BOOK REVIEW | Bound by Night by Larissa Ione

2 blood sucking stars.

I am so disappointed to be giving this book two stars. I should preface this by saying everything else by this author has been a great hit for me. I love her Demonica series and can't wait to start her Lords of Deliverance series, which I have heard is equally fantastic. One of the things I love about Demonica is how crazy sexualized the demons were.  I mean, that series is one where you will find yourself blushing throughout the entirety of it.  And it's awesome.  

I didn't have that same giddy, excited feeling with this book.  This series deals with vampires, not crazed sex demons, so clearly there are going to be vast differences. I had acknowledged that in my head, but I'm not sure I had accepted it yet until I realized that all of the craziness that I loved in the Demonica series just wasn't going to happen. I mean, there's still plenty of sex. I think there were four decent scenes, and the chemistry between the two characters is... okay?  I guess I just wanted something more, if that makes sense. It's probably unfair because I'm comparing apples and oranges demons and vampires, but I think anytime you've ever read an author's work previously, you always have expectations.

On to the flaws and merits of the book: I have to question the basic premise. Why are vampires slaves if they're better than humans in every way? They're stronger, faster, have better eyesight... they're a natural predator to humanity. This being the case, wouldn't history have taken a different turn than the one presented in the novel? The logical course would be vampires rising into dominance and enslaving the humans, but, instead, the reader is meant to believe that it is vampires that have been "domesticated." I couldn't help wondering how this happens and, unfortunately, a concise answer was never given. It is possible that it is a slow reveal throughout the series, but my review is intended for this book. 

I also didn't like how Riker and Nicole, the two main characters, had sexy-times with each other even though there was so much hatred between them. I know hate-sex is a thing, but this wouldn't fall into that category. Nicole was literally afraid of him. She is terrified of vampires and their culture and everything they stand for because of what happened to her as a child, but she suddenly forgot about all that fear in the heat of the moment? She forgot about something she's been in therapy for years for because she wanted to bang a vampire? I have to question how she'd even want to have sex with a vampire she didn't love after all she'd been through. I didn't think that this was a believable build up of the characters or the tension between them.  And, unfortunately, this feeling of "unbelievable" permeates throughout the entire novel.

All in all, if this had been my first Larissa Ione book, I might have enjoyed it more. But because I've already read other books by her - books that I really, really love - it felt flat and ill-planned. I'm not too sure if I'll end up reading the second, but I do want to know what happens after the Epilogue, which was my favorite part of the book (and is quite telling as to how unenjoyable the rest of it was).

Goodreads | Booklikes | Leafmarks | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | Tumblr

August Wrap Up + September TBR

August turned out to be a decent month for reading.  I read a lot of the books that I planned on reading and finally got started on the Percy Jackson series!  I have been meaning to pick these books up forever so I can finally understand what all of the hype is about.  I plowed through the first two and plan on finishing the series itself by October.

If you click on any of the titles listed below, you will be taken to Goodreads so that you can read a description of the novel.

Books I read:

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss

Audiobooks I listened to:

In the After by Demetria Lunetta

Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

One Foot in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

At Grave's End by Jeaniene Frost

Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen

Unfortunately, this is where it all slows down.  University has officially started and considering my major is Literature, the majority of my reading will have to be devoted to my classes.  The good news is that this is my last semester.  The bad news is that it means I had to jam pack four high level lit courses into one semester.  I'm prepared to be sinking in papers by the time September rolls to an end.

For school:

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano

Lilus Kikus and Other Stories by Elena Poniatowska

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass

Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom by Ellen and William Craft

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

For fun:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Commanded to his Bed by Denise Lynn

Rumble by Ellen Hopkins

Audiobooks:

In the End by Demitria Lunetta

True to the Highlander by Barbara Longley 

The Neon Rain by James Burke

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Timebound by Rysa Walker

My drive to and from school takes me at least an hour every day, so I always seem to have ample time to listen to audiobooks, which is why I'm comfortable putting five here.  As for the ones I'm reading for fun, two are for the Vaginal Fantasy Book Club, two are for the BOOKSPLOSION book club and one is my Bathroom Book of the Month, which I'll write more about later.