BOOK REVIEW: Wild Things by Laura Kay

Laura Kay's third novel, Wild Things, is one of found family, self-discovery, and the agony of unrequited love. Eleanor is stuck in a rut -- she has a dead-end job, no dating prospects on the horizon, and is hopelessly, terribly in love with her best friend, Ray. Worst of all, Eleanor feels boring. A drunken New Year's Resolution leads her to pledge to do one wild thing each month. One disappointing threesome (does it count if Eleanor was completely sidelined?) and one tiny tattoo later, Elenor is wondering if her "wild adventures" will turn out to be lukewarm after all.

Then her friend, Will, has an intriguing idea: what if Will, Eleanor, Ray, and their Instagram influencer coworker buy a house in the country? After all, what's better than living with your friends? These urban Londonites can totally raise chickens and renovate a house with no prior experience, right? Eleanor is sure this will prove to be her biggest adventure of all. Now, if she can only survive living across the hallway from the woman she loves most...

If I had to choose one word to describe Wild Things it would be lovely. The descriptions of the house in the country, as well as the community there, were some of my favorite parts of the novel. Eleanor is compelling as a narrator, and I love any book with this level of queer pining. I didn't love all of Eleanor's choices towards the end of the novel, but who among us is perfect? I liked having a flawed narrator. While Wild Things isn't the best romance I've ever read, it did leave me feeling light and happy upon finishing. It's certainly one I recommend.

Side note: I was pleased this went completely differently than the other book I've read about friends buying a ramshackle house in the country. Anyone familiar with The Likeness by Tara French? Book or Audio? Audio! Loved the reader

Overall: Gay: quite Trauma: 5/10 My rating: 7.5/10