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mitzee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Dislikes: some aspects of the story felt very half-hearted. While the story was fine, some of the plot lines didn’t feel fully fleshed out. Wish the author has spent more time taking about Wildblood powers to give an understanding of what’s possible, who has them and who doesn’t, etc. Personally I was more interested in the magic aspect than the interaction with the antagonist.
Summary for my own reference:
There are songs sung in the audiobook and I had to skip past all of that. It just had some irksome effects on me at 1.75x speed.
The story is about Victoria who is a wildblood and she works for a jungle tour company from what I gather - it’s not explicitly said. But when a group of tourists hire them to go on a tour of the deep jungle, this is a problem, for some reason. It isn’t very clearly explained why tour guides and wildbloods need to be paired but I assume it’s for safety - but then they still don’t go into dangerous areas like the deep jungle, so what’s the safety for? Maybe against other people? It’s not clear in the story.
She seems to be an ensalved person working for this tour company. At the end of the book it’s clear that the point of the story is she is fighting for her freedom but the payoff isn’t there because it was never made clear what she has to suffer to get there. It’s slowly revealed over the course of the book that she was raped by her boss/enslaver - the person who runs the tour company - while her ex boyfriend turned enemy, Dean, (also an abused and enslaved wildblood) stood by and watched. That in itself is a good enough reason to celebrate at the end when The Boss gets his face smashed (like, to death) in by Dean, and Dean is hanging onto life by a thread. I guess put in those words it seems like the freedom should be enough but it would have been helpful to hear more about what life was like prior to going on the jungle tour - since most of the book they are out in the jungle and there are other threats more pressing than lack of freedom.
Graphic: Death and Animal death
Moderate: Rape, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Gun violence
jinmichae's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Unfortunately, for me it got muddled up with the romance factor. I think it would have worked better with a longer "will they/won't they" phase, or if there were more stakes for them to have to consider their feelings. I hate misunderstandings that come from something the characters could just have talked about, but even that would have created more tension:
I wanted to know more about the jungle and the dangers present there, but the feeling of constant present danger wasn't there as the got farther off the trail. They had no Wildbloods watching at night?
I think mostly this could have done with some tightening up. I felt there were too many scenes basically hashing out the same conversation between Thorn and Victoria, and it killed the tension and pacing. They, and the reader, forget they're in a dangerous jungle.
In some ways this felt like a first draft, which is frustrating because I really enjoyed the writing, the glimpses we saw of the jungle's beauty and danger, and the different characters. I think the plot just got muddied up in the middle, and the tone became less consistent, which lost the danger and immediacy of the early chapters.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Colonisation, Grief, Slavery, Trafficking, Rape, and Violence
Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Bullying, Murder, Racism, Torture, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual harassment
mawn01's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
remie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Death, and Slavery
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual violence
its_thekla's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I hated the instalove between the two MCs- it felt like an afterthought that was thrown in after the fact, combined with the godawful tension between the LI and another character was a hard no for me. I hated the pacing- slow, lumbering and often repetitive.
Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Colonisation
Moderate: Forced institutionalization
petab's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Physical abuse, Blood, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Death
Minor: Kidnapping, Child death, and Slavery
charisma_reads's review
3.5
Graphic: Rape and Physical abuse
patricktreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The narrator did really well, but even on normal speed it was extremely fast. Just make sure to really pay attention if you are listening to the audio.
Special thanks to netgalley and the publisher for letting me listen to the audio arc for this review.
Graphic: Classism, Death, Grief, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Colonisation, Genocide, Gore, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Medical content, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Violence, Slavery, and Sexual violence
utopiastateofmind's review
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Wildblood is a book that oozes atmosphere from the very ink on the pages. From the concept of being a Wildblood and the magic from their blood all the way to the dangerous and deadly powers of the forest. I was transfixed from the beginning. Victoria works as a tour guide for tourists - mostly white sightseers - to experience "the jungle". And while she is certainly paid, there's nothing fair about her working conditions, nor those around her and their forced imprisonment in the compound.
So immediately, we are all on Victoria's side. And you just wait. Wildblood is a story which works so well because it's centered on Victoria. On her struggle, her trauma, her story, her agency. The tension is palpable from the beginning. Always trying to just survive, she's on the brink of living, on a chance out, but to get it, she will have to compromise everything she ever thought and just might not make it out alive.
Moderate: Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
amobrien's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.
Graphic: Gun violence, Rape, and Death
Minor: Physical abuse, Child death, and Slavery