Home to the Wild

Into the Wild #1

by Francesca McMahon

Sometimes it takes losing yourself to find out who you are. Little One had always been different. Her mother Larka, leader of their pack, had always said it was because she was special. Yet, when her siblings grew stronger, faster, and wiser, Little One fell behind and never caught up. It was her failings that led her to believe there was something unnatural about her existence within the pack. She just couldn’t understand what it was. It wasn’t until danger landed at their feet because of Little One’s mere existence that she realised how wrong her mother had been about her. To save her family, Little One must make a Are they stronger with her? Or are they better off without her? And as the threat grows closer, will she even get to make the choice? Join the pack in the first instalment of the Into the Wild series, Home to the Wild.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy

304 pages, Paperback

Published August 13, 2022

About the author

Francesca McMahon was born in Oxford, England, to a Scottish father and an Essex mother. They gained a B.A. in Creative Writing at Edge Hill University and was shortlisted for the university’s Dame Janet Suzman Playwriting Award in 2019. Since graduating, Francesca went onto gain a Masters in the same subject and has continued to work on their writing of fantasy, horror and romance fiction, as well as various tabletop RPGs and screenplays. As a queer person, their work is dedicated to the LGBTQIA+ community, and they hope that they will all find a home in their imaginary worlds.

Reviews

[Reads With Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

So you know like, tarzan? Or the jungle book? This is kinda like that. Except, its a girl raised by wolves. But you ever think like, what if in the jungle book mowgli went back to the humans and the humans were terrible and he just wants to go back home to the wolves? This is that.

This ended up being a lot darker than I thought it would be, especially when she ends up taken by the humans. But its pretty grim throughout, which i think is true to how life growing up raised by wolves would be, with your only joy coming from the bonds made within your pack. I think the relationships here really did shine, the emotional impact they were intended to make did hit the mark. The author knows how to write emotional complexity and deep bonds. Later in the book our main character, little one, is held prisoner by humans who are testing her and there’s another girl there. They bond and eventually escape, and i think possibly this was hinting at them having like an early crush on each other. You know like your first crush ever kind of thing. Im not sure if this was actually the intention or not though, so don’t quote me.

I think the theme of, how inhuman humans can be, not just towards animals but even towards each other was done with subtlety yet nuance. The author did a great job there.

The problems with this book are that I really had to suspend my disbelief a lot. I don’t understand how Little One possibly survived eating raw uncooked food, or how she survived living in snow with obviously no fur but also no shoes or clothes. Especially the food thing, I just kept coming back to that every time food or hunger was brought up.

We also had quite a bit of pacing issues. We would spend a lot of time in certain sections that would go on so long, and then others we sped through where i felt like we could have taken more time.

I still feel like it’s worth a read, especially for younger ya readers. I think I would even give this to my nieces who are eleven and twelve.

[Francesca McMahon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey everyone! I am the author of 'Home to the Wild' and wanted to say thank you to everyone who is reading this story. This book, and the series that will follow, have been on my mind since I was high on morphine after spinal surgery when this idea of a girl raised by wolves came to me.

This is a story about family, strength of heart, and the struggles of identity that is near and dear to my heart. I hope you all enjoy!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

*gifted by the author for an honest review - all opinions are my own

Beautiful story about a young girl raised by wolves. I always am weary of comparing books to each other, but books that are similar in theories are Tarzan or the Jungle Book as other reviewers have said. It's an interesting insight to family dynamics... Especially when one is human in a pack of wolves.

Whenever a book claims to have a found family troupe I am here for it. I do feel this would suit a younger audience, I enjoyed it as an adult I would have adored it as preteen!

[Veronica Story Island · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book sent to me as a reviewers copy for my honest review and finished it the same day in one sitting. It was everything I hoped for. Found family, new views on how wolf packs function, so much heart and emotion.

A wonderful view of symbiosis with nature, a pack I now wish I was a part of. They warmed my heart. An interesting view of how nature can view humanity which was very subtle and interesting to read. If you love nature, wolves, found family, well written characters and a beautifuly heartwrenching stories I definitely recommend!

It had a few pacing issues, but I still enjoyed it very much. 4.25*

[Ciara · Rating 4 out of 5]

So the lovely Francesca contacted me a couple months ago to send me an ARC of her latest novel Home to the Wild!! As my first ARC obviously I couldn’t say no and was so excited!

I will admit, this is not the usual genre of fantasy that I would read so I did struggle getting into this. HOWEVER!! That doesn’t mean that this wasn’t a very well written story! I loved the character development and the running theme of family and self worth. And the ILLUSTRATED CHAPTERS were BEAUTIFUL!!

I would highly recommend you check her out cuz she is so lovely and very talented! Thank you for the amazing opportunity 🥰🥰
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

[Megan Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely adored this book! It was an innovative and well done use of the found family trope. It felt reminiscent of stories like Tarzan and Jungle Book but with new emotional depth. I think this will be a new YA staple and I highly recommend.

My full review on Subjectify Can be found here: https://subjectifymedia.com/home-to-t...

[Kate Mcdonnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fran's first in the series is here! If you read 'Echoes of the Past' then you're more than prepared for the story (but not nearly prepared enough for your emotions to leave tear-stains on your book), and if you didn't read the prequel short story then OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING THIS WHOLE TIME!? Go read it! But also buy HTW and read this one too because the found family trope will pull at your heartstrings. Little One is absolutely precious, and her pack and their family dynamics are one of the most interesting and layered relationships I've ever read. 5 stars not just because Fran is my friend, but because their ability to make me want to tear out my hair is very impressive.

[Margaret Adelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the author offered me a review copy of this book, I realized I'd never read a book about a child raised by literal wolves. So I was happy to accept!

The book's biggest strengths is the plot and character relationships of the pack and the potential love interest. The plot is admittedly very dramatic, with a lot of named character deaths in giant scenes. But the deaths and the grieving tend to hit pretty hard. And there are complex dynamics within the pack and endearing characters.

The plot itself, namely the second half, is particularly dark. Admittedly certain character motivations don't make sense a lot of the time. Speaking vaguely (cuz spoilers) the protagonist seems to switch her feelings of a certain thing from hatred to enjoyment very rapidly for seemingly no reason. Not that kids don't change their minds rapidly for strange reasons. But it felt like there was no reason given.

I'm not sure if there was meant to be the hints of a sapphic romance in this. While the book is labeled YA, the protagonist is still pre-pubescent by the end, so hard to tell if the "friends" was meant to be something more. But if that is what it's meant to be, I'm all for it. They had a pretty good dynamic.

The biggest weakness of the book is the world building. It's fairly thin and inconsistent. All the wolf names being meta references to irl characters was an amusing touch, but I kept wondering how a pack that never even met humans was naming their pups after Nordic mythology and Japanese anime. Or how the wolf society was established enough to have a deity, yet ignorant enough that an adult wolf didn't realize what pregnancy or labor was until the pups were suddenly there. They also establish the rule that wolves who find their true mate or "soul" will usually die shortly after their partner does, yet that rule is ignored later. Also, and I realize this is a nitpick, the fact that Little One was barefoot in snow without issue the entire time distracted me endlessly. How does she still have her toes???

All in all, there's a good foundation here for a solid mid-grade. Anyone who role-played as a wolf pack (or Warrior Cats... I see y'all) on the elementary school playground will definitely love it.

[Rylee's Booknook. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is told from multiple POV, but the main focus is on a character called Little One. She is a human that was left to die in the Forest by other humans. A pack of wolves stumble across her and decide to take her in as their own Pup. She is raised together with wolves, believing she is a wolf, despite knowing deep down that she is different.

Throughout her life, she begins to question if the pack is going to be stronger without her in it. She begins to think she is slowing them down and starts to question her place within the pack. However, the decision is ripped from her when something traumatic happens and she is separated from the pack. Will she return? Well, let’s talk about it.

This book was marketed as a slow-burn, sapphic romance, but I want to re-market this to you as I believe that the focus on that comes more in book two, when the characters are grown up. There is a hint towards the end section of the book of a friend of Little One’s that becomes an important part in her story, but as the main characters in the book are quite young, the sapphic element definitely doesn’t come in until book two!

This book features growth, found family, self-discovery and adventure. The journey that Little One goes on throughout this book really reflected how I felt growing up and how I still feel to this day. Where do I belong? Who am I? Do I belong here? It follows a lot of personal growth and as someone who has always struggled to fit into the world around me, this felt really emotional.

The found family element to this book was this author’s strong suit. They really dove into what it feels like to be accepted by people that aren’t your blood relatives. They did well at creating a family from strangers and making you feel as if you are part of it as you are reading the book. I really enjoyed their writing style and the way they incoperated that aspect into the book. It made me feel safe.

If you’re looking for something unique and something that you are likely to have not read before, then definitely pick this book up! I will be picking up the second book as soon as I can. I’m curious to see where Little One ends up next and what journey she has to take to get there.

[Maggie Parry-Mantel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those books where I really wish there was a 3.5 option. 4 feels a bit too high, but 3 doesn’t feel quite right either.

I found this book very easy to devour; it only took me a couple of days to read. I enjoyed the story and I found the characters both engaging and likeable. McMahon shows awareness of some of the difficulties someone in Little One’s situation might face, and uses the fact that she isn’t designed for her environment to inform some of that character’s struggles and her relationships with the other characters. I was rooting for Little One as she struggled with her sense of identity and tried to find her place in the world.

My first problem with the book is that I never quite got a sense of Little One’s age. While characters occasionally note the passing of time through “seasons” - helpfully translated to “years” by the author at the beginning - I never quite got the sense that I really knew how old Little One is supposed to be. I found it harder to get to grips with the story because of that.

The perspective Mahon writes in comes with pros and cons. As a reader, I got the sense of truly being able to see the world as Little One, and the other point of view characters - Larka and Rae - saw it. However, I was also aware of the limitations that point of view brought with it. I wasn’t entirely sure whether characters whom Little One perceives as cruel were truly cruel or just appearing that way because of how Little One was perceiving their actions through her own understanding of the world. There is another character who is present at this point, whose point of view might have helped give a greater understanding of how Little One is treated in later parts of the book. As it stands, I found it hard to entirely root for Little One and question whether the ending that she got was really for the best; without going into spoiler territory.

Overall, I did like this book. It’s possible that with future re-reads I might rate it higher. As it stands, I encourage anyone looking for some fun, quick reading to give ‘Home To The Wild’ a look.

[Kristina Petrović · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book in more ways than one. If you want a story about family, friendship, identity, loss and most importantly - WOLVES, this is the story for you.

The portrayal of wolf pack feels realistic (or - as realistic as it could feel), the bonds are genuine and all wolves are separate characters who feel real. It is very interesting to explore world from the eyes of a wolf in a way that feels like it IS from the eyes of a wolf.

Main character also feels realistic, even if she is a 2-5 year old, speaking with wolves, eating raw meat and acting way more mature than she ever could :-) . Her fear for her position in the pack and identity issues make sense and it is explored wonderfully in the story. Her reactions to trauma she suffered are very relatable and it's impossible not to feel and cheer for her, especially in the moments the story takes the darker turn.

But what shines the most is family and the strength of family bonds as well as love and friendship in it. And found family is the best kind of family.

P.S. Larka, Rae and Kiba are the best and need to be protected forever.

[Jessica Rush · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🐺🥩🦌🐱👭🏻

Gahhhhhh. This book pulled at my heartstrings from the very first page. This book is a mix of Tarzan and the jungle book, with an abandoned little baby girl being found by a pack wolf coming back from a hunt. Maternal instincts kicked in and the little girl, named Little One is brought up as a wolf.

The first part of this book focuses on Little One growing up with the wolves, learning their ways, playing their games and learning to survive in the wilderness. Of course, there are some rough times that happen that had me in tears, considering the wilderness brings out other wild animals, cold seasons and lack of food. It was filled with happiness, bonding, loss and grief and I found it difficult to stop crying. The end of part one had me hating humans.

Part two was hard to read. The way the humans experimented and treated Little One, eventually named, Artemis, made me want to jump into the book and protect her. I'm glad she had Jamie (Oak). The bond these two had was cute and fascinating to read.

Part three had my heart back to being whole. It was a great way to end the book. I can't wait to read Way Of The Wild.

[Laurel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of "Gregor the Overlander" will enjoy this book for the slightly darker story line and the fantasy of befriending animals and loving them as family. This would be a great book for anyone who was obsessed with wolves as a kid but has grown up enough to want a story with some complexity. The description of wolf mannerisms was very compelling, and so were the themes of embracing your individuality. As said above this book definitely does take a bit of a darker tone, but nothing that would be inappropriate for middle grade readers

[Robert Gaymer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful beginning to an exciting world. Filled to the brim with themes about family and the self and what the true definition of home is, Fran enthralls readers with their take on "what if Tarzan but with wolves?" and goes above and beyond with fleshed out and beloved characters, settings in nature that seem like magic, and a book that you simply cannot put down until you've finished!