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betharanova 's review for:
Bound to the Fae King
by Megan Van Dyke
What happened!! What happened?! I loved the first book so much!
I was so excited to return to this captivating fae world for Round 2: Romance the Problematic Fave. I was especially grateful that the author never tried for a love triangle, but rather spent book one introducing Sigurd and now allowed him his own love interest in the sequel. Sigurd is such a petty, manipulative bitch that I believed a book about him HAD to be fun and interesting!
But I was wrong! The Sigurd we encounter in this book is simply a brooding, winged set of washboard abs. No one in his court respects him—though I'll grant you that this time we were only introduced to three (3) side characters, so the sample is small. But to watch the whole cast wag their fingers at the King of Air and scold him, and he just sullenly takes it?? It's so unsexy. He has no apparent power in any dynamic or situation. Sure, he bound the protagonist Wren to his court, but that was kind of an accident and he feels really bad about it. And even though he doesn't want her to leave, he supports her decision to try to get the bond removed, because it's Her Choice. Gag me with a spoon.
Sigurd really just broods over his past and the responsibility of being king, growls protectively over Wren, and models sexily for her. He doesn't DO anything in basically the entire plot.
I wanted to like Wren more. She's the caretaker and breadwinner of her home, and she reads like a practical Southern woman with a fiery temper whose first priority is her family. But something about the romance obscured her characterization much of the time. The insta-lust? How quickly she got over being unwillingly bound? I didn't really buy the romance anyway, but I don't think that was Wren's fault. It was that she stood opposite the empty husk of the former biggest bitch on the block and interacted with all of three other characters. I think she's a good protagonist, she just needs to meet way more people. Better, more powerful people.
The rating is for the two shining stars of this book. Galen shines brightest. The MVP of book one makes his return, and he is simply the best. The other bright spot? The Unseelie content. We got more lore and more characters, including an Unseelie king. I am ready to love.
Just please, let them be terrible and interesting!!
I was so excited to return to this captivating fae world for Round 2: Romance the Problematic Fave. I was especially grateful that the author never tried for a love triangle, but rather spent book one introducing Sigurd and now allowed him his own love interest in the sequel. Sigurd is such a petty, manipulative bitch that I believed a book about him HAD to be fun and interesting!
But I was wrong! The Sigurd we encounter in this book is simply a brooding, winged set of washboard abs. No one in his court respects him—though I'll grant you that this time we were only introduced to three (3) side characters, so the sample is small. But to watch the whole cast wag their fingers at the King of Air and scold him, and he just sullenly takes it?? It's so unsexy. He has no apparent power in any dynamic or situation. Sure, he bound the protagonist Wren to his court, but that was kind of an accident and he feels really bad about it. And even though he doesn't want her to leave, he supports her decision to try to get the bond removed, because it's Her Choice. Gag me with a spoon.
Sigurd really just broods over his past and the responsibility of being king, growls protectively over Wren, and models sexily for her. He doesn't DO anything in basically the entire plot.
I wanted to like Wren more. She's the caretaker and breadwinner of her home, and she reads like a practical Southern woman with a fiery temper whose first priority is her family. But something about the romance obscured her characterization much of the time. The insta-lust? How quickly she got over being unwillingly bound? I didn't really buy the romance anyway, but I don't think that was Wren's fault. It was that she stood opposite the empty husk of the former biggest bitch on the block and interacted with all of three other characters. I think she's a good protagonist, she just needs to meet way more people. Better, more powerful people.
The rating is for the two shining stars of this book. Galen shines brightest. The MVP of book one makes his return, and he is simply the best.
Spoiler
Is it the exact same plot twist again? Yes. But he's so Good and tortured.Just please, let them be terrible and interesting!!