This is the second book I've read by Lauren Blackwood, I enjoyed this but not as much as Within These Wicked Walls. I felt a little bit more explanation and exploration of the blood magic or blood science would have helped as I didn't really understand how it worked or how it only affected certain people. I liked the vivid descriptions of the jungle and the supernatural elements. Like the first book, the relationship between the two main characters (Victoria and Thorn) was very insta love and developed far too quickly from tour guide/tourist to beloved and spend the rest of our lives together. I would have preferred more of a focus on Victoria's relationship with the two other Wildblood who were her brother figures. Also the last 25% was pretty brutal and absolutely no one was safe from being killed off!! Loved that!

I was not prepared for how much I would love Wildblood by Lauren Blackwood. Thank you so much for the early copy to review.

The premise of this book made me really interested in the lives of these wildlings and the world they live in. Because of forced labor, betrayal and mistrust among many characters, there is a great deal of tension throughout the story. The combination of them, together with beautiful and frightening descriptions of the jungle, made this trip an entertaining one. The ending was my favorite part. The romance wasn't something I liked at first, but it did grow on me, even if it was a bit off course.

Victoria is a wildblood, trapped into using her magic for a touring company in Jamaica. Overlooked for the promotion promised to her, she agrees to help her ex-best friend with a dangerous mission. Taking a group deep into the forest, beyond the safe-ish path. It also introduces her to Thorn.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story follows Victoria, a young woman from Jamaica, who happens to be a wildblood. She was kidnapped as a child and forced to work for a touring company, keeping tourists safe from the dangers of the jungle, alongside other wildblood captives.
When she turned eighteen, she was promised a promotion to Tour Leader, which includes a pay rise, meaning she can afford to get her and her little brother away forever. So when her vile boss goes back on his word, she's got to go through a few more hoops.

I liked the premise of this book. The wildblood magic, where the caster can use blood to devastating effect, fueling their spells.
The clear affection and connection Victoria feels for the deadly forest is really quite touching.
The forest itself is fascinating, with River Mumma and all the creatures and ghouls, with their own histories and myths surrounding them.

It started off promisingly enough, but quickly unraveled as soon as Thorn arrives.
It wasn't just that Victoria become completely obsessed with the gorgeous Thorn - the rest of the story seemed to lose all logic.
Thorn is in charge of the expedition, and he recognises that Victoria is the expert when it comes to the forest, so much so that he replaces a pissed-off tour leader with her... BUT he doesn't listen to her advice that the forest doesn't take kindly to intruders and will try to kill them all. Thorn is then surprised when people start to get picked off one by one.

River Mumma is a scary water spirit that intends to drown everyone - until she becomes a giggly girly woman, who can be outwitted quite easily.

The monsters are all built up to be terrifying and wild, and although they accept Victoria as a native, they will always follow their nature. No one is safe. Until they magically are. A couple of times, but no spoilers.

The main douchebag throughout the whole book - he's a complete git towards Victoria. But then it turns out that he loves her, and he's only being a git because he wants to make a better world for her. And despite hating the douchebag for most of the book, Victoria backtracks later on, and tries to cast stuff in a different light, because they were always best friends. Which makes you wonder what happened to her bestest friend Samson.

Everything was just a mess, how it established one reasonable story, then completely broke it all down and tried to rewrite it.
Also, all of Victoria's choices just friggin' annoyed me.

“The jungle always whispers, when the rain isn’t there to block it out.”

An imaginative world with exciting new lore drowned out by a brash romance.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an interesting read! I found myself so engrossed in the story, the characters had such incredible arcs, and I can't wait to follow this author's journey!

Wildblood started out intriguing, but unfortunately became increasingly character focused as the story continued - which is not my preference, and not what I expected from the beginning.

The magic system and the world were extremely interesting, and I would have loved to see more of them, but the characters relationships and conflicts became centre stage at the cost of the world building I was hoping for.

The romance felt too insta-love for me, and any shared situations which would build trust and develop feelings only came later.

If you like fantasy books which are very character and relationship focussed, you would probably enjoy this book.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2023, and my how it didn’t disappoint! It kept me on edge the entire time and I fell in love with the characters and the world. I was so entrenched in the atmosphere that time just sped past without me realising!! Excellent! Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher, for a chance to read and review this book.

Wildblood was absolutely fantastic! Beautiful storytelling filled with intrigue, magic and darkness. Loved it!

This is a fantasy adventure story set in an alternate Jamaica, featuring and interesting magic/poverty system, vibrant jungle setting, and a satisfying plot. I was alright with the romance for a change – maybe it’s something about charming characters called Thorn. Some of the motivations were a bit lost near the end – like why they were going into the jungle to being with. I do love a forest or jungle with a mind and intentions of its own though! Trigger warnings for a lot of things – so do look them up!

I flew this book, I loved it, it’s dark, sad, beautiful and just so entertaining, so atmospheric, intriguing, and I loved the characters and watching them develop! I particularly loved the focus on what love can and should be, wonderful


I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A clunky, slow and confusing fantasy. When I first read the blurb I was really hooked and couldn't wait, however it didn't take long for the slow pacing and shallow charactisation to make this hard to read. The insta-love between Victoria and Thorn was very off-putting. The characters were underdeveloped and I found it hard to relate to Victoria, which likely added to the lackluster romance. However I did enjoy the descriptions of the jungle and found the "science" of their magic interesting, there wasn't enough explanation for me to understand and enjoy. Unfortunately I would not recommend.

Every element of this book was lovely, from the characters to their dialogue to the tension as the plot progressed. I will be thinking about this story for ages and cannot wait to read everything else Lauren Blackwood writes.

The blurb for Wildblood sounded amazing, and yet the story never met expectation.

This book took me a while to get into (and to read) and even then I never really felt immersed, even though it had two of my favourite elements: found family and creepy killer forest. There are some great concepts and very important topics mentioned, but it also felt as if there were too many that it felt surface level, and didn't really delve deep into them or the story moved on quickly, not giving enough weight to them.

I liked Victoria’s voice, although I found her characterisation a little inconsistent and also felt somewhat distant from her. However, I enjoyed the found family aspect between Victoria, Bunny and Samson. The magic known as Science was interesting with some intriguing elements to it, but was also confusing at times. The romance felt too quick to establish and wasn’t to my personal taste, so I never felt invested in the relationship.

My favourite aspect of the book was the jungle. This was so well done, rich and immersive, I could have read a whole book on the jungle alone.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atom for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wildboold

When a wealthy customer Thorn approached Exotic Lands Touring Company requesting an expedition to explore the untouched gold supply hidden deep in the jungle, the manager assembled the best possible team. Unfortunately, Victoria chose that moment to ask for her overdue promotion. As the most powerful Wildblood, she is assigned to guide Thorn, despite her questionable attitude. Soon, while they travel through the dangerous tropical forest, she earns his growing respect and attention...

I wanted to like this book. I was fascinated by the Wildbloods and their mysterious powers. I wanted to learn all the secrets of the jungle, with its spirits and monsters. I wanted to find out if the expedition would be successful. Unfortunately, my pleasure was spoiled by the constant abuse Victoria receives. The novel comes with a warning of triggering contents and allusions to sexual harassment or rape, but still, I did not expect every single male in the book (apart from her younger brother) to be that much attracted to her. On top of that, their feelings are unhealthy, as they try to use her or exercise some kind of control over her. I found that quite overwhelming.

This book was sooo good! I was hooked from the very beginning! The world, the characters, the plot, everything was just so enjoyable. I read this is in one sitting, I loved it that much!

3.5 stars

I was honestly blown away by the originality in Wildblood, the concept of this was like nothing I'd ever remotely heard of before! I felt fully transported into a whole new world with Blackwood's writing, and it was certainly an original experience, getting to read about the power of the jungle and those with a connection to it. I hated seeing Victoria, the protagonist, repeatedly being treated so badly by the men that she worked with, and the vulnerability that her stammer created, but she did also have such strong supporters by her side. That is, until the untimely deaths of two of her colleagues, which I did find to be potentially too much, especially as I would've liked to have seen the connection between Victoria and Samson explored more. This didn't read like a YA novel at all; nothing felt simplified and I do think it would appeal to all audiences!

Wildblood was a unique and interesting read by Lauren Blackwood. Set in the Jamaican jungle with elements of fantasy and magic, Victoria and her 14 year old brother work at a touring team, using their Wildblood magic to protect tourists through their journeys.
Victoria has worked so hard to achieve a promotion but is passed over for her ex, Dean, who off-the-bat was an awful person. Seeing the Boss, Dean and Victoria in his office made for an uncomfortable reading experience. You could feel the tension between all of them.
I think due to the context of the story it is best for the reader to experience it first hand rather than reading a summary.
I think the atmosphere, setting and writing was great. I could picture the jungle, the base she lived on, even smaller details like bugs and what the jungle would look like. I struggled to connect with Victoria. She felt cold and detached, although this is understandable due to her circumstances. I think it is important for a main character the link with a reader. It allows for a more immersive story so this is where I struggled with Victoria.
I think this is an enjoyable book I only feel the characters needed more depth and relatability.
Thank you for the ARC!

I quite enjoyed Lauren Blackwood’s debut novel, Within These Wicked Walls, and I rated it 3 stars. I enjoyed the gothic elements, it was my favourite part of the book, the writing often vivid and atmospheric. Yet, I did only rate it 3 stars, and that’s because I did find some parts of the storytelling lacking.

I think this booked suffered from some of the same issues, I wasn’t a big fan of the insta love in both books, and I think a lot of the supporting characters had a lot of complexity that was never fully explored to its full potential, which was disappointing. Relationships between the characters suffered because of this.

However, I did notice a great improvement in Blackwoods storytelling in this. I raced through it. Her vivid, atmospheric, detailed world building only got better. The descriptions of the jungle and its inhabitants were magnificent. Blackwood’s character work when it came to Victoria was fantastic, I thought she was a complex character and I enjoyed her narration. The plot enticed me, had me in suspense, and many times riding waves of strong emotions, anger, grief, anger again, grief again, sorrow . . .

Overall, I really think Blackwood has grown as a writer, and I’m excited to read her next book. I only expect, as she continues with her craft, for it to get better and better. The next one will be a 5 star…

Thank you to Little Brown Book Group U.K., Atom, for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

wildblood certainly has a promising premise that is whoever bogged down by a green prose and by the kind of ya-adjacent tropes and elements that ultimately do the story a disservice. still ya fans will undoubtedly like this.