Reviews

Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

sarahareinhard's review against another edition

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5.0

Crimson Bound is Hodge’s second published novel, and is just as captivating and enchanting as the first. She writes poetically and with a command that hooked me immediately. Her characters are well-rounded and fully formed, and they struggle with human conflicts that each of us can identify with.

This book is a modern take on two different fairy tales: Red Riding Hood meets The Girl with No Hands. (Confession: I had never heard of The Girl with No Hands. So I looked it up. And appreciated this book even more.)

I was captivated by the storyline and found myself fully immersed in the world and the creations of Hodge’s story. What makes it truly a book to share, though, is the fact that, while you can just bask in the good story-ness of it, you can also explore deeper themes. There’s no doubt that this story is about redemption, but, like all good storytellers, Hodge pulls you along and invites you in, planting the seeds and ideas and then leaving them to be watered by the action.

This is the kind of book that becomes my knee-jerk answer when I’m asked “Got any good recommendations?” Yes, it’s that good. So go and enjoy it!

mrs_tillson's review against another edition

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5.0

Honestly should’ve finished reading sooner, but OMG this was such an amazing read. I loved Rachelle and though I thought she was self-pitying she was still a badass heroin. I loved this story so much because you never saw where it was taking you. It was a lot of twists and turns and there was NEVER a dull moment.

s_smiadak's review

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4.0

I really enjoyed this Red Riding Hood retelling. It's well written and imaginative in the remaking, adding a magical world and bigger issues to the storyline to make it more compelling. I'm a bit surprised by all the negative reviews.

aurelyarose's review

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I don't know what I expected going in. I guess I thought it would be more fantasy, but it definitely leaned into the "fairy tale" aspect even in regards to writing and world building.

I wasn't particularly passionate about any of the characters, and didn't feel much chemistry between them. Though, this book was just interesting enough that (maybe one day) I will check out the author's other stuff.

Spoiler Honestly, part of me is wanting a fantasy romance where the main character says "screw it" to their humanity and joins the literal demons. Maybe next time.

yuniesan's review

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4.0

This was slow in starting but once I got into it there was no stopping the story from taking hold in my mind. Although it wasn't as good as Cruel Beauty it was still as entrancing as it was terrifyingly beautiful.

nicolemhewitt's review

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5.0

4.5/5 Stars

This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction

Crimson Bound is a dark, gritty fairy tale, set in a world where darkness just may overcome the light. Fans of Cruel Beauty will not be disappointed in Hodge’s new book, which has the same dark tone and complex folklore (though the worlds and characters are not the same).

What I loved:

Rich worldbuilding.
Hodge certainly doesn’t skimp on the worldbuilding. She has a rich magical (and almost mythological) history for her world with very distinct elements such as the Devourer, who wants to spread darkness over the world. I loved the fantastical elements to this book – the literal knitting of spells, the progression from human to bloodbound to forestborn (and how that occurs), the creation of the weapons that were capable of defeating the Devourer – there were so many unique and elaborate elements to the folklore. And Hodge brought it all together beautifully.

Beautiful writing.
From the very beginning, I was captivated by Hodge’s lush storytelling. Even though the story was often dark and intense, the writing never felt heavy – it was often almost lyrical. Hodge has a gift for weaving dark and desolate circumstances using beautiful words.

The struggle for good.
Rachelle struggled to see herself as “good” after the choice that she made to become bloodbound – she sees no future for herself and has no sense of self-worth. I felt for her in this struggle, and I appreciated that the romance underscored this. Some people might call the romance in this book a love triangle, but I don’t think it really was. While Rachelle was definitely attracted to both Erec and Armand, only one of them interests her beyond that attraction. I thought that the juxtaposition of Rachelle’s darker, more carnal desires and her heart was displayed perfectly through the romance in the book and it reflected her struggle to stay human and not give in to the darker nature of the forestborn.

Twists that took me by surprise.
There were some twists in this book that really shocked me, and I loved them! The second half of the book was full of interesting surprises and some fantastic twists and turns. The suspense was high in this book – especially in the last quarter or so of the book – and I was never quite sure if the characters I had come to love were going to come out of the story alive!

The negatives:

Slow read (but not slow moving).
The only negative about this book is that it was a little bit of a slower read than is typical for me. It took me a while to get through this book – not because the pacing was slow, but just because it’s not the type of book you can zip through. The worldbuilding and the mythology in this book can sometimes be complicated, and the book takes your full attention. This is only a “sort of” negative for me – it means a slower read, but also, ultimately, a very satisfying read!

Just barely a take on Red Riding Hood.
This book was supposed to be inspired by Red Riding Hood, but it was very loosely inspired – I could see almost no connections, except for a couple of small ones at the very beginning. (There were also some whisperings of Hansel and Gretel inspirations in there, if I’m not mistaken). I feel like I need to go back and reread the original fairy tales, though, because I might be missing some of the references.

I so enjoyed this story! If you are a fan of darker fairy tales, I would definitely pick this book up! I give it 4.5/5 stars.

***Disclosure: I received this book from Edelweiss and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***

lamlab's review

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1.0

Every time I've tried to read this, I fell asleep. Probably we're not a good match lol.

missbookiverse's review

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3.0

An Crimson Bound stimmen die Details. Der Schreibstil ist düster-verspielt, die Welt ist französisch angehaucht, die Mythologie um den dunklen Wald ist gleichzeitig faszinierend und gefährlich. Es gibt eine Figur, die keine Hände hat und sehr positiv mit diesem Nachteil umgeht. Protagonistin Rachelle ist eine starke Kämpferin, die nicht gleichzeitig auch die perfekte Dame mimen kann (wobei sie natürlich trotzdem schön ist :P). Mit Lust wird realistisch umgegangen, da schlafen auch mal die Falschen miteinander und dann ist es halt so und keiner wird deshalb an den Pranger gestellt.
So wichtig Details auch sind, sie nützen nichts, wenn sie lose zwischen den Buchseiten umherflattern. Die Story kommt einfach nicht vom Fleck, zieht sich ewig und ist am Ende lange nicht so spannend wie die eingeschobenen Erzählungen um den Wald und die berüchtigten Geschwister Zisa und Tyr. Auch Rachelle wächst leider nie aus ihren Grundzügen hinaus. Sie ist keine rehäugige Pappnase, aber an Tiefe gewinnt sie auf über 400 Seiten nie.

eforw's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

bookwormalley's review

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

2.0

Title: Crimson Bound
Author: Rosamund Hodge
Page Count: 441
Time Length: 11Hrs 33Mins
Dates Read: 2/18-2/21
Format: Audiobook 
Rating: ⭐️⭐️
Review: I'm not sure if this was due to the Audiobook or if it just wasn't the right time to read this book. I found the book to be all over the place with nothing really going on. I felt like the same task was being sought after over and over again, but progress was never made. I found the story lacking. I had no interest in any of the love interests.