carlyroth10's review against another edition
4.0
A super good fantasy and a very fun read. I had a few problems with it so let’s get started:
First of all, the romance was weak. I like Erec so much more than Armand since the author spent all her time hyping her and Erec up for the sole purpose of the bamboozle that he was bad. Meanwhile, she tried to slip Armand into the arena but I did not care about Armand. I was always a team Erec person until he was all evil(but honestly I saw it coming) and even after that I didn’t feel any emotion towards Armand. I felt like Erec had the entire Frenemies to lover story line not Armand.
THAT BEING SAID: the book was fantastic. The forest was creepy as hell, well the entire book was creepy as hell. It perfectly “retells” the story of little red riding hood by not even making it about that. She did the same thing in Cruel Beauty and it was fabulous. I wish she had come out with more than just the two books, but alas I’m satisfied with the two. I loved the darkness that was Crimson Bound and I didn’t hate Rachelle in the slightest.
First of all, the romance was weak. I like Erec so much more than Armand since the author spent all her time hyping her and Erec up for the sole purpose of the bamboozle that he was bad. Meanwhile, she tried to slip Armand into the arena but I did not care about Armand. I was always a team Erec person until he was all evil(but honestly I saw it coming) and even after that I didn’t feel any emotion towards Armand. I felt like Erec had the entire Frenemies to lover story line not Armand.
THAT BEING SAID: the book was fantastic. The forest was creepy as hell, well the entire book was creepy as hell. It perfectly “retells” the story of little red riding hood by not even making it about that. She did the same thing in Cruel Beauty and it was fabulous. I wish she had come out with more than just the two books, but alas I’m satisfied with the two. I loved the darkness that was Crimson Bound and I didn’t hate Rachelle in the slightest.
mollyxmiller's review against another edition
4.0
My review can be found at my blog:
https://mollyrmiller.wordpress.com/2015/09/12/crimson-bound-by-rosamund-hodge/
https://mollyrmiller.wordpress.com/2015/09/12/crimson-bound-by-rosamund-hodge/
yanners's review against another edition
1.0
You know it’s bad when you’d rather sleep than flip the page // RTC
1 star
1 star
erinarkin20's review against another edition
3.0
Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge is inspired by the Little Red Riding Hood tale and I enjoyed what Hodge did with this story.
Rachelle’s story begins when she is fifteen and apprenticed to her aunt in learning to protect her village from the dark magic that threatens them. Thinking she can outwit the dangers in the forest, Rachelle breaks the rules her aunt gave to her and becomes tied to the evil that made her what she is, a bloodbound. Not only that, a bloodbound who serves the King.
As Rachelle receives some information that the Devourer is returning to bring about “endless night”, she decides her mission is to find the only thing that will destroy the Devourer, a sword that was forged for that purpose alone. To add a bit of a challenge, she is also assigned to protect his son, Armand. Armand is not someone Rachelle respects, mostly because of the message he projects.
Armand is the King’s illegitimate son and looked upon as a martyr because he supposedly faced the bloodbound and refused to kill. As punishment, the forestborn chopped off his hands but let him live. This does not sit well with Rachelle because she knows a forestborn would never forget to claim someone and she hates that she is forced to guard someone who reminds her everyday about what she did and what she is,
As Rachelle searches for the sword, she and Armand come to an agreement and begin to search together. While Rachelle is looking to eliminate the Devourer, Armand has a secret agenda and he uses his relationships to help further his cause.
I enjoyed seeing the change in the relationship between Rachelle and Armand. At first she doesn’t respect Armand and eventually as she learns more about him and what he has been through, she begins to understand him…or so she thinks. When something happens between Rachelle and Armand that makes her doubt everything between them, Rachelle ends up in the arms of Erec.
Erec is a bloodbound and he also is the King’s right hand man. Erec is also the man who helped Rachelle adjust to her role serving the King. Although Rachelle never really trusted Erec, she found herself drawn to him and was constantly fighting the urge she had to give in to him. When Rachelle ends up in Erec’s arms, she finds out some things she never expected and I have to admit, it was a twist I wasn’t expecting.
So there is a lot more to this story than I am mentioning but I can’t really mention a lot as I don’t want to give anything away. I thought Hodge did a good job of building the world in this story and she has used the Little Red Riding Hood story as a base to create a story that includes magic, action, and some swoony parts. Consider checking this story out when you can. I found myself quickly turning the pages to see what was going to happen next and with all of the twists and turns, it was one of those books that kept me interested until the very last page.
Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for the review copy.
Rachelle’s story begins when she is fifteen and apprenticed to her aunt in learning to protect her village from the dark magic that threatens them. Thinking she can outwit the dangers in the forest, Rachelle breaks the rules her aunt gave to her and becomes tied to the evil that made her what she is, a bloodbound. Not only that, a bloodbound who serves the King.
As Rachelle receives some information that the Devourer is returning to bring about “endless night”, she decides her mission is to find the only thing that will destroy the Devourer, a sword that was forged for that purpose alone. To add a bit of a challenge, she is also assigned to protect his son, Armand. Armand is not someone Rachelle respects, mostly because of the message he projects.
Armand is the King’s illegitimate son and looked upon as a martyr because he supposedly faced the bloodbound and refused to kill. As punishment, the forestborn chopped off his hands but let him live. This does not sit well with Rachelle because she knows a forestborn would never forget to claim someone and she hates that she is forced to guard someone who reminds her everyday about what she did and what she is,
As Rachelle searches for the sword, she and Armand come to an agreement and begin to search together. While Rachelle is looking to eliminate the Devourer, Armand has a secret agenda and he uses his relationships to help further his cause.
I enjoyed seeing the change in the relationship between Rachelle and Armand. At first she doesn’t respect Armand and eventually as she learns more about him and what he has been through, she begins to understand him…or so she thinks. When something happens between Rachelle and Armand that makes her doubt everything between them, Rachelle ends up in the arms of Erec.
Erec is a bloodbound and he also is the King’s right hand man. Erec is also the man who helped Rachelle adjust to her role serving the King. Although Rachelle never really trusted Erec, she found herself drawn to him and was constantly fighting the urge she had to give in to him. When Rachelle ends up in Erec’s arms, she finds out some things she never expected and I have to admit, it was a twist I wasn’t expecting.
So there is a lot more to this story than I am mentioning but I can’t really mention a lot as I don’t want to give anything away. I thought Hodge did a good job of building the world in this story and she has used the Little Red Riding Hood story as a base to create a story that includes magic, action, and some swoony parts. Consider checking this story out when you can. I found myself quickly turning the pages to see what was going to happen next and with all of the twists and turns, it was one of those books that kept me interested until the very last page.
Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for the review copy.
geldauran's review against another edition
5.0
Ahh, be still my heart. Apparently Rosamund Hodge as an author just gets me. She knows what I want, and she gives it to me. This book is lush, dark, romantic, hungry -- much like Cruel Beauty there is something here that is almost a fairy tale, almost a romance, almost- but it has just the right amount of teeth. This book feels to me the way "Howl" by Florence + The Machine does, something wicked and angsty and hungry and makes you want to run barefoot through a forest with your face painted in the blood of your enemies.
This book is being sold as a "Red Riding Hood" retelling, but its more of a mix between Red Riding Hood, The Girl with No Hands, The Milk White Doo or The Juniper Tree (or some other "Mother Killed Me, Father Ate Me" variant),with some original fantasy elements that take it away from a straight fairy tale retelling. And I love me some fairy tale elements in my books.
I don't want to talk too much about the plot, because I debate my ability to keep things spoiler-free, but suffice to say that I loved the mythology of this book- the forestborn, the bloodbound, the Great Forest, the Devourer, Zisa and Tyr-- I could roll around and luxuriate for days in fantasy worlds with this kind of world building. I also loved the characters. Right away I loved Rachelle, for being brave and foolish and stepping off the path. I loved her for choosing to live. And I loved Erec immediately and unabashedly, in the worst kind of way. I cannot apologize- imperious, flightly, unrepentant creatures will always win my heart. I unfortunately feel nothing more than lukewarm about Armand, and to be quite honest, I never felt the *spark* I think I was supposed to feel about Armand, which made Rachelle's interest in him a bit baffling to me. And so, though I reluctantly could not support the main relationship of the book, I got over it.
I don't really know what else to say. Fairy tales and fantasy and deadly girls with sharp smiles and sharper hearts *le sigh* I don't think this book will be for everyone, but it was certainly for me.
This book is being sold as a "Red Riding Hood" retelling, but its more of a mix between Red Riding Hood, The Girl with No Hands, The Milk White Doo or The Juniper Tree (or some other "Mother Killed Me, Father Ate Me" variant),with some original fantasy elements that take it away from a straight fairy tale retelling. And I love me some fairy tale elements in my books.
I don't want to talk too much about the plot, because I debate my ability to keep things spoiler-free, but suffice to say that I loved the mythology of this book- the forestborn, the bloodbound, the Great Forest, the Devourer, Zisa and Tyr-- I could roll around and luxuriate for days in fantasy worlds with this kind of world building. I also loved the characters. Right away I loved Rachelle, for being brave and foolish and stepping off the path. I loved her for choosing to live. And I loved Erec immediately and unabashedly, in the worst kind of way. I cannot apologize- imperious, flightly, unrepentant creatures will always win my heart. I unfortunately feel nothing more than lukewarm about Armand, and to be quite honest, I never felt the *spark* I think I was supposed to feel about Armand, which made Rachelle's interest in him a bit baffling to me. And so, though I reluctantly could not support the main relationship of the book, I got over it.
I don't really know what else to say. Fairy tales and fantasy and deadly girls with sharp smiles and sharper hearts *le sigh* I don't think this book will be for everyone, but it was certainly for me.
diaryofthebookdragon's review against another edition
3.0
Just didn't work for me. Could not connect to the characters, romance or get immersed into the world.
marpesea's review against another edition
5.0
This book is incredible- beautiful language and an incredibly detailed world make up for any slight flaws. It's got a bit of a love triangle that's overshadowed by the threat of political unrest and the Devourer (a powerful, godlike figure who may be coming to swallow up the sun and moon). It was damn near perfect.
This book has left me with the worst case of TEABS in a long while... I've re-listened to the first chunks several times and bought a physical copy to re-read. If anyone can think of a similar listen-alike, I would be indebted. (The narrator, Elizabeth Knowelden, is glorious).
Reread:
This has become a comfort read/listen for me. I love the narrator and the fairy tale framing device. Previously my only criticism might have been that I didn’t buy the romance. This time the romance worked for me, but some of the religious aspects/parallels rubbed me the wrong way. Still an excellent read.
This book has left me with the worst case of TEABS in a long while... I've re-listened to the first chunks several times and bought a physical copy to re-read. If anyone can think of a similar listen-alike, I would be indebted. (The narrator, Elizabeth Knowelden, is glorious).
Reread:
This has become a comfort read/listen for me. I love the narrator and the fairy tale framing device. Previously my only criticism might have been that I didn’t buy the romance. This time the romance worked for me, but some of the religious aspects/parallels rubbed me the wrong way. Still an excellent read.
mrose21's review against another edition
Crimson Bound ★
I'm sorry I just can't do this.
It's boring the more I think I have to read this book because it is expiring next week from Scribd the more I don't want to read it or listen to it.
I may when I get an hour listen to the last few chapters just to see if I miss anything that I give two flies about. I won't I'm pretty sure because this book just isn't for me. It just makes listening to a book a chore and maybe I would have enjoyed this book if I had read it instead of listening to it I may have enjoyed this book but realistically I hate it now.
Like I physically want to scream when I think about this book and I'm willing to drive myself crazy from my OCD kicking off with me because I didn't do this in order, and give up on this book. It isn't a did not finish because I'll finish it. Just not now and isn't be by missing out most of the book because I think that is probably the only way to do it.
Saving grace is this isn't a series. PRAISE THE LORD
And an extra special fact is this book made me create my new shelf which is "regrets" so glad I didn't buy this book.
I'm sorry I just can't do this.
It's boring the more I think I have to read this book because it is expiring next week from Scribd the more I don't want to read it or listen to it.
I may when I get an hour listen to the last few chapters just to see if I miss anything that I give two flies about. I won't I'm pretty sure because this book just isn't for me. It just makes listening to a book a chore and maybe I would have enjoyed this book if I had read it instead of listening to it I may have enjoyed this book but realistically I hate it now.
Like I physically want to scream when I think about this book and I'm willing to drive myself crazy from my OCD kicking off with me because I didn't do this in order, and give up on this book. It isn't a did not finish because I'll finish it. Just not now and isn't be by missing out most of the book because I think that is probably the only way to do it.
Saving grace is this isn't a series. PRAISE THE LORD
And an extra special fact is this book made me create my new shelf which is "regrets" so glad I didn't buy this book.