Description

A Most Anticipated Book of 2023 By Readers on Goodreads!

A thrilling Jamaican inspired fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blackwood

Eighteen-year-old Victoria is a Wildblood. Kidnapped at the age of six and manipulated by the Exotic Lands Touring Company, she’s worked as a tour guide ever since with a team of fellow Wildbloods who take turns using their magic to protect travellers in a jungle teeming with all the ghostly monsters of Jamaican legend.

When the boss denies Victoria the promotion that was promised to her in favour of Dean, her backstabbing ex, Victoria is determined to prove herself. Her magic may be the most powerful on the team, but she’s the wrong image the boss wants to send their new client, Laertes Thorn, a renowned goldminer determined to reach an untouched gold supply deep in the jungle.

Thorn is everything Victoria isn’t – confident, impossibly kind, and so handsome he leaves her speechless. And when he entrusts the mission to her, kindness turns to mutual respect, turns to affection, turns to love.

But the jungle is treacherous, and between hypnotic river spirits, soul-devouring women that shed their skin like snakes, and her ex out for revenge, Victoria has to decide – is promotion at a corrupt company really what she wants?

A fierce, lush fantasy by New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blackwood, Wildblood tells the story of a girl who must find the strength to defeat the demons of the jungle as well as her own to find where she truly belongs.

“A lyrically told story of healing after trauma and finding home, Wildblood is as fierce as it is beautiful, and as hopeful as it is heartbreaking.” – Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf

“Wildblood is a poignant, thrilling, emotionally complex story of love and sacrifice. Victoria’s tense journey through the haunted jungle is filled with terror and beauty, both supernatural and human, and will grip you until the very last page.” – L. Penelope, award-winning author of the Earthsinger Chronicles

Publisher Review

A lyrically told story of healing after trauma and finding home, Wildblood is as fierce as it is beautiful, and as hopeful as it is heartbreaking * Hannah Whitten, New York Times bestselling author of For the Wolf * Wildblood is a poignant, thrilling, emotionally complex story of love and sacrifice. Victoria's tense journey through the haunted jungle is filled with terror and beauty, both supernatural and human, and will grip you until the very last page * L. Penelope, award-winning author of the Earthsinger Chronicles * Goodreads, "Readers' Most Anticipated Books of 2023" and "2023's Most Anticipated Young Adult Books" Book Riot, "Your Guide to Winter 2023 YA Books: January-March" Tor.com, "New Young Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy for January & February 2023" Deliberately paced and built with setting-specific terms and legends, this is a lush fantasy for fans of The Gilded Ones or Children of Blood and Bone * Booklist * A page-turning adventure set in a vividly imagined world * Kirkus Reviews * Blackwood's creativity shines through via the Jamaica-based jungle setting, which overflows with spirits and creatures of legend. It's an intense, socially conscious narrative featuring a compassionate and resilient protagonist * Publishers Weekly *