A book about friends that live in London then move to an English village to renovate an old house that they name The Lavender House and then name their chickens after Bella, Edward and Jacob? Sign me up. This book was so fun. I enjoyed reading about their friendship, but the part I liked the most was El’s journey.

Oh my god Laura writes the most stunningly heartfelt stories. I think it would be hard for anyone not to see themselves in Eleanor at least once through this story, be it her feeling lost or her yearning for someone she can’t have. I particularly loved the found family aspect of this book and i honestly don’t think i’ll ever be happy if I don’t get to live in a queer countryside commune with vampire chickens.

Wild Things - Laura Kay

Having read a previous title by this author I was looking forward to meeting a new quirky character and joining them within their story of solving a life crisis they may be going through, and El did not disappoint. I very much enjoyed the setting for this book with the four main characters moving into a country house together (their own little commune) and even gaining a few new feathered friends along the way. Here we see El tackle many issue including job issues and a serious crush on best mate Ray. A lovely slow burn easy read book & looking forward to more from this author. Many thanks Netgalley, Quercus Books and Laura Kay for the E-arc in return for my honest thoughts and opinions.

I had high expectations for this book and I'm sad to say it did not deliver. I loved the idea of following a group of friends buying a house and moving in together but then it felt flat. I didn't click with the characters and so I wasn't really invested. Maybe it wasn't the right time to read it, I don't know. It was still cute at times but nothing too special.
Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books.

i had so many expectations in this book and it was so disappointing.
the idea was cute. a group of friends buy a house together. but it’s nothing else. there’s no real plot, the characters are kinda annoying and tension is missing.
i usually like light-hearted stories but this one was flat and just not what i needed.

i voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book, thanks to netgalley and the author for the opportunity. all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved this book, the characters were so likeable and the story was great, I loved the worrying style and the cozy feel you got when reading this book. I definitely want to check out more of Laura’s books

This is an entertaining rom-com that made me smile and turning pages.
A cast of likeable characters, a sweet friends-to-lovers that made me root for the characters.
I had fun and enjoyed it.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I was in two minds when I started reading this book, but it grew on me and I couldn't put it down in the end. Having loved some of Laura's previous books, I was determined to read it and so glad I did.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Eleanor has been hiding the fact that she's been in love with her best friend Ray for far too long now. Eleanor and her three friends, Will, Jamie & Ray all decide to move into a house in a country village. The house needs a lot of DIY-ing. but after they finally finished restoring their so-called 'Lavender House', the house became the queer commune of the friends' dreams. The four friends decide that they're going to be throwing a big house party, and during this house party, Eleanor is forced to confront her feelings for Ray.

This is the first Laura Kay book that I've read. You guys know I love myself a friends-to-lovers trope, so when I saw the opportunity to review this book, I couldn't resist.

I read through this so quickly, it was kind of scary. I absolutely loved Jamie, one of Eleanors' friends - he (almost) always says the best things. I will say the storyline was very predictable, but I still enjoyed it. It was like reading a well-written fanfiction. Also, this was a slow burn. Like slow... burn. The romance started happening at like 3/4 in the book, so if you're not into slow burns, this book may be a little slow for you.

Overall a fun read, with great characters and a cute sapphic romance!

Wild Things is my first book by Laura Kay, and I must admit that I loved the cozy and expressive writing and this character-driven story! The book is about El, who is not happy with her job, and her life in general, because she'd been stuck in her comfort zone all her life. And the worst part - she'd been in love with her best friend - Ray - for 5 years, basically since they met. So El decides to do one wild thing a month for a whole year as her New Year's resolution. Mostly, she is doing it for herself, but also, in a large part - because she thinks Ray finds her boring. The wildest thing is that El and her 3 friends (including Ray!) decide to buy a house in the country and move away from London to live in this house as a commune!

My favorite part were the characters - Laura Kay created a great cast of characters that I sympathized with and wanted to know more of - Will, Jamie, Rozalie, Rachel, Tessa, Sally, Rob and Polly and many more! There were many side characters, but I quickly learned who was who and enjoyed reading the bits about their stories. Notice that I didn't include Ray in this list, and it's on purpose, but I'll get to that. In general, I flew through the book, the writing was vivid and super easily digestible for me.

Now, about Ray. The book is not a pure romance (first genre listed is General Fiction), but the blurb suggests that the main storyline is still romance: "Two best friends. One huge crush. A year that could change everything..." For this premise, the romance development was lacking for me. I think it's supposed to be a slow-burn, but honestly it was barely burning. And it was because of Ray. For most of the story, Ray treats El as her friend (I wouldn't even say they were best friends, Jamie seems much more suitable to be El's best friend). The scenes between El and Ray are rare and lukewarm. I had no idea how Ray felt about El until 80% into the book, and even then the resolution seemed to be coming more from El than Ray. El even initiated the first kiss! Good for her to be brave, but then where is Ray's initiative? This left an impression that even after they got together, their relationship stayed imbalanced - El was still head over heels, and Ray just accepted it. I really sympathized with El's pining, and at many points in the book I wanted her to actually find someone better than Ray, someone who would crush on her for once! Ray's character wasn't very likable either, she seemed like a bit of a selfish person who just keeps getting people in love with her, when she cannot give them the same. By the end I was still not convinced that Ray loved El the same way El loved Ray.
I think a second POV would have been super helpful for this story. Some mutual pining or at least a clearer a-ha moment from Ray could have saved this for me.

That being said, it was a fun and fast read! I recommend this book to anyone who loves found family, small town, lovable characters and ... vampire chickens! (not even a joke, just read it)

Thanks NetGalley and Quercus Books for this ARC!

This was a lovely feel-good romance novel with a great summer vibe.

El Evans and her three close friends are sick and tired of London life, the intense pace of life - not to mention the cost, and on a drunken night together they decide to go in together to buy a house in the country. To their surprise - everyone is still on board with the plan when they've sobered up the next day, and so that is precisely what they do.

Living in the country, in a house they own, is great in so many ways (even though it's a lot of work) - the only snag for El is that she is deeply in love with one of these friends and it turns out that living with your secret crush (that is also your best friend) can get a little too intense...

What I liked most about this book is that it didn't seem to value romantic relationships above all other. Don't get me wrong, I love a romantic love story, but I'm always irked when it is portrayed as the sort of 'objectively' most important kind of relationship a person can have. And here it is not.

The characters are sometimes a little stereotypical, but not so much so that they lose their heart.

All in all, definitely a book that I will happily recommend to anyone looking for a fun summer read!

I was absolutely thrilled to get my hands on this ARC after adoring Kay’s first novel THE SPLIT. Four pals move out of the city to start a queer commune in the countryside, raising chickens and renovating the house? Sign me up 🙌🏼

This was a WHOLESOME, lighthearted + adorable read. From the stunning front cover (PERFECTION🤌🏼) and loveable characters, to the dry wit and slow burn romance, this plot was just so much FUN. I actually ended up listening to the audio version for most of the book — the narration was brilliant, with each character having a distinct voice, resulting in a super enjoyable listen.

The romance was VERY slow burn, but the rest of the plot (from the loveable neighbours and El’s wild things bucket list, to Jamie’s commune instagram page and chickens named after a twilight characters) was so much fun, that the book flew past without me once getting impatient for Ray and El to end up together. I did actually end up preferring the side characters to El herself; I know it was kinda the point of the storyline, but I just wanted to shake her and tell her to take control of the situation and stop pining. She got there eventually but she was a teensy 🤏🏼 bit frustrating.

To sum up: if you’ve ever dreamed of moving to the countryside with your pals, and want a summery read full of queer joy, humour, emotion and everything in between, you NEED to pick this up (and also read THE SPLIT!) I’m super excited to read TELL ME EVERYTHING from my TBR 🫶🏼

𝑬𝒇𝒇𝒚 @ 𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍 🪻

Wild things by Laura Kay

Thank you Netgalley for an arc for an unbiased review.

I went into this book intentionally avoiding all but the basic blurb, as I tend to try to do when looking to review something, as it helps me go in with no expectations on a book.

I immediately found the characters interesting. It was clear from the outset this is a book that would contain minimal angst. Yet that doesn't mean it was unable to hold my interest as I read. Far from it.

Eleanor, or El as she is known has a massive crush on her best friend Ray. El then decides with 3 friends - one of whom is Ray - to join a queer based commune.

What follows is a fun, sapphic romance book. It also has characters that I wasn't expecting but yet found myself as invested as any of the main ones. This allowed the book to be well rounded

While it is a romance, it isn't perhaps as focused as some I've read, but for me it didn't suffer for that reason. That doesn't mean romance doesn't feature, but it is just one part of this book, and the rest is just as delightful.

This is the sort of book I'd happily have to pull out when I need a heartwarming, comfort read and that is relatively quick to get through. As much as I love bigger books or more complex or emotional reads, I need that balance with cozy low stakes books, and this is exactly what it is.

I'd happily recommend this one to others. In fact it will probably land in a few peoples laps as presents from me.
Lastly, the chickens. Just ..... *sighs*
Easily 5/5 stars from me.

I don't usually read contemporary romance, but something about this book drew me in from the first glimpse of the cover. I'm glad it did.

El has always been at least a little in love with Ray, ever since their first internship together. When the opportunity comes for them to move in together with two of their friends - a genuine commune, out in the wilds of the countryside - she feels enthused and terrified. But this is her year of trying wild things, and leaving behind her London rent and awful roomate to move in with Ray seems about the wildest thing she could come up with.

This is a story about found family, connections and hope, and of finding delight and joy in everyday life. It's about celebrating the small things, and finding catharsis for the big ones. I didn't want to put it down.

From the moment I heard about it I was so drawn to the premise of WILD THINGS - the escapism and the found family of Lavender House is everything, and Laura Kay does a great job with it in this novel. 100/10 for the chickens, which take the crown for my favourite book chickens ever.

I would like to say a big thank you to the publisher for providing me with the eARC and audibook of this book prior to release.

This is a wholesome and heartwarming read, great for a quick comfort read in between bigger books. I listened to the audiobook of this book in as little as 3 days, this is saying a lot since I have a pretty busy working schedule. Once I started listening, I didn't want to stop!

I'm usually a fantasy and romance reader, but I haven't had much interaction with LGBTQ books and felt like this was a perfect book to begin my reading adventure. The main story roles around a main character: El (Eleanor) , who decides to have a wild year by completing a new wild thing each month, hence the title of the book. Within this book there is a range of LGBTQ relationships that are portrayed in a number of ways, for a first time reader I felt that the book was written really well and did not overwhelm me in any way. - actually completely opposite, I am currently looking to add more books like this to my TBR for the year.

The story kept me guessing, some parts of the story such as El being traumatised of ponds felt a little random but ended up being a great laugh out loud moment. Good pick me up if anyone needs one!

If you like any of the following: Chickens, village living, friends to lovers, house renovations, band of brothers.
You should read this book as soon as it's released!

Although I loved this book, it is one of those stories which I will forever cherish in my heart and not read again. I am very picky with what books I re-read due to the large TBR pile I am constantly adding to. Although, I plan to add this book to my recommendations for friends and family, as well as all other readers!

If you’re looking for a fun sapphic romance with minimal smut, look no further! This is THE book for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for gifting me an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion! This was a delightful read, so I’m grateful for the opportunity to review it!

Wild Things is one of the loveliest queer romances I’ve read, although not because of the romance itself. It has queer found family, chickens, a sweet old lady, DIY-projects, and drunk karaoke. What’s not to love!

The romance was also super cute and felt like a realistic love story, but I adore a deeply unrealistic amount of banter and ~tension~ in my romances, and this novel just didn’t offer that. It’s a slow-burn romance, and friends-to-lovers, and while I love both of those tropes, the lack of tension and excess of pining made me almost wish they wouldn’t end up together!

With that being said, I didn’t really mind, as the romance for the most part came second to other aspects of the story, like El’s personal growth! I loved following her throughout her Wild Year, and hearing about the DIY struggles of the friendgroup, so all in all this was exactly the cozy low-stakes read I needed!

In conclusion, the chickens are my babies, and I’d like to protect Jamie at all cost, thank you very much! And if you’d like to know what that means, be sure to check it out!

This is the first book I’ve read from this author. I had a copy for the kindle but decided to listen to the ARC on audiobook. I’m not sure I’ve ready anything quite like the story line in this book however it does feature one of my favourite tropes.

The story follows main character El and her three friends. El is on a mission to be more wild as part of her new year resolution inspired by her best friend Ray. One of the wildest things I can imagine is moving out of London to the country side with Ray and two other friends to live in a commune complete with chickens. So I’d say she nailed the whole being wild thing!

Throughout the book I really didn’t like El’s friend Ray although I think that’s maybe how we’re supposed to feel. She’s portrayed as having commitment issues and maybe as a bit of a user so I immediately felt I couldn’t trust her and that El shouldn’t either. In this respect El really surprised me with how her character handled it and it certainly wasn’t what I was expecting.

I’d definitely read more from Laura Kay in the future.

Three novels in and Kay has established herself as one of the bright lights of queer romcom. El's unrequited crush on best friend Ray encourages her to step out of her comfort zone and have a ‘wild’ year, learning lots of heartfelt lessons about love and friendship along the way. Just lovely.

This is the third novel from Laura Kay and after reading them all, I can definitely say I'm a fan. Kay's characters are fun and quirky, but also have some sort of life crisis that makes you completely keen to follow along and see how they sort it all out. El, the main character in Wild Things, fits this to a tee.

El is stuck in a job that sucked her in with false promises, lives in a share house with a passive aggressive roommate (the worst kind, hands down), and is living in overdraw. To top it all off, she has a serious, unrequited crush on her best mate, Ray. When an opportunity presents itself to buy into a home aka queer commune with her four besties, she jumps feet first into country living and DIY-ing.

This book is an easy read that has little angst but very interesting characters. Literally every character in this book is intriguing, and I loved being part of the mess that made up El's life.

Wild Things is another great book by Laura Kay and I'm already looking forward to reading her fourth.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Quercus Books for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.