Scan barcode
mels_reading_log's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
Victoria was kidnapped when she was a small child, and forced to work as a jungle guide for a tour company. As a wildblood, she can use her magic to keep herself and tourists safe in the deadly and haunted jungle. Even though she is the most powerful of the wildbloods, she is forced to work under the leadership of her ex best friend who does not know what he is doing. As a strong woman, who is in touch with her surroundings she has to do what is necessary to protect those she loves as well as the jungle. I love how strong Victoria is and how she is so connected to the jungle.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Death, Torture, Child abuse, Gun violence, Blood, Confinement, and Grief
Moderate: Murder, Physical abuse, Animal death, and Rape
Minor: Sexual content
srmilesauthor's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
As is characteristic of the author, this is a magic system that is very unique and I recommend the audiobook to hear the lyricism of the words in a carribbean mouth.
It's Young Adult, but reads up quite a bit given the time period. Strong sexual themes and trigger warning for assault.
It's Young Adult, but reads up quite a bit given the time period. Strong sexual themes and trigger warning for assault.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Rape, and Child abuse
mitzee's review
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Likes: jungle setting, blood magic, female protagonist, mild love story
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Animal death
Moderate: Rape, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Gun violence
ladyseven's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death
Moderate: Death, Rape, and Child abuse
bittersweetcritiques's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death, Sexual violence, and Child abuse
e_flah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Wildblood is a fantasy adventure story set in an atmospheric setting where certain people have the ability to harness blood to perform magic. This is a plot-driven story that follows Victoria on a tour through the jungle helping lead a group of miners to a mythical grove of golden trees. The pacing is pretty consistent with lots of action throughout. Victoria's journey to fully understand the abuse she suffered as an indentured worker at the tour company is emotional and well done.
The setting of Wildblood has a ton of ambience but a disappointing lack of substantive world building. There is SO much cool stuff in this story -- from spirits that haunt the jungle to the river spirit River Mumma -- but we don't get a lot of descriptions or any discussion about how these things fit within the wider world of Wildblood. It felt like the magical creatures were two-dimensional props for the story rather than interesting, complex parts of the setting. More world building would have helped make this a more memorable read rather than a somewhat predictable adventure story.
Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The setting of Wildblood has a ton of ambience but a disappointing lack of substantive world building. There is SO much cool stuff in this story -- from spirits that haunt the jungle to the river spirit River Mumma -- but we don't get a lot of descriptions or any discussion about how these things fit within the wider world of Wildblood. It felt like the magical creatures were two-dimensional props for the story rather than interesting, complex parts of the setting. More world building would have helped make this a more memorable read rather than a somewhat predictable adventure story.
Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Child death, Blood, and Gore
chronicallybookish's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- 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
Quick Stats
Age Rating: 15+
Over All: 3.5 stars
Plot: 3.25/5
Characters: 3/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 2.5/5
Special thanks to Wednesday Books for sending me an ARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.
TW: (as stated in the front of the book) depictions of blood, gore, physical/sexual assault, sexual trauma, and death. For more information, please visit the author’s website.
I’m really glad this book has a TW in the front, because I think it might be the darkest YA book I’ve ever read. These are not just passing mentions of abuse, gore, and SA. They’re repeated, and often described to a graphic extent. The rape isn’t directly described, and it takes place a year prior to the start of the book, but we do get flashbacks of it that while they don’t describe the act itself, they do go into enough detail that it made me physically sick to read.
I think the premise far outshines the execution of this book. The writing is fine, but could be stronger, and I think that by making this book YA, the author was unable to delve as deep into the darker aspects of this book as she wanted to, leaving some of the darker scenes feeling as if they were lacking depth. It takes a lot of skill to navigate these topics in a space where you have to portray these aspects in a complete and powerful way, without getting too graphic, because the book needs to remain suitable for younger readers. I don’t think that Blackwood quite achieved that balance here.
I enjoyed Victoria as a character. I think she was a strong protagonist, well rounded, with believable goals and motivations. She was easy to root for. I cannot say the same for any of the other characters. They all felt very… shallow. I don’t think any of them had much individuality, much personality, and most of their motivations rang hollow. I think they just needed more.
The writing also felt… choppy? I’m not sure what word to use. The narration was very serious, matching the dark content and atmosphere of the novel. However every once in a while, there would be a pop culture reference/quote thrown in randomly. Now, I’m terrible at pop culture references and such, so I didn’t always know where the reference came from, but it was always obvious when it happened, because someone would say something that was both out of character for them and that did not fit the vibe of the narration or what was happening at the time. Like, imagine a severely dark and fucked up story, very seriously narrated, a very serious main character, who has just watched a bunch of people get brutally murdered, throwing out a “What, like it’s hard?” No. Just no. I love Legally Blonde, but it was so clunkily in there. Every reference was so clunky.
I did really enjoy the setting. I think that the jungle, the lore around it, and Victoria’s connection to it was fascinating and really well executed. This aspect of the book was phenomenal. When it came to the descriptions and Victoria’s interactions with the forest itself, the creatures, River Mumma, all of those aspects were great. This is what I wanted, when I was reading Beasts of Prey. If everything in this book had been executed to the level that the jungle was, this could have been a five star book.
Age Rating: 15+
Over All: 3.5 stars
Plot: 3.25/5
Characters: 3/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 2.5/5
Special thanks to Wednesday Books for sending me an ARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.
TW: (as stated in the front of the book) depictions of blood, gore, physical/sexual assault, sexual trauma, and death. For more information, please visit the author’s website.
I’m really glad this book has a TW in the front, because I think it might be the darkest YA book I’ve ever read. These are not just passing mentions of abuse, gore, and SA. They’re repeated, and often described to a graphic extent. The rape isn’t directly described, and it takes place a year prior to the start of the book, but we do get flashbacks of it that while they don’t describe the act itself, they do go into enough detail that it made me physically sick to read.
I think the premise far outshines the execution of this book. The writing is fine, but could be stronger, and I think that by making this book YA, the author was unable to delve as deep into the darker aspects of this book as she wanted to, leaving some of the darker scenes feeling as if they were lacking depth. It takes a lot of skill to navigate these topics in a space where you have to portray these aspects in a complete and powerful way, without getting too graphic, because the book needs to remain suitable for younger readers. I don’t think that Blackwood quite achieved that balance here.
I enjoyed Victoria as a character. I think she was a strong protagonist, well rounded, with believable goals and motivations. She was easy to root for. I cannot say the same for any of the other characters. They all felt very… shallow. I don’t think any of them had much individuality, much personality, and most of their motivations rang hollow. I think they just needed more.
The writing also felt… choppy? I’m not sure what word to use. The narration was very serious, matching the dark content and atmosphere of the novel. However every once in a while, there would be a pop culture reference/quote thrown in randomly. Now, I’m terrible at pop culture references and such, so I didn’t always know where the reference came from, but it was always obvious when it happened, because someone would say something that was both out of character for them and that did not fit the vibe of the narration or what was happening at the time. Like, imagine a severely dark and fucked up story, very seriously narrated, a very serious main character, who has just watched a bunch of people get brutally murdered, throwing out a “What, like it’s hard?” No. Just no. I love Legally Blonde, but it was so clunkily in there. Every reference was so clunky.
I did really enjoy the setting. I think that the jungle, the lore around it, and Victoria’s connection to it was fascinating and really well executed. This aspect of the book was phenomenal. When it came to the descriptions and Victoria’s interactions with the forest itself, the creatures, River Mumma, all of those aspects were great. This is what I wanted, when I was reading Beasts of Prey. If everything in this book had been executed to the level that the jungle was, this could have been a five star book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Racism, Child abuse, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Sexual content
luckylulureads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Grief
Minor: Self harm, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury
Colorism, near-enslavementcaseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- 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
3.5
Thanks to Wednesday Books for the free advance copy of this book.
- Lauren Blackwood excels at writing fiery, headstrong young women who are determined to prove their worth and humanity. Victoria is a force, both in terms of her magic and her personality.
- The jungle and the creatures in it were gripping and terrifying. I was also a fan of the magic system in this book, in which certain people, Wildbloods, can manipulate blood into weapons.
- This book does get a bit bogged down in love triangles (literally every boy is in love with Victoria) but if you're willing to accept that, this book is definitely one to check out if you love dark YA/NA fantasy.
- Lauren Blackwood excels at writing fiery, headstrong young women who are determined to prove their worth and humanity. Victoria is a force, both in terms of her magic and her personality.
- The jungle and the creatures in it were gripping and terrifying. I was also a fan of the magic system in this book, in which certain people, Wildbloods, can manipulate blood into weapons.
- This book does get a bit bogged down in love triangles (literally every boy is in love with Victoria) but if you're willing to accept that, this book is definitely one to check out if you love dark YA/NA fantasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Death, Alcohol, Child death, Colonisation, Blood, and Child abuse