Book Review - Wake the Wild Creatures by Nova Ren Suma

 

Wake the Wild Creatures by Nova Ren Suma is about a young woman who lived with her mother off the grid her entire life and was forced to return to civilization. Until three years ago, Talia lived in the ruins of Neves, a once-beautiful and grand hotel that had been abandoned, with her mother, Pola, and a community of like-minded women in the Catskills Mountains area. Each woman had her own reason for coming to Neves. Some came to escape men; others were hiding from the law, but they all found safety, comfort, and connection when they arrived.

Neves is cloaked in a mysterious, magical mist that keeps intruders and anyone who isn’t welcome away. As their numbers grew, so did their complications. Someone had betrayed the community and called the police on Pola. The uniformed men descended on their sacred community and arrested her, calling her a murderer and a fugitive, which caused Talia to be taken away and left their community in shambles.

Talia is now sixteen and eager to return to her community. She currently lives with her mother’s sister, Rachele, and her family. Talia doesn’t like how the world revolves around ideals the women of Neves stood against. Talia is desperate to return to her home, but she is awaiting a signal from her mother. As Talia waits, she questions everything she knew about her past and is desperate to know whether she can ever return to the life she left behind.

I thought the book was an okay read. I think it was nicely written and easy to follow along at times but can be confusing when it would switch between past and present. The book is told from Talia’s perspective and alternates between the past and present. It was interesting to read about Talia’s past and how she was coping in the present. However, I felt the ending left me with more questions, such as what happened to the mother, why they waited so long to give her a signal, what would happen to Talia, her mother, and the others, and why the place is magical.

At times, the book was hard to read because I didn’t care for Talia. I felt like she was an unlikeable person and very self-centered. I also wondered what the point of the book was, because the ending felt very unresolved for me. Sometimes the book would focus heavily on her past, and I would be very interested in seeing what role it played in the present, but sometimes nothing came of it. The book was very boring at times, with almost no twists or turns, and even though it is billed as a mysterious thriller, it is not. I think it’s an okay read, but I wouldn’t read it again or be in a hurry to read another book by the author.