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mdalida 's review for:
Shadowbound
by Bec McMaster
I'm a die-hard Bec McMaster fan and cannot get enough of her books! I wouldn't rank this as my absolute top (I don't think anything can knock Nobody's Hero out of that spot - hot damn, that book was gold), but I enjoyed it for all the things that are McMaster - traumatic pasts, both characters dealing with feelings of loneliness and abandonment, awesome fiery sex scenes, badass heroines, and feeling the trust/support that comes from being there for your partner in their worst times.
Lucien and Ianthe are sorcerers with their own private demons (literally and figuratively! Bada-ching!) Lucien can "read" emotions on people's face as colors, but he is also psychically scarred from a demon and cannot use his sorcery without pain. Ianthe carries her childhood traumas around like a battleshield. There is prophecy, sorcerers, spells, divination, scrying, foretelling, grimoires... all building towards a big upcoming battle.
I love romances for the romance aspect, especially when the characters help each other to heal in some way. I loved Lucien so so much because at times, he reminded me so much of my partner - not the revenge side of him, but when he started being tender, supportive, non-judgmental, caring, protective... some of the things he would say to Ianthe or how he would reason instead of being angry, some of his feelings of loneliness or abandonment.. it was so striking. So maybe my love of this book is a little biased:-)
Ianthe really was my favorite kind of badass heroine. She was in charge, commanding, loving, protective, stubborn, and powerful. I loved the power dynamics here made the heroine more magically powerful than the hero because it made it less "damsel in distress" and more "damsel is stressed tf out".
Sexy times.... always very hot and steamy:-) in this book, however, even as someone who loves it hot and steamy, I was kinda surprised at how quick it started and how random the set up for sex was. A woman who arrested you pulls you out of prison for Reason, and in negotiations, your main thing is to say she had to sleep with you at night? A) Why is the prisoner able to make negotiations? You want out of prison or not? And B) I hate hate hate the "barter for sex" trope; winning someone in a poker game, agreeing to help someone only if you can fuck them, taking on someone's debts but with a price tag. It's too much of forced prostitution and sick patriarchal power displays. And from Lucien's character, it was completely wacky.
BUT - I did like that McMaster brought up the very real dilemma that women don't always orgasm and of using condoms or sheaths. Whatever the time period, there have been women faking orgasms and women doing some things to avoid pregnancy. Not always fool proof and not always "the thing" but worldly women would likely have known about sheaths, so I liked that McMaster had that in the book.
This book was also a little different than her last two series because, while McMaster usually does some scenes as sequel bait, there was a LOT more of that here than previously. It made me wonder if there was not enough Lucien/Ianthe story to build on...
Either way, solid A! There are some popular authors whose stories I initially love but that don't hold up during rereads. It's one of the reasons McMaster is definitely a favorite because I'm often going back to certain scenes in her books!!
Lucien and Ianthe are sorcerers with their own private demons (literally and figuratively! Bada-ching!) Lucien can "read" emotions on people's face as colors, but he is also psychically scarred from a demon and cannot use his sorcery without pain. Ianthe carries her childhood traumas around like a battleshield. There is prophecy, sorcerers, spells, divination, scrying, foretelling, grimoires... all building towards a big upcoming battle.
I love romances for the romance aspect, especially when the characters help each other to heal in some way. I loved Lucien so so much because at times, he reminded me so much of my partner - not the revenge side of him, but when he started being tender, supportive, non-judgmental, caring, protective... some of the things he would say to Ianthe or how he would reason instead of being angry, some of his feelings of loneliness or abandonment.. it was so striking. So maybe my love of this book is a little biased:-)
Ianthe really was my favorite kind of badass heroine. She was in charge, commanding, loving, protective, stubborn, and powerful. I loved the power dynamics here made the heroine more magically powerful than the hero because it made it less "damsel in distress" and more "damsel is stressed tf out".
Sexy times.... always very hot and steamy:-) in this book, however, even as someone who loves it hot and steamy, I was kinda surprised at how quick it started and how random the set up for sex was. A woman who arrested you pulls you out of prison for Reason, and in negotiations, your main thing is to say she had to sleep with you at night? A) Why is the prisoner able to make negotiations? You want out of prison or not? And B) I hate hate hate the "barter for sex" trope; winning someone in a poker game, agreeing to help someone only if you can fuck them, taking on someone's debts but with a price tag. It's too much of forced prostitution and sick patriarchal power displays. And from Lucien's character, it was completely wacky.
BUT - I did like that McMaster brought up the very real dilemma that women don't always orgasm and of using condoms or sheaths. Whatever the time period, there have been women faking orgasms and women doing some things to avoid pregnancy. Not always fool proof and not always "the thing" but worldly women would likely have known about sheaths, so I liked that McMaster had that in the book.
This book was also a little different than her last two series because, while McMaster usually does some scenes as sequel bait, there was a LOT more of that here than previously. It made me wonder if there was not enough Lucien/Ianthe story to build on...
Either way, solid A! There are some popular authors whose stories I initially love but that don't hold up during rereads. It's one of the reasons McMaster is definitely a favorite because I'm often going back to certain scenes in her books!!