Lilibet Bombshell's Reviews > Wildblood

I missed out on Lauren Blackwood’s debut novel from last year, Within These Wicked Walls, and I’m really regretting that right now as I sit here and digest Wildblood, because it took all of maybe two pages for her to wrap me around her finger with some of the most striking and lovely prose I’ve read in this genre in months, and then I was completely swallowed by the intense characterizations and intricate worldbuilding before I had even hit 5% into the book. I don’t know what to call Lauren Blackwood but some sort of dark fantasy enchantress who knows her mission, researches the heck out of it, and then sits down and somehow comes out the other end with intense tales of adventure, love, horror, evil, friendship, and self-discovery set in times past whose morals and other lessons could be applied to current times and not just to the times in which the books are set (in this case it seems to be Jamaica in the early 1900s).

Yes, I do have some complaints about this book: I didn’t like Dean and felt let down by the resolution to his part in the story. I also can both recognize the need (through the time period and where he comes from) for Thorn to be a Christian and to be vocal about it without being thrilled by it. I felt his psalms and prayers took up space in the book that could’ve been used elsewhere. I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority in this opinion. I also wasn’t happy with Blackwood’s decision to not have Victoria contemplate at any point in time what it would mean to leave the compound and go out into a world she’s never been in. She never asked any questions about what it was like out there, or what she would do, or if she would have to wear certain clothing. There were scenes that would’ve allowed for this kind of small talk and intimate conversation between her and Thorn, but it never happened. I don’t know if that’s because Blackwood meant for Victoria to not think about those things because of one reason or another, but by the time I got to the resolution of the book, I found myself facepalming a little because Thorn should have put some thought into matters. Then again, he seems the impulsive type.

The worldbuilding, the setting, the magic, the mythology, the folklore…it all added up to make this book so entrancing at times. If you add in Blackwood’s lovely prose, her ability to tap into her character’s inner narratives and emotions, and her ability to draw from the history her world is built on, it all makes for a bright, emotional, adventurous, fantastical read. I loved it.

I was provided a copy of this book by NetGalley and the author. All views and opinions expressed in this review are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Reads/Coming of Age/Folklore/Fantasy Romance/Historical Fantasy/Myth/Standalone/Dark Fantasy