Overview

In Wild Pets, Amber Medland follows Iris, Ezra, and Nance in the years just after university, when freedom feels wide open but direction is harder to find. Living in London, they drift between parties, creative plans, unstable work, and relationships that blur into one another.

Nights are fuelled by drink and drugs, days by book proposals, jobs that do not quite fit, and the pressure to become something worthwhile. As the outside world grows more tense and political, their inner lives become equally unsettled. The novel captures the confusion of wanting everything while slowly realising how fragile those dreams can be.

Writing & Voice

We found Medland’s writing sharp and observant, with a voice that feels very much of the moment. The prose moves quickly, sometimes breathlessly, reflecting the characters’ restless lives. Humour sits alongside discomfort, and moments of clarity are often followed by collapse.

The tone is candid and unflinching, never smoothing over the mess or the harm the characters cause to themselves and one another.

Characters

Iris, Ezra, and Nance are drawn with care and contradiction. They are creative and ambitious, but also tired, anxious, and unsure of their place. Their friendships are intense and unstable, built on intimacy, dependency, and shared dissatisfaction.

We appreciated that Medland allows them to be flawed without judgement. Their choices feel recognisable, even when they are hard to watch.

Themes

Wild Pets explores mental health, creative ambition, and the uneasy space after youth ends but adulthood does not quite arrive. It looks at how power, sex, and friendship overlap, and how identity can fracture under expectation.

The novel asks what happens when the future you planned no longer feels possible, and how people cope when momentum replaces meaning.

What Worked

• Emotional honesty – The portrayal of post university drift feels raw and accurate.
• Distinct narrative voice – Medland writes with confidence and urgency.
• Current themes – Mental health, ambition, and generational pressure are handled thoughtfully.

Minor Quibbles

• The loose structure may frustrate readers who prefer a clear plot.
• Some scenes linger in disorientation, which can feel deliberately uncomfortable.

Final Thoughts

Wild Pets is a sharp and restless novel about friendship, ambition, and the uneasy work of becoming an adult.

Rating: ★★★★☆ / 5