Wild Pets

by Amber Medland

'Smart and funny... Wild Pets is an instant set text of the emerging canon of millennial fiction.'Guardian'A wickedly funny and emotionally complex novel.'Jenny Offill, author of Weather and Dept. of Speculation'An impresive, cumulatively powerful first outing.'Daily Mail'A ripe and excellent debut... funny and smart and human and true.'Andrew O'Hagan, author of MayfliesWild Pets follows Iris, Ezra and Nance in the years after university. They fall in and out of bed with each other, reread The Art of War , grieve the closing of Fabric and write book proposals on the history of salt, while submerging their nights in drink and drugs. Confronting adulthood with high wit and low behaviour against contemporary political and social turmoil, these young men and women seem to have everything going for them. So why are they still swimming desperately against the tide?A bold, honest novel, Wild Pets is about the fragility of mental health, power imbalances in friendship and sex, and creative ambition fused with destruction - and the lingering power of first loves.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Adult Fiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 29, 2021

Reviews

[Rose Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the kind of gorgeous, savagely funny book that makes you want to spend all day curled up reading it while sipping a glass of ice-cold wine. It’s a story of love, heartbreak and fierce friendships, set amongst a seductive whirl of New York summers, elegant restaurants and fabulous dive bars.

It's my favourite thing I've read in years - a literary Gossip Girl meets a more mischievously witty Sally Rooney novel.

[Emma Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book perfectly captures the intoxicating highs and terrifying insecurities of your twenties. It's a wild, joyful ride of a book - beautifully written and incredibly insightful.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wildly readable and incredibly witty novel had me hooked from the first page. If you're looking for the perfect summer read, this is the one for you.

[Octavia Lavender · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initially this book took me a while to get into but once I did I could not stop reading. This is an exciting novel from a debut author, Amber Medland and I am looking forward to reading what she writes next.

Medland's novel is raw and honest, covering emotional and often difficult topics such as mental illness, the #MeToo movement and abuse. 'Wild Pets' explores the complexity of friendships and relationships through characters who bring out the worst in each other under the guise of love.

I enjoyed the writing style and the language used; specifically the use of 'salt' that weaves it's way throughout the novel. The ending of the novel might not satisfy everyone as it is left ambiguous. However, although perhaps predicable, I thought the ending was inevitable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Faber&Faber for the advance copy in return of an honest review.

[Antonia Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

He does not call after the London Bridge attacks or when Grenfell burns. He only calls after 3am when he is the kind of high where the world has receded to a single point which his addled mind locates between my thighs

God I fucking love this book. Sexy and dangerous and smart. A kindred spirit for anyone who's ever had their heart broken by a fuck boy or spent your twenties in a wild, passionate relationship with your best friend.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that reminds you of what it’s like to be young. The highs, the missteps, the learning. It does this with humour, honesty and empathy and lashings of style.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm still only halfway through and already totally addicted. So enjoying that vivid sense of the rollercoaster of youth in all its' sharp depiction. Feels so authentically hilarious.

[Phoebe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wild Pets follows Iris, Ezra and Nance in the years following university. Iris is in New York to write and is studying, Ezra is in band back in London which is gaining popularity, and Nance has become involved with an older man. This tackles mental health, being a person in your 20s, political and social problems we must grapple with.

This took me a while to get into, it is a slower novel, but it is still compelling to read. The novel is raw and honest looking at mental illness, the MeToo movement and power imbalances. I do think the author really captures what it is like in your early 20s, all the highs and the lows. I think it portrayed mental health really well also.

It explores the difficulties and complexities in relationships, both romantic and friendships, how they aren’t all plain sailing and that sometimes we can bring out bad things in each other. I enjoyed how the imagery of salt was used throughout the novel, it was really clever.

I was glad majority of the novel was told from Iris’ perspective as Ezra’s perspectives didn’t really do anything for me and left me feeling a little bored. Sometimes, the writing didn’t work for me unfortunately, but I think that was more of a me problem as I have seen people really love the writing.

Overall, a strong debut from a promising author who portrays those entering the independence of early adulthood in a realistic way. I would be interested to see what the author writes next.

Thank you to Faber for sending me a proof copy to review

[Danielle McClellan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, clever and not for me. I should have seen the “millennial fiction” descriptor and realized that we were quite possibly going to be entering a genre filled with hapless, fragile, dissatisfied but intelligent women and men stewing over their generally privileged lives. I love Patricia Lockwood and Sally Rooney—positioned at either end if the millennial bracket—precisely because of their keen awareness of class—and also, specifically, Lockwood’s humor and Rooney’s sharp ear and ability to position her characters within a wider social context—but much of the writing by their talented millennial peers such as this author feels tentative and mournful.

[Simay Yildiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

It felt a bit too all over the place for me to keep reading it for a long time, but I did enjoy it for the most part. And I think it's because it reminded me of my college years abroad, except the fact that these people are rich and I wasn't, still not. For me, instead of Trump, it was playing drinking games over Bush's speeches, but the whole states and feelings and struggles of being a foreigner and trying to do well at school AND trying to navigate a long-distance relationship (barely made it a year) were all there, and they felt genuine.

[Ika Willis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this was such an odd experience! It was like reading a novel by an alternative-universe version of me at 25 (for the record, the novel about twentysomethings having sex and breakups and talking about various banal, profound, and pop-cultural topics, interspersed with lists and whatnot, that I did write at 25 was about incestuous teen/twentysomething VAMPIRES doing all of the above, which... is that better or worse? Who can say.)

Anyway, so that was a very strange experience, but I didn't like the novel - I couldn't see any particular reason to be interested in the characters' doings, given that they didn't seem to be very interested, either. Oh... I'm severely depressed... my band has a record deal... I'm trying out sex work... I'm having sex with my best friend... I'm addicted to cocaine... I have a better therapist now... I'm writing a non-fiction book... I'm doing a PhD... I am coming off my medication...

Ooh, writing that makes me realise that part of the weirdness of the book is that nothing that happens seems to have any consequences within the fictional universe. I could put all those plot points in a different order and distribute them among different characters, and nothing would really change. There's a line in the Acknowledgements about how the novel started out as short stories that she had workshopped during her MFA at Columbia - which makes sense.

[Sophie Klompé · Rating 2 out of 5]

Er waren echt wel interessante stukken, maar het was echt lastig om in te komen. Ik snap niet helemaal wat er gebeurde, een soort gekke droom. Het einde is al helemaal verwarrend en het voelt alsof er op werd gebouwd in het verhaal om daar vervolgens niks mee te doen. Zou het zeker niet nog een keer lezen en ben blij dat ik het uit heb.

[Aleisha Amohia · Rating 2 out of 5]

i don’t think i would be friends with any of these people. what messy cycles they refuse to unstick themselves from. also found it very slow building, the last third or so was better

[Satori ‎ · Rating 1 out of 5]

It took me sooooo long to commit to reading this book and honestly, I never really finished it. It’s sitting under my bed with a bookmark within the first 50 pages of the book.

Maybe I need to give it another shot, but in my honest opinion I have never read something more confusing. The characters were painfully pretentious, and the writing style is so hard to follow. The lack of punctuation, capitalization, and quote designation (sometimes two characters would have dialogue for a page at a time, with no markers of who was saying what), made this story almost impossible to follow. I’m sure the author meant this on purpose, but to me, it felt like the author was a 17 year old boy who just discovered Pink Floyd and Indica for the very first time.

TLDR; confusing writing style, slow asf, pretentious for no reason. Floooooop.

[Dec · Rating 3 out of 5]

I challenge anyone to find a bigger dickhead in 2021 than Ezra

“When I want a cigarette I just do a line of coke instead”

The shuddering memories of Oxford ring all to well from this

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wtf was this? This was terrible.

[Vikkie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book which will take you on a rollercoaster. This really shows the intoxicating and terrifying journey into growing through the twenties.

This is readable and flows perfectly, I have devoured page after page in just one sitting. This is beautifully written and has been a book that has pulled me in quickly. This is witty and really does take the reader on a journey.

Wild Pets contains themes of love, friendship and heartbreak. This is a great read and I have loved every part of this one. The characters have been interesting and likeable.

This is raw and honest. It has taken me back to the idiot boy that broke my heart and has allowed me to reflect whilst reading, I have adored the way this is written, it’s emotional and allows the self reflection.

I love how this has ended. It’s really made me want to read more. Medland has written a superb book as the debut, I have been completely converted as a fan and definitely want to read more.

This is a strong debut. I love that this book explores the complexities around relationships. This has been unlike anything I’ve read previously.

A great read, wonderful debut! Definitely one for the TBR!

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, but dark. This book kind of feels like standing up too fast, and you're not sure what's real and what's in your head, or what the goal was. It reminds me of The Lesser Bohemians but more of a fever dream.

Readers follow Iris, a British graduate student and unreliable narrator, through her life in New York as she deals with Trump-era politics, mental illness, and her unravelling and twisting relationships. The relationships are done very well, Medland creates textured and honest characters who have irritating intellectual conversations about politics and privilege.

Sometimes it feels like everyone in the book is missing the point, and can only exist because they don't have to worry about life. I'm not quite sure if the author is in on the joke or not, but it's good enough to read more.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought I would hate it and I was surpringsly taken in by the characters - not the story because I don't feel like there is much plot, but the writing style and the flow of thoughts is so original that I found myself curious of everything. The book gave some solid arguments and some very nice lines, and even though Iris would be the kind or person I'd both hate and try to help as much as possible in real life, I felt Weirdly compelled and fascinated by her train of life and her decisions.
The writing was more than confusing sometimes but in the end I felt like it was exactly the point: all the characters' mind are somehow broken, and their own thoughts don't make sense sometimes - it's only logical it doesn't make sense for the reader either.
Surprising yet pretty good read for me!

[sharna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does a really good job at capturing the complexities of a women in her early twenties.

I feel for Iris particularly with how the people around her view her, treat her, speak to her. Like she is not intelligent or not worthy of respect. How Nance interacts with her or how she is viewed through the men she is seeing. It was a clever choice to give the perspectives of her from Sam and Ezra. It was hard to read but helped the narrative to get their thoughts and opinions of her. I feel as though everyone was too hard on her treating her like she was stupid or a burden even though she really just needed some support and guidance.

I really really enjoyed reading this!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild Pets was a really humorous comforting read. It’s the kind of easy going book you want to read when you’re feeling fragile and want to do nothing but delve into a book when it’s pelting down with rain and drink tea.

A book on reflection and growth that reminds us that no human is perfect.

please note that there is plenty of dialogue but with not a single dialogue tag used. Which I personally found a little annoying.

[R · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF 60 pages in. Although there was some cleverly observed social commentary in here, I just couldn’t connect to any of the characters as they were all written with such a disinterested tone. Ezra was the absolute worst and I found many parts of this too pretentious (characters speak in contrived philosophical sound bites) and unbelievable for me (e.g one character playing cello on a beach).

[Lottee Houghton · Rating 1 out of 5]

It took me a long time to get into this book, I didn't enjoy the writing style which really makes or breaks a book! I also didn't relate to any of the characters or particularly like any of them. I struggled to finish it as I just wasn't interested in what happened to them.

[casper · Rating 3 out of 5]

the last third was great, but the first two were too slow for me

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want "millennial fiction", just read Sally Rooney instead

[Zina]

Heartbreaking. It took me all the way to 2016, with all its faults and cultural shortcomings, and the stumbling, fumbling, wide eyed vision of my early twenties. But I can't say I loved it. It only stumbled around the wound. We were kept at a safe distance, knowing only what we need to know. I wouldn't recognize Iris in a crowd.

Nothing short of a strong debut though.