Book by BeronikaKeres
Set right after the events of Cracked Coffins, this sequel dives deep headfirst into that succulent Marianna-Denendrius drama we all loved at first. Except now, there's a twist. Time is running thin, the walls are closing on, and Denendrius has forgotten his entire life as a vampire!
Now, I was intrigued during the first few chapters. Denendrius' new dilemma gave way to some hilarious moments, which I welcomed after the PTSD I got from Coffins. The character of Rayonne is fleshed out well, her backstory having meaning to the plot and not being cast aside. I also thought the inclusion of Mr Derek was nice little quirky addition. He served as the straight man in the very strange group.
One gripe with these two is that their eventual romance arc feels rather forced. Rayonne has settled her demons and Mr Derek knows after everything he's seen lately, there's no going back. Maybe I'm just not into love schmuck, but unfortunately it didn't satisfy me.
The other pairing, Marianna and Den, go through a rollercoaster ride through this book. Marianna initially disdains Den, but progressively becomes softer and by the end of the book, is screaming her delusional head off begging to stay with him, even though he's, y'know, an asshole. I thought that Stockholm Syndrome style plot line made me sympathetic for Marianna, while also baffled. This vampire being has torn up her life so much that Mr Derek needs to force her into the plane to leave.
Blood Bound leaves a lot of questions hanging in the air for the third entry, Harrowed Hearts, which I'm guessing takes place at Viorel's castle.
That's another problem I found with this book, setting and pacing. While I understand this isn't a Michael Bay action flick or Mad Max: Fury Road, where action and frenetic pacing are key components, but I found the plot during the second act to be dragging on seemingly forever. There's only so much time I can spend immersed in one setting, that being the apartment they hide Den in, before getting bored of it. Yes, the action eventually picks up once Marianna's gang, the Red Revenge, show up, but that's well over the halfway point.
Overall, Blood Bound is a neat, solid follow-up book which develops each character (minus maybe Denendrius, as it was all a ruse by the end). We get some more world building, it generates interest to go read Book 3, but the claustrophobic, repetitive feel added by a dull moving pace put this book lower than its predecessor.
7/10
