Wild Children

by Richard Roberts

Bad children are punished. Be bad, a child is told, and you’ll be turned into an animal, marked with your crime.

The Wild Children are forever young, but that, too, can be a curse.

Five children each tell a different story of what they

One learns that wrong can be right, and her curse may be a blessing.

Another is so Wild he must learn the simplest lesson, to love someone else.

An eight-year-old girl must face fear and doubt as she dies of old age.

Love and strangeness hit the lives of two brothers in the form of a beautiful flaming bird.

Finally, the oldest child learns that what is right can be horribly wrong.

Together they tell a sixth story, of a Wild Girl who can’t speak for herself, and doesn’t seem Wild at all.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult, Ebooks, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Unfinished

390 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 10, 2011

About the author

I've been writing for a long, long time. A long, long, long time. Do you remember when dirt was invented? I was using it to scratch out stories. Getting published was harder, but now I'm hooked up with Curiosity Quills and I have real books in paper, and you should buy some!

As a writer my fascination has always been children's literature, especially children's lit that is also adult lit. For some reason, this means that instead I write gothic light romance for fun, and very dark and tragic young adult books for passion. I love seeing the world through the eyes of strange people, and I believe that happy endings must be earned the hard way. There's a reason my friends started calling me Frankensteinbeck.

I could talk about how great my writing is until I turn blue, but I should let an expert do that for me. Check out the Kirkus Review for Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Teeth!

http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-rev...

Reviews

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I tend to gravitate toward character driven, richly colored literature with a good amount of descriptive detail. This is one of those books.

I read it about a month ago, prior to its release, and it still resonates with me. The cover art is my current wallpaper. It makes me smile every time I close my browser. I truly love this book and everything about it.

It's very uniquely written. Each "act" is like a stand-alone short story, but they're all tied together with the finest of threads. Reading this book is like taking a long walk through the world of the Wild Children and meeting a new group in each stop along the way. It's only at the end of that journey that you look back and realize you've been walking side by side with the same child throughout your trip.

Wolfgang is dangerous. He's the one who lures others into their transformation.

Bray is the feisty one, the fighter. She's not going to take anything lying down.

Jinx is mischievous and self-serving until he finds the one child who can tame him.

Coo is the spiritual leader who gives all to others.

Left and Right, twins who are so alike and yet so different, show us that the Wild Children can lead happy lives.

Elijah tries desperately to be good, following the doctrines of the church, only to find himself turning into a Wild Child of the worst sort.

Through them all, Richard Roberts brings us Hind. Hind is so quiet, gentle, unobtrusive that you could easily miss her importance to this tale until the very end. But I fell in love with her. Never before have I become so emotionally attached to a character in a book. (I came close with Victor Hugo's Esmeralda.) She truly touched me.

Richard calls this book his "masterpiece." He's right.

[Faith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh boy.

The premise of this is fantastic - Roberts has a great, and wonderfully dark, imagination. It makes me think a bit of Pinnochio, with the donkey-children.

Then in the second part, the world suddenly grows so much bigger, and we discover that there's more to the Wild Children that first seen.

Now, for the problems.

The writing is unclear. The setting is obviously not modern, but I had a hard time getting a handle on when, exactly, we were. It didn't help that at times, word choices were shockingly modern.

The narrative is vague, circular, hard to follow at times. It's told in a somewhat conversational style, with child narrators, but still...I got tired of reading the same sentence three times in slightly different iterations.

Then we get to "Act Two", and things go completely bonkers. Suddenly there are creatures other than Wild Children; some children can steal pain from other children and sell it for...something, it's not entirely clear...

The transformations themselves have something to do with sin, or they don't, it's unclear...

Maybe some of this gets cleared up, but I'm not in the mood to wade through circuitous prose to get there.

But the premise was so wonderfully dark, in a sort of fairy-tale way. The old sort of fairy tale, where the wicked stepsisters get their eyes pecked out by birds.

So...I'll take a break, and maybe I can eventually come back.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think I misread the synopsis initially so it was not what I was expecting at all and is probably what made it so refreshing to me.

The book was totally bizarre but very well written. Each chapter is basically a story centred round a particular character and told from their POV, so you really get to emphasise with each one. There are references to each chapter character throughout the novel however, so there is the possibility to observe them through other characters as well as through their own eyes. It sounds like this idea of switching POV’s should not work but Roberts pulls it off effortlessly.

The chapters/stories are all so wonderfully interlinked but so different from the preceding one that they could be read as short stories on their own. I’m not going to go into each one however as it would spoil too many things for potential readers.

Roberts writing is simple but beautiful. This was weird and original and very well-told. A must-read if you like your literature with a bit of quirkiness thrown in.

An advance reader copy was kindly supplied by the publishers through Netgalley.

[Anne Tilney · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to books, most of them can be fit into certain genres easily. Others it is more difficult and complicated if it belongs into one or more genre or sub-genre. But for Wild Children, it is hard to put a finger on which genre(s) or sub-genres it belongs to. It is high fantasy yet has a degree of mystery and quirkiness not found in most literature today. It reminds me of Tim Burton's Corpse Bride and The Nightmare Before Christmas in that it is strangely beautiful.

The cover alone caught my interest. By the first page, I couldn't help to find myself smiling. It had such a distinct voice that I found myself unable to put it down (well I had to at some point because I had to go to bed but you get the idea). The voice of this particular character in Act One, Bray caused me to like her and want to know more about the world that she lived in. Everyone knows about the phrase "Oh he/she is a wild child" or the "wild children" coined for children who seemed to be raised by animals.



But no one to my knowledge actually used the phrase to describe an actual being. In Wild Children, children are bad; they punished and are turned into an animal which marked their crime. Wild Children also are young forever and even though they live much longer than humans but they will eventually die. Provided that they aren't killed by humans of course. Wild Children are enslaved and viewed as subhuman beings that are abused and mistreated.

This is justified by the fact that they are "demons" and are "evil", ultimately corrupting their owners with sin. It is dark at times but it is not too dark. It didn't sugarcoat the horrors that went on (and trust me they weren't the Disney kind) but it never went to another extreme where it was too graphic. While some might find the darker material unpleasant (which it is), in some ways it mirrors our world and its history. I saw a parallel between what the Nazis and the war crimes committed by the Japanese in World War 2.

Both felt justified morally in committing great atrocities and thought they were superior also having certain types of people grouped as subhuman races. And these “subhuman” races were the dregs of society and deserved to be enslaved and exterminated. These "subhuman" races were also considered stupid and inhuman and the Wild Children were viewed in the same way. Both the Wild Children and those deemed inferior by the Axis of Evil, were the scapegoats when anything went wrong. This parallel can be seen close to the end where there is a huge movement to rid the city of all its Wild Children.

The ending wasn't "gum drops and unicorns" where everyone lived happily ever after, it wasn't a tragedy either. In some ways, it was a bittersweet ending. Depending on how you looked at it, you can view in different ways. The ending itself shocked me-but in a good way. Nowadays there are many books that start off brilliantly but the ending is often quite disappointing.

But Wild Children on the other hand has an ending that I didn't see coming. Some questions are never answered in Wild Children and while it can be at times frustrating, it allows the reader to draw up their own conclusions. Are Wild Children really evil creatures or are they touched with some divinity such as the dove Wild Children who some believed look angelic? One reviewer talked about how the religious overtones were overbearing and preachy, I'd disagree. Theology was used and served as a huge influencing factor in the story but it never came across as trying to preach to the reader about religion.

If you tolerate and respect religion as a whole, I don't think you will have a problem with it. Being spiritual, I can honestly say that I have read some books where the religious beliefs/values so judgmental and preach about how their values are the best that it feels as if you are beaten over the head with a golden plated Bible while someone is yelling "Be gone Satan!"

Wild Children is quite thought provoking and leaves itself open for discussion. It makes you think without making you feel like an idiot, being bogged down in things that make it available to be understood by “elevated” and or cerebral people. Like what another reviewer said, each "act" is like a stand-alone short story but they are all tied together nicely. You are never confused or wondering why the acts were added in the first book. It built upon the story that you knew but you were hearing about it from each of the different characters.

The language itself wasn’t dumbed down but I didn’t have to reach for a thesaurus every time I read a paragraph. The dialogue was authentic and sounded like how children would speak. I never thought “This is another author trying to sound a kid.” It was intelligent without being convoluted. Like how certain types of music "speaks" to people and moves them while other types of music might some people hate or can try to appreciate what it contributed to society or its particular genre. The same can be held for books.

While Wild Children isn't for everyone's tastes, it certain has a market and an audience it is reaching. If anyone loves any book that is quirky or a little out there, with a mixing of imagination and creativity, then they should read Wild Children.

I would be looking forward for when I can buy the paperback copy and put it in my bookshelf.

[Tzippy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really creepy, in mostly a good way.

This book seems to be set in an alternate version of Rome, in a universe where there are "Wild Children"--children who, between the ages of 8 and 13 or so get turned into a kind of half-animal, half-child creature who doesn't age and lives for hundreds of years, provided they're not killed first. Many of these Wild Children are donkeys, who are kept as slaves and often abused (even to the point of death) by their masters. Outside of the city, most Wild Children are free, but the city is ruled by the Church, who see the Children as being evil and as spreading sin.

The book is made up of five stories, each starring a different Wild Child and including many overlapping characters. The stories discuss the ways that the Children are treated in the city, the in-story theological/philosophical meaning of life for the Children (some of the main characters have internalized the Church's teachings about their kind and see their life as being a penance for their sins in their previous life--keeping in mind that barely any of them were over the age of 12 when turned), the relationships between various Wild Children and the stories of their lives.

There's a lot of darkness in here, and I originally shelved it as horror, but it's not quite horror, although it is eerie. The world-building is pretty fascinating, as are the characters (for better or for worse).

I was bothered by the fact that the violence in this book seemed to be sexualized. There is no outright sexual violence here (although you could make a case for what's going on behind the scenes), and violence is done to both male and female children, but the violence done to the girls always has a sexual vibe to it, with the special master-servant relationships and the jealous wives and the misogynist name-calling and the stripping of the girls before beating them and everything. It doesn't sit well. And I suppose it's not supposed to sit well, but the unacknowledged nature of this extra layer of creepiness makes it... well, extra-creepy.

All in all, a good read for people who like their fiction on the dark side.

Disclaimer: Received ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

How many of you have watched Pinocchio (the Disney version?). Do you remember that for a good bit of the movie Pinocchio was half donkey and half um, puppet? Well, this was the image that popped into mind when I read the descriptions of the Wild Children.

The Wild Children are part animal, part child. Sometimes, they're almost all animal, and sometimes they're almost all child. They can be many things too, such as Donkey, Wolf, Dove and even mythical ones like Unicorn. They seem to come about by different ways too - one village has a strange fountain of wild-ness, one city goes underground, and some just occur.

The book itself is split into Five "Acts" and a Denouement Act I also has two "Scenes", which all means that there are seven chapters in total. The difference between the Acts is that each Act revolves around a different Wild Child. The only connecting thread between them is that a Donkey Girl called Hind appears in every chapter. And as you read more and more, you realise that the real star of the story is Hind.

Either her, or Bray (she also appears in more than one Act).

Now I haven't given away a spoiler(;

What I love about the book is the discussion about the Wild Children. The trials itself was ok, but I did like the discussion about whether the Wild Children were evil and a temptation, or angels (especially for dove children) or even just kids given a second chance. Almost every character has a different opinion and no definitive answer is ever given.

Apart from this, there's also a very interesting narrative of the discrimination against the Wild Children. It really makes you visualise why people who look different are often discriminated against.

The only thing I didn't like was that Bray instantly fell in love with a side character in one chapter. I wish it didn't happen, because it didn't feel like Bray. Why squeeze in a romance?

But overall, it's a good book. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for an enchanting read.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

First published at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile

[Donald Armfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Roberts writes fantasy focused around folk tales, fairy tales and mythology. He has had strange jobs such as breeding tarantulas and translating Japanese television to english. And here we have Wild Children which shows how one can write such an interesting piece or work.

What caught my eye was the title. I have four daughters 3 of 4 are wild, the other one is watching her sisters learning to be wild. Yeah I'm going to need stables to train my wild children.

In "Wild Children" we meet children who are miss behaved in one way or another. They are turned into an animal based on their behavior. Donkeys, Birds, Cats, Unicorn, etc. Now as owner ship of mainly the rich people, they give us readers the story behind their character.

My favorite Wild Child is Jinx. A black cat who is a wandering. No owner and can see what others can't. With a little bit of The Cat's Eye reference by Steven King. The two birds Right and Left play a huge part through out Robert's wonderful story.

If you want fantasy Robert Richard has it covered. Wild Children will bring out your animal as you tear through this novel. I wonder what animal I would of became. I was a devious SOB in middle school.

[Chrysten Lofton · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0⭐ “Better to destroy a book on astronomy that suggested the scriptural Heavens were incorrect than to let pass a book of lies that would trick a man out of his faith.”

**Spoilers after the dash - page breaks**

There was one thing that really put a damper on this book, and I’d recommend it anyway. Let’s just get the bad out of the way though. In my copy at least, there are several glaring editorial problems. Spelling, grammar, and style, and I’ve said this before with indie/self pubs, it’s a big deal. You’re charging people money and time for your art—come correct. IDK if the good people at Curiosity Quills Press just don’t run their books through a formal editor, or if it’s the author’s responsibility, I sincerely have no idea, but someone should get on that. This book specifically suffers from grammar mistakes, adverbs and descriptions that use the word ‘very’ in succession, IE “The room was very, very dark.”

If you like offbeat characters that line up with good world-building and strong themes, then get over the grammar issue and read Wild Children anyway. The story is sincerely entertaining and the themes are great. The rest of this review is for others who have read it.

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A common complaint I’ve seen throughout some reviews is that the world is vague, but I kind of thought that was genius and intentional. In real life, law, religion, magic, and science appear well organized on the outside, but the truth is that nobody actually understands all the inner workings, and new things are derived as the subject is explored over time. Rules change. Status Quo changes.

This is especially true for each generation that has to come into a world that they didn’t build. They have to weigh what is being taught with what is actually true around them. Wild Children starts off with some basic rules-of-thumb for the protagonists. Here’s how wild children are created, here’s what happens during their life, here’s why they change, here’s how many kinds there are, and here’s their standard in society. The End.

Then, as the book progresses, those lines start blurring and the things you and the protagonists knew at the beginning, are not necessarily true. You learn with these characters, the truths and paradigms of the world. I like that better. I don’t like being force-fed astringent parameters that stay consistent in a society-driven story. What society is consistent?

In that way, the Wild Children verse mirrors life in a lot of ways. Growing up, you might have believed all the people in church were good people. You get older and realize that going to church doesn’t automatically make you a good person. Growing up, you might be taught to respect certain authorities, and you learn later on that those authorities are corrupt. Growing up, you might be taught that a certain vitamin is good for you, and research will show later that it’s ineffective and may even be toxic. Growing up, you might believe males are exactly one thing, and females are exactly another—most of us have had a good laugh at that in adulthood.

Wild Children takes a journey with adolescents who don’t know everything. They might have a concept about something based on their specific worldview (I love that there are varying worldviews, even occurring throughout the same city), but those concepts are just what some people tried to stencil out based on their limited view. A lot of readers in the reviews seem to be looking for answers to certain questions too, like “Why did so and so even turn into this,” or “Are Wild Children good or sinful, we never actually find out,” and like, thank the author for leaving you with those questions! Thank him for not leading you to answers you can infer through the story. He told the story, it’s your job to deduce those answers, that’s the best part of reading.

I hate when authors state the obvious in a story, it’s demeaning and takes the experience away from me. Even the more ambiguous conclusions, I sincerely enjoy unpacking them myself.

My favorite story in this connected-anthology is the story of Jinx. This was a very poetic telling of empathy and I’m a surrealism junkie so I loved the portrayal of being addicted to the vibrant taste of someone else’s pain, extracted from their mouths and taken in like a fucked up jawbreaker.

Finally, Wild Children has a heavy commentary on religion. A lot of authors are so transparent when you read their religious commentary, you can guess what they believe in right away. Roberts initially leaves his bias at the door. He showed what can be valuable and necessary in religion, and what can be toxic and oppressive. Characters within the church might be good, they might be corrupt. When they were good, they were so good, and when they were bad, they were vial. The church became a tool to help the minds and hearts of the good, and an agency of agenda for the corrupt, just like all religion and ideology.

Also, the good characters of the church, despite their goodness, were constantly making mistakes, it was how they self-reflected and assessed themselves that made them so good. They weren’t perfect people, they were self-aware imperfect people. Roberts’ position of neutrality isn’t too a fault. There’s real criticism here, not with God per se, or belief, but with specific ideological format and political tie-ins with religion.

A book about kids with animal ears leaves you expecting one thing, what you get is a glimpse at a chessboard: On one side, society, on the other side, the church, and all the pawns are told they can only go two spaces the first turn, one space after, and can only attack diagonally—the traditional rules. Then the game starts, and the pawns can move more than two spaces, the rooks can move diagonally, the queen can only take out members of her own team, and it’s one of those boards designed with multiple levels. The rules aren’t really the rules at all. It makes for a game that you weren’t expecting.

This book took me be surprise. I’d love to see it adapted, preferably in some kind of animation. Stop motion would be amazing, or a short animated series. Roberts has a talent for world building, symbolism, and analogy, and I’d be happy to read more by him in the future.

Thanks for reading, and if you’ve got a hot drink, here’s a reminder to have a sip before it goes cold.
- 📚☕♥

[Amy (Other Amy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the freshest, most unusual little story I have read in a long, long time. If you love fairytales or fables or just fantasy, if you miss the just so stories that made reading magic in the first place, don't wait another second. Get this and read it right now. I'm not going to try to summarize anything; I can't do it without mangling it. I can only say it is beautiful - wonderfully written and plotted and carried through to a perfect ending. Seriously. Read it now.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took a while to finish this but once I picked it up again, I couldn't stop for a long time. It had the perfect balance of details but not overwhelmingly stuffed to the brim with them. You feel with the characters, every triumph, heartbreaks...etc, to the point it's almost to much to get through. I just wish there was an immediate sequel since I would like to know more about the animals they become, how they are judged, etc. But I suppose some mysteries are better left not explained.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was one of the most charmingly unusual books I had read last year. Really enjoyable.

[Myra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this as an Amazon early reads kindle, I admit, mostly because I like the cover.
It was really weird. Original, yes so much. Creepy, yes. Heartbreaking, yes. Confusing, yes. Not real satisfied with the end but ok.
Basically it's 4 novellas with overlapping characters, set in a world where children can turn into animals depending on their sin—is how the lore goes. The extent to which they become the animal depends on the severity of their sin—is how the lore goes. The animal children are treated not as human anymore, but as slaves or demons, depending on whom you ask. The church says they are evil, but a lot of people have them as pets or for labor.

Man it was just a totally different vibe, being in this story...

[em_panada · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had mixed feelings about Wild Children. Some parts were really ingenious, other parts were somewhat confusing or tedious. Five Acts (think short stories) and overall it is through these other Wild Children stories that Hind's come together.


THOUGHTS: Act 1

One learns that wrong can be right, and her curse may be a blessing.

First Act tells the story of a girl turned donkey-girl named Jenny, and her act covers about 6 years from before her transformation to--well, spoiler. I actually didn't mind Jenny's-- or shall I say Bray now?-- story. However, I felt like the Clockwork Angel subplot, whatever you want to call it, was out of place.. I understood WHY they had to be there, but it didn't make any sense to me. Because I wasn't able to wrap around that part of the story, I felt Bray's story lacking.

REACTION:





THOUGHTS: ACT 2

Another is so Wild he must learn the simplest lesson, to love someone else.

Second Act focuses on one named Jinx. Jinx's story doesn't start before his transformation, but several years after his transformation. I was really torn in this act, because I liked Jinx-- but I didn't at the same time. Some of my confusion revolved around not knowing what Jinx looked like. Jinx mentioned he was a Cat Child. OK. So what does a Cat Child look like? At first I thought he was all cat... then I thought he was more cat part boy... then I thought he was boy with cat like tendencies. The whole thing was confusing. Then I had to sort out was Jinx was trying to do-- which I still don't really understand, but other reviewers have helped me get a good idea on what he was trying to accomplish. I think Roberts could have been a bit more clear on that. The third thing that confused me was how Jinx was more wicked than the other children. I mean, WHAT DID HE DO? Bray's sin, I think, was probably rebelliousness. Dove Children sin was suicide. A Wolf Child's sin seems to be selfishness and deceit. So what was Jinx's? Why does he have to buy his way into Purgatory? Why does he have to get rid of so much sin? Ignoring those three things though, I really did find Jinx's story fascinating, albeit creepy at the end.


REACTION:




THOUGHTS: Act 3

An eight year old girl must face fear and doubt as she dies of old age.

Coo's Act was probably my least favorite because it seemed to drag on FOREVER. Then you had this whole mess over the religion, which I also didn't get at all. Coo's story was also way more creepier than Jinx's. A dummy? With a slit mouth? Orange eyes? With a hole in it's chest? That's wrong. In fact I was so creeped out that I had to ask myself if I could finish it. I decided that I could. The whole Coo and Jay thing had me so confused too. I still don't know what to think.

REACTION:




THOUGHTS: Act 4


Love and strangeness hit the lives of two brothers in the form of a beautiful flaming bird.


Act 4 has the POV of Left, who is also the twin of another boy named Right. No, they are not Wild Children, they just have really weird names. Act 4 was really one big "meh" for me because I didn't really like Left and I never really cared about Right because we didn't get to see too much about him. The whole thing got a bit more annoying and confusing when Bray showed up. Annoying because I didn't really understand why all the boys are taken with Bray. Confusing because I didn't understand the transformation of Left and Right. What did they do wrong? Why are they Wild Children? Especially with Right. What did Right do?

REACTION:





THOUGHTS: Act 5

Finally, the oldest child learns that what is right can be horribly wrong.

Act 5 was also a mix of both like and dislike. Dislike because I want to know how it all ended. Act 5 is my favorite, with Jinx second, Bray third, Left fourth, and Coo fifth. This Act centers on Elijah who does not join us before or after his transformation. In fact, Elijah is in the process of his transformation. AND, it just get's better, it's under the nose of the Church. Ha! Therefore Elijah is not necessarily the oldest Wild Child at the moment, but the oldest child turning Wild Child. And by "oldest" I'm assuming he has to be thirteen or fourteen or something. No less than eleven. Although we saw more of Hind in Act 4, Hind appears once in awhile in Act 5 to add some chaos into Elijah's life. Namely with helping him figure out what is good and just, and what is evil and cruel. And because I am such a ridiculous romantic, I think Elijah and Hind should get married and live happily. Again, leave it to me to romanticize characters. I'm so incorrigible. Elijah's Act was definitely the least confusing too, which I appreciated beyond belief.

REACTION:




Overall, Wild Children was a meh to me just because of so many loose ends.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked, and didn't like this story. I thought the premise was brilliant, and I loved the layout of the book. It is told in "acts", like in a play. The whole book is set in the same world but, each "act" was told Ina different wild child's point of view. I'm not a very religious person, and this book was all about religion.

[Sharon Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild Children by Richard Roberts is a collection of five short stories in a world where children can be changed into animals in degrees, however the change and its severity is tied in to the sins of the child. These children are considered sinners, and temptations that led others into sin by many. Others see them as angels, slaves, property, or simply unfortunate children. Each of the short stories comes from the voice of one of these 'Wild Children'. Together, the short stories serve to give the reader a better look at a sixth wild child that seems unable, or unwilling, to speak on her own behalf. The first story is from the voice of a young girl turned part donkey, a sign of great sins but displaying no actual sins to account for the change. The second story follows a cat like boy, who needs to learn about loving others more that himself. The third story is about a dove like child, full of love and faith, that needs to face her impending death of old age. The fourth story is that of twin brothers of mysterious origins who learn about love and devotion. The fifth story follows one boy, hiding his change and discovering that the path that seems so very pure and right can go horribly wrong. Together the stories give a glimpse of a larger picture of one girl, and the hope and fear that permeates the world.

Wild Children is a dark, urban style fantasy that deals with faith, prejudice, hope, and the nature of humanity. It is different, and the premise is fascinating. It seems to take place in a time like ancient Rome, where religions and beliefs clashed and led to much strife and bloodshed. Looking at the cover and reading the ages of the characters, I was expecting a lighter or perhaps younger story. However, this is definitely for teens and adults due to the heavy subjects about faith, abuse, slavery, and love. There are a few scenes of violence, including a priest hitting a child, and some more disturbing but not necessarily because of the level of violence rather than the whos and whys involved.

Now, with that out of the way. While it took me a little longer to read Wild Children than I expected, and it defied many of my other expectations as well, I really appreciated the book and the craftsmanship of it. The characterizations are deep and really draw readers into the circumstances and thoughts of each important character. Hind, the character that ties the stories together, has the least voice here, but has the most impact on the characters that readers will come to care about most.

Bray, the main wild child in the first section, begins as the one I identified with most because of her love for learning and books. Jinx, the child in the second story is unique and trapped in his own wildness until the most complex but common emotion teaches him to care for others. Coo, is the dying dove child in the third story. She is pious and often cares more for others than herself, even in her search for a higher truth, and her own soul. Left and Right, or Sinister and Dexter, are children unique in their story and have significant changes to undergo as they meet Bray and Hind. Elijah is the voice of the final perspective shown, a novice priest with a desire to be good and virtuous is slowly changing into something, but hiding it from everyone. His mentor shows Elijah the truth, but in ways no one quite expects. I loved the ending, with hints at Hind's nature and the possibility of a sequel, but no cliffhanger that requires one.

As a whole, Wild Children is a thought provoking and interesting read. I highly recommend the book to those that enjoy dark fantasy or having their ideals and view of the world challenged with simple truths put in new light. I think mature middle school children, young adults, and adults are the best audience for this book, simply because of the issues and thoughts the reader will be left with as they finish the book.

[Geraldine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly, before I go on, I must say that I didn't finish this book, because I expected a book about a group of five children on an adventure to save the last Wild Child. Instead, after reading the first story, I realized it was a bunch of stories about five Wild Children, all written separately. Nevertheless, I continued on with reading it, until I finished the third story, where I couldn't take having to read about a new scenario

I liked the complex ideas Richard Roberts writes about in this book. I loved how only children could change, and be a half-human, half-animal creature. It was a really nice concept, one that intrigued me. In doing this, Roberts dips into religion frequently, but somehow, he has the art of not being able to offend readers by talking about religion.

The first story I read tells of how a girl became a Wild Child, and her love and devotion for her caretaker. I loved this story. I absolutely did. It was heart-wrenching, and it told of a child's innocence and trust. I felt like this was a beautiful story. It introduces the concept of the Wild Child really well.

The second story in this book, one about Jinx, the black cat Wild Child who fell in love with a donkey Wild Child. This.... Well... This story partially reminded me of Twilight, and Jinx, or Edward Cullen. Eating dreams, watching a sleeping girl... Well, maybe Edward doesn't eat dreams, but for me, the stark comparison between Edward and Jinx became clear when I read about Jinx and his thing for Hind.

Finally, the last story I read was one about Coo, the dove frequently mentioned in the first and second stories. I liked Coo. I dunno, but she kinda inspired a bit of hope for me, like the goodness inside of her. Her story was finally being told, and after the first two stories, I was already getting curious about her, from repeated mentions of her in the book. Coo just comes off as ethereal and unearthly, and she inspired curiosity in me.

Roberts writes in a descriptive manner, where words just flow out of the page. Instead of hindering the reader, like how some descriptions do, the descriptions in this book aid the reader, through the wide, magnificent and emotion-prodding vocabulary that Roberts uses. Read this passage for example:
"My heart was so light that there was a thump, and flames burst up out of me, swam around me, and I leapt off the floor. The ceiling was no obstacle. I was too hot, and it simply fell out of my way as ash."
Isn't it beautiful? You can literally imagine it!

In the end, I rate this book a 3 stars out of 5. It is unique, and it is unlikely I will come across any book quite like it again. The reason I've rated it a 3 stars out of 5, is mainly because I felt like this book was not my book. I struggled to read through a bit of this book, mainly because it was just not the type of book I would usually read.

[Nicole (Reading Books With Coffee) · Rating 4 out of 5]

For most of Wild Children, I wasn't sure what to think but after finishing it, I ended up really liking it! It's definitely different from anything else I've read, and in a good way!

It's told by several wild children, and I was glad that the story was pretty fluid. While there are 6 different stories going on, they worked really well together, and it was nice seeing the main story told from 5 different perspectives. What's interesting is that Wild Children alternates between the narrators but not in a way I was expecting. While I've read books where each chapter is narrated by someone different, the characters who narrate Wild Children get their own section. Each character has their own story that stands on its own pretty well but come together to tell the story of a sixth Wild Child. While the whole of their story finishes with their section, they do make appearances throughout the book. It took some time getting used to, but after finishing, I can't see it being told any other way.

The premise for Wild Children is also different, and I really liked the idea of becoming a Wild Child. It's another great thing about this book, and I definitely haven't read anything like it before. There were times when I felt like there was a lot going on. I'm not going to get all deep or anything, since I was just taking everything in. I think Wild Children is a book that has a lot to it, and needs more than one or two reads to fully appreciate the work Richards put into the book.

I also liked the setting and overall feel of the book. While I'm not completely sure of the time period- because Wild Children is fantasy- there's something medieval-esque about the book. Definitely gothic and not set in a recent time period. Either way, there's something...dark...about Wild Children. I'll admit, I wasn't really looking at themes or metaphors or any social commentary Roberts could be making. It's not something I tend to think about when I'm reading, but I think there's enough to think about in Wild Children that you could do so if that's what you really want to do.

Final Thoughts: Wild Children is definitely unique, and it's one of the most unique books I've read. What's interesting about Wild Children is that it's a book where I wasn't sure if I liked it or if it was just okay while I was reading it...but something I really liked when I finished because I saw how five different stories came together to tell one story. I didn't love it, but it's still a book that I really like. Wild Children gets 4 stars.

[Lacey Louwagie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wavered between giving this one two and three stars. I settled on three because the world created and the premise of the novel is so intriguing. Essentially, we're immersed in a world where some children have turned into strange animal-child creatures, deemed “wild children.” Different theories about the origin of the wild children abound, and we see several ways that children can be transformed. The prevailing theory is that children are turned into animals as punishment for sin, and so the religious authorities discourage people from interacting with the children or purchasing them as pets or slaves.

The story is divided into several “acts,” each of them essentially a “mini-story” about a different wild child, only tangentially related. I really wanted something that tied them more strongly together at the end. I also wanted a more definitive explanation of how or why children became wild, but that was never revealed, which was a disappointment after reading over 400 pages waiting for it.

But the most distracting element of the story was poor editing. It was an advance galley, so I expect a certain level of proofing errors—misplaced commas, misspellings, missing quotation marks, etc. This type of error was actually rare. But the writing itself was unpolished and sloppy, and the author did nothing to distinguish the “voices” of the various narrators. It was written in a casual style that I think was supposed to make it sound like it was being told by children, but instead it just felt lazy, with a lot of phrases like, “Well, I can't really explain it,” or “Maybe that doesn't make sense, but it's what it seemed like to me.” There was also switching between past and present tense.

The biggest disappointment in this book was that it had the potential to be great. But because it wasn't really whipped into shape before publication, it will never be more than mediocre.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young girl is lured by a wolfboy into staying out late on Walpurgis night and her life is changed forever. This is just one of the linked stories in 'Wild Children,' a book reminiscent of the darkness of classic fairy tales, but these are consequences without action. No curse was due or punishment needed.

Young children are turned into a variety of different animals in the book. It never happens to anyone over 15 (at least, not without disastrous effect). The wild children receive long lives and don't appear to age, but are told to forget their names and their lives before they changed. Most adults look on these children as slaves or pets. The wild children are told they are this way because of sin, but it's never quite clear what their sin was to make them turn this way. Gothic sadness makes up most of these characters, forced to live life as something other, never celebrating the wonders of strength or flight.

At the center of it all is Hind, a young girl, who is treated like a doll. Although her existence is better than most, there is a great deal of sadness in her life, and she is still forced to wear a collar, even if it is only for show. She sees her friends suffer and leave her, while she lives in her perfect dollhouse of a room.

An interesting series of stories that looks at who we are, and who we think others are. Themes of prejudice and injustice are prevalent. It's a quirky fantasy with some unforgettable characters.

[Annette Thomson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you believe in sin? Do you believe that your sin can mark you? This is what happens in Richard Robert’s superb book Wild Children.
Told in five ‘acts’ and from 5 different perspectives, we follow the story of six different children, each turned into a wild child by some unspecified sin. From the first girl, Jenny, seduced by a Wolf boy into running away to become wild, to a boy seeking to repent from his sins by consuming the misery of others, an almost angelic dove-child, two devoted brothers and a young priest ordered to help destroy the very thing he was becoming himself, Wild Children casts a spell over the reader which remains long after the end of the book.
The Wild Children are eternally young - they never grow up, although they can die - and are equally patronised by the rich and feared by the church. There are elements of this story which remind me of Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy and, like that book, although the protagonists are children, the story is very adult and, at times, dark.
We are never told what the sin is or why the children take on some level of animal characteristics but when the book ends it leaves the possibility of another beginning and, possibly, a sequel.
Robert’s prose is lean and flowing and he successfully captures the different voices of each character’s perspective whilst still maintaining a cohesive voice for the entire book.
I loved this book and I’m looking forward to reading more from this talented author.

[Christina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review. I want to start out by saying that it was not a bad book. I did not finish it, but I read about 2/3 of it. It was just too odd for me, and I wanted to move on to something else.

Its the story of a world where children, supposedly bad children, can turn into animal/human hybrids some time in their early pre-teen/teen years, and what that means for them and the world around them. The book is broken up into three parts; I wanted to know what eventually happened to the main characters, but not enough to keep reading--it was just too odd for me.

I think that some people will love this book. I felt uncomfortable with the amount of talk of "sins", and the overall badness of the supposed religious people in the book. I felt like maybe the author was trying to make some kind of message or statement that I just wasn't getting...or interested in getting.

As for the writing, it was OK, and interesting in its format. The flow was decent, and while each segment was from a different perspective it wasn't too long before you figured out what was going on.

I recommend that readers give this book a shot, if the price is right. It's the kind of story that I can't say everyone will love or even like, but I do feel like many people will like it.

[Selena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, my gosh... The book begins with Jenny who is enticed into the world of the wild children with the hopes of becoming a wolf. She is greatly disappointed when she turns into a donkey. She is renamed Bray and is bought by her teacher who loves her dearly. She is treated much better than other donkey wild children. Although many wild children forget who they were she remains friends with another donkey, Hind. Hind has it better than most of the wild children. She is loved and pampered and treated like a princess.
That's what pulled me in!
Bray doesn't think she should have been transformed into a donkey. The wild children are made into the animal that reflects their sins as children. Bray learns that a dove named Coo may know the way to change her into the being she was supposed to be.
Each act is told from the viewpoint of another wild child and their trials as they learn what they need to be set free. They are all connected together through Hind. I didn't see that one when I first began the book. I was surprised when I began act 2 and it was told from the view of a cat, Jinx. Each character is more endearing than the previous. I really enjoyed this book and intend to read it again! I'm not saying Jinx is my favorite, but Jinx is my favorite!!! ;)

[Miss Pippi the Librarian]

The cover of Wild Children is simple, layered, and eye-catching. The brief description caught my attention. I started reading and it went a little wonky...

He created a whole world that reminds me of a dark Pinocchio mixed with Red Riding Hood (the 2011 movie with Amanda Seyfried), and something else... Modern or historically...old-fashioned? There was no specific time period. Not a faith-based book per say, but highly religious. The elements of faith include Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, sins, blessings, questioning, and redemption. Children's literature? NO. I would not recommend this book to a middle reader but would to some high school readers. I would lean toward late high school and college students. Roberts wove a unique tale, that will hold unique readers. He doesn't fall easily into a certain genre, so reader's advisory questions are important.

But all in all, it is not for me. Happy reading, Wild Children reader! For now, I'm going to pass.

Progress: 31% (Part 01 and beginning of Part 02)

Reviewed from a NetGalley copy. Thank you, Curiosity Quills Press!

[John Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richard Roberts's Wild Children is a book unlike any that I have read within the past century, and it's strength lies in the heart and soul Roberts creates in such a broken world. Readers follow various protagonists known as Wild Children, immortal children with the traits of a creature that best symbolizes the sins and life-directions that have cursed them into such form. Many are donkeys, while many others fall anywhere from birds to cats and dragons to other mythical creatures. These children are what give the novel strength, because as odd as the curse is, it allows them to question both existentialism and faith. Roberts's talents allow these characters to breathe on the page, and at the end of each segment, I only wanted to read more. He has created a beautiful book that presses children living forever in a setting that hates and questions them, but it is this setting that makes them stronger than ever before. By the end, readers will not want to leave the world of Roberts's Wild Children, and they themselves might wish to become a little wild as well.

[BookCupid · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idea that a child can turn from good to bad isn't that far-fetched, especially at the age of ten when right and wrong have been established and it's sometimes fun to test those theories. Wild Children is divided into Acts, all staring a different characters while rotating familiar faces. We experience how it feels to become Wild -- half human/ half animal -- depending on the fault the child committed (I did find this hard to comprehend) And sometimes like in the case of Coo and Jinx, we see how we can make up for it.

I felt a strong connection with the characters, particularly Bray, as they are well written. Although I did find the narrative too long, forcing me to put the book down at times, and wish more dialogue had been included instead.

A more detailed review can be found on my blog

[Jorjina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. And I'm starting to realize that I love Richard Roberts' stories. (Quite Contrary was quite awesome.) It's dark fantasy (I guess), but not in the way I'm used to. The characters are rich and I loved every single one of them. The story is interesting, each section being told from the point of view of a different main character, and the different stories intertwine in various ways. Many things are left to be ambiguous and unexplained, and I was fine with it. That's just how life is sometimes, and I don't feel like it killed the story. A little mystery is good. Keeps the mind open for possibilities and interpretation. This is the kind of book I would most certainly read again, and I don't say that about many. It simply drew me in and held me until the end. Highly recommended!

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

My sister bought this for me with the recommendation "oddly compelling" and indeed it was. I am not sure I can provide an adequate description of what it is about because I'm not entirely sure. There is a parable quality to the story but what that parable is exactly is difficult to describe. Lots and lots of moving parts, characters and their stories starting and ending, then crossing paths with others. At one point, in the beginning, I was reminded of Pinocchio when he runs away, does bad things and is turned into a donkey. But what if he hadn't been bad (and maybe the question I should be asking now is "was he bad?") and had still been turned into a donkey?

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating and gripping, but there's a lot of unrealized potential in this one. The idea of the world, with its twisted religion and hints at unexplored realms, is cool and deliciously creepy. The weird sexualization of the kids, lingered on in a way that leaves you slightly suspecting the author of enjoying it, is an entirely different kind of disturbing that's far less welcome. The structure of the story is unconventional, which I don't mind, but it's not really well executed enough to keep from distracting the reader. All in all, interesting, worth finishing, but far from spectacular.

[Angela Rosas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read another book of this author, Quite Contrary, which I enjoyed so I thought I would give another a try. I did enjoy this book as well. And I couldn't help loving the idea of these misbehaved children turning into an animal to reflect their sins. Although the book raises a lot of questions it doesn't answer I still found it enjoyable to read the journey all these different characters go through. I absolutely loved the characters and thought he developed them well but I wonder if there will be another book because their stories didn't exactly seem finished.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read by an interesting and imaginative author! Can't wait to read everything I can by this author! This prose was beautifully written, with a poetic and fairytale atmosphere mixed with classic mythology. It was so refreshing to read a fantasy novel with such a different perspective. Do yourself a favor and read this book!!