M.J. Stevens
Series: The Guardians, #1
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Word Rating: Interesting
On Goodreads
About the book:
‘No good deed ever goes unpunished, Mellea…’
Mellea Wendorn hasn’t exactly had a normal life. Misfortune seems to follow her, and her family, wherever she goes. However, when Mellea stops to assist a mysterious young man suddenly her prior hardships seem trivial.
His name is Leo. He is a Successor, a child of the Guardians of Selestia.
He is royalty.
He is handsome.
And he wants Mellea completely to himself.
Unable to escape the Guardian’s laws, Mellea must learn the ways of the royals. She is convinced her life can’t get much worse. But when a timeworn Guardian enemy arises from the shadows, Mellea must make a choice that will change her destiny forever.
Review:
When I started reading Bound it kind of felt like a contemporary - Mellea is a girl who just graduated from high school and is working to save money to pay for college; however, my mistake was not for long. Soon after, M.J. Stevens began to introduce Selestia and the idea of the Guardians.
As I was reading, I was skeptical at first. The inciting incident is nothing less than alarming - throwing Mellea into the world of the Guardians, a world she cannot escape. It seemed almost cruel to me what was happening to Mellea, especially with some of her initial exchanges with Leo. There's one in particular that I found particularly alarming and I was worried that she'd forgive him without another mention of the happening. Fortunately, M.J. Stevens had Leo bring up the event and sort of rationalized it to a point where I was no longer appalled by his actions and unable to forgive him.
Throughout the story I found it very easy to understand Mellea's point of view and to care about her. While at times she felt younger than her age, more like the 16-year-old heroines in other young adult novels, I still felt like she had reason behind her thoughts and actions. The way she transforms when she finally decides to make the best out of the situation is something I think can apply to all people in various situations.
While the reveal of the enemy was fairly predictable, I still enjoyed that aspect of the story as well. The enemy was interesting and I was constantly intrigued by what they were up to and what the Guardians would do to defeat them. The action helped to balance out some parts of the story that were less eventful, such as Mellea's study time.
All in all, I did enjoy Bound. I liked the idea of the Guardians as well as the enemy and I'm intrigued by some of the elements in the story that were set up for later on. I look forward to see what M.J. Stevens has in store for Mellea, her relationship with Leo, and the Guardians' battle against their enemy.
- Kiersten
Purchase links:
About the author:
For a long time, words were never her best friend. However she has always had a creative spirit and writing became the lead way that she could share her ideas with the world. Today, it is her number one passion in life.
“I wish I could say that I was one of those kids that read insane amounts of books and that’s why I was inspired to write, like a lot of authors. But I actually found the joy on people’s faces [when they talk about stories they love] more inspiring and wanted to create something of my own that will give young readers that same excited expression.”
Author links:
Giveaway:
Tour-wide giveaway: Paperback copy of Bound (UK English edition)(US/CAN)
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Glad you liked it, Kiersten! It sounds like a pretty fun read overall! :)
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