Review: #714
Title: Going Wild
Series: Going Wild - 1st book
Author: Lisa McMann
Read Before: no
Comments: Going Wild stars Charlie, who is moving with her family from Chicago to Arizona. With it, she has to deal with all the problems this brings, such as making new friends, settling herself into an unfamiliar environment and to top it all off, her parents are now too busy with their jobs to be at home much. The gimmick here is that Charlie gets a bracelet in the mail, with an unmarked sender, and she slowly discovers that this gives her powers, super strength and speed amongst other things. Parallels are drawn by the characters to a superhero origin story and in a way, this fits. Going Wild actually takes a long time to reveal Charlie’s newfound powers, instead opting for a more daily life routine, and dealing with more down-to-earth problems instead: bullying, friendship and competition. Despite that, it’s an addicting mix and the pacing ramps up dramatically in the end when the original owners are tracking Charlie down and secrets start to be revealed, where the readers learn that there is much more behind it then initially thought. The ending is a cliffhanger, which is the only negative thing about the novel since it felt unfinished.
Rating: 7/10