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The Wild Girls

Pat Murphy

2007 · 288 pages · Fantasy

adventurous moodmoderate pacebalanced tonebittersweet ending

How it reads

The Wild Girls is fantasy (historical fantasy, specifically), and its dominant mood is adventurous. It's driven by momentum, discovery and getting into trouble. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in the wilderness or at sea, in the historical past, told in the third person, staying close to one character. Its central concerns are friendship, survival and nature. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is bittersweet: it resolves, but at a price. At 288 pages it's a quick read. It's moderately known: read by plenty of people, but not a household name.

Pick it up if…

  • you're in the mood for something adventurous
  • you want a complete story in one book
  • you're drawn to stories about friendship

Maybe not if…

  • you need something cosy or melancholy

All 15 dimensions

Genre
fantasy
Author gender
female
Author experience
established
Setting: place
wilderness or sea
Setting: time
historical
Mood / feeling
adventurous
Pace
moderate
Tone / weight
balanced
Length
short
Narrative style
third person, one viewpoint
Publication era
modern classic
Popularity
moderately known
Series vs standalone
standalone
Themes
friendship, survival, nature
Ending style
bittersweet

What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.

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