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mariareads77 's review for:
Bound by Hatred
by Cora Reilly
Before diving into my criticisms, I want to start by saying that this one was an improvement over the previous two books in the series. While I did have several issues with it, I still had an enjoyable time reading, so take this review with a grain of salt!
That said, one of the biggest problems I had with this book was the overwhelming number of time jumps, which made it difficult to follow the storyline. It became hard to figure out what timeline we were in and, more importantly, it made the plot feel disconnected. Minor spoiler warning! For example, in one chapter, Giana had just boarded a plane to Amsterdam, and in the very next chapter, we’re told Mateo found her six months later in Munich. Those six months, the time where Giana was supposedly fighting for her freedom and Mateo was searching for her, are completely skipped. I personally would have loved to read about that period. Skipping over such significant events not only made it harder to keep up with the story but also made it hard to fully connect with and care about the characters.
The writing itself felt rushed and, for lack of a better word, choppy. It lacked the smooth pacing and cohesion necessary to immerse the reader. Additionally, while the characters in this book are definitely better than those introduced earlier in the series, they still felt underdeveloped. Their motivations and emotional arcs could have been explored so much more, but instead, everything felt shallow and surface-level. The same goes for the story as a whole, it felt incomplete and lacked the depth I was hoping for.
One of the main issues might be the length of the book. At 276 pages (on the Kindle version), it simply wasn’t enough to fully build the world, develop the characters, or create the emotional weight needed for a story like this.
That said, there is an underlying plot that I find intriguing enough to keep me invested. Despite its flaws, I’m still curious about how the series will end, so I’ll likely finish it eventually.
That said, one of the biggest problems I had with this book was the overwhelming number of time jumps, which made it difficult to follow the storyline. It became hard to figure out what timeline we were in and, more importantly, it made the plot feel disconnected. Minor spoiler warning! For example, in one chapter, Giana had just boarded a plane to Amsterdam, and in the very next chapter, we’re told Mateo found her six months later in Munich. Those six months, the time where Giana was supposedly fighting for her freedom and Mateo was searching for her, are completely skipped. I personally would have loved to read about that period. Skipping over such significant events not only made it harder to keep up with the story but also made it hard to fully connect with and care about the characters.
The writing itself felt rushed and, for lack of a better word, choppy. It lacked the smooth pacing and cohesion necessary to immerse the reader. Additionally, while the characters in this book are definitely better than those introduced earlier in the series, they still felt underdeveloped. Their motivations and emotional arcs could have been explored so much more, but instead, everything felt shallow and surface-level. The same goes for the story as a whole, it felt incomplete and lacked the depth I was hoping for.
One of the main issues might be the length of the book. At 276 pages (on the Kindle version), it simply wasn’t enough to fully build the world, develop the characters, or create the emotional weight needed for a story like this.
That said, there is an underlying plot that I find intriguing enough to keep me invested. Despite its flaws, I’m still curious about how the series will end, so I’ll likely finish it eventually.