We Became Wild: A Novel

by H.D. Carver

Reeling from the death of their best friend, two girls hike the Pacific Crest Trail in her honor in this fierce young adult debut.


Seventeen-year-old Lottie Mitchell is a liar. She might also be a horrible person—because someone good wouldn't have caused the death of her best friend, Val. Messina, Lottie's other best friend, has her own secrets to worry about—she's running from her terrifying, abusive stepfather. When the friends learn that Val had planned to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, they set off into the desert with Val’s ashes and her beloved copy of Wild to fulfill her dream. The only problem, aside from being woefully underprepared for the treacherous terrain and the fast-approaching fire season, is that without Val playing peacekeeper, Lottie and Messina are at each other's throats. The secrets they carry are heavier than their packs, and they’re going to have to find their trust in each other—and themselves—if they’re going to survive.


We Became Wild is a gripping, feral story about grief, friendship, and what it means to be a woman alone in the world.

Genres: Young Adult, Audiobook, Adventure, Fiction, Contemporary, Grief, Action

400 pages, Hardcover

First published June 23, 2026

About the author

H.D. Carver grew up in North Texas. A reluctant reader, she didn’t fall in love with books until she was eighteen, when her senior year English teacher reached out with the right one. She now lives outside Los Angeles in the wildland-urban interface with her family of artists. When she isn’t writing, she can be found wandering trails, bookstores, or the stacks at her local library, always in search of the magic that comes from getting lost—either in a book or in nature.

Reviews

[Liralen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Val is dead—and Lottie had a hand in it. Wracked with grief and guilt, she and her other best friend, Messina, set out on the Pacific Crest Trail, Val's ashes in tow, to escape their pasts, their demons, their home lives. Officially, they're hiking towards something. Unofficially...they both have a lot to run from.

I love a long hike and I love a long-hike book. Lottie and Messina don't set out on the PCT for themselves, exactly; it's something Val had dreamed of doing, and about their only consistent source of information is Val's annotated copy of Wild. They have packs full of supplies, but to say they go in unprepared is an understatement: They are dangerously unprepared, with a lack of knowledge that has potentially lethal consequences. They don't have a viable map; they're in the desert without sunscreen; they don't know how far they might have to walk without water or what a water cache is. The PCT is not for the faint of heart, and well, while neither Lottie nor Messina is the faint of heart, it's also not something that should be approached without forethought and preparation. And yet: Here they are.

This is not a light book. Quite aside from the girls' grief over the loss of Val, they have a lot of reasons to want out of their present-day lives—neither of them has a happy home life, and Messina in particular knows that going home is really not an option. The girls are best friends, but neither of them is in a position to trust anyone with their secrets; at most, they can acknowledge how much they haven't said. They become stronger on the PCT, stronger and to some degree more knowledgeable and more capable (though they're always pretty much flying by the seat of their pants), but the extent to which they become happier or learn to trust each other (or trust themselves!) more is limited at best.

It's messy. These girls' lives are messy, and not in a way that can be untangled through a restorative tromp through nature. (Don't we all wish!) Their physical experience is messy too; there's enough mention of vomit and farts and period-blood-as-warpaint that I checked to see if the writer was a man (old habit that I learned when I was reading Camino books by the handful—women and nonbinary people puke and fart and get horrific weeping blisters and so on, of course, but in my unscientific opinion they're less likely than cis men to write about those things in detail). I think I struggled a bit with both of these things; I really don't enjoy detailed discussion of bodily function (this isn't even that detailed, it's just pretty present), and I also wanted some emotional relief or levity. It makes some sense that there isn't that levity: Their best friend has just died! Messina is constantly looking over her shoulder in fear! They both badly need therapy and responsible role models and a promise of stability. (Also water and electrolytes, both of which are in short supply throughout the book.) In that context, it's probably not realistic to expect a great deal of levity and joy from them...just, when some things did get easier, it was so late in the book, and with so little that came before to indicate something positive to come. The messiness and darkness aren't bad things, and I'd certainly prefer a grungier take to one that is all sunshine and roses (and romance). In the end I'd probably call this a mood read; best if read when in the mood for trauma and grief and grit and grime.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

[Di · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 Stars
Contrary to what some other readers are saying, I actually really liked the way We Became Wild was written. It felt raw, messy, and incredibly authentic when it came to grief, complicated friendships, guilt, and two teenage girls trying to survive both the Pacific Crest Trail and everything they were carrying emotionally.

My biggest issue is the teen marketing. With the abuse, death, trauma, and other mature subject matter, I personally feel this should be marked for older teens, if not 18+. Books like this need clear content warnings so parents know exactly what their teenagers are picking up.

🎧 Lori Gardner, Laura Knight Keating, and Robb Moreira did a great job narrating and helped make the emotions feel even more real.

Thank you to RBmedia, Recorded Books, and NetGalley for the advance listening copy. All opinions are my own.

[Ten Cats Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Early thoughts: I think I might DNF this for style mismatch. *edit So so glad I stuck with it!

Feeling: Heat beats hate

"Lottie was already asleep. Messina hated that she could be so comfortable being completely exposed. She ate a few handfuls of peanuts and tried not to drink too much water, afraid of having to wander into the brush alone to pee. Just thinking about it started her bladder kicking with the urge to empty. Messina shut her eyes and willed it away. All of it—the urge in her bladder, the night, the fear in her belly, her envy and frustration at Lottie. She willed it all away, until there was nothing but the sound of wind blowing." p138

Final thoughts: Holy crap this is a scary book, if you have the right history. I felt deeply for these girls every step of this journey. Please check out trigger warnings below!

What worked:
✨I loved the role of magical thinking in this story. These two characters, two young girls, are both in their own right logical and practical. Their goal, survival, is crude. Those are the moments, I think, in real life, when we reach for impossible stories. Otherwise, how do we survive impossible circumstances?

What didn’t: I'm responding here to an element I think might bother readers, and that is that the two main characters weren't very pleaent. Either to each other, or about their shared situation. But these characters are not *just* obnoxious.

I think one of the reasons I really liked this book is that the author wrote these two young women to be deeply frightened, and isolated inside both unbridled nature and a difficult interpersonal dynamic.

That's difficult technique when your story pits the characters against nature, because the hits just keep coming. Neither of these characters is ever optimistic or positive; they didn't have the resources. One or both of them was always losing it about their situation.

Fellow reader, stick with these young women, I implore you. Their honesty and growth makes for amazing reading.

Who this is for: This is smart YA, so think women of all ages could appreciate this story and character.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

"Messina was so keenly aware of her female-ness, of the fact that she was bleeding from between her legs, of the spots of dried blood on the back of her shorts where the sock-pads had leaked. Of the fact that even with the two of them, they wouldn’t be able to stop this guy if he decided he wanted to hurt them. It felt so unfair that encounters like this were nothing to men. But for women the risk was a constant, endured their entire lives. Always wondering, always careful, always looking over their shoulders." p192

Content Notes:
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Suicide, falling, excessive alcohol consumption, death of a friend, grief, nudity and genitals, sunburn, child abuse, emotional abuse, running away, parental negligence, stalking,

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

We Became Wild is an extraordinarily written YA book that will speak to the teenagers who are looking for a novel that speaks to the big problems they face without reading like a “problem novel”.

This book is basically Wild for teens and honestly it delivers. Val was a huge Wild by Cheryl Strayed fan and wanted to hike the PCT, but does tragically before she can, leaving a brother and two friends grieving her loss.

Her friends Messina and Lottie are basically like screw it’s like hike the PCT for Val, take her copy of Wild and ashes and go, completely unprepared to do so. Both girls as well as Val’s brothers Gabe are dealing with issues in their own life, grief related and other. The alternating 3rd person points of view were great story telling and captured so well in the audiobook narration.

As much as I liked this book now as an adult, I would’ve LOOOVED it as a teenager who loved books like Please Ignore Vera Dietz. recommending to teenagers, especially girls who want an angst (for good reason) book that speaks to the urge we all have to
leave our lives and go do a Wild.

Thanks to WW Norton for Young Readers for the #gifted copy.

[Emilyreadthatbook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like most long-hike, wilderness type books, this book was messy. In this, we find two teenaged girls with rough homelives decide to go hike the PCT. They don’t do this because they love the wilderness or because they are looking for some shared experience. They go because their recently deceased friend glorified the book “Wild” and wanted to have her own PCT experience. In an attempt to escape their horrible home lives and find some connection to their friend, they head out into the wilderness, sorely unprepared and almost completely clueless.

Lottie and Messina are complicated and young and self-absorbed. Now that Val is no longer there as a safe port and connector for them, they are like two dingeys loosely lashed together in the middle of the ocean. I wanted to love them. To care about their wellbeing, but they were so stuck in their own worlds, which made it difficult.

This story unpacks a lot in terms of grief and finding some sort of purpose, even if it is just to find water. It is one of those books that requires the right mood to dive into, because it is not going to be very uplifting. I found the journey interesting and was entertained by the characters they met along the way. I would be curious to explore more of this author’s work in the future.

Thank you so much to H.D. Carver and Norton Young Readers for the opportunity to read and review this book as an e-ARC.

[♡ kitty *:･ﾟ✧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the most intense YA books I’ve ever read! We follow 2 teenagers who have recently lost one of their best friends which has thrown their already complicated lives into even more chaos.

Both Lottie and Messina were complex characters with heartbreaking backstories.
Lottie struggles with dissociation which I related to heavily. I saw my teenage self a lot in her impulsivity and the way she viewed herself which broke my heart.
Messina was an incredibly anxious character which I related to as well and I enjoyed the way Lottie and Messina bounced off of each other!
The grief Lottie and Messina are experiencing over Val was such a big part of the story that it was suffocating at times, it was done really well but it made it a hard read.
As someone who has gone through quite a bit of grief myself I found the way it was depicted really resonated with me.

I’ve never been hiking so I can’t really comment on how accurately it was portrayed but I found it incredibly immersive. I kept having to remind myself that I was safe in my home, with access to food and water, because I truly felt like I had been transported to the PCT.
This book has solidified the fact that I don’t think I’m cut out for hiking!

Overall this was an incredibly heavy and emotional read that I would definitely recommend but only if you’re in the right headspace!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review!

[Chelsea]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

We Became Wild by H. D. Carver is a third person multi-POV YA contemporary following three teens after the death of someone close to them. When Val died, she left behind her father, her brother, Gabe, and her two best friends, Lottie and Messina. As the days go on, Lottie and Messina’s already difficult lives do not get better and, if anything, seem to grow worse as their home lives start to feel inescapable.

There are some things in this book that will possibly upset people who are more squeamish, but there was nothing I felt was inappropriate for teens because of how the topics were handled. One instance is that Messina and Lottie end up using socks as makeshift tampons while on the trail and there is a mention of blood on their clothes, blood that they have to keep wearing because there is no washing machine for miles. There are also mentions of casual sex and cheating, though we more get the aftermath rather than the moments before and during.

I think it's really hard to make a story about hiking a trail riveting, but H. D. Carver had the right amount of stakes (carrying Val’s ashes) and the right amount of obstacles (I would not have kept walking if I was them) to make the story really compelling. Lottie and Messina as characters also really helped because they don't have much of anything to go back to, but everything to gain if they keep moving forward.

Of the three POVs, I think I liked Lottie’s the most. She’s the most messy, but she’s also very aware of her messiness and the things that she has done wrong and is continuing to do wrong. There is something fascinating about a character who is perfectly aware that they are doing the wrong thing and yet they keep doing it and how hard they find it to break out of that self-destructive behavior. Lottie will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you like a female character who is complex and knows she has a lot to fix about herself, you’ll probably like Lottie.

Content warning for mentions of child abuse

I would recommend this to fans of YA contemporary who want stories dealing with grief and readers who love messier female leads

[Stephanie Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25
This is the story of three friends that are grieving the loss of their best and sister Val. It’s told from each of their POVs. There is Lottie, who doesn’t believe she is worth caring about so she self destructive and hard to love. She is basically taking care of herself. Then you have Messina, who suffers from paralyzing anxiety. She has an abusive step father and she wants to run away but doesn’t have anywhere to
run. Last you have Gabe, Val’s brother, that is in love with Lottie. He has lost his mother and his sister but he is a good person with a weakness for Lottie. Lottie discovers that Val intended to hike the PCT on her own that summer. She decides to take the trek and plans to take Val with her. Messina decides to join as she is avoiding home. Val doesn’t plan to prepare but Messina has Val’s copy of Wild and is able to convince Lottie to at least steal some supplies based on a list Val made.
They don’t treat each other well. Together they struggling thru grief and horrible home lives and insecurities and guilt. On top of that they are dealing with the elements, extreme heat, a relentless sun and lack of water.
I really enjoyed this. I read it in one setting. Initially, it seems the characters are unlikeable but you learn their situations and start to feel empathetic. The girls make some frustrating mistakes on their journey that almost cost them their lives and your thinking what are they doing but it all works. You are pulled from page one til the end. One thing, I haven’t read Wild and I wonder if it would have made a difference? The book is referenced quite a bit as Val has annotated her copy and the girls talk about highlighted quotes. I’m interested to read it.
I really enjoyed Gabe. He was a bright spot in this book.
I’m really excited to read more from this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Britt | Britt Reads A Little · Rating 4.75 out of 5]

I went back and forth over this, but kept trying to talk myself into a lower rating and I didn't want to do that. This is a 5 star book for me.

This book has a lot of emotion, mainly intense grief and guilt. Two friends foolishly doing something incredible naively and dangerously and trying to find themselves along the way. I really liked the characters, normally petulance in a character really bothers me, but I liked both of the main characters a lot and found myself also wanting to hike the PCT like Cheryl Strayed.

This is a YA book that doesn't really feel like a YA book, and it has a fantastic message throughout. I really enjoyed this book.

Thank you Netgalley and W. W. Norton & Company for the eARC of this book.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ARC from the publisher as part of a GoodReads Giveaway.

This is the story of 3 friends, 1 who tragically dies before getting to fulfill her dream of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) after falling in love with the book Wild by Cheryl Strayed.

The 2 friends left behind are grieving the death of their friend, combined with a lot of their own traumas and difficulties (one is neglected by her mom and the other is abused by her stepdad). They decide to take their friend's ashes and hike the PCT to honor her memory and try to heal themselves. They are not adequately prepared and problems keep arising, but they manage 300 miles before they absolutely have to stop their trek.

The book alternates perspective and it is done well. The character's voices are clearly different. The development they go through is slow and difficult, but good. While it doesn't have a "happy ending", it is hopeful...

[chloereadsallday · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook, We Became Wild by H.D. Carver, and it was a wild ride! I think this was a very unique YA adventure novel. I enjoyed that this novel gave a great nod to Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. I also liked the themes of grief especially within the context of teenage friendship. I felt like this book deserves three stars because it was too long and really lagged in a lot of the storytelling. It just did not keep my attention a lot of the time. Though I did enjoy the idea of this book. The narrators were Lori Gardner, Laura Knight Keating, and Robb Moreira did an incredible job and it is always a treat to hear more than two narrators.

Thank you to RBmedia for providing this audiobook for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

[Horror.Hussy · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

I really appreciated the style in which “we became wild” was written, its was raw and gross and uncomfortable…also things I happen too associate with girlhood. I loved this stripped down version of friendship through grief, unimaginable trauma all while trying to become your own person. I sometimes feel YA novels partially ones surround coming of age with girls goes to lightly still glosses over what its truly like, not so for H.D. Carver, we are truly thrown back into what it means to be a girl growing up.

I really loved this premise as well, cause only teen girls would make a novel their whole personality, and then have their friends think its a great idea to recreate that novel with you stolen ashes. I will be forever mad if this is not the length my friends go to honour me.

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced audio of this, and Lori Gardner, Laura Knight Keating, and Robb Moreira where amazing at keeping me engaged, and really breathed life and bought these characters to life. The whole audio production was really well done and I felt as if I was almost hiking along side the girls.

I know some will say this is to graphic and maybe to old for its intended audience, but as a life long reader, i am here to say not so, and young readers, young girls in particular deserve to have books that don’t water down lived experiences, you’ll be surprised at what they can handle and what they can take away from these stories if you let them

[The Page Ladies Book Club · Rating 5 out of 5]

We Became Wild by H.D. Carver is a powerful YA novel about grief, friendship, and healing. Following two teens hiking the Pacific Crest Trail to honor their late best friend, this story is raw, emotional, and packed with heart. The themes of loss, forgiveness, and self-discovery make it an unforgettable coming-of-age read.

[Bri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This started off slow but when I hit the halfway point I really started to enjoy it. I wish there was more focus on the PCT and more time on the trail but this was a good read.

[Eileen Neeley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this one. Simple read and plot, complex characters and emotions. I love the references to Wild- don’t read this unless you have read Wild first.

[Naomiiiiiiii N · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Read_with_Beans · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and RBmedia for the ALC of We Became Wild by H.D. Carver, narrated by Lori Gardner, Laura Knight Keating, and Robb Moreira.

Audiobook: 9 Hours, 27 Minutes

I have read Wild by Cheryl Strayed at least 3 times and listened to the audiobook even more. Side note: I watched the movie once and absolutely hated it. The book is always better. Anyway, I am not sure what it is about that book that resonated with me and gave me whatever was lacking in my life that prevented me from believing in myself, but that book has meant so much to me. If you can connect to anything I just said, then pick up this book. This book follows two young women (17yo) on the precipice of life who are trying to cope with everything that life has thrown at them, including the death (or maybe suicide) of the third person of their best friend triangle, an abusive stepfather, and guilt from unhealthy relationships and the people they hurt.

The girls, Lottie and Messina, decide to head to the PCT with a battered copy of Wild (that belonged to and was annotated by their deceased friend Val), Val’s ashes in the urn they stole from her house in the middle of the night, and the need to complete the hike to the three sisters’ section, knowing that Val wanted to do this hike before her death. What happens next over their time on the trail is a gripping, feral story about grief, friendship, and what it means to be a woman alone in the world.

The story is truly heartbreaking and written and narrated in the spirit of Wild by Cheryl Strayed. Each narrator portrays one of the three main characters: Lottie, Messina, and Val’s brother, Gabe. The story is told in alternating POVs and allows readers to truly understand the characters in their own rights, as they each are tied together through Val, but are painfully different and struggling with their own grief. Each narrator did an excellent job using their voice to allow listeners to feel everything the characters felt, from fear, frustration, anger, and grief. Their voices were clear, and the tones they used added to the sense of dread the characters felt during some of the most challenging points of the hike.

I have found that when there are multiple narrators, the volume isn’t always balanced, and I find myself adjusting the volume on my device whenever a chapter ends and a new narrator’s voice fills my speakers. That was NOT the case with this production. There is a reason I absolutely love and prefer RBmedia audiobooks above all others available on the market. Their production quality is far superior to others.

Without hesitation, I can highly recommend this novel and its audiobook. I would also recommend checking out other audiobooks offered by RBmedia. (not sponsored, just a huge fan).

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

adventure!
Emotional
#WeBecameWild #NetGalley

The story is told in different points of view, Lottie who is Val's friend starts off. She has a bad life. She does love a stray cat, Grimace so she has some affection in her life. Started with her since the book starts with her sharing first.

Then there's Val, who doesn't have her own chapters shared since she's passed away. But we "meet" her in the other's sharing.
Val loved the Book Wild by Cheryl Strayed (haven't read it yet) and she'd planned to hike the Pacific Crest Trail all the way to Three Sisters Oregon.

Then there's Gabe, Val's brother, who tells parts of the tale as well. He is truly mourning his sister and feels deeply in love with Lottie. His grief is deep of course.

Then there's Messina who rounds out the cast of telling her side of things. Her home life is also bad. Her Stepfather is angry and abusive.
She now carries Val's beloved book, Wild, around with her. Val had written in the book, like a journal.


This book was emotional with the loss of Val, and just the home lives of the girls Both were already traumatized just existing until they turned 18 in hopes they'd move out. Then Gabe and Val's dad's grief. Along with the girls grief.
Couple that with a brutal trail, and all the pitfalls and life threatening things that could happen along that trail. I shuddered at the wildlife since they can be quite deadly.

They meet people along their journey, the girls and Val's ashes, honoring her wish to hike the trail, and Gabe finds out they left so he joins them partway along the trail as well.

I liked how real the emotions were, I had a hard time connecting with any of them but they all felt real like real people.
I liked how realistic things happened along the way, real dangers..
I liked how the girls interactions changed during the hike.
I would definately recommend this young adult book to people who want realistic fast paced emotional books.

I read this one as quickly as I could. I will be reading more from this author and I will pick up Wild and read it as well. Since it's mentioned in the book so frequently, I wonder if the story would have affected me more had I read it all ready?


And just for those who dont like "strong language or swearing" warning those words are in the book.

4*** highly recommend



“I received a complimentary digital ARC [Advanced Reader copy] of this book via NetGalley. Thank you to the Publisher and the Author for the opportunity to read and review this title prior to publication. As always, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.”

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

(ARC received from Goodreads Giveaway)

It's hard for me to articulate exactly how I feel about this book, because there's a lot here that I really liked. Unfortunately, the things I didn't like lingered with me far more when I was finished.

The pacing feels very uneven, at times seeming slow and meandering, and at others, zooming by. The first third of the book in particular feels slow as it sets up all of the background information and characters. With that being said, this part is actually my favorite part. It really explores how trauma and grief can manifest differently for different people, and each character's inner voice is unique and well defined.

The second half of the book is where it really started to lose me. At a certain point, all of the careful character work that was done towards the beginning almost feels forgotten, as characters make increasingly strange decisions that don't align with what we learned about them earlier. I recognize that hardship and trauma can make people behave irrationally, and that characters can change over the course of a story, but some of the choices made don't make much sense to me personally even when accounting for that. Also, some scenes felt like they didn't contribute much to the plot or character development, especially in the back end of act 2. At a few points, I started to feel frustrated with the lack of forward momentum, even though there were still a lot of things happening.

Overall, while I didn't walk away with the best final impression, I also can't stop thinking about how much I liked the parts that I enjoyed. The character work towards the beginning especially was wonderful and distinct, and did a great job showing how we all handle hardship and loss differently. I'm definitely interested in seeing what else the author comes up with in the future, as this is her debut novel, and I could easily see her work resonating well with me.

**A warning: this book touches on many, many different heavy and sensitive subjects. I'm not going to list all of the specifics here in the interest of staying spoiler free, but if you're not in a good headspace right now, this book doesn't flinch away from a lot of hard ideas, so be cautious and stay safe.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 out of 5 stars

I’ll be honest, I did not like this book at first. I thought all the characters were unlikable, and I was not particularly interested in reading their stories. But as I continued to read the, story became more interesting, and the characters all grew on me.

We Became Wild follows teenagers Lottie, Messina, and Gabe after the tragic death of their friend and sister, Val. After discovering that Val intended to hike the Pacific Crest Trail that summer, Lottie and Messina take their friend’s ashes and set out to hike in her place. But the adventure does not go as smoothly as they hoped. Each girl is carrying their own emotional baggage, and their issues might derail the plan before they reach their goal.

One of the issues I had with this book (and the reason I did not like the characters at the beginning) is that the reader is led to believe that Lottie and Messina are friends who do not always get along, but are friends all the same. This is not the case. At one point, I said to myself that I do not believe that these two are friends. Lottie and Messina are so awful to each other in the beginning of this book, and there are no signs of friendship. One of them even mentions something about not being friends anymore. Why would this not be mentioned in the synopsis? I suppose it is not that big of a deal, but it definitely impacted my perception of the characters and my enjoyment of the book. But once I realized the two were former friends, I seemed to enjoy the book a lot more.

The characters in this book are very flawed, and I love that about them. Lottie, Messina, and Gabe all have their own issues and misplaced guilt about their loved one’s death. They clash with each other, but their memories of Val bring them back together and help them to realize that they are not the only one with problems. They each make some frustrating choices throughout the book, but their journeys are well-developed and left me feeling satisfied.

If you are looking for a quick emotional read, then I suggest picking up this book.

[✩｡°⋆ Lala ⋆｡°✩ · Rating 4 out of 5]

✦•┈๑⋅⋯ We Became Wild by H.D. Carver ⋯⋅๑┈•✦


• 4/5 ☆ •


── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
I went in expecting a hiking book and came out an emotional wreck, which honestly I should have seen coming. Lottie and Messina set out to hike the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) to honor their best friend Val, but do not let that summary fool you. This is way more about grief and guilt than it is about trail mix and blisters.

What got me was how tense things were between the girls. They're stuck together for miles with no escape, carrying around all this anger and hurt and all the things they're not saying out loud. You can feel it sitting right under the surface the whole time.

The wilderness parts hit too. The heat, the exhaustion, running low on water. There's something so scary about knowing something could go wrong at any moment, and it made the journey genuinely stressful to read. The trail basically traps them with whatever happened to Val, and I liked that their friendship doesn't get neatly patched up just because the story needed a tidy ending. It stays messy. As it should.

The wildfire scenes were so intense. They ramp up the danger but they also push both girls right to the edge emotionally, which is exactly when the truth about Val starts coming out.

I did the audiobook and the narration nailed it. The emotional moments felt real, and you could actually hear the friendship cracking under all that weight. The trail exhaustion came through too, which made me tired just listening lol.

Bottom line: I teared up way more than I expected to over a book about hiking. Grief, guilt, messy friendship, eventual forgiveness. It's all in here, and I ended up way more invested than I thought I would be.
── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

If you like:

✔️ complicated friendships
✔️ grief and healing
✔️ wilderness survival
✔️ emotional journeys
✔️ girls with secrets
✔️ hiking adventures

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📅 Pub Day: Jun 23, 2026 🎧
💌 ARC gifted via NetGalley from RBmedia. All opinions are my own.

[Connie · Rating 2 out of 5]

High schoolers Lottie and Messina are still grieving the loss of their best friend, Val. Since it was Val’s dream to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, the two girls decide to do it for her in her honor and also by channeling the author of the book, Wild. Additionally, both Lottie and Messina are from horrific households with abusive parents, so the desire to leave their current homes is very strong. Finally, there is bad blood between Lottie and Messina, so the hike together will give them both plenty of time to make amends.
The premise of this book sounded promising, but it lacked in the delivery. First of all, it begins with basically an orgy. Why do YA authors think that teens want to read about these wild parties where the drugs and alcohol are flowing freely and where the characters wake up to naked bodies all over the place?? I started and stopped this book several times because I just didn’t know if I could get past that. The other thing that absolutely drove me nuts was the use of the f-bomb over and over and over. Naming the evil stepdad Jeff F*&$%#& did not need to be done multiple times on multiple pages for us to get the point. Also annoying is that the girls do zero planning or prep for this trek, which leads to near death situations from which they are only saved because of random strangers. I would 100% hate it if people read this book and then decided that oh yes, let’s go walk 200 miles along this trail without enough resources to get us there–all because the girls did it and ended up okay! Last but not least, the intended audience for this book is YA, and while much of it reads as YA, the tough topics (suicide and abuse), underage sex, drinking and drug usage, plus so much language, make this a hard book for just anyone to pick up.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I could think in the early pages of this book was oh my god these girls look so much like who I was at that age. HD Carver holds nothing back as she paints a stunning and realistic view of what it is to be a teenager. All the feelings and overwhelm of just trying to exist during that point in life. The blur of things done impulsively and the regret that comes as life ticks on and we have to exist in the aftermath of our choices. These girls are disasters in the best ways, dealing with the grief and trauma life has thrown at them in the best ways they can manage, which, like so many of us, is messy and complicated.



Their grief is tangible, not just for their friend that they lost but for the mistakes they’ve made (and keep making) and the pain they’ve endured. It’s a love story for the self, rather than a romance, and I fucking loved it.



Gabe was a nice interlude, the way his POV brings memories of Val and softness to Lottie, and how he can see all the good stuff inside of her, even when she can’t.

When they get out into the wild, everything intensifies - impulses, mistakes, consequences. It strips everything down until these two girls have to deal with each other and themselves. The nods to Wild are so lovely as the girls pull from its pages and learn to survive the trail and themselves. It made me want to reread that book.



This was such a touching and evocative tale of self love and forgiveness. I read this book in two days, and it shattered me and put me back together in a single, swift motion. I can’t wait to read what HD Carver puts out next. I’m so here for it.

[Darya · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were three friends: Val, Messina, and Lottie. Val died in a tragic accident (though arguably her inattentiveness in the fatal moment was the fault of whoever caused her emotional distress) before fulfilling her secret dream of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. When Messina and Lottie learn about that plan, they set out on the journey—to honor Val, but, seriously, both of them have plenty to run from.

This story is told in alternating close third-person POVs of the two girls and Val's brother, Gabe. I liked how convincingly the really messed-up situations of both Lottie (effectively neglected and fending for herself and her cat from an early age) and Messina (suffering from an abusive ultra-religious stepfather) are portrayed, especially in how that influences their characters and self-perception. You cannot really see straight and rationally plan for positive changes in your life when you do not have solid ground to stand on (see also: landslides as the symbolic threat of their hometown).

It's hard to make a page-turner about someone engaged in an activity as monotonous as hiking a trail. (I do appreciate non-fiction titles about nature travel a lot, but probably for qualities other than a fast-paced plot.) This one, though, is really about the characters' stories, development, relationships, grief, and coming to terms with themselves, so any apprehensions about memoir-like takes on hiking trails would be misplaced here.

4.5/5
8/10

Publication date: Jun 23, 2026.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this title through NetGalley. The opinion above is my own.

[Ciara Hartman · Rating 3 out of 5]

🎧 Audio Review: The audio was pretty enjoyable to listen to with a trio of narrators.

📝 Story Review: This was an okay story for me, but not great. I thought it sounded good, - Struggling to cope with the loss of a friend and deciding to pursue her dream of hiking a particular trail and taking her ashes with you. Two friends that are missing the third who always buffered things, so they’ll have to work out their issues on their own during the hike.

But the execution wasn’t what I was expecting. It wound up being way more drama filled and secretive than I would’ve liked. And the way they retrieved the ashes for the hike was rather deplorable I thought. So instead of a heartwarming journey of healing and growing together, it felt like a journey of constant angst and childish belligerence. Just fell a little bit flat for me overall.

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5
Spice Level: 🌶️ 1/5

Tropes 👇

- Hiking the pacific crest trail
- Inexperienced hiking
- Struggling to cope with loss of a friend
- Trying to make reparations (amends)
- Flailing friendship
- Teenage bickering
- Keeping too many secrets
- Guilt and regret

CW’s 👇

- Death of a teenager
- Injured Fox 🦊
- Underage alcohol consumption
- Brief drug use
- Abusive step-parent
- Neglectful mother
- Stealing ashes/urn
- Teenage runaway
- Teen cheating/bad choices
- Low self-esteem

Audio Release Date: June 22, 2026
Audio Run Time: 9 hrs, 16 mins
Narrated By: Lori Gardner; Laura Knight Keating & Robb Moreira.
POV: Third Person; Multi
Genre: YA Fiction

Thank you to NetGalley and RBmedia for this ALC in return for my honest review.

[Hope Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a very specific kind of main character decision that makes you want to yell “absolutely not” out loud, and We Became Wild leans into that energy immediately. Because apparently, in the year of our lord modern Google, people still think they can just casually wander onto the Pacific Coast Trail like it’s a scenic stroll and not a well-documented gauntlet of danger, poor planning, and questionable life choices.

Carver does a great job capturing that uneasy balance between awe and dread that comes with wilderness stories. The setting feels vivid and unforgiving, the kind of place where one bad decision snowballs into ten worse ones. You can practically feel the blisters forming and hear your own internal voice whispering, “turn around, you fool.”

The tension builds nicely, especially as things start to go sideways (as they obviously will, because again, this is the Pacific Coast Trail, not a guided nature walk). There’s a strong sense of isolation and creeping unease that keeps the pages turning, even when you’re side-eyeing the characters’ judgment.

Where it loses that last star is in some of the familiar beats. If you’ve read a few wilderness thrillers, you’ll spot certain plot turns coming from a mile away. A few character choices feel more convenient than believable, which is saying something considering the premise already requires a suspension of common sense.

Still, it’s a fast read that delivers exactly what you want: danger, tension, and just enough emotional weight to keep it from feeling like pure chaos in hiking boots.

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were parts of this book that I really enjoyed and appreciated. The messy relationships. The risk and peril of two scrappy girls setting off on a through-hike with no prior knowledge or preparation. The wilderness. The way these friends all assume what everyone around them thinks, and the book proves over and over again how much they misunderstand each other without making it a huge deal every time. Those small misunderstandings are what life is, and these kids let them create fissures that compound over time.

I wasn’t a fan of how much this book relied on Wild by Cheryl Strayed as a motivating and guiding voice. It felt like the writer took the easy way out at times, borrowing language and wisdom from a bestseller when the characters needed a nudge.

As a hiker myself, it was so very stressful watching these girls enter into a through hike in tennis shoes, no hat, no bear canister, no map, and no idea how much water and what food they need to survive such a long trek. It was very believable for who they are and what they’re running from, but it was incredibly nerve-wracking to go through with them.

I wish we could have seen Messina’s mom on the page at least once. She is a phantom at the edge of Messina’s story, while Jeffucker has expanded to her entire home life. I wish the reader could witness the dynamic for ourselves.

In a lot of ways, this is a book I wish I could have had in high school, to help cope with the heartbreak and strained relationships that weather a young death. Overall, it was interesting and enjoyable, but it didn’t floor me.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

We Became Wild follows three best friends—Lottie, Messina, and Val—and begins with tragedy when Val drunkenly walks off a cliff. In their grief, Lottie and Messina decide to honor her by hiking the Pacific Crest Trail with her ashes, a journey Val had secretly planned.
The premise is compelling, blending grief, friendship, and self-discovery against a demanding physical journey. The ending is realistic yet hopeful, with a sense that everyone is in a better place, giving it emotional weight.
However, the characters are difficult to connect with. Lottie is impulsive and unfocused, shaped by past trauma and lack of family support, while Messina is anxious and rigid due to abuse at home. Their constant conflict makes their friendship feel strained and unconvincing. Though teens may relate to them, they often come across as whiny and chaotic, making it hard to fully invest in them.
Val, whose death drives the story, is underdeveloped. We learn about her love of hiking and Wild, but not enough to make her absence deeply impactful. More backstory of the trio’s friendship would have strengthened the novel.
Despite these issues, the story remains engaging. The journey keeps things moving, even if it feels chaotic at times, and the themes of grief and healing are strong.
Overall, We Became Wild has a great premise and meaningful ending, but uneven character development. It may resonate more with younger readers, but for me, it didn’t fully come together.

[Ambre · Rating 4 out of 5]

We Became Wild had me stressed out the entire time. My mama radar was screaming the further and further I got into the ALC because not only are these two young women, Messina and Lottie, out on the Pacific Coast Trail on some whim of a fool's errand in an effort to "honor" the memory of their best friend Val, who tragically died doing something stupid and had secretly been planning on even more stupidity, i.e. hiking the PCT by herself apparently because she was inspired by Cheryl Strayed's book, 'Wild', with hardly any supplies or food or fucking experience doing any sort of hiking, they barely brought any water either! And then, they somehow telepathically rope Val's brother, Gabe, into doing the same damn thing! He takes off in the hopes of meeting up with them somewhere randomly along the trail, just assuming that it's gonna be easy to park at one of the various trailheads and catch them as they pass. And then there's the wildfires!

Also, I understand that Lottie has had a rough life but she is the shittiest friend ever. And poor Messina... Her stepdad is an ASSHOLE. I wanted to simultaneously cuddle and shake some sense into all the kids in this book.

H.D. Carver's writing was incredibly evocative, obviously, given my visceral reactions, and Lori Gardener, Laura Knight Keating, and Robb Moreira do a good job narrating the three MCs. I just wish it had been a true full cast narration.

[Mitchie Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

This book is a good example of why I sometimes have such a hard time DNF-ing a book. It didn't really grab my interest until I was about 60% of the way through. None of the characters initially caught my attention or made me particularly invested in their journeys. I understood that each of them was carrying their own emotional baggage and personal hardships, but something just wasn't clicking for me. Maybe it was the way they handled themselves. I'd probably have to do a little soul-searching and overanalyze my own psyche to figure out exactly why...but I've already wandered off on a tangent.

I think the author intended to highlight the growth each of the main characters experienced while hiking the PCT, both internally and in the way they related to one another. But, honestly, I found myself reading it more like, "Oh no...what fresh disaster is going to happen to these girls now?" It had the same oddly entertaining appeal as reality TV, where you know the drama is ridiculous, yet you can't look away.

I know this review makes it sound like I didn't enjoy the book, but that's not entirely true. In a strange way, I really did. I became genuinely invested in finding out how everything would end. It may not have been the reading experience the author intended, but my interpretation made the story entertaining, and at the end of the day, that's what matters for me.