Sign in with FacebookEmily May's Reviews > Blood Bound
Blood Bound (Unbound #1)
by Rachel Vincent (Goodreads Author)
You should be aware that this review is only of the first 200 pages (approximately) because I didn't manage to get any further.
When I read other people's reviews of this I can't help but think that there was big, exciting plot twist just around the corner waiting for me because everyone seemed to love the story. I didn't care for it, personally. Some girls made an oath as kids that means they have to do anything the others ask of them or they will die slowly and painfully. After years of avoiding one another, suddenly one of them turns up on our heroine's doorstep with the request that she uses her skills to hunt down a killer. The protagonist (Liv) is unable to refuse. And so begins the hunt...
Look, it's not terrible, it's just boring. Liv can find people using blood samples, so that's fairly original (no vampires, werewolves or zombies at least) but I felt the plot was somewhat lacking in just about everything except romance and sexyness. And that just isn't enough! That's why I kept reading a bit longer than I normally would have, I felt like it should hit me pretty soon what everyone loves about this book, but after about 200 pages and nothing really appealing I decided I didn't want to repeat my experience with Feed.
Liv is a decent protagonist, she's strong-willed and not pathetically sappy or anything like that. But isn't she just the perfect fit to the mold that is an urban-fantasy heroine? For me, she didn't stand out from the crowd and I won't remember her in any way, good or bad. I'm not sure if it's because I've been reading a string of Melina Marchetta novels that I'm harder to please when it comes to characters but I like them to be rich and interesting, I want unique personalities that take me inside their minds and their lives. But no, I felt distanced from Liv throughout all the first 200 pages.
And I also didn't like the switching of perspectives. It sometimes happened mid-chapter and it was really confusing, there was nothing to differentiate between the two POVs: no unique styles, no names at the beginning of the section and it didn't alternate equally. Sometimes Liv would get 3 chapters and then Cam would get 1 and then there'd be a bit of both in the next one. Mind-boggling stuff.
For hardcore UF fans this will probably tick all the right boxes for you. However, I've become extremely picky with this genre and I don't just want to read glorified paranormal romance. And let me tell you, I honestly thought the mystery came second to the romantic history and tension between Liv and Cam. Plenty of others disagree. It's like when I read Naked in Death I thought the romance subplot stayed on the sidelines and I was caught up in the murder mystery, whereas others thought the romance swamped the plot. I am in the latter group on Blood Bound and doubt I will read any more of this series.
by Rachel Vincent (Goodreads Author)
Emily May's review
bookshelves: paranormal-uf, did-not-finish, 2011, boring
Jun 17, 12
bookshelves: paranormal-uf, did-not-finish, 2011, boring
Read from September 13 to 18, 2011
You should be aware that this review is only of the first 200 pages (approximately) because I didn't manage to get any further.
When I read other people's reviews of this I can't help but think that there was big, exciting plot twist just around the corner waiting for me because everyone seemed to love the story. I didn't care for it, personally. Some girls made an oath as kids that means they have to do anything the others ask of them or they will die slowly and painfully. After years of avoiding one another, suddenly one of them turns up on our heroine's doorstep with the request that she uses her skills to hunt down a killer. The protagonist (Liv) is unable to refuse. And so begins the hunt...
Look, it's not terrible, it's just boring. Liv can find people using blood samples, so that's fairly original (no vampires, werewolves or zombies at least) but I felt the plot was somewhat lacking in just about everything except romance and sexyness. And that just isn't enough! That's why I kept reading a bit longer than I normally would have, I felt like it should hit me pretty soon what everyone loves about this book, but after about 200 pages and nothing really appealing I decided I didn't want to repeat my experience with Feed.
Liv is a decent protagonist, she's strong-willed and not pathetically sappy or anything like that. But isn't she just the perfect fit to the mold that is an urban-fantasy heroine? For me, she didn't stand out from the crowd and I won't remember her in any way, good or bad. I'm not sure if it's because I've been reading a string of Melina Marchetta novels that I'm harder to please when it comes to characters but I like them to be rich and interesting, I want unique personalities that take me inside their minds and their lives. But no, I felt distanced from Liv throughout all the first 200 pages.
And I also didn't like the switching of perspectives. It sometimes happened mid-chapter and it was really confusing, there was nothing to differentiate between the two POVs: no unique styles, no names at the beginning of the section and it didn't alternate equally. Sometimes Liv would get 3 chapters and then Cam would get 1 and then there'd be a bit of both in the next one. Mind-boggling stuff.
For hardcore UF fans this will probably tick all the right boxes for you. However, I've become extremely picky with this genre and I don't just want to read glorified paranormal romance. And let me tell you, I honestly thought the mystery came second to the romantic history and tension between Liv and Cam. Plenty of others disagree. It's like when I read Naked in Death I thought the romance subplot stayed on the sidelines and I was caught up in the murder mystery, whereas others thought the romance swamped the plot. I am in the latter group on Blood Bound and doubt I will read any more of this series.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read Blood Bound.
sign in »
Reading Progress
| 09/15/2011 | page 72 |
|
16.0% | "Well, at least I've finally found a spare minute to read amid all the last minute buying for university (eeek!). On the negative side, the first 72 pages of this are all a bit overly PNR rather than UF. Kinda hot, but still... plot, I await your arrival!" 6 comments |
Comments (showing 1-19 of 19) (19 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Tatiana
(new)
-
added it
Sep 13, 2011 03:31pm
Glad to see you will be able to tell me if it's worth reading or not!
reply
|
flag
*
Review will be coming! I gave it as long as I could to get going but it was all romance/sex and the plot didn't interest me at all :( perhaps it improves later but I have too many other books waiting for my attention.
Good review Emily, I do agree if a book isn't doing it for you why bother slogging it out? There's too many other books out there waiting to be read.
Thanks everyone. I look forward to seeing what you think, Giselle and Alyssa, seeing as I'm in the minority again :/
Amy wrote: "Hmm, good move not wasting your life---you're more patient than me."LOL, there's always the odd occasion where a book picks up after a disappointing start so I'm always afraid I'll miss out on all the good stuff by giving up too early :)
With that hope of smth around the corner, plus I've read some of this author's books before, I was forcing myself to read it, but when plot started unraveling and there was still nothing really happening, no tension, no interest or emotional involvement on my part - I finaly decided to quit it, huge disapointment and I as well as you am baffled by all those good reviews :(
I know. I was pulled in quite quickly with her Shifters series and I was expecting something of the same, but it was so slow...
You managed to read further than I did. I couldn't get past the first chapters. It was boring, there was nothing really especial about the heroine (she was exactly like the other hundreds of UF heroines out there), the plot also didn't appeal to me.
Just read this book.. And part of me agrees with above comments but the reader in me who absolutely loved her shifters series(i read all six in three days well I lil less than three)and I managed to finish this book and am half way thru the second.. Yes its kinda dull and slow going but at the same time has less straight ppl sex (which is sometimes hard for me to read) and her characters are different than any others with the whole blood binders,finders,shadow walkers, name finders and the such and with their powers so unique it made it just a bit interesting and different.. Ill defintly keep you posted on how the second one in this series turns out!!
I was of the same mind but once the plot started coming together, I realised that not only did I have a good trilogy to read in the bound series, but also the dynamic that Rachel Vincent has created, not only a new world structure, but a complexed plot line that spans out over the three book. I loved the tension, and you must admit no one could guess how this book was going to turn out.
