I’ve read the Chaos Cycle Duology and found the first book, Hollow Gods, pretty decent. The worldbuilding was good, I loved the folklore and I still get the chills when thinking about the Dreamscape. The second part, Echoed Realms, was a bit of a disappointment, but not enough of a disappointment for me not to look forward to Wildblood ever since A.J. Vrana announced it was coming.

Imagine my surprise when I seriously considered DNF-ing after reading the first sentence. However, even I’m not that petty, so I ploughed on.

After only a couple of chapters, I decided to put the cutoff point for DNF-ing at 33 percent because the writing was insufferable. It made me stop every minute or two to wonder what the author meant by the comparison, or to check whether that word can be used in that context because it felt unnatural to me. A comparison, a metaphor, language in general, should suck the reader into the world the author is creating. Wildblood managed only to create a solid barrier between me and the text.

To illustrate:

“Unmotivated to pluck his clothes off the floor, he dressed like molasses.”

“Ama tried dissuading her, oscillating between amicable reasoning and maternal scolding, but it only cemented Miya’s prerogative.”
“He loved those nights when he wore his brazenness like an armor made of vice.”

“Had he alerted them to the Carvers’ return to help them escape, or was he cautioning them that the sand in the hourglass had drained to a few precious grains?”

“Her pulse hammered frantically, anxiety seeping into his skin like ink into fabric.”

“Like hollowed gourds with menace carved into them, they looked unnerving, but a tumble off a windowsill was enough to crack them open and leave them rotting in the sun.”

“The common was mired in a low, fey frequency that quavered beneath her feet and caressed her face like a hyaline mist.”

“He had a peculiar smell about him—a vinegary cocktail of irritation and apprehension that wormed beneath his coiffed veneer.”

All of these are examples of language that drew me out of the story and made me think about word-meaning, collocations, grammar and sentence structure. Unfortunately, when you read a book while being hyperaware of the words and the language, you cannot immerse yourself into the world and care about the characters.

“Wildblood,” by A. J. Vrana

First of all, I loved the house gremlin, he’s so cute. I thought this was a good book, but I didn’t love how the couple was already a couple before the start of the book, I like the build up tension to falling in love, so I don’t think it was something I would look for in a book. Both characters are strong and independent in their own ways, and I did think the dream walker x wolf shifter plot was interesting. All in all, it was a good book. 3 out of 5 stars.

-Magic
-Shifters
-Fighting/Boxing
-Gremlin

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

I devoured this book!!!! I have read so much fantasy latley but fantasy noir was so perfect!! I loved Kai and Miyas relationship so much it was my favourite parts to read!

Now about to start the chaos cycle and cant wait to see how my fav characters fell in love ....

5/5

Can we take a moment for this incredible cover?

…Breathe in…Okay, now we can continue.

Kai Donovan, an underground fighter with a hidden monstrous nature, is forced into a dangerous mission after losing a fight to a powerful opponent. He must retrieve a coveted prize for dangerous criminals. Meanwhile, his partner Miya, who explores supernatural phenomena through dreams, is tasked with finding a missing teenager and discovers another person like her. As their quests overlap, Kai’s dark past resurfaces, putting his life and relationships at risk. He must confront his troubled history or face losing everything he's fought for.

I found the concept of the story intriguing but felt the execution fell short of its potential. While I was compelled to keep reading, I found the plot somewhat slow and lacking in urgency. Despite the seemingly high stakes, the narrative often felt filled with extraneous characters and events, which diluted the tension. I wanted more from this story and i just feel like I was a bit bored. The phrase I keep going back to is “I just want more”. More from the character development, more from the plot. It’s such a cool idea yet I felt a bit bored.

On a positive note, I appreciated how the story delved into Kai's mental struggles and his journey toward seeking help, especially with Miya's support. I LOVE that it highlighted the importance of empathy in addressing mental health.

While the relationship between Kai and Miya was a highlight, the execution of the concept didn’t quite hit for me. I felt like it just didn’t quite get to a point where I was totally engrossed although I really enjoyed really wanted to be.

3.5 stars is where I’m leaning.

Characters who are reincarnations of gods in love who search for each other in every lifetime? Yes, please.

Wildblood is a companion story to A.J. Vrana's Chaos Cycle duology, which I had not read prior to starting Wildblood. While Vrana does an excellent job giving new readers all the info necessary to understand what's going on (you can definitely read this as a standalone), I do wish I had read The Hollowed Gods and The Echoed Realm first (I'm a completionist, what can I say?).

I am absolutely hooked on Vrana's writing style. I don't usually gravitate towards urban fantasy, but I loved the execution of this story. The vibes were vibing, my friends.

The standout feature of this story was without a doubt the dynamic between Kai and Miya. Miya is a badass. Often we get FMCs who rely on the strength and support of the MMC to grow into themselves or assert themselves, but Miya is confident all on her own and never stops supporting Kai along the way. Kai was a standout MMC for me because he was easily one of the most interesting MMCs I've ever read. He is complex, deeply flawed, and we get to see really excellent character growth and emotionally complex themes that had me really regretting not reading The Chaos Cycle first for context (**cough** more Kai **cough**).

If you like urban/paranormal fantasy, gritty vibes, morally grey men who aren't afraid of a little therapy, badass FMCs, spice that works with the plot and isn't just there to be there, and well written ADHD/PTSD representation...read this.

"I am not death", said kai , "I am the fucking calamity that wields it"

This is 'awesome' in one word, the way the Author takes us through the feelings and thoughts of each of the character is awesome.
Passing through all that pain and still emerging with a wonderful ending- or beginning now-took a lot of 'love' , which sounds alien even to me.
Kai is traumatized and he keeps covering up his wounds while biting off a helping finger, you have to find out what happened ...

Thus is one of the best books have read so far, I got really enthralled even from the beginning.
Good one.
Live with joy.

"Wildblood" was quite unlike anything I've read. Part supernatural noir, part study of relationship and facing ones demons, it was intriguing.

The real strengths lie in Vrana's writing of the dynamics between Miya and Kai. Honestly, some of the most interesting character work that felt really raw and honest. Although you can read this without first reading the duology that precedes it, I wonder if I would have enjoyed this even more with a clearer understanding for the lore and world-building. Overall, definitely worth your time!

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing me a free copy in return for me honest review.

The aspect I loved about this book the most is the Slavic culture, mythology influence. I am a Slav myself so reading fantasy that reflects aspects of my culture is amazing. I loved the domovoy and his involvement in the story. I think they are fascinating creatures and not used in fantasy as much as I would love to. I also loved that we have established couple who take on the world (kinda). I love seeing them working thought their relationship problems and trying to resolve them. I feel like most romance these days is around meeting someone so this was a great refreshing change that presented completely new aspect of romance. I loved it.

I did like the gods turning into wolves, it is essentially what intrigued me to pick up this book. But after reading the story, I have to admit that the dreamwalker was much cooler. I loved the dreamscape and imagined it like the Upside-down from the Stranger Things. I loved the darkness within and how Maya went thought and between the both worlds.

I think the diversity was also good and created the realistic multidimensional picture for the story.

Despite all of this positives for some reason I still struggled to get into the story. I was not compelled to dive in and stay in and it took effort to pick up the book and continue reading. This might be my own mental state at this stage, hard to say. Maybe if this (almost) 500 pages long book was compressed into 300 pages it would be more dynamic and I would struggle to put it down? Hard to say...

I still enjoyed this read, it was perfectly written with amazing literary elements (great unique metaphors) and I will definitely recommend this book to people if I get the chance.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)

First off, a huge thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Boy, was this book weird and different… but in all the right ways! As someone who loves dark and gritty fantasy, *Wildblood* hit all the marks for me. The atmosphere and intensity reminded me of *Vicious* by V.E. Schwab—another dark tale I love—but dare I say, I might love Wildblood even more!

Let’s talk about Kai Donovan. There’s just something about that name that gets me excited! Whether it’s Kai Donovan here or Kai Parker from The Vampire Diaries (if you know, you know) I’m always ready to be entranced. Anyways, I absolutely loved Kai and Miya’s relationship, the gritty adventure they embarked on, and the dark, atmospheric world that the story created.

This book is perfect for those who enjoy their fantasy on the darker side, filled with banter and intense moments. Definitely a must-read for fans of urban fantasy with a bit of an edge!

I really like this book. It was such a unique story filled with many of the supernatural that I live and then other aspects of the supernatural that the author created themselves. The dynamic between the MMC and FMC was so interesting and done in a way I haven’t really read before. I enjoyed this read! Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the read!!

*ARC received from Netgalley - all opinions are my own*

TL;DR: An emotionally complex story wreathed in blood, gore, and darkness. Definitely recommend Wildblood but would recommend the previous Duology to really bring you closer to the characters.

Review:
"Wildblood was my introduction to Kai and Miya’s life, and I absolutely loved it! It’s everything I enjoy in Urban Fantasy—mystery, grit, darkness, and a generous dose of blood and gore.

While Vrana does an excellent job of making the story accessible to newcomers, I’d still recommend reading the Chaos Duology first. Doing so might have given me a deeper connection to the characters, which I felt was the only thing missing from making this a 5-star read.

I enjoyed the complexities of Kai’s character and being inside his mind and seeing him making progress mentally to face his fears/ demons. I also liked the fact that Miya didn’t let Kai deflect and push her around - she stood firm and let him know what she needed from him.

Wildblood surprised me with its emotional complexity and seeing that alongside the violence and gore was amazing. Such a rich and complex story and characters and will have to make The Chaos Duology one of my next series to read!

I really liked this book! It's the first romance novel that I read where the MMC goes to get help for their mental health, which was refreshing to see. Seeing how both main characters grow through this book together and in their own right was so great, and it was beautifully written! This book had everything romance, adventure, and incredible characters! Highly recommend!

Thank you NetGallet and A.J Vrana for providing me with the ARC.

3.75 stars but rounding up to 4.

I made the mistake of not checking if this was a standalone or not. It can be read as a standalone, make no mistake, but presumably you too like me will be missing some stuff from the story before.

Took me a while to catch up but when I did I found that I enjoyed being in this world with these characters. And it was a fairly fast read for me, which is definitely a plus, I kept wanting to pick it back up and continue reading (real life though, alas...).

Liked the writing, there were lines and parts that had me laughing out loud, the sarcasm and the dialogue were on point even though I would have to admit that the plot was a bit weak but - I LOVED the character writing and the relationship, it really stuck out to me as one of this year's best that I've read so far.

This book was incredible. This is one of the rare books where I was hooked from page 1 and finished it in two days! I need an entire series in this world and with these characters. I have been in a literary slump lately and this pulled me right out of it. I finished it three days ago and haven't stopped thinking about it since.

I absolutely loved this book! I hadn't read the first book before hand.. but this books explains plenty to understand the storyline and backstory. I loved that I was always in suspense of what was going to happen next. I fell in love with Kai and miya and the highs and lows they experienced with each other and gavran and ama were also amazing characters! I highly recommend this book!!

Rating: 4.5/5

Wildblood is marketed as a book that either can be read as a Standalone or as a companion novel in The Chaos Cycle duology. I haven’t read through duology prior to this, so I can confirm that this was very easy to read as a standalone, and incredibly enjoyable to do so. There are references to what happened within the previous two books, easily enough to follow and well explained to let this continue being a standalone, but intriguing enough to make me want to read those two books sooner rather than later.

We follow Kai, a very hotheaded character with more childhood trauma than one man should be allowed to have and his girlfriend, Miya. Both are paranormal living on the outskirts of the human world, in Boston’s darkest and dirtiest mobster ran streets.

Making a living as a cage fighter, which are clearly prearranged to help with betting, Kai loses a match he shouldn’t have and now owes a huge debt to those he really doesn’t want to owe anything, a Russian Mobster.

Given a task to resolve the issue he’s created, he finds himself embroiled in a much bigger problem which is traversing worlds. Whilst dealing with his traumatic past, his potentially crumbling relationship and the chaos that is his found family, Kai must work out how to save a life which may be impossible.

This book is gripping from the get go, full of gore and violence I would confirm the TW first before reading. There is spice, but applicable to the plot and not presented for the sake of it. There is fantastic representation of the benefits of therapy, and how sometimes the family you need is the family you have chosen.

I want to thank NetGalley and A.J Vrana for the opportunity to read this as an ARC - this was my first introduction to this author and I can safely say it will not be my last book I choose to read by them!

Ich habe mich über das Buch sehr gefreut. Es ist nicht nur fließend zum lesen sondern auch sehr spannend.

Thank you NetGalley and Parliament House Press for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 stars

Wow, this book had me hooked. I loved Kai and Miya’s devotion to each other. When things got tough they worked through it rather than running away. I appreciated that there was issues but it wasn’t relationship ending. They chose each other and stood by that decision. I will say even though this was a standalone I do feel like I missed some of their relationship buildup by not reading the duology first. I still greatly enjoyed it and think the author did a great job recapping the important pieces.

I loved how unapologetic Kai was. He knew his faults and embraced them. One of the ending lines in a chapter was, “I’m going to lose my temper.” and it is such a fitting line for Kai. He does lose his temper, a lot. I enjoyed his background and him working through his issues. Getting into his mind was fun and always a bit bloody.

Miya and her dreamscape powers were fascinating. I wish we had more scenes with her in the dreamscape as it was really cool to read about! I enjoyed that she pushed Kai and didn’t let him get away with stuff.

I really enjoyed how the author portrayed therapy and how it helped Kai. I think it’s something that gets glossed over and I think it’s important the author included it.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and want to read the duology next! The author built a rich supernatural world with complex characters that hooked you in!

✨Wildblood✨

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. The. Ending. So utterly perfect. 🥹😭

It’s so surreal after having read books 1,2, and the novella with extras (Strayed Feathers, which I recommend!) to now go back to normal life without Kai and Miya. Despite the fantasy aspect, this was one of the most real books I’ve read. Lots of focus on trauma and facing it, addressing it, forgiving and acknowledging it, and not letting it define you or your future.

Back with our nitty gritty found family, Wildblood is focusing mainly on Kai’s story. We learn a lot of his history and making in books 1&2, but we don’t get to address it until now. And how else to do that but with monsters, shadows, violence, and mobsters?

Miya and Kai must face their relationship head on, acknowledging that they can’t grow unless they heal. The mission they both receive is different, supernatural, and yet entangled. Who knew ghosts could force you to introspect?

I love Miya and Kai’s relationship. Miya’s grace. Kai’s loyalty. Miya’s unconditional love. Kai’s fight to understand what love looks like. Such a brutally beautiful story.

This is technically a standalone and can be read that way, but I HIGHLY suggest reading The Hollow Gods, The Echoed Realm, and Stray Feathers to truly understand the relationship between Miya and Kai. And so you don’t think Kai is just a jerk. He has SUCH depth. My favorite character by far.

Tropes you may find in Wildblood are established relationship, found family, mobsters and street fighting, monsters and shifters, dream realms, gore and language, spice 3/5, men in therapy, mental health rep, and a completed ending.

I’m so thankful I signed up for this arc by AJ. It was totally out of my normal realm but a story that is so delicate despite its brutality and will stick with me always.

I had not heard of A.J Vrana before Wildblood popped up on my Instagram feed. The author was doing a pre-order for a special edition of the book and it was so pretty I was intrigued enough to go & find out more. Although advised that it could be read as a stand-alone, I'm a bit of a completist so went back to read A.J's original Chaos Cycle duology, which introduces the main characters of Wildblood - Miya and Kai.

In retrospect, I think A.J did a fantastic job writing this novel in order for it to stand on its own. You could definitely read it as a stand-alone but I think you will get a much richer experience having read all of Miya & Kai's prior experiences together in the Chaos Cycle duology. I certainly enjoyed reading all three books!

I loved the urban setting of Wildblood and the mystery element of the storyline - think a much gritter, sexier scooby doo experience (where Scooby is a shape-shifting underground fighter who gives zero fu*ks about almost anyone or anything!). The mystery was the main plot device of the story but this book also delves into Kai's unknown past. It was incredible how the author seamlessly interwove these two storylines - it was very satisfying to see it all come together. I couldn't put the last third of the book down.

This book is also a lot spicier than the duology but I really liked seeing that aspect of the character's relationship as they are quite an established couple in this story (as opposed to meeting and forming their initial relationship during the duology). But AJ didn't just write spice for the sake of spice - the couple's physical relationship is often an outlet for untreated trauma and I think the author does a great job representing mental health in this book.

Overall, this book (& series) were quite different to what I would usually read and I absolutely loved them for it! I would recommend these books for anyone who loves the romance/urban fantasy/PNR genres but are looking to step away from the somewhat formulaic & predictable trope fests that we all know and love!