Blood Bound
Ratings154
Average rating4
I am really liking this series. I tried to get into it a while back and just couldn't. Good thing my memory of these isn't to great because this time I like it.
I swear the trailer scene made me jumped. I had goosebumps reading that.
Didn't expect that love triangle would be rectangle. Was it rectangle? Idk
This one was better. It didn't end with a big fight, that was in the middle. It was fast paced enough to keep me interested.
Blood Bound is the second book in the Mercy Thompson series and builds on the great foundation of Moon Called. Tensions are high, the danger is real, and the sass is splendid. Exactly how I like my urban fantasy.
Originally posted at rebeccasreadingcorner.blog.
I got too bored to keep going... the writing is just not that good. There's not enough detail and fleshing out of the characters for me to really care about them. I'm looking for an urban fantasy series to mirror Richelle Mead's lovely stories and groups of characters, and this one just doesn't make the cut.
The constant harping on werewolves and pack hierarchy started grating on me in this book. But it's a fun beach read kind of book.
This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader in a post covering the first three audiobooks in the series
—
I've only posted about a couple of the books in this series, since I read most of the series before starting this blog, it feels strange not to have old posts to go back and steal from. How do I do this concisely, now? I mean this should be one of the longest posts I've written, if I was going to do it right.
But I'm not going to do it right, I'm going to do it quick. Simply: Mercy Thompson is a skinwalker of sorts, who was raised by a pack of werewolves (a pack led by the Alpha of North America, it should be noted), who has an English degree and works as a VW mechanic. When we meet her in Moon Called, she's living near the Alpha of the Tri-Cities of Oregon, is friends with a vampire, knows a couple of the Fae who live on the (Fae) reservation nearby. Almost no one knows about her ability to shift into a coyote (other than these supernatural folks), and she has no intention of changing that. However, she finds herself in the middle of a few goings-on in the supernatural community and becomes a prominent player in the area.
In Moon Called Mercy discovers a group experimenting on werewolves – even creating some for the sole purpose of being guinea pigs. In Blood Bound, Mercy is called upon by the local vampires to pay a debt by helping them track and destroy a rogue über-vampire/serial killer. Then in Iron Kissed Mercy begins helping local Fae investigate a series of murders on the reservation, using her special abilities – in the end, she has to dance around Fae politics while trying to prove that a dear friend wasn't behind the killings. Throughout this, she has a love life, some friends, helps the local pack with some internal issues, and finds herself in mortal danger frequently. All while maintaining her shop, sense of humor, and independence.
I love these characters – all of them, I can't think of a single one of them I wouldn't want to spend more time with. Mercy has an attitude, perspective and humor that I enjoy, and good taste in friends/acquaintances, too. Briggs' approach to werewolves, vampires, etc. is fantastic and I frequently judge other UF writers by how they match up to Briggs' approach.
There is a richness to Briggs' writing and to the world she's created that's truly impressive. It takes me less than a chapter to feel absolutely at home in the books (this happened when I first tried Moon Called and has happened with every successive volume – not just in my going through them again on audio). What blew me away going through these books is how much of this series (and the spin-off series, Alpha and Omega) is established in Moon Called – she's what, 14 books or so in and 98% of those books can be traced to this first one. Whether that's because she's good at going back and picking up details to flesh out or because she plotted things out so well, it really doesn't matter – the material was there and she's using it well. The world she established is so well-formed that she can keep playing in it without having to invent new things, change the rules she established, or anything else. I can't think of another UF universe that was so well-built from book one.
King gives a really strong performance here – her characters are spot-on, the narrative stays engaging. Really, a bang up job, with one big flaw: she can't pronounce local geographic names. Granted, most people who don't live in Washington/Idaho/Montana(ish) aren't going to notice, but man, it's hard to listen to. If I have to hear her butcher “Coeur d'Alene” one more time . . . On the other hand, there's this scene in Iron Kissed between Adam (local Alpha) and Ben (British werewolf who joined the pack because he had to leave England under suspicious circumstances) where Ben has to explain to Adam the psychological trauma Mercy's suffered and how she's reacting. When I first read the book, I was in shock a. because of the traumatic scene (really well written) and b. Ben's more than capable and empathetic understanding/explanation. This time through, King's performance just stunned me – it was so good. She nailed the whole thing and almost had me in tears in my cubicle.
I loved the books, I think the audiobooks are among the best I've heard – the only reason that I haven't gone further in this series of audiobooks is that the library system here doesn't have #4 (they do have the rest of the series, oddly enough), and I haven't justified the expense for myself yet. For old fans of the books, or people looking for something new to listen to – these are well worth your time. Great material presented in a pretty compelling way.
Oh I liked that. Still getting used to the subtle undertones of the romantic subplot, I'm used to it being a much bigger part but these aren't that kind of book. ;)
These books have such fun characters in them. I really love this strong female lead that does not fit into the stereotypical role.
Loved this book it was really good. Just when I thought the book was wrapped up it went another direction.
re-read 2021 – looking back at my past review after having read 10+ books in this series is a little funny. Still really enjoying the series.
—————————-
Love this series ^_^
re-read!
Did I totally just put of doing final projects to completely read this book? Yes, yes I did.
Once I started I really couldn't stop. There isn't action throughout either – this is more of a mystery I guess– but I loved it all the same. This time around I really felt all the politics and needing to act a certain way. Absolutely loved it about how Mercy is.
Love Stefan!! Do I ship him with Mercy?? Somehow, but he has to get in line hahaha
Glad I bought this book. Looking forward to the next one.
