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Book review: Wild Blue Wonder by Carlie Sorosiak

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Wild Blue Wonder by Carlie Sorosiak
Wild Blue Wonder by Carlie Sorosiak

Wild Blue Wonder by Carlie Sorosiak (first published in 2018 by Macmillan’s Children’s books)

The Hundreds — the summer camp run by Quinn’s family — is a magical place. 

Spread out across a ten-acre plot in Winship, Maine, The Hundreds is a place where blueberries grow in the deep of winter and a legendary sea monster roams just off the coast. 

A place where older brother, Reed, middle sibling, Quinn, and little sister, Fern, grow up as tight-knit as they come, sharing everything, including their best friend, Dylan. 

Until one terrible event at the end of the summer changes it all. 

Now, an ocean of grief separates the Sawyer siblings and their bond lies in shatters. 

But while all three suffer, seventeen-year-old Quinn takes the loss hardest of all, finding herself wholly tormented by guilt, believing herself to be responsible for the terrible event and herself to be a monster. 

Lost amid a sea of grief, Quinn blocks out the world — skipping school, failing assignments, and jeopardising her swimming scholarship. 

Her days are spent drowning out her surroundings by tuning into the Sunshine Hypothesis. A podcast dedicated to rare and unknown sea creatures, creatures so easily classified as monsters. And restoring a Criss-Craft boat with her grandmother, Nana. 

Because if she can fix the boat, maybe she can fix herself. 

Besides the help of grandma, Nana, and best friend, Korean-American Hana Chang, Quinn finds unexpected support from the new-guy-in-town, Alexander. Who knows first-hand what it means to be awash in dysfunctional family dynamics. 

The chapters alternate chronologically between the past summer (when the event occurred) and the present, both told from Quinn’s perspective. 

Wild Blue Wonder is a novel about love, loss, and grief. About family bonds, friendship, and the truth about monsters. 

A truly rare and exceptional gem of a story that has a place among the likes of Jandy Nelson’s The Sky Is Everywhere and Jennifer Nieven’s All the Bright Places.

Purchase a copy of the book from Raru.co.za.

Read more of Meredith’s reviews on her Instagram account.

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