20763852

 

The Wilds: Stories

By: Julia Elliott

Released: October 14, 2014 by Tin House Books

Length: 376 pages

Rating: Five Stars

Acquired: BEA

 

For fans of Amy Hempel and Aimee Bender, this debut collection of short stories doesn’t disapoint. It lives up to its name.

In Julia Elliott’s collection of short stories, the journey is certainly a wild one. This is one of the weirdest collections of stories I have ever read; and, not been turned off by it. I tried reading Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls  by Alissa Nutting. It was just too strange. However, The Wilds is just strange enough. There is a story entitled “LIMBs” that is about an elderly woman with bionic legs living at a senior home. It was an interesting story that immediately drawn me in to the collection. It wasn’t just that she had bionic legs, although that was one of the best parts. She had Alzheimer but there was this new out of the box treatment that led her back to her memories. It was a really sweet story.

One of the more wilder stories was “Regeneration at Mukti”.   Mukti is not your typical restort. Oh, no. Besides being extremely Eco friendly, it is also the place where you’re body goes through hell, literally. It’s called The Suffering where you enter The Hell realm. It’s a nasty story with boils, puss, and just grossness. But…I loved it. Every page of it. There was something really unique about it that I wasn’t turned off by it.

By far, the most outrageous and my favorite story, was “Caveman Love”. Now, if you’re wondering if cavemen are involved, you’d be half right. The story takes place at a Cavemen-esque vacation place where you dress up like cavemen and behave like them. There was an undertone of orgies. It was hysterical, the orgy scene. I just loved the whole story. Like “Regeneration at Mukti” there was this uniqueness about this story that connected with me. The weirdness level was perfect.

This collection was great. I really enjoyed reading this. Each story was different. The characters were interesting, unique, and kept me hooked. There were some stories I wasn’t too fond of, but none that I didn’t actively like. I highly recommend this collection if you like short stories, or are looking for a new author to read. It’s very entertaining and will keep you wanting more.