and we all die wild.

Memorable Quotes:

“Grief has a way of breaking time. In the first throes of grieving, you are a boat run aground, unmoving, lodged against the riverbank, the pain too heavy for the voyage. And yet the other boats continue to stream by…and you will return to the water, eventually. When your grief grows light enough to carry with the rest of your cargo” (Franklin 237-238). 

“They want us to all roll over and be good little girls…they want obedience , silence, all that sugar and spice bullshit” (Franklin 280).

Final sentence to describe this book

We are all born wild and we all die wild.