The Wild Ones

By: Nafiza Azad

Narrated by: Ulka Simone Mohanty, Priya Ayyar, Nafiza Azad

From William C. Morris Finalist Nafiza Azad comes a thrilling feminist fantasy about a group of teenage girls endowed with special powers who must band together to save the life of the boy whose magic saved them all.

We are the Wild Ones, and we will not be silenced.

We are girls who have tasted the worst this world can offer. Our story begins with Paheli, who was once betrayed by her mother, sold to a man in exchange for a favor. When Paheli escaped, she ran headlong into Taraana - a boy with stars in his eyes, a boy as battered as she was. He tossed Paheli a box of stars before disappearing. With the stars, Paheli gained access to the Between, a place of pure magic and mystery. Now, Paheli collects girls like us, and we use our magic to travel the world, helping to save other girls from our pain, our scars.

When Taraana reappears, he asks for our help. Dangerous magical forces are chasing him, and they will destroy him to get his powers. We will do everything to save him - if we can. For if Taraana is no longer safe and free, neither are the Wild Ones. And that...is a fate that we refuse to accept. Ever again.

©2021 Nafiza Azad (P)2021 Listening Library

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I listened while hearing the cries of generations of young boys and girl's who were sold, raped, married to old men, and trafficked to other countries for a mete pittance. This author is their voice to reveal their pain. She excellently uses fantasy to soften the delivery but still yield a blow and clarion call to listen in 2022. I recommend this book for mature junior high and ages above to understand the world as it is a d to hopefully pick up the mantle to fight for injustice everywhere.

I was looking forward to it

This is a book that I was really looking forward to reading. Not only does it have a beautiful cover highlighting the strong female characters that would be found within, but the blurb describes a story of strong women protecting other women and helping them to become greater than they are. For those of you who haven't seen or read the blurb, here it is:

We are the Wild Ones, and we will not be silenced.

We are girls who have tasted the worst this world can offer. Our story begins with Paheli, who was once betrayed by her mother, sold to a man in exchange for a favor. When Paheli escaped, she ran headlong into Taraana—a boy with stars in his eyes, a boy as battered as she was. He tossed Paheli a box of stars before disappearing. With the stars, Paheli gained access to the Between, a place of pure magic and mystery. Now, Paheli collects girls like us, and we use our magic to travel the world, helping to save other girls from our pain, our scars.

When Taraana reappears, he asks for our help. Dangerous magical forces are chasing him, and they will destroy him to get his powers. We will do everything to save him—if we can. For if Taraana is no longer safe and free, neither are the Wild Ones. And that is a fate that we refuse to accept. Ever again.

See? It sounds like an awesome book. Unfortunately, I have no idea if the book was actually awesome because I was completely lost from almost the very beginning and had absolutely no idea what was happening. I kept listening because I kept hoping that I would start understanding it at some point, that there would be some reveal that would tie everything together for me, and I would be good.

I never got that.

Unfortunately, because I was listening to the audiobook, I don't know if that failure was on the author, on the narrators, or a result of the combination. The narrators were Ulka Simone Mohanty, Priya Ayyar, and Nafiza Azad (the author). I don't know who narrated which part because I had trouble even determining when the narrator changed. Even going back and relistening to various parts, the narration wasn't compelling, and my attention kept wandering.

I wish I'd had a copy of the book so that I could have read along, or just read it alone. If I had, maybe I could have followed along better. I don't know. With as much as I was looking forward to the book, I may end up revisiting it if I can find a copy of the book, but I won't be going out of my way to find one and read it. And that disappoints me.

Which is really all I can say about the book. I was disappointed. But I can't even give specifics on why because I honestly don't remember any specifics, and I only finished it about 15 minutes ago.