Victoria has been forced to work as a guide with the Exotic Lands Touring Company since she was six years old, and things are worse than ever now that her ex Dean has been promoted over her. Her last hope is to successfully guide Thorn, a high-profile client, safely to the depths of the jungle – but as she grows closer to him, she begins to wonder if there’s a life out there for in the broader world.
I wanted to like this book so badly! It started out fairly interesting – the stakes were immediately high and the what we saw of the jungle and Victoria’s world was exciting. I settled down expecting some adventure, some romance, and an exciting fantasy world, but unfortunately in the end Wildblood did not deliver.
I did find the glimpses we got of the creatures and spirits in the jungle to be fascinating, and was excited by how the author explored themes of environmental exploitation and colonialism. The jungle is a foreboding yet beautiful place, and I liked how the author showed both those views through Victoria’s eyes.
Unfortunately, the main focus of the book quickly narrows onto the insta-romance between Victoria and Thorn, which is one of the least convincing relationships I have read in a long time. While there were some touching moments between them, especially the scene where Thorn comforts a shattered Victoria about her past, for the most part it just seemed too intense too quickly. The secondary characters, including ones who are ostensibly like family to Victoria, are barely developed and I could not make myself care about them.
More frustrating to me was that the world-building is never fully explored. Why are Wildbloods so reviled and what is their place in the world? What on earth is going beyond the confines of the touring company and the jungle? Where did Victoria come from, and where can she go after the end of the book? A few more answers would have at least left me less frustrated.
Do not recommend.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.