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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Sheep Book Review: Bound by Darkness by Alexandra Ivy

Bound by Darkness, by author Alexandra Ivy is the eighth book in her Guardians of Eternity series. I'm going to start my review by saying this: Ivy is one of my top favorite authors, in addition to her sexy vampires she's also taken time out of her busy schedule to interview with us here at Sheep so I'm not "dissing" her or her works in any way shape or form. I'm giving my honest review of her latest book based on how I felt. That being said, Bound by Darkness didn't quite do it for me. I've enjoyed her series thus far, and will continue to read it, but the latest story was a far cry from what I know she's capable of.

Plot:
The Sylvermyst have a reputation as sinister cousins to the fey, and none are more mysterious than Ariyal and his tribe. To save his people from banishment, he sold himself to the evil Morgana. Finally free, he faces a new challenge: Jaelyn, an elite vampire warrior sent to capture him. By rights, he should kill her on sight. Yet he cannot bring himself to hurt her - or to resist her. Jaelyn is stunningly beautiful, utterly lethal - and always alone. Until Ariyal. From their first encounter, she knows that what's between them is more dangerous than simple lust. And as they unite to thwart a terrifying prophecy that will mean the end of his clan and of the world they know, she will risk everything to fulfill her destiny by his side.

My first bone to pick is with our lead female Jaelyn. She was so strong in the last book, even as a side character but with a build up for this story I was looking forward to reading more of her butt kicking abilities. Unfortunately she came across as weak and dull most of the time, which is far from the Hunter-trained assassin I know her to be. She's incredibly lethal and super-sexy, a combo most never see coming, at least not until their bleeding death. But she came across as far too dependent on her man; what happened to the gal who kicked butts and took names to the shredder?! Ariyal is the fairy Sylvermyst out to take down the Dark Lord but while I know he has power and strength to back up his ego he too seemed a bit off.

I wanted to buy into the characters more, but with a major lack of both power and strength I was left feeling unfulfilled. The Morganna la Fey parts involving Ariyal could have elaborated a ton more than it did. I know Ariyal came from an awful past but with more pages dedicated to those struggles I would have gotten more of what I was missing. Things of importance seemed to be glossed over while others took a little too long to get to the point.

We also have a small lovable gargoyle, Levet, who seems to be hated by every man no matter the story but always loved to death by the ladies, which is starting to get a little old. We're also now eight stories deep and no one can seem to get rid of the Dark Lord or his minions and at this point with just about every faction of the Lore teamed up to take the demon down what is the hold up? It's time for some new bad guys/gals perhaps and some fresh stories that the characters can take on. The continued use of the same caves in Chicago and the same farmhouses coming into play again and again makes me feel like things are being recycled. I'm all for saving the planet (and yeah everyone please recycle) but I'd like some fresh scenes brought into the mix. Spice things up and let's get back to some major butt-kicking adrenaline vampires!

What I did like was characters from previous stories coming back into the scene. And when the action does come it is pretty enjoyable, plus no matter what you get some nice smut for those looking to enjoy characters getting down to it! Things don't get wrapped up per se by the end, which keeps me hopeful for the series as a whole coming back around by book nine.

On a side note, Ivy has a new series called The Immortal Rogues, with book one My Lord Vampire hitting shelves February 28th, 2012. I'm eagerly awaiting this and I'll be reviewing it here. I'm sticking with Ivy and hoping for more as we go forward!

Getting 2 and 1/2 Hunter Sheep
KD

2 comments:

  1. I have to agree with you on this book. I really wanted to like it more than I did.

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  2. sometimes books in a series can be a hit or miss. Her books have some smexy covers!!!

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