A beautiful story that falls a little short…
The Wilder Women is a beautiful story about a unique family that seems to lose focus in its mystery.
SYNOPSIS
Five years ago, Nora Wilder disappeared. The older of her two daughters, Zadie, should have seen it coming, because she can literally see things coming. But not even her psychic abilities were able to prevent their mother from vanishing one morning.
Zadie’s estranged younger sister, Finn, can’t see into the future, but she has an uncannily good memory, so good that she remembers not only her own memories, but the echoes of memories other people have left behind. On the afternoon of her graduation party, Finn is seized by an “echo” more powerful than anything she’s experienced before: a woman singing a song she recognizes, a song about a bird…
When Finn wakes up alone in an aviary with no idea of how she got there, she realizes who the memory belongs to: Nora.
Now, it’s up to Finn to convince her sister that not only is their mom still out there, but that she wants to be found. Against Zadie’s better judgement, she and Finn hit the highway, using Finn’s echoes to retrace Nora’s footsteps and uncover the answer to the question that has been haunting them for years: Why did she leave?
But the more time Finn spends in their mother’s past, the harder it is for her to return to the present, to return to herself. As Zadie feels her sister start to slip away, she will have to decide what lengths she is willing to go to find their mother, knowing that if she chooses wrong, she could lose them both for good.
The Wilder Sisters…
My feelings for this book I feel are divided between characters and plot. First, I want to talk about the character’s. There are two main character’s, Zadie and Finn who are half sisters. The sisters were separated five years before when their mother left and never came back. Zadie who was legally an adult was left on her own while her sister Finn was placed in foster care.
There are a few clues given at the start of their story regarding their personalities. Zadie is described as an organized person, while Finn is a free spirit. I really enjoyed their interactions. Finn was more bold, speaking to strangers without a second thought, eagerly agreeing to spontaneous invitations, and excited at every new discovery. It was because of Finn’s behavior that Zadie seemed to take on a more motherly personality, constantly giving Finn reminders to be cautious.
The tone of the story at first reminded me of Practical Magic (the movie with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman), this story of family loyalty and betrayals because while the story is all about finding their mother, I kept being drawn in by Zadie and Finn’s different ideas of their mother and their abilities.
Expectations Dwindled..
Unfortunately the plot itself felt lacking for me. At first I thought the story was clear. Zadie did everything to pretend she was normal, shutting out her abilities. Meanwhile Finn seemed to use hers almost recklessly, never thinking of the consequences. I thought I was reading a story of self discovery and acceptance, that the sisters would learn more about their gifts and how it affected their relationships. However, it seemed the author was more focused on answering the question of where Nora Wilder was.
This was the part that felt strange, was when the character’s began to find answers. It felt too much like even the author wasn’t sure how to answer the question of “where is Nora Wilder?” Information that felt important didn’t seem to lead anywhere, and in the end I didn’t feel satisfied with the end of the journey. Although the plot reached its resolutions in one way or another, I didn’t feel like they made sense. I couldn’t shake the thought that the author didn’t really know how to end things and just did.
MORE DETAILS
Word Count (rounded)~ ?
Page Count: 329
Genres: Magical Realism, fantasy, contemporary fantasy
In the end although I wasn’t a fan of the Nora plot line, I did really like the sisters and their relationship and it made me want another story with them, specifically with Zadie who never really felt complete for me. It was Zadie specifically who I felt still had much more room to grow and as the story returned to Nora, Zadie’s struggles felt forgotten rather than resolved.
My Rating…
I liked the character’s, and the story did have some great moments during their journey, but I didn’t completely fall in love with this book. I was too confused by the direction it took which is why my personal rating for this book is three stars.
The next book I’ll be reading is “Riley Jordan and the Fire Prophecies: Lion of Fire” by Brittany Ranew, an indie author who sent me his book link on Threads.
Jasmin De Anda 