Wildblood

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.)