Review: Wild Blue Wonder - Carlie Sorosiak

Wild Blue Wonder
Carlie Sorosiak
Series: n/a
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

There are two monsters in this story. One of them is me.

Ask anyone in Winship, Maine, and they’ll tell you the summer camp Quinn’s family owns is a magical place. Paper wishes hang from the ceiling. Blueberries grow in the dead of winter. According to local legend, a sea monster even lurks off the coast. Mostly, there’s just a feeling that something extraordinary could happen there.

Like Quinn falling in love with her best friend, Dylan.

After the accident, the magic drained from Quinn’s life. Now Dylan is gone, the camp is a lonely place, and Quinn knows it’s her fault.

But the new boy in town, Alexander, doesn’t see her as the monster she believes herself to be. As Quinn lets herself open up again, she begins to understand the truth about love, loss, and monsters—real and imagined.

I went gaga for Sorosiak's debut, If Birds Fly Back. Because of all the love I had for her previous book, I had really high expectations for Wild Blue Wonder. Once again, Sorosiak produced a story, which left me drowning in my emotions.

Immediately, I knew something broke this family. Their pain and grief soaked the pages. Sorosiak didn't immediately reveal the entire story, but I knew all this suffering and the accompanying discord, stemmed from an accident involving Dylan. Dylan was well loved by the entire Sawyer clan, and left this family unrecognizable after the accident.

I don't even know where to start in trying to explain how this book made me feel.

This book could have been really, really sad, but Sorosiak did so many things to keep us readers from drowning in heartache. First, there was the format. It flipped from the present back to before the accident. In the "before", we got to share so many fond and buoyant moments with the Sawyer siblings. Their love and strong familial ties were quite obvious. I was sort of jealous of the relationship they shared and wished I could be a part of it.

Sorosiak also packed the book with fun and quirky characters. From Hanna and her three rambunctious brothers to Quinn's hippie mom, I really enjoyed the fun all the characters injected into the story. Two auxiliary characters really stood out to me, though: Grandma Sawyer and Alexander.

You know I have a thing for Grandmas, and Quinn's grandma was a star. She was tough as nails and straight forward, yet was probably the character, who understood Quinn the most, as she had lost the love of her life not too long ago. I adored everything about her, and missed her when she was off page for too long.

And Alexander. I have a soft spot for what Nick calls "soft boys". He was so sweet, adorable, and cute. And, oh, when he spoke Greek food to me, I was done. The interactions between Alexander and Quinn were rather fun, and I kept my fingers crossed that their friendship would grow and grow. I loved Alexander more and more with each scene, and I liked that he was dealing with some of his own issues, because it kept him from being too perfect.

The whole Sawyer family captivated me with their complicated dynamics and the love that oozed through their household, but the real story was what happened to the siblings. It was hard to see them all so angry with each other. They were all suffering and really could have used the support of one another, but instead, they retreated into themselves. This resulted in each making a big life change, and I was rooting for them to work through their issues, so as to right their life course.

I have to mention the setting, because it totally captured my heart. Sorosiak took us to rural Maine, and not only were we in Maine, but we were at summer camp. The Hundreds sounded like such a magical place. I loved the backstory, and had so much fun during that summer at camp. We shared in camp events, as well as camp traditions, and I really enjoyed it. I don't know if I could survive a Maine winter, but I Sorosiak did a great job exposing us to all the elements, and giving us an idea of what life in the Pine Tree State was like.

And *applause, applause* for that ending.

That ending was so fundamentally and emotionally satisfying. Sorosiak did an incredible job bringing the story to a climax, and then letting all the pieces fall into place. I got so much closure, and I was utterly elated by this, because everyone knows I am a total closure-ho.

Overall: A messy and beautiful story about love, loss, and healing, which filled me with lots of joy.

**ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

Did you ever go to summer camp?

Let us know in the comments!