I love books where the somance part don't take up the whole book. This queer romcom is an example of that. It's mainly about the main character El and the romance plays second or third string.

Thank you Quercus for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Wild Things by Laura Kay is a captivating and emotionally resonant exploration of love, loss, and the healing power of nature. Kay's lyrical prose and vivid descriptions paint a beautiful picture of the natural world, while her deeply human characters navigate the complexities of grief and redemption.

This is delightful! Kay crafts a tale filled with humour and heart. The characters leap off the page with their quirks and charm. Kay's witty dialogue and relatable situations make "Wild Things" a perfect read for anyone in need of a feel-good escape into the world of friendship and love.

Unfortunately, this book missed the mark for me. I was genuinely intrigued especially as I don’t really tend to read many books with queer representation. My main issue was that it takes nearly 40% of the book to get to the countryside and 70% to get to a romance. I am all for a slow burn, but this was sloooooow. I think there were too many plot points, and none felt focused.

I did enjoy the found family and the community aspect of the book, this is one of my favourite tropes.

I have really enjoyed Laura Kay's previous books, especially The Split, and was so looking forward to this one too. When El makes a new years resolution to do one wild thing every month to spice up her life, she doesn't expect that soon that will involve leaving her flat share in London and moving to the countryside with her three best friends to escape city life, raise chickens, and befriend an elderly cake baking neighbour. The only spanner in the works is that one of those best friends is the girl she's had a major crush on/been low key in love with for years now, and living one room over from her isn't as easy as she thought. This book is partly romance, part young girl in her 20s finding herself and dealing with shitty flatmates, a shitty dead end job, and unrequited love, part making me want to move to the countryside and buy chickens?? This is a really fun book with a cast of quirky and queer side characters to buoy El along, and it was a really fun and enjoyable read!

I just loved everything about this. A slow-burn Friends to lovers story with a gay commune, what more could you ask for??

Laura Kay is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors.

really good book! had everything that was needed: lovely characters, a nice plot and overral a believable story. excited to read more by the author!

This was the book I didn't know I needed. Messy, emotional, found family. Pulling yourself up when life kicks you down. And the fresh start that gives you a whole new lease of life. I adore Laura's writing and this is her best novel yet.

I have read a few books by this author and my ratings have been really varied. I feel like this was one of the more average ones unfortunately for me. It didn’t grip me like her previous work and I struggled to stay with it with full attention.

Laura Kay will never disappoint me!
Every single one of her books I’ve loved and haven’t been able to put down once I’ve started.
This was a really beautiful story following themes of family, yearning and hope.

Thank you to netgalley for sending me this arc and allowing me to read it and review it.

Obsessed cannot begin to describe what i am with this book. This is if my non existent child was a book. I loved it soooo much. All my friends agree with me. We fell in love with almost all the characters.

Cute read, great storyline, lovely characters.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Cute book that was very entertaining. The story is light and funny which makes it a perfect weekend or beach read. You will love all the characters in here as they all bring a part of the story together.

I have such mixed opinions on this one. I really loved the writing style at times, and I thought the plot of moving to a big house in the countryside with your mates was really fun. However, I'd definitely say the romance is a sub-plot, and the main focus of the book is on El (the MC)'s personal growth. Unfortunately, I didn't *love* her as a character and so this caused some parts of the book to drag for me. I do think Laura Kay is great at writing realistic-feeling characters and the third act conflict and resolution was really well done.

Laura Kay strikes again! I loved this book! It made me laugh, cry and relate hard in places to that "pining for someone" feeling.

This book is perfect for lovers of the slow-burn, friends-to-lovers romance tropes, as well as those just looking for a light-hearted escapist read. As always, I was sad to leave these characters behind. Feel like they became my friends and I was somehow part of their group.

Look forward to reading the next group of characters Kay creates!

The concept sounded very appealing. Living with your friends at a cute little village? Sign me up. The friend group parts were very enjoyable to read. The romance between El and Ray left me a bit disappointed though. I did not see the appeal to Ray, seemed like they had little in common even. Ray was fun as a character, but I needed a bit more to see why El was so into her.

While reading the book I kept feeling like I was waiting for something more. Maybe this slow burn maybe was too slow for me.

An ARC was provided to me via Netgalley in return of an honest review.

A laugh out loud and charming read that I devoured in one sitting. Absolutely fantastic. I would highly recommend

I loved Laura's first two books so was really excited to read an advanced copy of Wild Things.

It didn't disappoint! This is perfect feel good reading that left me with a warm heart and a feeling of remorse that it was over!

El and her friends were a fantastic cast of characters and I loved the idea of the house share between them all. That was probably my favourite part of the storyline.

As much I enjoyed the will they won't they situation between El and Ray I actually wasn't a big fan of Ray as a character but you'll have to read it to see what happens!

Can't wait for Laura's next book!

In this book we follow the main character El as she tries to change her life by having a 'wild' year, pushing herself to try new experiences. The biggest challenge is moving into a large house as part of a queer commune, with the straight benefactor. This was my favourite part of the book, the way the group of four friends, each different manage to get along and use their strengths to bring the old house to life is lovely. I also enjoyed the mentoring relationship El has with a grumpy young woman who was disowned by her family when she came out. I was less convinced by the romantic relationship however, especially the ending, maybe because I was enjoying the commune friendship so much. A light fun, read.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book felt like a warm hug, and was a realistic depiction of what it is like to be struggling through your 20's. With a healthy dose of found family and a slice of sapphic romance, this was just what i was looking for. El is stuck in a dead end job and living and a flat share that she hates, until her and her friends decide to joint buy a house in the countryside and turn it into a commune. The only catch is is that she has to live with her crush Ray. Laugh out loud and full of love, a solid reccomendation for anyone looking for a light read.