When We Were Feral

by Shasta Grant

Thirteen-year-old Maggie lives in a trailer on the edge of a rural New Hampshire town, where her brother barely speaks, her father works double shifts at the gun factory, and her mother disappeared without a trace. She finds comfort in the warmth of her best friend Sarah' s seemingly perfect family— until a classmate' s mother goes missing, and the girls are drawn to Erin, the daughter left behind. Compelled by a need to understand what makes mothers vanish, Maggie convinces the others to search for answers in the woods and abandoned backroads. But a charged encounter with older boys shifts their path and challenges everything they thought they knew about themselves— and each other. Set in the early 1990s, When We Were Feral is a haunting coming-of-age story about friendship, longing, and the dangerous terrain between girlhood and adulthood. In a world where mothers vanish and truths stay buried, the girls begin to realize the wilderness they fear most isn' t outside— it' s within.

Genres: Fiction

269 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 9, 2026

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Emily Vizcarra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, nice and short page turner. Some of the lessons the girls learned were difficult to read through and heartbreaking, but important as it happens all too often

[Penny Zang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't shake this book. So beautifully written and brutal. I'm still processing that ending. One of the best books I've read all year.

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gna need some time to process this one

[Nicole.B · Rating 5 out of 5]

When We Were Feral by Shasta Grant is a haunting and emotionally layered coming of age novel that explores friendship, abandonment, and the fragile boundary between innocence and experience. Set against the isolated atmosphere of rural New Hampshire in the early 1990s, the novel creates a deeply immersive portrait of adolescence shaped by loss, uncertainty, and emotional survival.

One of the book’s greatest strengths is its atmosphere. The rural setting, abandoned backroads, and surrounding woods create an undercurrent of tension that quietly builds throughout the narrative. The environment feels both intimate and unsettling, mirroring the emotional instability and confusion experienced by the girls at the center of the story.

Maggie emerges as a compelling protagonist whose longing for answers surrounding her missing mother gives the novel emotional depth and vulnerability. Her connection with Sarah and Erin creates a layered exploration of friendship, grief, and the search for belonging during a period of emotional transition.

What makes the novel especially compelling is its psychological realism. Rather than relying solely on external conflict, the story focuses on the internal fears, curiosities, and emotional awakenings that define adolescence. The tension surrounding disappearing mothers and buried truths adds a haunting mystery that lingers beneath every interaction.

The novel also examines the uneasy shift from girlhood into adulthood with remarkable sensitivity. Themes of identity, loneliness, emotional inheritance, and vulnerability are woven carefully into the narrative, giving the story both emotional weight and literary resonance.

Readers who appreciate atmospheric literary fiction, psychologically rich coming of age stories, and emotionally complex narratives centered on female friendship and hidden trauma will likely find When We Were Feral deeply affecting.

[Dive Into A Good Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a book that is set in the 1990's. It brings me back to the days of changing from a girl and into a young woman. Unsure about where you fit in, but knowing that the friends you have known since kindergarten still have your back. This book is set a half an hour from where I live and being able to connect with a book in such a way makes it even more special. This is an emotionally layered story that will hook you in the heart. It did take a bit to really get into it. The rural small-town setting is pure perfection. I was psyched when Lake Sunapee was named as one of the locations. My family and I have gone to the beach there so many times.

Maggie and Sarah are enjoying their summer as thirteen-year-old's. They have plans of laying on the beach at their local beach on Lake Sunapee. Sarah's mother drops them off and tells them to stay on the correct side of the beach. The boring side with babies and mothers. Sarah and Maggie have other plans to go to the teenager side. It is more entertaining and yet they still belong somewhere between the children and the teenagers. Maggie is always at Sarah's house, their home is the place she feels normal. Maggie lives in a trailer and her mother disappeared into thin air. Sarah's father is the local preacher and her mother has strict rules, yet she is always dependable. On the day that a young woman drowned at the beach. The glass is shattered on Sarah's parent's views on Maggie. Thinking she is a troublemaker and Sarah can do no wrong. When another girl's mother disappears into thin air. Maggie is convinced that they need to start looking in the woods and along backroads to find clues.

This book dragged my childhood up from the past and made me view myself living in an even smaller town. The atmosphere was haunting and the emotions were stirred up. Thank you to Shasta Grant, Regal House Publishing, and Lavender PR for my gifted copy of this coming-of-age story.

[sammi_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will stick with me for a long while. It's a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story that explores sone very ugly parts of early adolescence and hard lessons. But it also explores some beautiful things. And the writing is really wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't really think of a way it could have been improved.

Maggie is a girl whose mother left her. Her best friend, Sarah is a pastor's daughter with the complete family Maggie wishes she had. Their family take Maggie in (although there is always some tension over this- it makes the story dynamic really interesting!) The two are transitioning from childhood to teenagers throughout their summer. Sarah wants to explore boys and stay at the beach. Maggie mostly wantsexpkore the woods, find out where her mother went and why. The twosome become a trio when Erin joins the friends shortly after family tragedy of her own. The three quickly connect, but the summer gets away from them.

This was fantastic and frightening for me to read, picturing my daughter going through certain experiences. But parts were so tangible and felt real to the experience of growing up that we all remember abd can relate to. It was beautiful that way.

Watching the girls get over their heads had me on the edge of each page, but at the same time I really wanted to savor the story. It really was that good! Big recommend.

Thank-you so much Lavender Public Relations and Shasta Grant for my free advanced reader copy. My review is unbiased and opinions my own. Keep an eye out for this one's release on June 9th!

[Paige Moulton]

When We Were Feral is a haunting and emotionally charged coming of age novel that explores adolescence through the lens of absence, longing, and psychological uncertainty.
Set in a rural New Hampshire town in the early 1990s, Shasta Grant builds a world that feels both grounded and unsettling, where the disappearance of mothers and the fragility of family life shape the emotional landscape of the story.
At its core, the novel focuses on Maggie and her friends as they navigate shifting relationships, unspoken fears, and a growing awareness that the world around them is far more complicated than it first appears.
The strength of the book lies in its atmospheric tension. The woods, backroads, and quiet spaces become extensions of the characters’ internal states, reinforcing themes of searching, loss, and the boundaries between childhood and adulthood.
The emotional dynamics between the girls are rendered with subtlety, capturing both the intimacy and volatility of adolescent friendship under pressure.
A quietly powerful literary coming of age story that lingers in its exploration of memory, disappearance, and the unsettling realization that some answers change the person who finds them.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah's mom reluctantly--and never fully--welcomes Maggie into their home after Maggie's mom leaves. Again.

Maggie and Sarah are best friends. As puberty hits, Sarah starts getting obsessed with how to be noticed by older boys. She disobeys her mom and blames Maggie when caught. Despite this, the two remain close. Then a classmate's mom also disappears.

The two welcome Erin into their group. While Erin and Maggie focus on finding Erin's mom, Sarah remains obsessed about flirting with older boys, basing her worth on whether they notice her. Her desperation to be noticed and found attractive leads her to put all three girls in harm's way.

I felt drawn into the book and the characters. I didn't particularly like or understand all of the characters, but that's true for real life too.

A light is shone on the impacts of abandonment on children as well as the dangers and damages of sexism and how it impacts children.

This book calls into question what many accept as "normal" and "inevitable."

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maggie is a middle schooler growing up in the 90's in rural New Hampshire. She lives in a trailer with her father and brother, after her mother walked out one day and never returned. Maggie eventually finder herself becoming more and more part of the family of her best friend Sarah Roberts, whose father is the local church pastor, and live by a more traditional family environment. When the town is hit by a series of devastating losses, and Maggie and Sarah's circle of friends spending time at the Roberts' house expands by one, the dynamic shifts, and the themes of family, abandonment, and the loss of innocence that all young girls rears its ugly head.

This was a quick, engrossing read, but a tough one as well, especially as the girls face the harsh realities of life. Author Shasta Grant captures so much of what it's like living in a rural area, and the challenges faced by young people in that upbringing. I enjoyed the judgement-free way Grant writes her characters.

[Caroline Bock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an early review copy of Shasta Grant's gorgeously written coming-of-age story, When We Were Feral, which is set over one long summer in rural New Hampshire. It tells the story of thirteen-year-old Maggie, who lives at the edge of town, at the cusp of adulthood. No spoilers here. But it's one tumultuous summer. I was immersed in this fierce novel over one long weekend. If anything, When We Were Feral made me ache for Maggie. I strongly recommend it, now, for summer, or anytime.



--Caroline

[Megan Hovious · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one really stayed with me.

I grew up in the 1990s in a working-class family, and When We Were Feral completely transported me back. The friendships, the uncertainty, the freedom and recklessness of adolescence. It all felt incredibly real. Shasta has a way of writing that makes you feel like you're remembering your own childhood.

It's a coming-of-age story that doesn't shy away from the difficult experiences far too many girls and young women have to navigate, but it handles them with so much honesty.

I also really appreciated the way motherhood is portrayed. It's messy, imperfect, and complicated in a way that feels true to life, and I loved that the book gives its characters room to be flawed at every stage.

Beautifully written, deeply nostalgic, and one I'll be thinking about for a long time.

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Lavender Public Relations for my advance reader copy of this book.

This book is a coming of age set in New Hampshire. Maggie's mother is missing after leaving their house and her and Sarah spend a summer together. They soon befriend another girl and we follow their journey of growing up and their search for missing mothers.

This book is definitely a page-turner. The first half of the book had me needing more, wanting to see how the story unfolded. I will say that the second half got darker and trigger warnings should be checked.

Overall, this was a super atmospheric read and I enjoyed the story.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

When We Were Feral is an emotionally charged coming of age novel that explores adolescence through the lens of absence and psychological uncertainty.

Shasta Grants' strength as an author lies in her ability to create atmospheric tension. Her woods become an extension of the characters internal states that reinforcing themes of loss and the boundaries between childhood and adulthood.

When We Were Feral is a well written coming of age novel that I highly recommend.

Thanks to Edelweiss+ and the publisher for the DRC.

[Jocelyn Jane Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel by Shasta Grant takes you to a particular time, a particular place, and a particular age that will feel painfully, achingly familiar to most women who managed to survive girlhood. I turned the pages worrying about these girls, and worrying for my former preteen self. The storyline about mothers who are unfortunately absent and another mother who is perhaps overly present demonstrates how complicated this age can be no matter what version we experience.

[Megan Schikora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book was like holding a beating heart in my hands.

Here is all the fluttering hope, all the peril and loss and wrenching fragility of girlhood, played out over the course of one summer. As a daughter, as someone with a daughter, I know what the lake and the woods hold, too. This exquisite book will stay with me for a long time.

[Nick Gregorio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly excellent. It’s an absolute kick to the gut, it’s at points completely devastating, but it’s also very tender and beautiful. Prediction: Grant will one day be included in conversations alongside Groff, and Russell, and Egan, and rightfully so. A tremendous talent. A terrific novel. I’d give it a 6th of 5 stars if Goodreads weren’t such a dweeb.

[Jessica Diehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This page-turning, coming-of-age story doesn't shy away from the challenges and sometimes traumatic experiences young women face. Having grown up around the same time in NH, I was easily absorbed into each scene. I loved the interplay between fierce independence of the characters and their need for shared experiences. This book resonated with me.

[Angie Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know if I’ve ever felt more seen as when I read this book. As a GenXer who grew up poor in rural New Hampshire under questionable parenting, the girl who was always the “bad” influence, I couldn’t stop reading this. Shasta’s writing is direct and beautiful all at once, and Maggie is all of us from that generation.

[Anna Caccavaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5!
Huge trigger warning for SA in this book- I do wish that had been mentioned somewhere!

I will whole heartedly admit that I am probably a bit bias reading this- the author is from and book is set in my hometown. However, I thought it was a beautiful and tragic story of girlhood and loss.
The world is wild. Girls must be feral. It’s ugly. It’s scary. It’s messy and I really loved it all.

[Chloe Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't have enjoyed this page-turner more! The characters brought me back to adolescence and issues that continue to weave their way through adulthood as a woman. Where are we safe? What does love look like? What secrets are in the woods?

Everyone should read this book.

[Perri W · Rating 2 out of 5]

TW: SA







Nothing really happens until everything happens within maybe the final 30% of the book. There was insufficient character development that would lead us to believe these girls would set their friend up to be g@ng r@ped. Quick read but wouldn't recommend it.

[Colleen Gaston · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will say that I enjoyed the book...although it probably is better suited as a YA book. i purchased it from an Indy author at a book festival so I wasn't totally sure what to expect. It was well written, just kind of ended.....

[Lisa Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written. Thank you for bringing me back to 1990s small town NH. ❤️

[Mrsraisdana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a nostalgic read that takes place in summer in the 1990s, but this was also haunting and gripping- I wanted to just wrap the girls up and protect them, though I knew that there were going to be some hard lessons learned. So much of this book felt familiar from adolescence and it was almost painful to witness their experiences, though it was so beautifully written that it cushioned the harshness. I'll be recommending this to everyone and it was the perfect summer read!