The first half of this was better than the second, in my opinion. I had been reading, thinking that this didn't feel like a 20 year old novel, but as the two women got closer to getting together, that changed. It began to show its age a bit. Still, this is well written and engaging.

I love Karin Kallmaker. She's an excellent writer. I enjoyed this book once the characters were built. I found it hard to get through the first chapters. I was a little bored with the whole Elenor thing, but I kept going and ten really began o love the characters and the story.

I love this book

Karin Kallmaker stands out to me as one of those lesfic writers who never fails to deliver. Wild Things did not change that view for me.

Both MC's Faith and Sydney come with their fair share of angsty baggage. Devout Catholicism, self denial, alcohol abuse, political ambition, conservative baggage...I may have missed a few. However, Kallmaker writes this story in such a way that it's not sad, and depressing, but more sweet and romantic. And empowering.

Throw all of this together with a bunch of snippets about powerful women from European history, and you get a entertaining, (educational

I tried with this book, I really tried. Mid Covid it seemed too heavy, I read something lighter, came back and still it defeated me. I lived through the homophobia of the 70s and 80s - it was shit- & this didn't mark it for me, but I lived in a different country, where religion, though corrupt, wasn't as all invasive (for me) as it was in this book. Perhaps I was lucky - and I don't want to diss a person's story - but I couldn't live it, nor could I live in it.

Excelente novela. Muy recomendable

I generally liked the book, but found the character of Eric - the boyfriend/brother - unbelievable.
Apparently he had already bought a ring to ask Faith to marry him, but when she breaks up with him instead and telling him she's a lesbian, he gives her the ring nevertheless and takes her out to dinner???? Not very realistic IMHO.

Haven been raised a Catholic, but didn't go to Catholic school ,I'm now agnostic. This book hit home, except that my parents and family accepted me and my (then) partner. It's the religious part that got to me and the church's judgemental practices.
This book had me riveted as to how Faith and Sydney would get together. How brave they both are! I highly reccomend this book! 5 stars!

I listened to this excellent book, narrated by the wonderful Abby Craden, in 2023. I was frankly shocked to realize it was written in 1996. It holds up really really well. The issues that Sydney faced while running for state Senate around what people would think of her in a new lesbian relationship are probably not unlike what candidates go through in lots of parts of the country today, unfortunately. I loved her strength and resolve throughout the book.

Faith (aptly named) is an (assistant, I think) professor, but still lives with her extremely conservative Catholic parents. Her struggle to be true to herself while working through what her religion has told her and what her parents enforce is, unfortunately, timeless. I was raised Catholic (in a much more liberal way) and can relate to how hard it is to throw off the doctrine that has been part of your entire worldview in order to free your inner self.

The push and pull of the relationship is divine. From the immediate spark, to the assumptions about what the other person is thinking - this is a fantastic slow burn romance that allows both MCs to deal with their own challenges while growing closer together and finally getting their HEA.

If you haven't read Karin Kallmaker’s “Wild Things,” you simply MUST!

It's a phenomenally constructed love story about 2 vastly different women whose intensely powerful feelings for each other transcends all boundaries. Faith, a professor & historical biographer who's a devout Christian, has spent years denying her true self & just when she thinks her life is pretty much set, what with a fiancé in tow, is suddenly thrown into the deep end of her otherwise carefully constructed life where her true self has been hidden safely. Until now.

One undeniable reason: Sydney.

Sydney, whose tumultuous life also changed in recent past & is now following in her family's footsteps in politics. The fact that her brother just so happens to be Faith's fiancé makes everything even more complicated.

Kallmaker's masterful use of the language in depicting Faith's inner turmoil, fighting her natural but hidden desires, Sydney's own struggles trying to deny her growing feelings for her brother's fiancée is something to be enthralled by. The achingly hypnotic yearning & forbidden feelings between these 2 are evoked with such written precision & realism that you can't help but feel every emotion they feel & experience their spellbinding journey toward each other.

It's mesmerising.

It's poetic.

It's poetry in motion.

True love. All its complexities. All its nuances. All its compulsion. All its power. Defined so beautifully with words that leave you wanting more.

Hands down, "Wild Things" is arguably one of my top 3 favourite Kallmaker novels (definitely one of my all-time favourite novels) including its sequels:

"Wild Things Are Free" (5 years after WT)
**found in "Frosting On The Cake"**

- THIS. MUST BE READ. OMG. Heart-wrenchingly intoxicating, breathakingly beautiful. Again, masterful use of words. It's rhythmic.The repeated "I don't love you anymore" reads like lyrics. POETIC.

"Losing Faith" (15 years after WT)
**found in "Frosting On The Cake 2: Second Helpings"**

- READ IT.
My favourite dialogue from this sequel:

n  “I think I have a different destiny. Rather, I’m willing to embrace a different destiny. But I won’t endanger us again. Not like that.”
She pulled me close again, and her voice broke. “We get to go home.”
Our roles reversed, I cradled her. Sniffing in her ear, I finally said, “I really don’t think we should tell anyone how happy we are.”
“This isn’t the end,” she said.
“That’s the best part. And we get to go home.”n

Honestly, Karin Kallmaker, I bow to your ever-masterful writing genius. Thank YOU for this unforgettable, mind-blowing love story. A breathtaking romance for the ages.

Another good book for Fallback Friday. This one says it was published in 1996. One year after I graduated from high school. I can't remember there being tons of lesbian fiction back then. Or perhaps I was just so baby gay that I didn't know where to find it.

Faith is a 30-something scholar who is deeply passionate about history. She still lives at home because her parents are devout Catholic and she would be seen as a spinster if she was to leave without being married. She is dating a great and respectful guy named Eric. But Faith has a secret she has been repressing since college. Something that has caused self loathing and disgust.

This was heavy. The big religious debate. I felt that it was well done. I could understand Faith's struggle between what she believes and how she feels. That incredible desire to feel validation, acceptance, tolerance, approval, etc.

A favorite scene was the interaction between Faith and Sydney in the garden. Also loved the part where they are in the shadow of a tree. I truly had a feeling of 'meant-to-be' and the pull that existed regardless of obstacle.

I do not share a passion for History with Faith. Therefore I was completely bored for a good chunk in the beginning. The author delivers a full dialogue of a radio show. In. Entirety. My note on this was that I hoped it wasn't important to the plot because I had to skip through most of it. I'm glad I did. And while I know there was some connection and comparison between that history and what was happening with Faith, it wasn't super profound and I felt a lot of it could have been reduced.

As to how this book stands up now? It felt a little outdated. We certainly aren't as closeted as back then. There is more of a community and thankfully people have looked beyond stereotypes at this point, There were references to older music (Tracy Chapman and Melissa Etheridge). Faith considers that she should buy a computer for her home (Who doesn't have a computer/s in their home now?) When Faith moves, she has to give her new number out. As if there is no local portability or cell phones!

But overall I enjoyed this. I appreciated that it was a quick read with depth. It made me think about religion and biblical thoughts on homosexuality.

I read this book back when it first came out in 1996 or 97. I remember at the time that I really liked and enjoyed it, so today I decided to download the audiobook because I like Abby Craden’s narrations and was surprised by the short length of it.

All I can say is it was way better than I remembered it and very well written. I guess what I remembered from all those years ago was more of how it made me feel because I did not remember as much of the story as I thought and I certainly didn’t remember the rich history discussed in such an academic manner.

I also didn’t remember that it paralleled so much with my own coming out a few years prior to having read it, so, as an ever recovering Catholic I suspect that part was not something I wanted to keep in my mind with me at the time.

Another thing that I had forgotten was the Chicago setting. I had only been in Chicago for about 6-7 years, myself, at the time. Since then I’ve lived in Chicago/Chicagoland ever since and it reminded me of those early years. Kallmaker did a great job describing the city and the different kinds of people that make up the city.

If you’ve gotten this far in this review I will say I recommend this book. While I found the ending a little rushed, in some ways, it took awhile to get there and the turmoil of one of the MCs coming out to herself kind of explains this. Younger readers need to see those struggles that happened to us even in the late 90s…even in Chicago.