Gone Wolf
By: Amber McBride
Genre: Middle Grade, Dystopia
Number of Pages: 352
Published: October 3, 2023
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Dates Read: October 11, 2023 - October 12, 2023
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

In the future, 2111, a girl known only as Inmate Eleven is kept confined in a small room with her dog, Ida. Inmate Eleven is also known as a Blue, a biological match for the president’s son, Larkin, should he fall ill. When Larkin begins taking her out of her confinement, Inmate Eleven begins to see the world that’s been hidden outside her small room’s walls and it’s a great shock.

In 2022, Imogen lives in Charlottesville, VA. The pandemic has fractured and distanced Imogen from everyone but her mom and therapist, also causing her nightmares and intense phobias. Her brothers used to help her out, but now she’s on her own. Until a college student, Toni, helps her see differently.

I absolutely loved Me (Moth) when I read it, so I was excited to pick up this novel when I saw that it was coming out. That one punched me in the gut while reading it, so I was kind of expecting this one to as well – it sure didn’t disappoint. This book is a lot – it’s about race, diversity, equality, oppression, loss and grief, and most of all, trauma.

Gone Wolf is aimed at Middle Grade readers, but in all honesty, I can see all ages beyond that enjoying this as well. This isn’t an easy read, as mentioned above, this handles a lot of topics. This story invites readers to face heartbreaking realities that parallel events people of color have gone through (and are still going through), as well as those affected by a loss(es) caused by COVID-19.

*Thank you Feiwel & Friends and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review