Wildblood

Wildblood is an innovative and fresh YA/NA fantasy novel by Lauren Blackwood. Released 7th Feb 2023 by Macmillan on their Wednesday Books imprint, it's 336 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats.

This story engaged from the very beginning with creative and immersive world building (sentient biosphere!) and varied characters. The main protagonist is a young woman of color, a "wildblood" who has magical powers. The wildbloods are controlled by corporations in a perpetual serfdom. It's an interesting and surprisingly sensitively nuanced look at race and "othering" with a detailed and fascinating world. 

The narrative isn't always polished and some of the dialogue is less than stellar. The characterizations (especially the villains of the story) are two dimensional and not especially absorbing to read about. There was little depth in the actual characters, but the star of the book is the setting. 

Three and a half stars. The author is young and there are certainly glimmers of promise in this sophomore release. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.