Dear Custo, way to ignore the laws of Heaven and Twilight. (and I mean this in the best possible way)

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I enjoyed this book more than I expected. It’s the first romance I’ve picked up in… a little over 3 years, and I was pleasantly surprised that it managed to hold my interest throughout. I did have a few issues with it, though. The couple lacked chemistry for me, and I never bought into Talia being an academic. She really didn’t seem all that bright to me. I also thought the revelation of love happened too swiftly; they went from “I don’t trust this person” to “he / she is my soulmate!” without much of a reason, except that the plot demanded it. The characters were a bit one-dimensional, and it was so easy to guess who was going to betray Adam. Also, the seers and goths that came out to help at the end hadn’t been introduced at all and seemed like a Deus Ex Machina plot device. Having said all that, I actually really enjoyed reading this. Kellison’s writing is beautiful and lyrical and often mesmerizing, which his what kept the logical, analytical part of my brain from taking over when I ran into a problem with the plot or characters. I’ll definitely be reading the next book in the series, and I’ll be looking for more books from Kellison. Considering this was a debut, I have high hopes for her future novels. ( )

Loved it! ( )

Shadow Bound
3 Stars

Synopsis
Talia O'Brien, the daughter of Death, is on the run from Wraiths, creatures who live off human souls. Adam Thorne, a millionaire determined to destroy the monster his brother has become, is convinced that Talia hold the key to killing him. Talia has no one to turn to and must decide whether to place her fate in Adam's hands.

Review
Original premise and the world building has potential. Nevertheless, neither the world nor the characters are sufficiently developed and there are numerous inconsistencies and plot holes.

Talia is not pro-active enough. She reacts to events rather than taking the initiative and goes from fearing herself and her abilities to embracing her dark side and slaying wraiths with no emotional growth or internal deliberation. Adam comes across as cold, calculating and manipulative. He is obsessed with destroying his brother and is consumed by a dark rage that suddenly disappears before his objective is attained. Their romance is lacking heat and intensity.

In terms of the writing, there are moments when it is absorbing and others when it became boring and uninspired. Moreover, the action scenes are poorly written and it is difficult to follow the movements and their results. The terminology is confusing as well. For instance, is Talia a Banshee, a Harpy or simply a half-fae?

Finally, the secondary characters are not that interesting and there is no ongoing conflict that would give me the incentive to continue reading. ( )

The cover of this book is misleading, it looks more like YA than UF. ( )