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A review by haleg
Direbound: A Dark Romantasy by Sable Sorensen
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Yes, some parts of this book are predictable. Do I care? No. Yes, this is similar to others in the romatasy "war torn, animal-bonding worlds" (and to all the "this is just a fourth wing knock-off" comments I would love to point out fourth wing is 100% NOT an original storyline either and is NOT the first war-academy human-animal bonding book to exist, its just the most viral. I've read dozens with this same storyline way before fourth wing existed) Anyways, moving on. Do I care? No. The history, pacing, writing and overall vibes are very bingeable in this book. Insane to me this is a debut novel because it's 👏🏻 so 👏🏻 good 👏🏻.
It is definitely not perfect, and could use a few more scenes of "showing us not telling us" as some of the worldbuilding is just info dumps, but I didn't find that bothersome because the vibes were there. Would be a good romantasy read for someone just getting into the genre for sure, but seasoned people (like myself) MIGHT find this a bore. I, however, thought it was a very fun read that was un-put-downable mainly based on vibes. If you're looking for a new concept and cool new world, definitely not the book for you, but if you read to have fun, highly recommend.
I do wish the tropes weren't listed on the Amazon description cause that gives away the storyline (and I'm very glad I didn't notice the list until now cause it 100% would've ruined the ending), some tropes like found-family are fine but the list gets so detailed with "secret royal " and "hidden powers " and honestly "slow burn because Meryn starts out in a relationship with a good guy so when you read that you obviously know somethings up there and they dont end up together so if you're thinking about reading this book, don't read the trope list.
It is definitely not perfect, and could use a few more scenes of "showing us not telling us" as some of the worldbuilding is just info dumps, but I didn't find that bothersome because the vibes were there. Would be a good romantasy read for someone just getting into the genre for sure, but seasoned people (like myself) MIGHT find this a bore. I, however, thought it was a very fun read that was un-put-downable mainly based on vibes. If you're looking for a new concept and cool new world, definitely not the book for you, but if you read to have fun, highly recommend.
I do wish the tropes weren't listed on the Amazon description cause that gives away the storyline (and I'm very glad I didn't notice the list until now cause it 100% would've ruined the ending), some tropes like found-family are fine but the list gets so detailed with "