Review: Beware the Wild by Natalie C. Parker

I had such high hopes for this. With that stunning cover and interesting summary I was sure I would love Beware the Wild. But I didn't. I'm not sure I even liked it. I had big issues with it and that makes me so sad. I really wanted to love it. But I did not. Was a two star for me. I will tell you all the reasons why.

But yeah. I'm not sure where to begin. And I want to share all the reasons for why I did not enjoy this book. But I will not, because there are a lot of reasons and I don't want to only be negative. But yes. I will share some of the parts I disliked. This book was not for me. Not for me at all. Which is depressing.

Beware the Wild is told from the point of view of Sterling. And this is where my issues begin. I did not like how this book was written. It was silly and it made me very annoyed. It didn't feel real to me. Not one bit of it. Sigh. And all the names? Ack. They bothered me so much. Just, not names I liked. Or have heard of before. Like, there was Sterling. Phin. Candy. Lenora May. Yeah. I just found the names to be silly and even worse because I didn't like any of them. I didn't even like the love interest, Heath. Because the romance? Hah. It was silly too. The kissing parts were not done well. Not for me. And the back story of Sterling and Heath? Even more silly. And then the romance just happened. Suddenly. And I didn't even like it. Which still makes me depressed, as I almost always love the romance in books. Hmph. But in this? No thank you.

I thought this would be a creepy book about a scary swamp. It was not. It was a bit boring. It was more about the life of Sterling. How it changed when Lenora May climbed out of the swamp that just stole her brother. First she hates her. But no one remembers Phin. They all think Lenora May is her sister. And Sterling remembers everything about her as well. Which was kind of creepy. Until Sterling started to love her as a sister. I wouldn't have accepted her that easily; if she had replaced my only brother. (Sister.)

There was just so many things wrong about this book for me. And I will not share it all. I don't think I will talk much more about it at all. Because for the most part I found this book to be silly. And I just wanted it over with. I kind of liked the beginning. But not enough. I never truly liked this book. And that makes me so sad, as it could have been amazing. Hmph. But it was not. I didn't like the characters. I didn't connect with the story. I found them all to be silly. I didn't like the things that were happening.

Sigh. I wish the plot had been better in this book. But it wasn't. Little takes place in the swamp. And even the swamp thing was silly and I didn't believe in it. You see, it was this boy, Fisher. Bad guy. Probably. I couldn't care less. And then he angry-kisses Sterling. Seriously? I didn't see the point in that AT ALL. There was no romance. Well, it seemed like some tension between them at first. But Fisher wasn't fully human. So why the hell did he kiss her? Ugh. To me, it was just unnecessary to include that.

I don't want to share more about this book. And I don't want to talk more about it either. I just want to say that I did not like it. But I didn't fully hate it either, which is why it's a two star and not a one star. I have read worse books. But yes. To me, Beware the Wild was not a good book. Full of stupid characters. Silly characters. Not strong enough romance. And the sibling relationship between Sterling and Phin? Booring. Their past with their dad? I didn't care one bit. It was not done well enough at all. Sigh.

Huge thank you to HarperTeen for the auto-approval on Edelweiss, which made me able to read Beware the Wild early. <3 I'm sorry I didn't love it. But then again, not all books work for me. This one did not. I'm sure many people will love this book. Probably. But I did not. Still unsure if I will pre-order the hardcover or not. Maybe. Because it is such a stunning book and I do want to own it. Hmph. I'm unsure. I don't have that much shelf-space left. Thoughts? Should I buy it or not? Ack. I am not sure myself.

Goodreads - Pre-Order