Blood Bound by Rachel Vincent Series: Unbound #1
Published by Harlequin MIRA on 9/1/11
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Format: eBook
Source: Mel's Magnificent Library
Add to your Goodreads TBR Pile
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.
No matter what the cost.
Smash wants to preface this review with a HUGE THUMBS UP.
Listen to Mel. She knows what she’s talkin’ bout!
“Only two-thirty in the morning, and I already had blood on my hands.”
What an opening line! Rachel Vincent has managed to once again create an incredibly original paranormal world that draws you in and leaves you wanting more. I love both her Shifters and Soul Screamers series and was really curious what she would do with this book. The concept was really intriguing and original but was it enough to build a world on? Oh hell yes, it is! I was sucked in from the opening line and stayed up way too late just because I had to know how it ended. I literally could not put this book down. I didn’t want to eat, I didn’t want to sleep. I just wanted to sit my happy ass on the couch and read until I couldn’t hold my eyes open anymore. That’s how engrossed I was.
In the Unbound world there are Skilled and Un-Skilled people and your word is your bond. If you agree to something and take an oath, you are bound to that person until that agreement is fulfilled. If not, you suffer the consequences; excruciating pain which can lead to death. The government doesn’t recognize the Skilled but uses them for their abilities off book. Because they aren’t regulated by the government, mafia-like crime syndicates have set up shop and taken over. In this case, the city is split; Jake Towers controls the West and Ruben Cavazos controls the East, leaving one small, neutral area in the city. The syndicates take what they want through manipulation, coercion and sometimes even kidnapping and murder. Liv is a blood Tracker and is caught in the middle. Though she’s a freelancer, she bound herself to Cavazos, a man she hates, because she felt she had no choice. She lives a miserable, lonely life to protect the man she ran from six years ago. She wants to be free to live her life even if it is empty.
One night while out of a run she finds Cam, Name Tracker and love of her life, waiting for her. He tells her a friend needs her help. Liv doesn’t want to help her but has no choice, she’s been bound to Anne since she was 12 years old. In order to track the person that killed Anne’s husband, Liv must work with Cam and hope that her deepest fears don’t come true.
I loved, loved, loved this book! It was a great beginning to a trilogy that has a lot of potential for development. While each book will focus on a different set of characters, Unbound is far more urban fantasy than paranormal romance though there are romantic aspects throughout. The characters are intriguing and I actually found myself really liking the bad guy, which doesn’t happen very often. Cavazos is a man you really don’t want to frak with. He’s dangerous, twisted and cruel but the connection between him and Liv was so chilling that I couldn’t stop thinking about him when the book was over. I wanted to hate him but I just couldn’t; he simply fascinated me.
One of the many things I love about Rachel Vincen’ts style of writing is that she not only invests in the main characters but the secondary characters, as well. The main characters in Blood Bound were great. I really felt for the struggle both Liv and Cam had to go through and wanted to see them beat the odds and end up together. Though I found Anne a bit annoying, I loved Kori and can’t wait to see what’s in store for her. She’s angry, snarky and her Skill is super cool; I’m looking forward to learning more about it. So glad Kori’s book, Shadow Bound, is next.
Rachel Vincent is a must read author for me. If you are a fan of dark urban fantasy and are tired of reading the same old thing, give Blood Bound a shot. It’s very imaginative, will hook you from line one and is hands down my favorite urban fantasy book released in 2011.
© 2012 – 2013, xmelaniexthomasx. All rights reserved.
| Leave a Reply | |
|
|
|
I just started reading the Soul Screamers series and love it. You’ve convinced me that I now need to check out the rest of Vincent’s books. Thanks! Great review.
Rachel Vincent is a phenomenal urban fantasy author. I hope you enjoy the Unbound world as much as I do. Just so you know, those Soul Screamers books get better-and-better and the last two are too awesome for words.
Shirley – RV’s Shifter series is one of my ALL TIME favorites in UF. In all honesty, she cannot do wrong.
I have this one and book 2! I can’t wait to read them during the fall
If you like dark urban fantasy you will be sucked right in and won’t want to put them down. Lucky for you you won’t have to wait for Shadow Bound. Waiting for that book was torture for me. Hope you lurve them as much as I do!
I am picky about my Urban Fantasy but I loved the Shifter series and Rachel’s Writing! I started Blood Bound and then had to read some other things (plus someone warned me that I would want book 2 on hand)! I am really looking forward to it
What I like most about the Unbound world is that it is soooo different than anything else she’s written. Your friend is right about not wanting to wait for book two. I wanted Shadow Bound so badly after reading this book that I preordered it as soon as it was available. Now I’m itching for Oath Bound, the last book in the trilogy. Can’t wait to see how the series ends.
Great review! I liked Blood Bound, how people were bound by blood (yeah, title fits) and couldn’t break their oaths. Lead to tons of conflict and trouble!
I’m glad you liked it. I love the concept of this series and can’t wait to see what happens next. I’m just disappointed it’s only a trilogy. Oath Bound will be bittersweet for me.
Yay I’m glad you liked this one so much. I have most of Vincent’s books on my shelf but I have yet to actually get around to reading any of them. I’m also glad to hear this is more urban fantasy instead of romance because for some reason I’m liking UF more than just adult romance lately.
Thanks for the great review, I hope you enjoy the rest of this series.
There are romantic aspects but it’s definitely not PNR. Rachel Vincent is a phenomenal UF author and I hope you enjoy her books.
Ooh that’s a wicked opening line! I’m almost ashamed to say I’ve never read a Rachel Vincent book despite the infinite recommendations O_O But wow this one sounds right up my alley with great character development for all, not just the MC – as a huge character reader that a big hit for me! And that dangerous, twisted and cruel definitely piques my interest! >.< Plus I totally love this cover and already had my eye on it!! Aweosme review!
It’s not often that I find myself wanting more of the big bad in a book but I lurve me some dangerous, twisted, cruel, and charismatic bad guys. Cavazos was right up my alley. Hope you enjoy him as much as I did.
That *is* a great opening line. I’m so intrigued now. I haven’t read any of her books yet, isn’t that awful? I’ll have to put her on my to read soon list.
If you read and enjoy Blood Bound I suggest reading Rachel Vincent’s other series. Her Shifters series is made of awesome and Soul Screamers is one of my favorite YA series. The lady hasn’t written a book I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed.
Rachel Vincent is amazing…I may set up a shrine to her in my office/library, lol. I’ve tried to get my hands on this book a couple of times but whenever I go to the store, they don’t have it on the shelf. Curses!
Great review, Mel! Now I’m extra excited to read this
Rachel has grown to be one of my favorite authors. She needs a shrine. *grins* I hope you are able to find the book so you can get engrossed in the Unbound world. It’s amazing.