I had been eagerly anticipating this particular book, but to my disappointment, it didn't quite live up to my expectations. Despite my initial excitement, the end result failed to capture my attention or interest.

I wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t get into it. I tried it again on audio and just found my mind wandering. It felt like 2 books in one with the deep, ongoing trauma and then the instalove. I just couldn’t keep reading, sadly I DNFed it.

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.

While I enjoyed the reading experience of WILDBLOOD, I found myself a little confused by the magical elements and in the end, the story didn't stay with me after reading it. I can't say it was a bad book, it just didn't make much of an impact on me and I'm not quite sure who the audience is.

I was very excited about this book. However, if fell short for me and it became dull. I sadly DNF this title at around 34%.

Sigh. I really wanted to like this.

I enjoyed Blackwood's debut, so between that and the premise for this book, I thought this was a guaranteed 4-star minimum.

I just couldn't get into the book. The narrator is fine: she does a great job at reading the text but being that our narrator is suppose to be an 18 year old, it was hard to not feel disjointed when I'm listening to a woman who is clearly not anywhere near this age.

To be clear this is not a bad book, it was just written in a style that doesn't work for me.

Content Warnings: Enslavement, human trafficking, sexual assault, physical abuse, murder, talk of miscarriages

Let's start with the good: the sentient jungle was intriguing and very well done - I wanted so much more on it than what Blackwood gave readers and would have loved an entire book just focused on the jungle and what lives within it.

Overall, the concept for WILDBLOOD was interesting, but for me, I feel like it was not fully executed, there was something lacking. Part of that is the insta-love trope (it's one of my least favorite romance tropes) and even beyond that, there was no chemistry between Victoria and Thorn so that whole romance was so unbelievable that is pulled me out of the rest of the plot. Dean and their boss were lackluster villains as well, that plot point could have been taken further.

Unfortunately, I was left with more questions than answers by the end - especially regarding the gaps in the world building and magic (or “science” as the characters call it) system. Where does it come from? How does it function? What are the rules around it? If Victoria is the most powerful of all Wildbloods, why can't she escape/do something about her situation?

I'm also struggling to see this as a YA book that will appeal to teen readers, this reads more like a New Adult novel written for adult readers.

Kerri McLean does a good job with the audiobook narration.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Macmillan Young Listeners in exchange for an honest review.

I tried to get into this book but sadly just couldn't. I know many others will enjoy this story but for me I just found myself having a hard time keeping focus.

DNF at 78%. And let me tell you I don’t remember a single thing about it. Definitely made me sad. I liked the first one and was excited for this one. But for this to be a huge scary jungle, there was again, no world building so it just seemed like she was outside in her backyard. I wanted to know more about the creatures and what a wild blood and all her magic and we just don’t get that.

This book was a difficult read. Not only due to the subject matter but because of its slow pace. It was hard to stay interested in the subject matter when the pace of the book didn't hold my interest for long.

A sometimes difficult read with themes of abuse, sexual violence, racism and colonization. Readers looking for something mysterious and vengeful will love this heroine, but I recommend getting into the right frame of mind. I spent a good portion of the book being afraid for the main character and hated the amount of abuse she suffered.
The magic system is cool and the family relationship is compelling.

Audio notes - I don't have experience with this accent, but I liked that they didn't succumb to the icky tendency to hire a random British person for any non-standard US accent. The narrator managed to creep me out and capture the broad range of emotion in the book and I think while the story might have been 3 stars for me, the narration bumped it up another one.

Wildblood is a fascinating tale of magic in the Jamaican jungle. Victoria uses her magic (basically as a slave/indentured servant) to protect travelers in the jungle for the Exotic Lands Touring Company. Her most recent adventure into the jungle involves her ex, Dean (who stole her promotion) and Thorn, who interests her greatly, among other travelers looking for gold.

The jungle is a character in itself, with spirits, animals and opinions of it's own - and it doesn't want anyone there. Victoria can feel that things are off, but struggles to convince anyone to go back.

I listened to the audio, and at times I struggled to understand what was happening between the cast of characters. The jungle was by far the most well written character in the book and Blackwood brought out a lot of imagery there.

I adored Blackwood's debut novel so much, but to be honest her sophomore novel was a bit lackluster in comparison. The love interest was a wet sop and I was NOT rooting for them by the end of it.
The world building was interesting, and the complicated relationships and motives behind the tour guides and other staff was very interesting, but overall I just wasn't as satisfied with this book in comparison to her first.
Further review to come.

Lush worldbuilding, captivating story, wonderful narrator, and an amazing story journey what is there not to love!

Victoria is a Wildblood, kidnapped by the Exotic Lands Touring Company when she was 6 years old. Now, 18, she dreams of escaping. The only way to do this would be to earn a promotion over Dean, her ex-bestfriend and lover who betrayed her. When the opportunity to impress the boss' newest conquest, a goldminer named Thorn arises, Victoria must use her magic to secure her freedom.

I enjoyed this a lot more than others it would seem. I listened to it on audio, so I'm not sure if that was where my enjoyment came from, but I thought the narrator did a great job telling the story! I thought the pacing of the book was well done, and I was curious with where it was going to end up. I for one, loved the jungle setting. I thought the creatures that lived there were terrifying, and I loved learning about their protection methods. I loved the concept of the Wildbloods, the River Mumma, and the shadow creatures (BIGGS!) and wish there was more focus on that rather than the romance aspect. I also wish there was more explanation on what exactly a Wildblood is, and what their powers truly consist of. I think the conversations on eco-tourism, human trafficking and power dynamics could have been dived deeper into, but I see where the author was going. I really enjoyed Victoria's character. I thought she was extremely strong for what she had been through and never giving up hope. I'm a sucker for found family, and I loved how fiercely protective Victoria was of her two boys. I wasn't the biggest fan of the insta-love in this, and wish that more focus was put on the actual mission, rather than just their love affair. Honestly, I was more interested in her toxic relationship with Dean then I was Thorn.

Overall, I gave it a 4/5 based off of vibes and my enjoyment.

This was an incredible story!

Wildblood follows the story of Victoria - an 18 year-old tour guide at the Exotic Lands Touring Company on an adventure that has the possibility to either cement her future or destroy it. Determined to prove to her boss that she deserves a promotion to a tour leader position, she agrees to accompany & support her ex-boyfriend Dean as he leads an expedition to retrieve gold from the jungle.

Facing down the dangers of the jungle while leading a tour group, Victoria embarks on a dangerous mission with only her magic and her connection to nature to protect her. Through all this, she maneuvers a complicated power struggle, a potential romance with her client - Thorne, along with the constant adversaries the jungle throws at the tour group.

One of my favorite parts of this story was the strong found family aspect to it. Kidnapped and forced to work under brutual circumstances, Victoria formed a strong bond with a few of the other Wildbloods around her, wherein she would risk anything to save their lives and vice versa. The way she stood up for the people that mattered to her really made me like her character from the start!

Additionally, I thought that the Jamaican folklore was really interesting! Along with this, the imagery created while describing Victoria's connection to the jungle, along with her absolute understanding of its creatures was beautiful!

The one thing that I would have liked to see was a more detailed description of the Wildbloods' magic. I kept hoping that this magic would become more complex as the story went on, but was disappointed that this didn't happen. I'm still really curious about why the potency of this magic varied between the different Wildbloods.

It's also important to note that the Romance was very prevalent in the plot. I enjoyed reading the drama & angst (of course), but did initially expect more of a focus on the Fantasy aspect rather than the romance aspect. I won't spoil anything with regards to this, but I was very happy with how things went down in the last chapter.

Note: Definitely check out the trigger warnings before reading this. While this is an incredible book, it is also emotionally harrowing at points.

This is my second book by Blackwood, and I feel like the gothic premises always pull me in and the book just doesn't hit the way it's supposed to. I also don't get the light skin Black or biracial Black girl always falling for some sorry white dude either. Yeah, this was just meh.

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for this advanced copy of the audiobook of Wildblood.

On a Caribbean island (I imagine Jamaica) at the end of the 19th century a company offers tours, employing the magical wild bloods as guides. Dean and Victoria are sent to lead a group deep into the heart of the jungle where they can mine the gold and satiate their greed. But, the jungle doesn’t like trespassers and the dangers are everywhere.

I really liked the concept of the book, but I had a bit of a hard time with it because I found it to be slow at points. I upped my listening speed to get through it, which is never a good sign from me. I had thought of putting it aside, but I decided to push through, and in the end I’m glad that I did, because I liked the story, but I didn’t love it.

Themes: 🏝️⛔️🌳🐍💛💔🔪☠️🏴‍☠️🪦💀😵

My feelings: 🙃🤨😵‍💫😜😉😌

#netgalley
#macmillanaudio
#audiobook
#youngadult
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This was a beautiful, immersive novel! I struggled to get into the story at the beginning, but I really enjoyed it as the story picked up!

This was my first Lauren Blackwood read and I really enjoyed it! The magical creatures and the world building alone made the story worthwhile. The jungle and its inhabitants were so full of life, and their descriptions were immersive. I felt like I could see and feel the jungle around me.

The story developed a little too quickly for me, which made it harder for me to connect to the characters. Everything is written from the perspective of the main character, Victoria, and her character development was really good, but this made the incomplete characters around her seem even more incomplete by comparison. I wanted to know more about everyone else’s backstories, and some characters I thought were important were taken out of the story before they were ever fully formed.

The ending made me happy. Towards the end of the story, I thought things would go a certain way and I would be upset about it in the end, but I guessed incorrectly and the re ending was well deserved.