Natalie C. Parker

Southern Gothic gets a whole new twist in this debut novel, sure to appeal to fans of the New York Times bestselling Beautiful Creatures series. The swamp in Sterling's small Louisiana town proves to have a power over its inhabitants when her brother disappears and no one but Sterling even remembers that he existed. Now Sterling, with the help of brooding loner Heath, who's had his own creepy experience with the swamp, must fight back and reclaim what—and who—the swamp has taken. Beware the Wild is a riveting and atmospheric page-turner readers won't want to miss.

Beware the Wild

Colleen

I added this book to my "To Read" list right after I joined Goodreads not realizing that this book wasn't published yet. After looking at it sitting on my list for about seven months, I had to pick it up now that it is finally out.

I really liked the descriptions used at the beginning of the book to set the scene. The second half of the book was more plot driven though, and I missed the descriptions from the beginning. Towards the end, they dwindle down to a few hyperbolic similes. 

Some of the characters had annoying names such as Sterling Saucier and Candy Pickens who all live in a town called Sticks. The main character, Sterling, was annoying in the beginning. The self-destruction of her developing an eating disorder just because she doesn't want her brother to leave for college was irksome. That self pity combines with her belligerent romance with the local bad-boy-who-is-really-a-misunderstood-good-boy. At least there weren't any vampires or werewolves. 

This book was described as "Southern Gothic," but I felt it didn't quite reach that mark. It lacked the desired intensity. I liked the premise, but the mystery of the swamp could have been built up more. The characters could also have used some stronger development. It was entertaining enough though and a quick, easy read.


RECOMMENDATIONS
If you liked this, try Compulsion

Steysha

«Beware the Wild» is a dark and creepy gothic fairytale. It lures you into its mysterious swamp, makes you forget about your life and captures on the pages of its story. 



Have you ever heard of Sticks, Louisiana? Nobody has. It’s a secluded small town with own secrets, and the biggest one of them – is the swamp. Nobody knows why it is fenced, why are everyone scared of it, but they know one thing for sure – you better stay the hell away from it. Don’t mind the swamp and it won’t mind you.
That is what everybody in Sticks does, until one girl loses her brother. 

Sterling Saucier is the main protagonist. At the beginning we see her as a girl who was always under protection of her a bit aggressive brother. Their father was a cruel man who liked to beat his wife and children, and the only person who tried to protect them was Phin Saucier. But after some stressful fight over his moving to college, the boy leaves his home and goes into the swamp. Sterling waits for him the whole day and then she sees like someone climbs over the fence… but it’s not Phin. It’s a girl, Lenora May, who claims the spot of her brother.



 Nobody remembers him anymore… Nobody believes that he ever existed… except for Heath, the boy at school with whom she had a brief romance and who experienced the same situation. What is more important, he believes her. He remembers. 

What I really liked, was the development of Sterling’s character. At the beginning she was just a scared girl with eating disorder because of a fear of losing her brother – her only protector. But now it is he who needs her help. As it turns out, Sterling has the courage of a lion. She is strong, smart and desperate to save her beloved brother. 

There is also Heath, Sterling’s love interest, but I can’t say much about him. I was not into this romance. He is a good boy with the dark past, and the reason to it is the swamp. But if Sterling became strong because of her burden, Heath became weak. And that’s my only problem with him. I love it when main heroes are equal. 

But this book is not about love between a boy and a girl. It’s about brother and sister relationships. That our love to someone and the need to protect can be twisted into something entirely else. That we must learn to stand for ourselves and stop depending on other people. Because everything has a price. 

The plot and the writing were incredibly good. It made me want to go to the swamp, so vivid was the description of it, with its lights that are always leading people into its depth, with magical cherry trees and monsters, waiting for you in the dark. I also loved the secondary characters and the main villain. It’s not easy to guess here who is good and who is evil. Everyone has their reasons. Somebody can surprise you. 

Overall, this book is a must-read for fans of gothic romances. I’ve read it a couple of days ago and its atmosphere still haunts me. And I love it!

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I bought my own copy of this book. Yay me!

Rating: 4.5/5

Publication Date: October 21, 2014

Genre: YA Fantasy

Recommended Age: 14+ (violence, swamp, lies, alligators)
 
Pages: 327

Amazon Link

Synopsis: It's an oppressively hot and sticky morning in June when Sterling and her brother, Phin, have an argument that compels him to run into the town swamp—the one that strikes fear in all the residents of Sticks, Louisiana. Phin doesn't return. Instead, a girl named Lenora May climbs out, and now Sterling is the only person in Sticks who remembers her brother ever existed.

Sterling needs to figure out what the swamp's done with her beloved brother and how Lenora May is connected to his disappearance—and loner boy Heath Durham might be the only one who can help her. 

Review: I like mythological retellings, especially those that I don’t hear about a lot. But there’s something comforting from reading something that you’ve heard about before. Being a Southern girl who’s lived in Tennessee the majority of her life and now living in Georgia, I haven’t been around a lot of swamps. That doesn’t stop the stories and the cautionary tales from coming. I’ve always been taught that those swamps are filled with evil and mystery, forces that I couldn’t combat. Stay clear from them or die, they would say. So when I read this book, I felt like I was getting another cautionary tale from my mamaw about the swamp. This book is really well written and I loved the fact that it presented some American mythology in it. I felt that the writing was well done and the characters were well developed. I also liked that the main character didn’t have to rely on her love interest to help her. The power was within her to do what she wanted all along.

In the end, I thought this book needed to explain the magic a bit more and some things happened that were a bit weird considering that fact. I also felt that we should have had more backstory with the siblings and more of an afterwards with what happened at the end.

Verdict: An amazing book that will revive your fear of the dark swamps.

Megan During

Jade Warren

Briar Rose

Makayla Woolfolk

Southern Gothic gets a whole new twist in Beware the Wild, now in paperback. Sure to appeal to fans of the bestselling Beautiful Creatures series, New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White called Beware the Wild "American myth at its very best." The swamp in Sterling's small Louisiana town proves to have a power over its inhabitants when her brother disappears and no one but Sterling even remembers that he existed. Now Sterling, with the help of brooding loner Heath, who's had his own creepy experience with the swamp, must fight back and reclaim what—and who—the swamp has taken. Beware the Wild is a riveting and atmospheric page-turner readers will want to devour. And don't miss Behold the Bones, a companion to Beware the Wild!

Beware the Wild

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