Wild Things: A Novel Paperback – May 23, 2023

This is a well written, satisfying story about the complexities of love and relationships. The characters are all well written and the protagonist Eleanor is three dimensional, engaging, and relatable. The novel is written in an overall lighthearted tone, but we share in El’s insecurities and fears. I am straight and this novel is about a same sex relationship, but anyone who’s ever yearned to find a loving connection with that Certain Someone will surely identify wholly with El’s situation. Keep an eye out for Sally. She only has a bit part, but she steals every scene she’s in. If you’re wondering why I gave the novel 4 stars instead of 5, it’s because I’d categorize it as light reading. It’s very good and highly recommended, but it’s unlikely to win a Pulitzer.

Wild Things” by Laura Kay is a cute, sweet, fun, queer chick-lit novel. I wouldn't call it a traditional romance or rom-com though there are aspects of both in the novel. Ms. Kay has written a set of quirky, charismatic, fun characters who are great friends and that is what makes a wonderful storyline.Eleanor (El) has been stuck in a boring, dead end job where she is struggling financially. She has a roommate she isn't fond of, no love life to speak of and a crush on her BFF, Ray. With all of this, type A El has decided she needs a change so she is going to do one "wild" thing a month for a year. One of her wild things includes buying a house with her best friends Ray, Jamie, and Will.Each of these wild things brings a new challenge for El and while she doesn't finish the wild things she does make some remarkable changes and steps out of her comfort zone.“Wild Things” has a bit of a slow start but once things picked up I truly enjoyed it and I am a fan of the dryer British humor. I loved the diversity and subplots throughout the novel. I appreciated that each character had their own story, regardless of how small. And now I feel like I must seek out more of Laura Kay's novels.

This one gets 3.5 stars because it's good and entertaining but it just never clicked with me.El declares a year of doing things she'd never even consider after her cool queer best friend jokes about her being staid and never doing anything out of the ordinary. It starts with small things and ends up turning into El and her best friends moving into a dilapidated country house in a turn of events that forces her to face up to the fact that she's in love with her best friend. But is she brave enough to risk the friendship in an attempt to find love?I really wanted to like this one a lot more than I did, but it just never clicked with me. I loved the concept of El undertaking a year of doing things she wouldn't have normally even dreamed of and living "wild", but the fact that she does it to impress the best friend she's in love with but won't admit to it took a little bit of the enjoyment out of it. I would have much preferred a story that puts more emphasis on El doing it for herself. It does have a very positive ending where El realizes what she truly wants and forces her to look at the why and how she does things, but it was missing a certain spark for me.Happy thanks to NetGalley and Vintage for the interesting read!

3.5 stars."Wild Things" by Laura Kay is a low-stakes, slow-burning queer found family romantic comedy about a group of friends who kiss living in London goodbye by buying a home/commune in the countryside. As I said, the story is slow to start... actually, it's slow in the middle, too. The romantic aspect doesn't really start to pick up until late in the book. In fact, the romance really isn't the focal point of the book. A lot of the story revolves around main characters El, Ray, Jamie, and Will buying and renovating their countryside house so they can turn it into a commune. They get chickens, they make a big garden, they figure out the perils and trials of homeownership, they learn how to rebuild and fix things via YouTube videos, etc, they prepare to throw a lavish housewarming party, etc. The found family aspect is also focused on a lot, and this is where I believe the book succeeds. Laura Kay has written such a wonderful sense of friendship and community within these characters. Each one of the four main friends gets time for their personalities to shine. We get to know El, Ray, Will, and Jamie on intimate levels, get to know their quirks, etc. Still, El and Ray are the main protagonists here, as is El's infatuation with Ray (that she seems to be painfully oblivious of, even after being told about it). The "wild year" that El starts to have in the beginning of the book sort of falls by the wayside once she moves into their shared home because all of her adventures shift to focus on their endeavors there. El spends most of the beginning of the story trying to be someone she's not because she thinks she's boring and not adventurous. She starts the year off by doing things that scare her, like (trying to have)/having a threesome, doing Molly, etc. I liked her better as a character when she was just being herself, though she learns to find confidence within herself as the story goes on. I sort of disliked Ray for the most part... she seemed oblivious in a mean way. El made her feelings known on multiple occasions, that she has had a crush on her for years, but Ray disregards them and continues to hurt El. Their "relationship" is one-sided until about ~85%, and even then, I didn't really buy what happens in the end. This is a fine book, but it likely won't be on my year-end list of best-of novels.