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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Bound to the Shadow Prince was such a good romantasy. It was exactly what I expected from Rudy Dixon. We get the story of the kingdom and the why for our main characters troubles. Some of the twists are held until towards the end to make the story that much more enjoyable. Our Princess Candra is the spoiled sick princess. She has been locked in a castle given everything she could ever want. Since she has this sickness she is not allowed out or to even do most things for herself. She has so much growth in this story. Then we have Nemeth, our terrifying and cruel monster. But is he really all that mean. Candra is drawn to him and sees more than meets the eye. I thought their romance was so sweet and the spice was great! I loved that this was a standalone but I would definitely read another book set in this world.
adventurous
challenging
dark
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I thought I knew where this book was going but about halfway through I was a little bit stymied.
Strong start, a little bit muddy in the middle, but the ending is full of twists that I didn't see coming and I feel good at the end so I am content.
Strong start, a little bit muddy in the middle, but the ending is full of twists that I didn't see coming and I feel good at the end so I am content.
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
The author is famous for a different genre, but of course it's not that there is a lack of monster sex. Unfortunately, though, the problem in my opinion is more related to the at least 100 too many pages in this one that could very well be a good enough fantasy story with or without sex. The chapters in the tower are too much and too long, there is no surprise to be had, boredom reigns supreme. It gets a little better with the next chapters, and there are several surprises that keep the narrative at a much higher pace than the previous one.
L'autrice é famosa per un genere diverso da questo, ma certo che non é che manchi il monster sex. Purtroppo peró il problema secondo me, é piú collegato con le almeno 100 pagine di troppo in questa che potrebbe essere benissimo una storia fantasy senza problemi, con o senza sesso. I capitoli nella torre sono troppo e troppo lunghi, non c'é acrobazia che tenga, la noia regna sovrana. Va un po' meglio con il seguito del romanzo e ci sono parecchie soprese che tengono la narrazione ad un ritmo decisamente piú alto del precedente.
I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.
L'autrice é famosa per un genere diverso da questo, ma certo che non é che manchi il monster sex. Purtroppo peró il problema secondo me, é piú collegato con le almeno 100 pagine di troppo in questa che potrebbe essere benissimo una storia fantasy senza problemi, con o senza sesso. I capitoli nella torre sono troppo e troppo lunghi, non c'é acrobazia che tenga, la noia regna sovrana. Va un po' meglio con il seguito del romanzo e ci sono parecchie soprese che tengono la narrazione ad un ritmo decisamente piú alto del precedente.
I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.
(Thank you to both Netgalley and W by Wattpad Books for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.)
This is not my first Ruby Dixon book, but this was definitely a bit different from what I expected from her. While it was another creature/fantasy romance, this is a standalone book and set in a more high fantasy setting in contrast to her futuristic outer space settings I'm more accustomed to. But! Just like her other books, I really thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I loved the contrast between the two leads a lot, a haughty human princess who is scared of... a bookish, really shy prince? Very cute. I get that he's supposed to be a "monster" in the eyes of humans, so it was sweet to make him the softer character of the two. I really enjoyed their character developments and the pace at which their relationship developed as well.
The world building in this was very interesting, so much so that I found myself even more interested in the second half of the book. I will say that I found the wrap up to be rushed, especially considering how long the two characters took to unravel all of the details. I wish we had a bit more backstory for some of the reveals at the end and just learn more about the world in general, and would definitely be interested in a spin-0ff/sequel set in this world.
This is not my first Ruby Dixon book, but this was definitely a bit different from what I expected from her. While it was another creature/fantasy romance, this is a standalone book and set in a more high fantasy setting in contrast to her futuristic outer space settings I'm more accustomed to. But! Just like her other books, I really thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I loved the contrast between the two leads a lot, a haughty human princess who is scared of... a bookish, really shy prince? Very cute. I get that he's supposed to be a "monster" in the eyes of humans, so it was sweet to make him the softer character of the two. I really enjoyed their character developments and the pace at which their relationship developed as well.
The world building in this was very interesting, so much so that I found myself even more interested in the second half of the book. I will say that I found the wrap up to be rushed, especially considering how long the two characters took to unravel all of the details. I wish we had a bit more backstory for some of the reveals at the end and just learn more about the world in general, and would definitely be interested in a spin-0ff/sequel set in this world.
Thank you to NetGalley and W for Wattpad for the ARC. I love Ruby Dixon. Her writing always has a lot of spice but it also hits all the right notes for its romance and Bound to the Shadow Prince didn’t disappoint.
Candra is the middle daughter, born with the blood curse that means she needs daily injections she’s the cursed member of her family and nothing is expected of her but when her younger sister suddenly dies Candra must take her place. As sacrifice to to the Moon Goddess one of the Vestalin bloodline and one of the Darkfell bloodline must spend seven years locked in a tower, but Nemeth turns out not to be the enemy Candra had anticipated.
If you have read Ruby Dixon’s Ice Planet Barbians you may be expecting something short and fast paced but this book takes the time to really get to know the characters. For a large part of the book they are alone in a tower with no other characters and I loved watching them together. Their relationship seemed to struggle once they got outside the confines of the tower and were forced to deal with others.
Candra is the middle daughter, born with the blood curse that means she needs daily injections she’s the cursed member of her family and nothing is expected of her but when her younger sister suddenly dies Candra must take her place. As sacrifice to to the Moon Goddess one of the Vestalin bloodline and one of the Darkfell bloodline must spend seven years locked in a tower, but Nemeth turns out not to be the enemy Candra had anticipated.
If you have read Ruby Dixon’s Ice Planet Barbians you may be expecting something short and fast paced but this book takes the time to really get to know the characters. For a large part of the book they are alone in a tower with no other characters and I loved watching them together. Their relationship seemed to struggle once they got outside the confines of the tower and were forced to deal with others.
I, too, fell for the charms of Ruby Dixon's Ice Planet Barbarians, and I've dabbled in some of her other worlds.
This was a surprise in many ways, a longer book, a meatier story, and a plot hole or two.
Candra is locked in a tower for seven years with Nemeth, her family's enemy. The journey from enemies to lovers is fraught with distrust and discovery as these two surprisingly don't go insane (there are no windows AT ALL), and don't get sick from food that gets delivered once a year. Scurvy, anyone?
Also, why have an all-knowing knife if you're not going to use it?
I love Ruby Dixon's series and the smut is on point as always, but this just fell flat for me.
This was a surprise in many ways, a longer book, a meatier story, and a plot hole or two.
Candra is locked in a tower for seven years with Nemeth, her family's enemy. The journey from enemies to lovers is fraught with distrust and discovery as these two surprisingly don't go insane (there are no windows AT ALL), and don't get sick from food that gets delivered once a year. Scurvy, anyone?
Also, why have an all-knowing knife if you're not going to use it?
I love Ruby Dixon's series and the smut is on point as always, but this just fell flat for me.
This wasn’t terrible but it definitely could have been shorter. I found myself zoning out often especially when we kept getting random history lessons and lore about the world. Which in itself was lacking because for as much as they discussed the history, it felt we still were given underdeveloped world building. But to be fair this is a Ruby Dixon book so it’s not I thought this was going to be the epic fantasy romance of the year