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A review by katieejayne
Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge
5.0
What a book. I've had this on my TBR for ages and it being a Red Riding Hood retelling finally pushed me to read it. After all, I'm doing my dissertation on Red Riding Hood...
I adored this story, it kept me on the edge of my seat, has a swoon-worthy angsty romance and amazing folklore. All the things I look for and love in a book.
I really enjoyed how the story looks at peoples moral compasses. The entire folklore is based on the Forest Born. Beings that have a kind of magic and mark humans to become a forest born. Once marked the human has three days to kill someone and become a Bloodbound or resist and die. Eventually, a Bloodbound becomes a Forest Born. Rachelle did not want to kill, she simply had to, like a compulsion. But now she uses her powers to keep others safe. So is she bad or not? Personally, I believe not. She was such a wonderful character, utterly imperfect, impulsive but caring and strong. Her relationships with the other characters were one of the most interesting parts of the novel. It was difficult to ascertain who was a friend and who was foe which made the story all the more exciting. I particularly loved her interactions with Armand. A character that weaves in some of the Girl without Hands tale from the Brother's Grimm...though Armand is a man.
Interspersed throughout the novel were snippets of the folklore in this world that together made up the tale that made the backbone of the plot. How the devourer was one bound and can it be done again. This really made the novel feel real like it was a place that once existed. One I'd love to visit as well! The description really demonstrated how well the world-building was. I could read more novels in this world and I really hope we get that one day.
A heartstopping plot that you will never be able to guess. I can't wait to read more from Rosamund Hodge.
I adored this story, it kept me on the edge of my seat, has a swoon-worthy angsty romance and amazing folklore. All the things I look for and love in a book.
I really enjoyed how the story looks at peoples moral compasses. The entire folklore is based on the Forest Born. Beings that have a kind of magic and mark humans to become a forest born. Once marked the human has three days to kill someone and become a Bloodbound or resist and die. Eventually, a Bloodbound becomes a Forest Born. Rachelle did not want to kill, she simply had to, like a compulsion. But now she uses her powers to keep others safe. So is she bad or not? Personally, I believe not. She was such a wonderful character, utterly imperfect, impulsive but caring and strong. Her relationships with the other characters were one of the most interesting parts of the novel. It was difficult to ascertain who was a friend and who was foe which made the story all the more exciting. I particularly loved her interactions with Armand. A character that weaves in some of the Girl without Hands tale from the Brother's Grimm...though Armand is a man.
Interspersed throughout the novel were snippets of the folklore in this world that together made up the tale that made the backbone of the plot. How the devourer was one bound and can it be done again. This really made the novel feel real like it was a place that once existed. One I'd love to visit as well! The description really demonstrated how well the world-building was. I could read more novels in this world and I really hope we get that one day.
A heartstopping plot that you will never be able to guess. I can't wait to read more from Rosamund Hodge.