My Rating: Wavering between 2.5 and 3 hearts
Thoughts on the Novel: After enjoying Rosamund Hodge’s debut
novel, Cruel Beauty, last year, I
was looking forward to seeing what she would do with a retelling of Little Red
Riding Hood. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with Hodge’s sophomore novel
because the issues that I had with Cruel Beauty were present in Crimson Bound
as well.
Like Cruel Beauty, Crimson Bound, for example, contained both instant
love and a love triangle, neither of which I usually find appealing or necessary. Similarly, although Crimson Bound had some very interesting mythology and worldbuilding, it was confusing
as hell to understand it. For
instance, I’m still trying to figure out whether the Devourer is supposed to be
a god, the devil, or something else altogether. Due to the worldbuilding and the
way things were resolved, I also found the ending quite unsatisfying.
On top of all that, I didn’t really like Rachelle since all she seemed to do was have a pity party for herself about how
she wanted to save the world and not be a murderer. Meanwhile, I just wanted to
tell her, “It was your choice to take off your charms in the presence of a forestborn;
if you’re going to be stupid, please don’t expect me to sympathize!”
If you plan on reading a novel by Hodge, I’d recommend Cruel Beauty
over Crimson Bound.
Crimson Bound was released by Balzer
+ Bray on May 5, 2015.
Comments
About the Cover: Although it’s nice that it looks similar to Cruel
Beauty’s, I think it can make people mistakenly assume that the books are sequels
– or at least, companion novels.
In exchange for an honest review, this book was received from the publisher (HarperCollins) for free via Edelweiss.
I wasn't the biggest fan of the first book and I honestly had no desire whatsoever to read this. You just confirmed my opinion. I can't really enjoy a book if none of the characters are particularly likeable. So I'll just pass. :)
ReplyDeleteEhh yeah, I had the same problems with the first book, though I did end up enjoying it overall. I'm unsure yet whether I'll get to this one. It certainly won't be a priority for me anyways.
ReplyDeleteAw, I'm sorry you didn't like this one as much as the first. I, too, loved the first book and thought this one didn't stand as strong but I still enjoyed it. I think I let the romance go because I kind of expected it, at least the insta-love with that one guy. The guy she actually ended up with I really liked.
ReplyDeleteI'm so bummed Z! This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, but it's been getting hugely lackluster reviews so now I'm thinking I might wait. I've heard Rachelle is a little tricky and she does some things that I know are going to frustrate me. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteAll the issues you mentioned here are ones I had with Cruel Beauty when I read it recently. Unfortunately, those issues really hindered my enjoyment for the first book so I'm really not sure if I'll check out this one^^ I have a feeling it'll frustrate me even more. I wanted to like the first one though, which is why I'm tempted to give this one a chance. I'm in no rush to in any case now. Lovely review though^^ x
ReplyDeleteSo these aren't companion novels? I'm so confused. I definitely thought they took place in the same world. Cruel Beauty is on the reading list in Illinois and was on my tbr list since the premise sounds interesting so I'm going to read that one. I think I'll wait to read this one for now.
ReplyDeleteI adored Cruel Beauty and have yet to read Crimson Bound. It is news to me that these are not companion novels?! I assumed they were. I am hoping to read Crimson Bound soon, so I am also hoping it won't be so disappointing!
ReplyDelete