This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Jennifer Joyce
It is 1875 and the wealthy Delegates are visiting Virginia City, where they watch a show about Savage Girl, a young woman who is said to have been raised by wolves. The Delegates have an interest in the phenomenon of children raised in the wild and decide to take Savage Girl back home to Manhattan, where they introduce her to society.
The book begins when Hugo, the Delegates' son, discovers a dead body and suspects Savage Girl is the murderer. He decides to protect Savage Girl and incriminate himself and is taken to prison, where he is visited by two lawyers. As Hugo recounts his story to his lawyers, starting from the moment he and his family found Savage Girl, we learn about the so-called wild girl and discover her past and the relationships she forms in Manhattan.
I found it quite difficult to get into the story of Savage Girl. It was incredibly slow to start and I found the book could be weighed down with far more detail than was necessary for the story to progress. Because of this, I was never gripped by the book and never found myself itching to pick it up again. It felt like I was wading through mud to get to the actual story at times, which made it quite a hard slog to get through. I did enjoy the story of Savage Girl’s past and how she came to be part of the show in Virginia City.
When she first meets the Delegates, she doesn’t have a name and only communicates through sign language with Hugo’s father, Freddy, so I liked seeing her develop and learning about her background. On another positive note, the ending was quite action-packed, but by then it was too late and I was just glad it was over.5/10