Reviews

Spell Bound by Heather Guerre

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shomarq's review

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lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

elledubreads's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

bilmuri's review

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This was such a great read. It’s a novella, around 170 pages I believe, but very well paced with an intriguing story and a great (and super steamy) romance. Highly recommend if you’re in the mood for a quick fantasy romance read!

lechepatito's review

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4.0

I read this novella as a serial, released by the author in chunks via her newsletter - and it immediately became the best part of my Mon-Wed-Fri morning. I was drawn into this world of magic right away and found Ailis very sympathetic. The slow reveal of the curse worked well for me, as did the growing relationship between her and Ronan, which I couldn’t get enough of. The end felt a little rushed, but it was really mostly disappointment about leaving this world I had come to love!

Heather Guerre is always a hit for me, and I will definitely be looking for the rest of this series as she writes it.

wandering_seal's review

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3.0

I was underwhelmed by this (there may be some mild spoilers ahead explaining why).The bones of the story are great - a world overrun by wild magic and a fallen empire, a hidden village with a mysterious curse, a theology where the gods act in the lives of humans - and yet everything felt touched on rather than fully explored. The writing felt detached, making it hard to feel attached to Ailis, and overall I just felt the story needed more. I did love that the Ailis was not a teenager, although I thought her life experience was underutilised - what was the point in her being a seamstress if it had no bearing on anything at all? The description of what caused her to leave her home in the first place was really interesting, but then again never came up again. The ending seemed rushed and I am confused how Ailis was ever meant to work out what the curse was or how to resolve it. The actual ending features one of my least favourite troupes which doesn't help (although I didn't mind it here as it felt in keeping Ronan's character).

I feel bad writing a lacklustre review as I really, really like Heather Guerre's work. Cold Hearted is excellent and I love recommending it. It meant I had high expectations here though which I didn't feel were met. I'm sure other people will love this book just as it is. It looks like this will be part of another series, in which case I'll happily read the next book as the world presented had a lot to offer.