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Oct182011
All Hallow’s Eve 2011 – BOOK REVIEW: ‘Spell Bound’ by Kelley Armstrong
by Laura • Posted in 3.5 Star Reviews, All Hallow's Eve 2011, Authors A-D, Kelley Armstrong, Orbit, Reviews by Laura, Urban Fantasy
Title: Spell Bound (Women of the Otherworld #13)
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Orbit (UK) | Penguin (USA)
Publication Date: August 2011
Paperback: 339 Pages
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Source: Review copy from publisher
Reviewed by Laura
RATING: 7/10 – Very good, would definitely recommend
GOODREADS:
Savannah Levine is in terrible danger, and for once she’s powerless to help herself. At the conclusion of Waking the Witch, Savannah swore that she would give up her powers if it would help a young girl. Little did she know that someone would take her up on that promise.
And now, witch hunting assassins, necromancers, half-demons, and rogue witches all seem to be after her. The threat is not just for Savannah; every member of the Otherworld might be at risk. While most her fellow supernaturals are circling the wagons at a gathering of the council in Miami, Savannah is caught on the road, isolated from those who can protect her and unable to use her vast spell casting talent, the thing she counts on most. In a story that will change the shape of the Otherworld forever, Spell Bound gathers Elena, Clay, Paige, Lucas, Jamie, Hope, and others, who soon learn that the greatest threat to supernaturals just may come from within.
REVIEW:
‘Spell Bound’ took a little while to get going with the first few chapters feeling more like they were pulling together threads from the previous book, than the beginning of a new book. You most definitely need to have read ‘Waking the Witch’ before you pick it up. There are also lots of references to previous books in the series, but you probably still could pick these two books up as standalone if you wished to.
After the first few chapters, it felt like the story finally started to get going and it takes off exactly where ‘Waking the Witch’ left us, with Savannah still having a witch hunter on her tail. But there’s one very large problem, at the end of the last book Savannah offered to give up her powers in exchange for helping a young girl we met in ‘Waking the Witch’ and it seems like someone has taken her up on her offer. But as Savannah begins to research into the witch hunter and how to stop her, she uncovers a much more sinister supernatural plot that affects all of her friends.
I’ve followed Savannah throughout the entire series from the rescued child to reaching adulthood. But, as much as I have anticipated her stories I find her quite a hard character to get on with as she’s quite immature and a little bit selfish. But as the book progresses she does begin to realise this and slowly grows up, until at the end of the book I found myself being quite proud of her.
Savannah has loads of potential as a character, but I don’t think she’s quite reached there yet. However, I find I want to watch her fulfil that promise. The most exciting thing is that ‘Spell Bound’ is setting the story up for Savannah’s third book and it looks like there may potentially be a supernatural war just about to begin and I’m seriously looking forward to it! Because I think the next book is going to be a complete roller coaster ride. But I do think that it made ‘Spell Bound’ felt like the middle of a trilogy.
If you’re a passionate follower of Armstrong’s Otherworld series like me, you will be pleased to enjoy lots of guest appearances from previous characters. I actually don’t think there is any character that doesn’t pop in at one point or another.
There is lots of action and the plot is fast paced, although perhaps a bit of a lack of magic with Savannah’s missing powers. I enjoyed this book more than ‘Waking the Witch’ and I very much enjoy Armstrong’s writing style. However, as this series progresses it has lost a little bit of its sparkle and does not compare to the likes of ‘Bitten’ or ‘Industrial Magic’.
I can’t finish this review without of course talking about the romance, I desperately wanted it to happen in ‘Waking the Witch’ and morosely watched as it didn’t. Does it happen in ‘Spell Bound’? Hard to say without spoiling things, let me just say I wanted more.
VERDICT:
This is a fun book, written in a great pacy writing style I’ve come to enjoy and love from Armstrong. Is it the best book in the series? No…. But fans will definitely still enjoy it.
Books in Series Order:
1. Bitten
2. Stolen
3. Dime Store Magic
4. Industrial Magic
5. Haunted
6. Broken
7. No Humans Involved
8. Personal Demon
9. Living with the Dead
10. Frostbitten
11. Waking the Witch
12. Spell Bound
This book counts towards the following BCC Reading Challenges:
3 Comments
I love this series! I am going to be sad when it comes to an end… That is very soon, too.
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I've heard it's coming to an end soon, is th next book the last one, I had a look on Kelley Armstrong's website & couldn't see anything?
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I finished Waking the Witch months ago when I did an entire re read of the series – now though I think I'll wait to read Spellbound until the last one is close to coming out as I hear it is the last in the series.
Pabkins @ Mission to Read
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