Krista Reviews: M. J. Steven's - "Bound"
‘No good deed ever goes unpunished, Mellea…’
Mellea Wendorn hasn’t exactly had a normal life. Misfortune seems to follow her, and her family, wherever she goes. However, when Mellea stops to assist a mysterious young man suddenly her prior hardships seem trivial. His name is Leo. He is a Successor, a child of the Guardians of Selestia. He is royalty. He is handsome. And he wants Mellea completely to himself.
Unable to escape the Guardian’s laws, Mellea must learn the ways of the royals. She is convinced her life can’t get much worse. But when a timeworn Guardian enemy arises from the shadows, Mellea must make a choice that will change her destiny forever.
Mellea is not rich and she has to work hard to help her parents make ends meet. One day, after leaving her job, she sees a man being chased and shot at. When he’s hit, he falls from his flying board and Mellea cannot help but stop to see if he is ok. It turns out that he is a pompous and rude Guardian who tells her that she is to be his wife. Not only is Mellea shocked, but also trapped. She is going against her father’s wishes by having any contact with the Guardians.
While Mellea is kept at the Guardian Tower, she meets others and begins to form friendships. The family is in turmoil as the political leaders see an uprising of Mech attacks and life outside their house as dangerous. The Mechs are people who’ve had body parts replaced with robotic/android parts to become partially mechanical and use their extra strength to try to bring down the Guardians. Now that Mellea is to be wed to the family, she also has to learn how to fight and protect herself from attack.
The writing style is non-stop action and movement. There is very little downtime and the characters are funny and fit into the story well. It has both science fiction and magic, as well as love, lives, and secrets.
I recommend this to readers who enjoy a feisty female lead, a little romance, and political uprisings. Fans of the Elite Series by Kiera Cass would enjoy this book. My favourite part of the story was the hot and cold relationship between Mellea and Leo, as well as Mellea and her parents. It was an enjoyable and fun read and I really loved it.
Paperback, First Edition, 360 pages
Published January 21st 2014
ISBN13 9780992407407
