3.5 stars

I was nervous to read this as I hadn't enjoyed the author's other work, Within These Wicked Walls, very much. However, this really turned it around for me! The book was well-written and I was fascinated by the concept of the jungle and the spirit creatures and River Mumma. However, we don't get many answers in relation to the Wildbloods - where does their "science" come from, why is our main character so strong, what are the "rages" that they go into? Not to mention, if they are so strong and powerful, how were they confined to this touring company? There were a lot of unanswered questions which I think even a paragraph or two of explanation on would have done the book the world of good.

I struggled with the romance in the book - I didn't think it was necessary to be a romance, and could've been really strong if it had just developed as a friendship. Given the nature of the trauma that the main character has been through, the romance felt very rushed - they've only known each other for a few days and they're in love, and these aren't even young teenagers either, they're 18 and 21.

There are trigger warnings included in this book, which I was really glad to see because the topics discussed in tis book are HEAVY and you should be aware of that going in. This book deals with rape, abuse, gore, and doesn't shy away from any of these topics either, so please do be mindful of that going in!

All that being said, I did enjoy this book a lot - whether that's merely in comparison to the author's other book, I'm not sure, but I'm definitely more open to reading more from this author in the future now.

I enjoyed the author’s previous novel, Within These Wicked Walls, so I was excited for this new one, but I wasn’t a little disappointed. The magic was interesting, but there were a few holes about its provenance. I think that the story was a bit too repetitive and sometimes the romance took too much center stage. I liked the magic creatures and some of the characters were interesting. All in all, the story is good with quite a few suspenseful moments and the Jamaican set is very atmospheric, but I couldn’t really get into it.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! I was really intrigued to read this one because it sounded so different to anything I’ve read before.

We’re following Victoria, a Wildblood, who can make magic using her “blood science”. She was kidnapped from the jungle at a young age and forced into employment as a tour guide taking tourists into the Jamaican jungle. Thorn is a gold miner who wants to go deep into the jungle to mine gold but the jungle is dangerous and full of many magical and powerful creatures. Victoria and Thorn instantly hit it off but her ex Dean who is leading the tour to the gold mine isn’t going to let her off easily.

This book has a really unique premise and explores a lot of different topics. Slavery is a largely discussed or implied theme with white people being in charge and Black people being kidnapped to work as “tour guides” for barely any pay. As a result there are some really upsetting and disturbing scenes so tread with caution and look up trigger warnings.

The fantasy elements were really imaginative and honestly creepy at some points. Some of the creatures the characters came across in the jungle were actually terrifying, especially the “Pickneys” which actually had me gasping. I wasn’t a very big fan of the term “science” it sounded kind of basic but the actual magic system was really well done and really interesting. It was also explained really well, in my opinion, where the magic comes from and how it is channeled. I do feel that it could have been explored more though.

Victoria is a really strong main character in my opinion. She is only eighteen years old and she has so much strength and has survived so much hardship. I really appreciated her growing strength throughout the book and how she stayed true to her morals and values.

However, the romance is cringey and honestly some of the romantic scenes and dialogue felt like reading one of the fanfictions I wrote when I was twelve and the main characters fell in love within a day or two. It was awkward and unrealistic and he calls her “beloved” after knowing her for three days. The rest of the dialogue, for instance, the dialogue between Victoria and Dean was really realistic and felt like it had more emotion behind it even if their conversation were very repetitive. The writing in general though felt very clunky. At times it was beautiful and at other times it was really stilted and forced.

Thorn is apparently supposed to be “good” to Victoria and “protect her” when he actually throws her under the bus multiple times in the book and makes her situation worse when he could have just been quiet or not reacted. For example, she will tell him something in confidence about someone else in the group and rather than just keeping quiet because she’s obviously sacrificing a lot to tell him, he immediately wants to “have a talk” with whoever it is, putting Victoria at risk. There is also a part of the boom where Thorn makes a decision and Victoria literally tells him that she will suffer for it and then when he makes the decision anyway and she then suffers for it he acts all surprised as if she didn’t lay it out for him. He just reeked of misogyny and it’s safe to say I didn’t buy the romance, it felt like he saw Victoria more as a possession.

There are certain things about the plot that don’t make sense as well. If Victoria was raised by the jungle for a year and now has a connection to it that means it looks after her rather than repels her like others then why doesn’t she just go back to the jungle to live. The guards won’t go past the tree line and she said previous deserters who tried to flee through the jungle were killed by it (not by being shot at) but it’s clear it wouldn’t do that to her. She also didn’t meet Bunny and Samson until later so although they’re her reason for staying presently, they wouldn’t have been then. Also throughout the whole book Victoria is adamant about everyone sticking together for safety but one morning everyone else leaves her and Thorn behind so they can get a head start and she doesn’t care. It just doesn’t make sense. There are multiple other points (I can’t detail them because of spoilers) where suddenly the “rules”, so to speak, of the change to fit the needs of the main characters. Things that bother them at one point in the book suddenly don’t bother them anymore and such. Characters kept changing personalities as well, for example, Dean was portrayed to care about Victoria and we’re supposed to genuinely believe that one minute and then he’s literally beating her, then later he cares about her again. It wasn’t cohesive and I lost count of the amount of personality transplants going on, Dean especially.

I definitely think this author has potential, she creates a brilliant atmosphere and I could really picture the Jamaican jungle and various creatures and creates a strong main character. There were just a lot of elements of this that didn’t work for me but I will still be recommending it because it was an enjoyable read.

Release date: 7th February 2023

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC.

I'll be honest, I didn't finish this. I got bored and didn't see a reason to keep going so stopped around 1/3rd of the way in. I'm still rating it 3 stars because it's a cool concept and if I was still 13 I probably would like it.
Despite the interesting setting, I didn't particularly care about the characters and I didn't buy into the romance. I'd have liked to actually see what the magic of the world looks like, which probably comes later, so hopefully that's cool.

Unfortunately, this is kinda a no from me, but if you're genuinely a young adult or only getting into the genre, you might still like it, so I still recommend giving it a chance.

I loved the Jamaican inspiration for this compelling story - one you don't see very often - but readers must be aware of the graphic nature of some chapters.

The vivid assault flashbacks are just not for me unfortunately- I missed the trigger warnings so will not be continuing the book.

Many thanks for the opportunity.

Victoria is a Wildblood, someone with a magical affinity for the monsters that lurk within the Rainforests of Jamaica. Taken as a child, she has spent the years since guiding tourists through the jungle.

I really didn't like Victoria as a character and thought the romance in the book was far too fast and overall disappointing. The jungle and the magic system was brilliant - I really loved that! Unfortunately, not enough of the book was focused there. Wildblood had real potential, but didn't quite live up to it.

Victoria is a Wildblood. From the age of six, it has been her job to lead tours for the Exotic Lands Touring Company through the jungles of Jamaica, protecting tourists from the monsters that lie within. When Victoria's boss is denies her a hard-earned promotion, she is desperate to prove herself worthy. The opportunity for this arises when a gold miner named Thorn enlists the company to take him deep into the jungle. But there's a reason not many are willing to forge into the heart of the jungle, the monsters inside don't like to be disturbed...

I flew through the first 200 pages of this book and I was LOVING it. The setting was so atmospheric, the plot intriguing, and I was having a great time getting to know the characters! Victoria’s strength really shone through and, in the last 100 pages or so when everything good about this book had fallen into a gutter somewhere, I still found her connection with the jungle to be really beautiful. I wish more of the book could have been dedicated to exploring her relationships with Bunny and Samson. We never get to know them very well and; honestly, I think this book could've been 10x better had they taken center stage and Thorn been in the background (or just cut out completely). But I was willing to look past that and enjoyed the scenes we did get with Victoria and her ‘boys’ as she called them.

***Spoilers to follow***

Then, about 2/3 of the way through, we arrive at a chapter where I almost got whiplash from how fast everything changed. Suddenly everyone I cared about was dead and Victoria and Thorn were making out 10ft away from their corpses. This was more than a little messed up in my opinion. As a result, my esteem for this book took a plunge and sadly never recovered. From that point on, every scene where Victoria and Thorn were together made me gag. Let me take a minute to try and put some coherent thoughts down about Thorn. I was suspicious of him from the very start. For one thing, we never get to know much of his character, so most of the reader’s assumptions are left to be made off of Victoria’s constant pining. And for all his pretense of ‘loving’ Victoria, he did a great job of talking about it, but not so much showing it. We’ve already established that their romance wasn’t the healthiest but another problem I found with the whole situation was, if Victoria truly cared so much for the jungle like she said, why would she attach herself to someone whose very job it was to destroy it? Thorn is a gold miner by trade so you’d think this might throw a curve-ball in their relationship but, if I remember correctly, this little detail never appeared in any of their conversations. In the end, I was very, very glad that Victoria ultimately chose the jungle over Thorn, it was definitely the right decision and also helped to soften my disappointment of this book as a whole.

*** End Spoilers***

To wrap everything up, would I recommend this book? No, not really, but I think there might be a very niche audience out there that this book would appeal too. Any haters of insta-love though, you have been warned! Would I read from this author again? Hard to say. I did really love the folklore and the setting but the overall story and romance just wasn’t for me.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the author for providing me with an eARC! Happy Reading :)

Eighteen-year-old Victoria is a Wildblood. Kidnapped at the age of six and manipulated by the Exotic Lands Touring Company, she's worked as a tour guide ever since with a team of fellow Wildbloods who take turns using their magic to protect travellers in a jungle teeming with all the ghostly monsters of Jamaican legend.

Content warning - Racism, Sexual Assault, Physical Assault, Slavery, Child Slavery, Death, Animal Abuse, Lack of consent.

Wildblood is a unique story full of magical realism. We follow Victoria who is a wildblood and powerful one at that. Victoria was kidnapped and forced to work from the age of six up to the age of 18. Wildbloods are not respected in her society. Victoria has undergone an extreme amount of trauma including kidnapping, forced servitude, and assault yet while these horrors inform her character, she still is very much more than the abuses she has suffered. She is a powerful person capable of making difficult and informed decisions, and this isn't just because she can magically shape blood into weapons.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words some text written has been typed in red and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

I tried to read this authors other book but very quickly realised that this authors writing style is not for me at all.

Wildblood felt like a book with an identity crisis. On the one hand: we have fantasy-romance against the backdrop of a fun jungle adventure. On the other hand, we have the hint at much deeper themes of eco-tourism, colonialism and abuse of power. Whether you’ll enjoy this novel will largely depend on what you hope to get from it…

The Story:
Our story takes place in the mystical and dangerous deep-jungles of Jamaica, where rich westerners pay good money to get a taste of the “exotic”, within the safety of a guided tour. The Exotic Lands Touring Company has built an empire on this brand of eco-tourism, meanwhile exploiting the land as well as its people for profit. Victoria is one of their unwilling but ambitious employee’s, as well as a Wildblood; one with the power to manipulate her environment and protect travellers from the dangers of the jungle. When Victoria is passed over for promotion in favour of her ex-boyfriend, she is determined to prove herself. What better way to do so, than to successfully complete the high-profile job of shepherding a famous goldminer safely across the jungle in his next search for treasure. But the jungle is treacherous: between mythical monsters, backstabbing exes, and unexpected romance, Victoria has to decide - is promotion at a corrupt company really what she wants?

What I liked:
Lauren Blackwood does settings and atmosphere extremely well. She already proved so with the haunted manor-setting in her debut Within These Wicked Walls, but she outdoes herself with the sentient haunted jungle in this book. From the foggy, damp atmosphere to the lush vegetation, to the lurking creatures that inhabit it; I felt myself completely transported to the world she envisioned.
I also liked the authors ambition of incorporating some important but complex themes of eco-tourism, colonialism, slavery and abuse of power. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel like that came to complete fruition.

What I didn’t like:
This is where the identity-crisis comes in... Although Wildblood tries to address these themes, it simultaneously reads like your typical young-adult fantasy-romance, more concerned with the soap-opera-level personal drama of its characters, than the larger issues going on around them. The typical tropes of the YA-genre are all there: teenage drama concerning exes and promotions, cringe-worthy insta-love/love-triangles, the trope of our protagonist being the inexplicably “most powerful magic-user of her sort”. The very shallow and basic tropes made for a mismatch to the deeper themes for me; the book simply lacked the page time and depth to do these them justice. Rather, I’d have seen the book commit to its classic-YA roots fully. That way I might have enjoyed it for what it was, and not have been disappointed by missed potential.
Speaking of “enjoying things for what they are”; I was irrationally bothered by the fact that the author kept referring to the magic as “science”, even though there’s absolutely nothing scientific about it. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the trope of wild/blood magic, but at least call it what it is, instead of selling it as something it’s not?!
I recommend this to readers looking for a fun YA-fantasy-romance with a unique tropical setting; you’re in for a good time with this one! If you’re coming at this specifically for the hinted social commentary or looking for anything genre-transcending; you might come away disappointed.

Many thanks to Little Brown Book Group UK for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Having to DNF. Slow going and just not interested. The characters are so 2d and the worldbuilding isnt there. Shame as its an interesting premise but not executed as I would have hoped.

After reading the author’s debut last year and enjoying it, I was excited for WILDBLOOD. Unfortunately, I felt like the writing was really lacking here. The prose felt weak and the plot had little substance. I just wish that everything had been explored on a deeper level, because the idea was so original and interesting.

It was dark and sad and beautiful and romantic and funny. Everything I love! And the ending gave my goosebumps that lasted an hour after I’d finished. Their chemistry is amazing . I enjoyed the scenery of the book and all of the different monsters in the book. This books does contain heavy topics so it's not for everyone. Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot ..

This was an amazing book, the characters were all so distinctive and interesting, I hated many of the characters especially Dean, he seemed like he wanted to do the right thing deep down however got corrupted along the way. The romance I felt was very rushed and I felt he wasn't right for her in many ways. The journey through the jungle was nerve racking and the jungle being its own being was so beautiful especially the River Mumma and her claiming Victoria as her own , it really showed how it gets hurt too and will try to protect itself yet always stays loyal to Victoria, when the characters disrespected the jungle they really felt the consequences. I love how Victoria found her voice through the book.

A thrilling Jamaican inspired fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blackwood! Wow, what a rollercoaster ride of an ending that was…

This was fine. Nice concept. Rushed inta love romance though. Having read one of the author's other books, I think maybe she's just not for me. If you want a slightly different YA fantasy, definitely give this a go.

If you are stupid or rash enough to enter, remember the jungle protects itself; better to stay on the road. But if you ignore that warning, you should hire the best Wildblood you can find to protect you. This a fantasy story with a dark centre of kidnap, violence, bullying, stupid greed. But it is also a story of finding strength, and accepting self- worth and power in the strengths you are given. Thank you to Little, Brown Books and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine freely given.

Wild blood

Wildblood by Lauren Blackwood is a force of a book. Victoria is a guide for a touring company and known as a wildblood. She can use ‘blood science’. I.e. she can command blood in order to attack and protect. This ability is particularly useful in navigating through a Jamaican jungle full of danger at every turn and hostile to ignorant outsiders.

We follow Victoria on the guide of a lifetime. She is determined to prove herself after missing out on a promotion. But that’s hard to do when she’s being undermined by her backstabbing ex. On top of that, the man she’s in charge of guiding is a dreamboat!

Wildblood chronicles the obvious conflicts that ensue amid the backdrop of a sentient jungle that is both beautiful and scary. Lauren Blackwood crafts such compelling characters that have me reflecting on the complexity of human beings. Not only that, but the complexity of human actions such as love. What I particularly enjoyed was how Lauren Blackwood was able to show what love should and can be, and how often circumstances can warp this. Even though one may argue circumstance is no excuse.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and while [redacted] didn’t get the ending I hoped for Lauren Blackwood definitely stuck the landing.