Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Wildblood by Lauren Blackwood

6 reviews

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.

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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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Death, and Slavery

Moderate: Sexual content and Sexual violence

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. 

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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

the_b00kreader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

"You . . . you tamed a shadow creature?" he asks dumbly.
"What, like it's hard?"

**TW**
blood, death, gore, domestic violence, r*pe, betrayal, grief, kidnapping, slavery, racism

Wildblood was amazing. That's all I feel like I need to say. It's a story that you simply have to read. Where do you truly feel at home? Where do you truly belong? 
These two questions seem to pop into your mind as you read this book through the eyes of the main character, Victoria. 
Victoria is a light-skinned Wildblood, a 'Rare Beauty' yet that doesn't stop harm from coming her way.

This book was bittersweet and heartfelt, magical yet real. Every emotion you may have suppressed is likely to come to the surface.

Wildblood is written in such a way that I could not be torn away from reading, I just had to keep going. The story this book held, the deeper meanings, it was all so beautiful.

I must say, I'm glad how the story ended and I don't believe I could picture a more perfect ending. This book is worthy of your time, so please give it a go. (I insist!🤭)

Lauren Blackwood, you've written a story that has touched my heart. To read about such a strong connection and such a strong female lead, I feel honoured. Thank you for writing Wildblood and sharing it. ♡ (I shall now dedicate myself to reading previously published and future releases by you!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gore, Domestic abuse, Slavery, Kidnapping, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Physical abuse, Child death, Rape, Murder, Blood, Racism, Hate crime, Death, and Gun violence

Minor: Abandonment

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

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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-enslavement

caseythereader'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. 

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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