Review--Shadow Bound by Erin Kellison

DEATH

Some people will do anything to avoid it. Even trade their immortal souls for endless existence.

WRAITHS

Secretly, inexorably, they are infiltrating our world, sucking the essence out of unsuspecting victims with their hideous parody of a kiss.

SEGUE

Adam Thorne founded the Segue Institute to study and destroy his monster of a brother, but the key to its success is held in the pale, slender hand of a woman on the run. There is something hauntingly different about Talia O'Brien, her unknowing sensitivity, her uncanny way of slipping into Shadow.

TWILIGHT

This is the place between life and what comes after--a dark forest of fantasy, filled with beauty, peril, mystery. And Talia is about to open the door.

So I finished Erin Kellison's Shadow Bound today and it was quite a treat! It's a dark fantasy novel, but still in modern time, so dark urban fantasy I guess and there are definite fairy tale elements thrown into the mix.

In the front of the book is a letter from the editor saying that the book has a little bit of Sleeping Beauty in the story for fun. Which as you know is one of my fave Disney movies and also a fave fairy tale. But I saw other fairy tale aspects in the book as well. 

Now the book isn't necessarily a "Once upon a time" fairy tale with modern princesses and princes and all that. In some ways you could argue it is, but when you read it you can feel the fairy tale vibe. Another little fairy tale bit that I absolutely love because, again another fave fairy tale/Disney movie, is this line from page 225, where the main characters, Adam and Talia have met a new secondary character and are going to see yet another character who can help them: "Zoe led him down the hall to a staircase...They took the second to the right and straight on until they reached a starry curtain, which Zoe pulled aside." 

Did you guess where that was from? Needless to say I was smiling a lot throughout the book. The opening even had a sort of Beauty and the Beast feel to it, well really to me it felt like more of the Roman myth, Cupid and Psyche, but that is sort of the older version of Beauty and the Beast as well. 

Basically I ADORED this book! The action was well paced as well. Since Adam is trying to figure out a way to stop the wraiths once and for all, including his brother, when suddenly they hear of Talia and her abilities and then he and his group set out to find her. And that is where the story takes off on the adventure.

But soon, as always, things soon get quickly complicated. Which yet again, there was a Beauty and the Beast feel here--not the Disney one--where Talia MUST stay at the Segue compound and basically never leave for her own safety. Can you see how much I loved this book? I know my fairy tales rather well and was able to pick up on these tiny details.

Like all fairy tales there was a bit of romance here and it was a nice gradual one that built up with looks here and there and an intense moment there and then BAM! While I write this, it doesn't sound gradual but it sort of was. Mid-gradual :)

The ending was good as well. It had a nice ending, yet still left a few loose threads, but I don't know how loose they really are since the next book Shadow Fall, centers around different characters.

Overall I give the book 4.5/5 stars! A truly wonderful read and I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend it if you love fairy tales as much as I do. It was fun for me to see the little moments taken from fairy tales, more so than Disney, but Disney does use these moments as well, because like I said I just love the classic fairy tales!

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