Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

Published: May 5th 2015 By: Balzer + Bray

Genres: Young-Adult, Fantasy, Retelling, Fairy-Tale

Format: ebook 

Source: library

My Rating: 4 Stars 

Add To Goodreads: When Rachelle was fifteen she was good—apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic. But she was also reckless— straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat.

Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand—the man she hates most—Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?

Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption.

 

REVIEW

 

I just love Hodge’s writing so much. After reading Cruel Beauty earlier this year, I knew that I had to get my hands on this. She creates vivid, medieval worlds where monsters and magic have a hold on the people. An though this is different from her Cruel Beauty Universe, it still has the dark tone that I love – if not darker. Rachelle is not your average heroine. I love the mythology of forestborn and bloodbound. And while this is a darker twist on Red Riding Hood, it is very much a unique fairy tale. My only problem was the love triangle-ish feel with the Rachelle, Erec and Armand. I could have totally lived without that because, 1. I DO NOT LIKE EREC and 2. I wanted this story to be totally focused on Rachelle’s badassery. No need to add the romance. Aside from that little romance hiccup, I loved this. It started out interesting and I knew that there was more to look forward to. The action was appropriately placed within scenes. This is not some happily-ever-after story. It’s full of monsters, magic, blood and guts; and I loved it all. Hodge’s writing is great and I love the way she describes people, places, things. I really could picture the the great forest in this bubble-like mirage surrounding Rachelle’s world. While there’s not much of a comparison between Crimson Bound and Red Riding Hood, you know that it’s there. Especially, the beginning of the story. If you like retellings and you need a complete overhaul of the original story, then Crimson Bound will be a great read. Beautiful writing and great plot. I would love to say I loved the characters, but sadly I can’t. Rachelle is very likable, but once the romance started to really get going, she wasn’t all that interesting to me anymore. Not to say that I don’t like romance in fantasy, because I actually love it. Just not with this story. Still, I definitely recommend this one, as well as Cruel Beauty.