Review by Booklist Review
Victoria is a Wildblood, as are all the "Rare Beauties" employed by the Exotic Lands Touring Company. Her blood science--her magic--allows her to change blood into weapons, a skill that comes in handy as she leads tours into the Jamaican jungle. That jungle, which Victoria loves, is full of ghosts, demons, and an assortment of creatures that can kill a man with barely a look. Now 18, Victoria is due for a promotion and raise, but her violent boss only agrees to give it to her if she helps his protégé, Dean, with a massive tour to the most dangerous part of the jungle: the Gilded Orchard, where beasts are drawn to gold. The tour is made up of gold-mining tourists who are completely unprepared for the danger, including client Laertes Thorn, for whom Victoria falls almost instantly. Deliberately paced and built with setting-specific terms and legends, this is a lush fantasy for fans of The Gilded Ones (2021) or Children of Blood and Bone (2018).
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Blackwood (Within These Wicked Walls) explores colonialism and slavery via a treacherous sentient jungle in this ominous adventure. Black 18-year-old Victoria is a Wildblood, a group of people who are treated like second-class citizens for their magical blood science abilities. Kept captive within a community bordered by a high retaining wall and a frightening jungle, they're forced to protect tourists from the horrors that inhabit the jungle in service to the Exotic Lands Touring Company. Hoping to earn better opportunities for her chosen sibling Bunny and desperate to help him control his unwieldy blood science, Victoria strikes a deal with her white boss: make Dean, her Wildblood ex-boyfriend and her boss's adoptive, white-passing son, look good to a wealthy mining magnate on the next tour, and she'll be promoted. But when Victoria and the magnate, Black 21-year-old Laertes Thorn, hit it off, he tries to persuade her that there's still hope for escape beyond the company's walls. 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. Ages 13--up. Agent: Lauren Spieller, Triada US. (Feb.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A teen with powerful magic embarks on a life-changing trek through a Jamaican jungle. Eighteen-year-old Victoria works at Exotic Lands Touring Company, guiding wealthy clients on jungle treks. She is a Wildblood: Her blood science abilities allow her to protect herself and the customers, but despite their powers, Wildbloods are treated as inferior in society. Victoria desperately wants her deserved promotion to team leader, a step toward the freedom she lost when the company kidnapped her as a little girl. Her boss agrees but with conditions attached. Victoria must go on her next expedition with Dean, her light-skinned, White-passing Wildblood ex--who is also the White company owner's adopted son. And she must impress Black American gold miner Laertes Thorn and his companions on a potentially deadly trip to the Gilded Orchard in search of gold. Victoria is immediately smitten with Thorn, and the feeling is seemingly mutual. Still, she has her plate full between fending off the jungle spirits and creatures and dealing with her hostile, competitive ex. Will she be able to survive this journey, much less explore a romance? And will the promotion be worth it? Blackwood's worldbuilding combines folklore and fantasy with strong pacing, and the suspense will keep readers intrigued from the outset. Victoria is a sympathetic protagonist with a painful past and a persevering spirit. A page-turning adventure set in a vividly imagined world. (Fantasy. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
