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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
jinmichae's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
I loved a lot of things about this book, but the plot felt messy to me. Strong start, compelling main character, and a challenge that seems insurmountable all for me interested from the start.
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:if Thorn thought that Victoria was actually committed to her other "lovers" and was more subtle with his desires.
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?It was mere coincidence that Victoria noticed the soul eater: if she hadn't been awake, the whole camp could have been killed.
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.And I hate that Thorn doesn't really agree that the jungle and the gold belong to no one but the jungle. I feel that should have been a bigger sticking point for Victoria.
Finally, the scene in the orchard was quite anticlimactic. Victoria alludes to not knowing what's actually there, why there are "man eaters" if there's no men there. But it's just trees with gold sap? And we only really see it in a glance as she tries to help Thorn. I also didn't understand why she didn't just stay in the jungle: why return to the boss at all? Especially with how it ends?
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.
All that said, I loved Biggs. I think he was my favorite part of the book. I almost yelled with how happy I was that he loved Victoria just like the rest of the jungle.
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.
Content Warnings
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
remie's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
sad
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Death, and Slavery
Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual violence
siriface's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Murder, Slavery, Kidnapping, Rape, and Blood
kefeshe's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Blood, Violence, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Kidnapping, Rape, and Sexual assault
Minor: Sexual content
petab's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Blood, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Death
Minor: Kidnapping, Child death, and Slavery
patricktreads's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
Wild blood was broody, dark, aggressive and deep. However it was a struggle for me to get through. While it was a very good story, I am not saying it was bad, I think it was a lot more……descriptive in the situations than what I am normally comfortable with. This applies to the description of things such as an “SA”, an animal death, and some aggressive violence situations. I still think the story was good, but it was hard for me personally to get through.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
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
antonique_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Violence, Death, Blood, and Sexual assault
nannahnannah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Firstly, I need to express my adoration for this book's cover. The design and the artwork are stunning. This has to be one of my all-time favorite covers. I also loved Lauren Blackwood's first book, Within These Wicked Walls, so I was extremely eager to get my hands on this one.
Representation:
- about half the characters are Jamaican
- the love interest is a Black American
- a secondary character is biracial, Jamaican and Chinese
At the age of six, Victoria was kidnapped from her home in the jungle of Jamaica by a tourist company who uses people like her, Wildbloods who can shape their blood into objects, to protect tourists as they travel through the jungle road to cross the island. Now eighteen years old, Victoria is the most powerful of all the Wildbloods in the company, and she is determined to earn a promotion to save enough money to buy her brother's freedom. But she has just been assigned to a new client who is hell-bent on traveling off the safe road and into the heart of the jungle itself, which abounds with dangerous monsters and spirits—and although she quickly falls for the new client, she knows entering the jungle is too risky. They might not make it back alive, and the longer she stays in the jungle, the more she questions who she is and what she really wants.
The plot at first sounds fairly straightforward and uninteresting: Victoria is helping rich foreign businessmen find gold in the jungle. It's uninteresting, though, because that's not the real plot. It's actually about a young woman held in conditions comparable to slavery who fights to get her and her loved ones free, and to figure out where she belongs.
I have to talk about what I liked first: besides that cover, the entire design of the book is exquisite. I am in love with the bug pattern on the inside pages, and I'm especially in love with the engraving of Victoria's hand holding her thurible. Whoever designed this book is fantastic.
Blackwood's descriptions of the sentient jungle are similarly gorgeous and lush, seeming just as detailed and filled with life as the design of the book itself. Although I think the author shines when it comes to dialogue and witty back-and-forth, in this novel, I think her descriptions of the jungle become the star.
What primarily hindered my enjoyment of this book had to be the romance between Victoria and Thorn. I think it's understandable why Victoria latched onto him like she did, but their dynamic from the middle section to the end became nothing but fluff and "beloveds", which got to be too much for me. And I understand that's a me problem, especially since the author straight-up says that she writes romance-heavy fantasy in her bio.
There was also some strange issues regarding consent, too, like when the admittedly awesome River Mumma brought a character back to life for the sole purpose of being her mate, but knowing what we know about the jungle, I think we're meant to understand this as these spirits not having the same morality as humans do. This Mumma certainly isn't a particularly benevolent spirit.
I'm also confused as to why the Wildbloods' magic isn't just called "magic" instead of "science", which always seemed a bit out of place and took me out of the story when I read it. It never seemed very scientific, even after it was explained (and I don't think I truly ever understood the magic/magic system entirely, if I'm being honest).
Despite this, it was still a fun and interesting ride through the jungle, with some extremely intriguing and well-written characters. There are heavy issues talked about here that make it fitting for the older side of YA, and unlike a lot of other young adult books it refreshingly walks through the gray instead of taking a black or white side of complicated issues, like how we feel about our exes and past abusers. It felt very real and genuine to me. Especially that ending, which made me feel so much better about the book in general. It was just the Right ending for this story. I look forward to Blackwood's next novel!
Representation:
- about half the characters are Jamaican
- the love interest is a Black American
- a secondary character is biracial, Jamaican and Chinese
At the age of six, Victoria was kidnapped from her home in the jungle of Jamaica by a tourist company who uses people like her, Wildbloods who can shape their blood into objects, to protect tourists as they travel through the jungle road to cross the island. Now eighteen years old, Victoria is the most powerful of all the Wildbloods in the company, and she is determined to earn a promotion to save enough money to buy her brother's freedom. But she has just been assigned to a new client who is hell-bent on traveling off the safe road and into the heart of the jungle itself, which abounds with dangerous monsters and spirits—and although she quickly falls for the new client, she knows entering the jungle is too risky. They might not make it back alive, and the longer she stays in the jungle, the more she questions who she is and what she really wants.
The plot at first sounds fairly straightforward and uninteresting: Victoria is helping rich foreign businessmen find gold in the jungle. It's uninteresting, though, because that's not the real plot. It's actually about a young woman held in conditions comparable to slavery who fights to get her and her loved ones free, and to figure out where she belongs.
I have to talk about what I liked first: besides that cover, the entire design of the book is exquisite. I am in love with the bug pattern on the inside pages, and I'm especially in love with the engraving of Victoria's hand holding her thurible. Whoever designed this book is fantastic.
Blackwood's descriptions of the sentient jungle are similarly gorgeous and lush, seeming just as detailed and filled with life as the design of the book itself. Although I think the author shines when it comes to dialogue and witty back-and-forth, in this novel, I think her descriptions of the jungle become the star.
What primarily hindered my enjoyment of this book had to be the romance between Victoria and Thorn. I think it's understandable why Victoria latched onto him like she did, but their dynamic from the middle section to the end became nothing but fluff and "beloveds", which got to be too much for me. And I understand that's a me problem, especially since the author straight-up says that she writes romance-heavy fantasy in her bio.
There was also some strange issues regarding consent, too, like when the admittedly awesome River Mumma brought a character back to life for the sole purpose of being her mate, but knowing what we know about the jungle, I think we're meant to understand this as these spirits not having the same morality as humans do. This Mumma certainly isn't a particularly benevolent spirit.
I'm also confused as to why the Wildbloods' magic isn't just called "magic" instead of "science", which always seemed a bit out of place and took me out of the story when I read it. It never seemed very scientific, even after it was explained (and I don't think I truly ever understood the magic/magic system entirely, if I'm being honest).
Despite this, it was still a fun and interesting ride through the jungle, with some extremely intriguing and well-written characters. There are heavy issues talked about here that make it fitting for the older side of YA, and unlike a lot of other young adult books it refreshingly walks through the gray instead of taking a black or white side of complicated issues, like how we feel about our exes and past abusers. It felt very real and genuine to me. Especially that ending, which made me feel so much better about the book in general. It was just the Right ending for this story. I look forward to Blackwood's next novel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery
also: lynching (mentioned); there are a couple of scenes where consent is iffy1kelsey_jw's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I really enjoyed this! At least the first three fourths, as I did feel like the last 1/4th of it slowed in pacing and unnecessarily lengthened, in my opinion, conversations which left the final confrontation a little anticlimactic. This is a fantasy world set within the real world, so you do have real life references and situations while back burning the concept of blood magic. So if you’re looking for a more in depth description of the fantasy elements, you may not like this . Also, the trigger warnings are like a gut punch
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Slavery