Wilder Girls Rory Power – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Wilder Girls Rory Power

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

book2020

52%

WISE Score

4.1

Amazon

Body horror meets feminist survival at a quarantined boarding school—think Lord of the Flies if the island fought back by mutating everyone.

Wilder Girls Rory Power

book

2020

52%

WISE Score

4.1

Amazon

Body horror meets feminist survival at a quarantined boarding school—think Lord of the Flies if the island fought back by mutating everyone.

4.1

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Screenwise Verdict

Wilder Girls is genuinely unsettling and original—it's not your typical YA fare, and that's both its strength and its limitation. If your teen devours horror and wants something that doesn't pull punches, this delivers atmosphere, weirdness, and legitimate scares. The queer representation and female friendship themes are strong, and Power's writing is evocative.

But this is capital-H Horror. Bodies mutate in graphic detail, people die, the whole thing is soaked in dread and decay. It's not trauma porn, but it's definitely not light reading. The 4.1 Amazon rating and mixed kid reviews on Common Sense Media suggest it's divisive—some readers love the darkness, others find it too much or unsatisfying.

Bottom line: Great for the right reader (older teen horror fans), but know what you're getting into. This isn't Twilight with a spooky twist—it's closer to Annihilation for teens, and that's a specific taste.

Age Fit

This is for older teens (15+) who actively seek out horror and can handle graphic, disturbing content. The body horror is visceral—spines erupting through skin, eyes growing in wrong places—and the violence is on-page. Not for middle schoolers or sensitive readers, regardless of reading level.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

Body horror, graphic violence, character death, and a pervasive atmosphere of dread and decay. The friendship themes are strong and the queer representation is positive, but the overall emotional landscape is dark, disturbing, and traumatic. This isn't modeling cooperation in a healthy environment—it's survival in a nightmare scenario with bodies mutating in grotesque ways.

Imaginative

Genuinely original premise—feminist Lord of the Flies meets Annihilation with body horror at an all-girls boarding school. The Tox concept is creative and unsettling, the mystery structure invites readers to piece together what's happening, and the weird biological mutations are inventively horrifying. Power creates a distinctive, atmospheric world that feels fresh in the YA space.

Safe

Multiple Common Sense Media reviews and parent sites flag graphic violence, body horror, character death (including on-page), animal death, and disturbing imagery throughout. This is explicitly horror—mutations include eyes growing on limbs, spines bursting through skin, and other visceral transformations. Not something you'd want a younger teen stumbling into unprepared. The content is intentional horror, not surprise violence, but it's still intense and potentially triggering.

Enriching

Strong themes about female friendship, loyalty, queer identity, bodily autonomy, and questioning authority. The mystery structure rewards careful reading. However, the enrichment comes wrapped in such intense horror that its accessibility is limited. It's thought-provoking about isolation, institutional betrayal, and survival, but the entertainment-to-trauma ratio may not work for many readers.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Genuinely original premise that blends horror, mystery, and queer YA in a way that feels fresh and weird
Strong female friendship at the center—Hetty's determination to find Byatt drives the whole story
LGBTQ+ representation that's woven naturally into the narrative without being the 'issue'
Atmospheric and unsettling in the best horror tradition—if your teen loves creepy, this delivers
Raises real questions about institutional authority, bodily autonomy, and what we're willing to sacrifice for answers

⚠

What to Watch For

This is HORROR horror—graphic body mutations, violence, death, the works. Not for squeamish or sensitive readers
The whole vibe is bleak and disturbing; if your teen is already anxious or struggling, maybe not the moment
Some readers find the ending unsatisfying or confusing—it's more atmospheric dread than neat resolution
Despite the boarding school setting, this is definitely not cozy or escapist

Conversation Starters

"The girls' bodies are literally changing in horrifying ways—how does the book use that as a metaphor for puberty or being a teenage girl?"
"Would you break quarantine to save your best friend, even if it meant risking everyone else?"
"The adults in charge keep promising a cure but never deliver—when do you stop trusting authority figures who aren't being straight with you?"
"Hetty and Byatt's friendship is intense and complicated. What makes a friendship worth risking everything for?"

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