Reviews with content warning for Violence - Blood Bound

I read Blood Bound in 2020 during the Romanceopoly Challenge hosted by Under the Covers Book Blog and reread it this year (2023) for a refresher before I read the third book. I’ve meant to read this series and will be making time this year (2023) to catch up, especially since I’m listening to the series because Lorelei King is the narrator.

Storyline/My Thoughts: This book was another action-packed adventure for Mercy Thompson, where she puts herself at risk to save her friends, who end up in the clutches of the latest threat in the area. This threat is not only a challenge for her but for the wolf shifters and vampires. Stephan is the one that lets her know of the threat since she owes him one after he assisted her with saving the alpha wolf’s daughter in the first book. The issue is Mercy is only a walker and knows nothing about unaliving the threat, and she’ll need the help of Stephan’s maker, her old boss, and other Fae to help her, but even they think it’s a risk she’s taking that she shouldn’t. Mercy can’t just sit back and let the threat unalive more innocent people, especially when it takes some of her friends and even attempts to unalive one of them. It’s up to her to deal with the threat, even if she has no clue how to handle it.

This is why I love Mercy Thompson because everyone underestimates her. She may not seem as strong as everyone thinks, but even the vampires are weary of her. She’s one of her own kind, and back in the day, vampires knew she was a threat to them. Mercy grew up with the wolves, so she’s unsure of everything she can do regarding being a walker. I can’t wait to learn more about her as I read more books in this series.

This is a fantasy book so it will have a lot of world-building, paranormal elements/creatures, and less romance in the storyline. There is a romance blooming, though, and it’s between two of the MMCs that are in love with Mercy. She used to have a crush on one of the MMCs when she was younger, and the other is the alpha wolf in the Tri-Cites area that told his pack she was his mate, which she never agreed to but kept her protected from the pack. I’m team Adam in this book, who is the alpha wolf leader, but Samuel, the one she was in love with previously, may have won me a bit in this book.

The ending of this book left me shocked since I didn’t expect the twist at the end on who was behind everything. This character plays a significant role in assisting Mercy the whole time, and when she finds out the truth, she’s not happy about it.

I love this series by Patricia Briggs and can’t wait to binge the rest. I need to find out if Mercy ends up with one of the male wolves or if she decides to tell them both off.

Story Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the Mercy Thompson series, and I recommend reading in order.

Do I recommend this book? Yes. If you enjoy the subgenre Urban Fantasy, I recommend this book/series.

Genre/SubGenre(s): Fiction | Fantasy | Urban Fantasy

Content Warnings

booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

BLOOD BOUND draws Mercy into vampiric machinations when Stefan requests her as an unassuming witness during a visit to a strange vampire.

This does more worldbuilding for the vampires and the fae, similarly to how MOON CALLED focused on werewolves and had a secondary focus on the vampires. Sometime between the first book and this one the werewolves went public to a limited degree, and there's a minor side plot which involves this change.

I don’t think this specifically wraps up anything left from the first book. It focuses on Stefan and the vampires who were introduced in MOON CALLED, and features many returning werewolves as well as a few new ones. The main antagonist and his murder spree is introduced and resolved in this book. I know from having read further in the series that it leaves something for later, but the actual text doesn't do anything to indicate it at the time. It does have hints of a series-long tangle of some kind surrounding Mercy’s love life. Mercy is still the narrator, with a very matter-of-fact style and a decent amount of insight into werewolves. It could make sense to start here, since most of the vampires are new in this book, but it would be better to have read MOON CALLED first.

The plot involves a strange vampire and various attempts to stop him from killing indiscriminately and leaving ancillary violence in his wake. This book still feels like it's setting up the world and getting things ready for something big later. We're also introduced to Mercy's ability see and (sometimes) speak to ghosts, which is part of her abilities as a walker. This one has never been my favorite, as it feels like it's still moving pieces around and isn't nearly as good as some of the later books. I think part of why I dislike it is that (other than what Mercy borrows) it feels utterly inconsequential within the main series after it's been read once.

Not terrible, not my favorite in the series, this one feels like a bottle episode (which is a weird vibe for the second book).

Content Warnings

mzynda's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

severelyhopefulcloud's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

vexbatch's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

mybookishdelights's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

[Third Read - 2022 - 5 stars (9.00)]

I'm not sure how this still grips me on a third read, but it does. I am probably biased though because I already love these characters. I love seeing them have development that goes at a realistic pace. This book focuses more on the vampires and they are still creepy. I would not call them loveable at all.

CAWPILE Score: 9.00 = 5 stars
Characters: 10
Atmosphere: 9
Writing: 9
Plot: 8
Intrigue: 9
Logic: 9
Enjoyment: 9

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[Second Read - 2019 - 4 stars]
I still enjoyed this story and the vampires still gave me the creeps. Mercy remains a character that I like and the love triangle in this is a subtle subplot. I don't really have a lot to say. My rating stays the same.

Challenges:
2019 Goodreads Challenge
2019 Alphabet Challenge
A Book For Every Year - 2007
2019 Pop Sugar Challenge - A book with a two-word title

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[First Read - 2017 - 4 stars]
The problem with reading a series like this too close together is they start to blend together. I definitely enjoyed this book and I'm really liking the characters that are involved in these stories. I'm interested to see who Mercy picks in her love triangle and so far that hasn't been shoved in the reader's face. Mercy is a likable character with just the right amount of badass and humanity.

Challenges:
2017 Goodreads Challenge

Content Warnings

nightshadelibrary's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

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