July Buddy Read: Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent

[Lis]

July Buddy Read planned to start July 8th: Open to all Rachel Vincent fans that haven't had a chance to start her Unbound series yet.

Bound by blood, condemned by fate

As a bloodtracker, Liv is extremely powerful. And in a world where power is a commodity that can get you killed, Liv's learnt to survive by her own rules.

Rule number one? Trust no one.

But when a friend's daughter goes missing, Liv is bound by a potent magical oath. She can't rest until the child is safe. And that means trusting her dangerous ex, Cam.

A sinister prophecy tells that she and Cam will be the death of each other, yet Liv's tired of being a slave to destiny. She's ready to play the forces controlling her world at their own game.

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence)]

Yay more buddy reads! This one looks like such an interesting premise, away from the vampires and werewolves :D

[Sarah]

Everybody ready to start this tomorrow?

[Komal]

I'll join you. I was planning on reading this anyways. Can't wait :)

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence)]

Ooh lucky you reminded me because I nearly forgot about this one! I should be ready, if not the day after.

[Sarah]

Awesome! Can't wait to start this! :D

[Lis]

Still in too... Unfortunately i won't get to it til mon or tue, but will start this week.

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence)]

Alright just about to pick this up! Glad we will have a few joining the discussion this time! :)

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence)]

So I'm about 13% in (just reached Chapter 5) and I like how badass Liv is. It's refreshing to see a main character who can fight her way through without using whiny words or her influence on men. Maybe it's the type of books I've been reading lately.

It was a bit strange around chapter 3 how the character perspective changed from Liv to Cam though without any warning. Took me a while to figure that out.

Chapter 4 spoiler

(view spoiler)[I didn't really understand what happened there. So was Liv lying about the gang boss not owning her? So basically he gets to have his way with her whenever he pleases? What happened to her being rogue? (hide spoiler)]

[Komal]

I agree Jeann, I like the kind of herione Liv is. Badass and bold without being too overpowering. I'm not really liking Cam though. I can't pinpoint what it is exactly.

(view spoiler)[I think the world believes Liv to be rogue while she really has a deal with Cavazo. But I also don't get why she's sleeping with him. (hide spoiler)]

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence)]

I just reached Chapter Eleven and the question presented above was answered, which is interesting. (view spoiler)[She clearly used to be branded under Cavazo's ownership but her tattoo on her back clearly depicts that she's an independent. I think she's letting Cavazo have his way with her to trick him into thinking that he still owns her. (hide spoiler)]

Quite a lot of the book so far clearly depicts the significance of marks, your loyalty to factions, and how to track people. I have a feeling there's going to be a big build up. It seems like the story arc focuses itself around a big mystery.

(view spoiler)[ There's also a building romance between Cam and Liv that I am enjoying because they clearly have chemistry but Liv is afraid to delve back in. (hide spoiler)]

[Lis]

Slowly catching up... Starting Ch 6. So far I'm liking that it has both POVs and waiting to see what Liv's mysteries are, so I'm not spoiler peeking yet.

How far behind am I?

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence)]

Well I just reached Chapter 13...going through a few chapters a day. I think I'm ahead of everyone though.

[Lis]

Good, not too far behind. It took a couple of tries to get into it, but now it's getting more interesting and moving along.

[Komal]

I just started chapter 12. Jeann is a super fast reader, I'm just trying to keep up ;)

It's starting to lag for me a bit. But I really like the concept and the world. There are so many different layers to world-from Binders to Trackers. I also like the similarities to mafia.

(view spoiler)[I'm curious to see what it was that Noelle predicted. What lead Liv to leave Cam? Also in regard to Cavazo, I got the impression that Liv is still bound to him. The tattoo on her back holds no power and is for show only. After hearing Van's story, I think Cavazo placed Liv's tattoo on her thigh to make it clear that even though she's working for him, she's also his whore (hide spoiler)]

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence)]

Ohhh maybe I should slow down a bit! :) glad to see you're not too far behind though. I do think it's a little slow paced, most of it is developing the relationship and remembering past between Cam and Liv, as well as slowly building upon the world of Binders and Trackers.

Thanks for that insight Komal, (view spoiler)[ I got a little confused about whether she was still bound to him or not. Maybe Liv's stance is that she's an independent and she somehow got Cavazo to keep quiet about how the binding. Anyhow, Cavazo is a slimeball and he gives me the creeps.

I can really feel Anne's desperation, especially with the way she's using Liv. It's kind of annoying, like she could have just asked Liv the normal way without trying to leverage their binding and somehow her tricks are quite desperate. I feel like there's something she's not telling us. Maybe not knowing who Hadley's real father is led her to use desperate measures to protect herself and her daughter. I just know there's more to the story here. (hide spoiler)]

[Komal]

No Jeann don't slow down, catching up with you keeps me going :) I'm on chapter 16 and things are starting to fall into place and it's getting really exciting.

(view spoiler)[ I think that having Liv keep quiet is also an advantage for Cavazo. She's like his secret weapon and with the power struggle between the syndicates, binding Liv seems like a win-win for him. But I agree with you Jeann, Cavazo is exhibiting some psychotic tendencies. Having sex with his wife when he knows Liv was going to enter the room was gross.

Throwing the binding into play without first even trying to ask was low of Anne. I got the feeling that Anne was a serious player in getting her husband killed. Something just doesn't feel right. (hide spoiler)]

Spoilers up to chapter 16: (view spoiler)[ Things are starting to get interesting since Cam denounced himself from Tower's syndicate. Now we know where Liv and Cam's loyalties really lie: with each other. Also, it seems like were now going to learn about the deal Liv has with Cavazo. (hide spoiler)]

[Lis]

At chp 14, so I'm catching up... It seems to be picking up a little. I still want to know what Anne is up to.

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence)]

Wow I don't read for a night and you've already taken over - I'll catch up tonight! Glad to see that it's starting to get exciting, it's kind of slow paced at the start.

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence)]

Ok I just reached Chapter 22. Things are starting to get interesting.

(view spoiler)[I'm glad we finally found out about the contract between Cavazo and Liv because I knew there was something not right there. Meiko (Cavazo's wife) is an unstable biyatch. (hide spoiler)]

I think it's dragging a bit still, the way the story unfolds is kind of slow. You get lots of insight into Cam and Olivia and their past relationships, but I kind of wish the story would move a long faster. I've reached about 65% of the way and nothing much has really happened - it's not too action-packed at this stage.

[Komal]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this book is moving slowly. So much time was spent on hiding what happened six years ago, and when it was finally revealed, it sort of felt like a letdown.

(view spoiler)[ The mystery behind why Liv bound herself to Cavazo was probably the biggest disappointment. Doing it for Cam is great but I was expecting more.

I can't wait till we meet Jake Towers. He's been talked about and discussed in conversation. He's also one of the key players in the game, but he has yet to make an appearance. (hide spoiler)]

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence)]

Yeah glad you agree Komal, wondering whether it was just me!

(view spoiler)[I agree with you about what Liv did for Cam, I kind of rolled my eyes when I read that because it was all a bit cliche for me. That's not a valid excuse for tying yourself to the biggest scumbag in history. (hide spoiler)]

Just reached Chapter 27 and things are getting more exciting.

(view spoiler)[Liv tells Cavazo what's going on as matter of factly like he's not a rotten scum who beats her up. I know the binding makes her have to tell him, but it seemed like she was just talking to a friend or something about it, there was no anomisity whatsoever.

I find that things are wrapping up a little too neatly. I mean what is the chance that Cavazo's kid is actually Hadley, who is actually Elle's, who is actually Cavazo's mistress? I kind of saw Hadley being Cavazo's a mile away - you've got a missing kid who you don't know who the father is and a missing child who the father is looking for.

It seemed like they were trying to paint Cavazo in another way that may be sympathetic and I just feel nothing for that scumbag.

And then they explain that Elle's powers as a Seer sort of reached over the next 20 years and she set it all up with the binding and everything. If she knew she was going to die, why not prevent that instead?

It's all getting a little too unbelievable, sure it makes for a great story but when all the pieces fall into place and match up it's kind of lame. Not to say I'm not enjoying it, I guess having to think a little deeper about what I'm reading is the benefit of a buddy read :) (hide spoiler)]

[Lis]

I agree Komal... Six year hiatus for what real reason? Motive turned out flimsy after the hype.

Go Jeann! I didn't make much of dent at lunch today at Chp 19.

[Lis]

On the final stretch, 3 chapters to go but work is calling... Anyone interested in moving on to the next one?

[Komal]

Just finished the book and the ending was odd. Let me know what you guys thought of it.

(view spoiler)[ I didn’t notice till you mentioned it Jeann, but everything did seem to wrap up a little too nicely. I find it hard to believe that Tower’s would just let Cam go without retribution of some sort. Cam was probably one of greatest reason’s the whole operation failed and he just let him go. Didn’t seem believable to me.

And like I said, the ending was odd. The whole book was about Liv’s journey to free herself from Cavazo and at the end, she’s back to where she started. Yeah I get that she has Cam now but still. It felt like a waste. (hide spoiler)]

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence)]

Agh, I've been sitting on this for a day or so, not much to go. I'll let you know what I think once I finish. Lis, I'll see how I feel when I finish the book!

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence)]

OK I just finished, I think the final rating I would give it is 3.5. When I look back at the book, a lot of it was world-building, relationship building, and reflecting on the past.

There's an interesting idea here to do with people with special abilities and binders, but really I found there could have been much more action involved. When I look back at the nearly 500 pages, the bulk of the story is pretty much Cam and Liv talking to each other and reflecting and reminiscing and that's it. There were about 2 action scenes (Liv getting shot and the end bit) if I recall correctly.

(view spoiler)[I think the ending was kind of sad, it just shows that no matter how hard you try, those who are Skilled can't escape serving either Cavazo or Tower.

Honestly, after witnessing Cavazo towards the end, even though he abuses and uses people and cheats on people, he's actually not half bad. It showed the more human side to him when his kid got involved and I think I prefer that over what Tower's doing with kidnapping Skilled kids.

I do think it's not really that believable that they let Cam, Kori, AND Liv go, in fact after such a final show down with the 2 mob bosses, no one dies. It does wrap up a bit cleanly for my sake. (hide spoiler)]

Thoughts aside, I'll be interested in reading the next one too. Not sure when, last week of August might be good or maybe later.

Here's my review here.

[Komal]

My thoughts exactly. I felt the same way after finishing the book. Loved the premise of being bound and having Skills, but a huge chunk of the book was a bunch of rambling on the author's part.

I'm in for the next book Lis. From the summary, it seems like this time around were going to get more of Towers and we'll actually get to see the main relationship (between Kori and Ian, I think it is) build.

[Lis]

I agree. I think there was a lot of potential but (view spoiler)[she failed to connect several of the big dramatic build ups that we were anticipating. There were some creative and fresh storylines woven thru this new series. When it came to the big reveal, it kind of fizzled... Or she had already minimized the impact that it was just a little non-event. Which is kind of a shame that much of the book became filler fluff. I agree, for the book to end where it did with both of them more or less locked to Cavazo for a longer spell. Definitely not a hea ending. (hide spoiler)]

I still want to see where this new series is going. It wasn't bad, just could have been condensed into fewer pages. Hopefully it's the "new series" hurdle and since all the world building is in place, the focus will be on the next set of characters. Komal can you wait until Jeann can join us in August? Or do you want to start sooner?

[Komal]

August sounds perfect Lis.

[Jeann (Happy Indulgence)]

Cool, did you want to make the thread again Lis? I'm good starting August 27th.

Wow it looks like the sequel has Kori as the main character!

[Lis]

Added Shadow Bound buddy read: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/9...