Crimson Bound audiobook

Her dreams were a tangled mess of blood and shuddering trees. This book is damn near perfect.I just don't know how to review this wonderful, creepy, gory, clever, twisty fairy tale and be able to do it justice. How do you sell a book to people when it does so many different things and does them all marvelously? I just cannot wait for Cruel Beauty fans to read this.Crimson Bound is a story full of villains who are allowed to love and heroines who are allowed to murder and be selfish. Rosamund Hodge does not do simple characters - they are all tangled up in a bizarre web of friendship, fear, love, hate, desire and loyalty. You can never quite be sure which characters are trustworthy - if, indeed, any of them are.If you like fairy tale retellings to stay close to the originals, then Hodge's imaginative new worlds and mythology may not be for you. I, however, love it. This tale is woven with nods towards the Red Riding Hood story we all know but it wanders far from it into brand new, extremely creepy territory. There are no wolves in this story, at least not in the literal sense, but there are things far far worse. In the darkest shadows of the wood stands a house. The walls are caulked with blood. The roof is thatched with bones. Within that bloody house lived Old Mother Hunger, the first and eldest of all forestborn. As with Cruel Beauty, this book is marketed as YA but I would stress that it is probably for the older end of that age group or adults. There are plenty of gruesome battles, sexy scenes and things younger teens might find disturbing.Now for the story; but I cannot tell you too much because you deserve to discover everything in this book on your own. Anyway, the story is about Rachelle who carelessly strays from the forest path and meets a forestborn who marks her. The rules are thus: a marked human has three days to kill someone and become a slave to the forest's power or else die. Rachelle makes her choice and will spend the rest of her life paying the price. Every day for the last three years, she had thought she deserved to die. She still didn’t want to. She wanted to live with every filthy desperate scrap of her heart. Now older, Rachelle is haunted by her guilt and propelled by the dark power of the forest and the evil Devourer that hides at its centre. Feeling like she has nothing left to lose, she will do anything to stop the Devourer from seizing control of the human world with his darkness. Little does she know that there is always something left to lose.It's just wonderful. She's just wonderful. And complex and selfish at times, but always badass:“Speechless?” asked Erec. “Don’t be ashamed. I bring all ladies to that state sooner or later.”“Too bad for you,” she said, “I’m not a lady."The book twists about all over the place, never letting you guess how it's going to end. The tension never leaves and the author is just evil enough to convince you that any and every character you love might die. I swear my heart was literally racing for the last quarter... so much awesome, so many perfect quotes that I won't put in this review because they should be discovered at exactly that point in the story. It feels like I've been waiting forever for this book and it was oh so worth it.Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Youtube

rtc!!----- pre-reading: i read an excerpt of this in the back of cruel beauty and it was SO enchanting y'all. now i'm buddy reading this with my irl best friend what could be better ♥️

A retelling mash-up of The Girl Without Hands & Little Red Riding Hood!To be quite honest, I'd never heard of the former until Hodge mentioned it in her acknowledgements. Now that I've looked it up, the story makes even more sense, and I have to give her props for weaving it into this retelling!Ok, this is a dark retelling, and Rachelle isn't exactly a princess, so if you're hoping for a fluffy love story, back away from this book. For the rest of you?It all starts when she takes a walk in the woods...Our heroine is a survivor, and she does what she has to do to live. Which means, sometimes she makes the morally wrong choice. In fact, in the first few chapters, she kills her beloved aunt in order to survive a curse. Too bad for her, surviving the curse means she actually becomes a cursed creature.So what's a girl to do with the time she has left as a human?Well, Rachelle decides to serve her kingdom as a supernatural hunter. She works for the king, and protects people from the nightmarish monsters that are leaking out of the ever encroaching magical Forrest. Legend says that the Devourer will someday return, and bring with him Endless Night.Most of the people think it's just a story, but Rachelle knows that this monster is very real.And almost at their doorstep. She doesn't want redemption, but she does want revenge. And armed with a story her aunt used to tell, she plans to find the one weapon that might be able to end its reign of evil. Alrighty, so where does The Girl Without Hands story come in? Well, in this version, it's not a girl at all. It's the king's bastard son, a presumed saint, who makes life harder for Rachelle when she has to become his bodyguard. He's (supposedly) lost his hands when refused to kill an innocent in order to survive his curse. His father, in order to use his popularity to quell the rebels, assigns Rachelle to protect him, and insists that they accompany him to a heavily warded royal house in the country.She hates her new charge, Armand, because if he is being honest, that means she didn't have to kill her aunt. But, more than that, she doesn't think he's telling the whole truth about about how he really lost his hands.It's time to take a road trip & fall in love!Relax, there's no insta-love in Crimson Bound. When she first meets him she hates his guts, because she thinks he's a fraud that's playing on people's ignorance. Throughout the story they gradually start to respect each other, and then trust, and (only then) does Rachelle begin to realize that she feels more for Armand.Can I just point out that the fact that his hands got lopped off, so we're getting a bit of diversity in what is usually considered a traditional Handsome Hero. The dude has stumps! And I thought it was just awesome that while it's addressed as something he has to deal with, it's not something that Rachelle has to overcome in order to be attracted to him. It's just hands. Yeah, it make it difficult for him, but other than the initial shock at seeing him without his silver hands on, it is a non-issue in her growing attraction toward him. She also finds him rather plain looking when they first meet, but (like all real love) she slowly finds that she prefers his face more than anyone else's.Secrets, betrayal, miscommunication, conspiracies, and sacrifice.Can true love really conquer all?Hell no!But pulling on your Big Girl Panties, and doing the right thing just might work.So, yeah, I really enjoyed this. It's not going to be something that everyone will like, but this struck just the right balance between dark fantasy, fairytale, and romance for me!

"Everyone tries to be good until it stops being convenient" There's only one reason I gave her works another try: Her writing. It's so fluent. Like that in her previous book, Cruel Beauty. I think this book is better than Cruel Beauty in regards of plot. I loved it.It's also the first Red Riding Hood retelling I read. I enjoyed it because of writing and plot. Otherwise, the character development wasn't upto my satisfaction. I couldn't make myself to die-hard love any of them. Only Armand was leeetle better. WORLD-BUILDING & CREATURES The world revolves arround the Forest, which is hidden from the human world. But it can be appeared in anywhere. Considering that it's a Little Red Riding Hood re-telling, author did a good job. Along with humans, there are bloodbounds, forestborns woodwife(s). Forestborns are the loyal servants of Devourer, the antagonist. Forestborns mark humans after which the marked one has to kill someone in three days and become a bloodbound or die.Bloodbounds are to be executed except for the ones in king's army. Woodwife are the one who protects the village from the evil Forest. PLOT Rachelle's aunt was a woodwife. She was learning charms from her. One day she met a foresrborn in the Forest who made her bloodbound. He also told her that the Devourer is coming and the world will soon end. She then left her village and joined the king's army and met Erec who trained her. She wanted to kill Devourer and brake free herself from his bond and also free her people. But the king made her the guard of his bastard, Armand. She convinced him to find the only weapon to kill Devourer. -- The biggest problem I faced with this book is non-English words for places. They suck as hell and annoyed me a lot. I don’t see the need for this.-- Mythology of the world is amazing. Liked Tyr and Zisa's story. -- We don't get much of Devourer even though he is the antagonist. We just feel him but not fully see him in person. It might be because he doesn't have any physical form. I didn't like this fact.-- Rachelle's very confusing. It's maybe because of her being a bloodbound. But at some places I really liked her. (view spoiler)[-- I didn't understand why she had to kill Devourer even after killing him in her body? Like to kill him twice. First Armand killed him with the sword when Devourer possessed her. After that she woke up in Devourer's stomach killed him again? I couldn't understand the logic. (hide spoiler)]**This was an amazing buddyread with Rida Imran. **14 August, 2018

I need to have a shirt made, with ROSAMUND HODGE IS FUCKING BRILLIANT printed on it. Crimson Bound has one of the most unique imaginative worlds I've ever come across. It's dark, it's vicious, and it's so me. It's going to be so you, too, I swear.Other than the world-building, I would also give two thumbs up for Rosamund's elegant writing. And it's not the boring kind of elegant, either--it's the mesmerizing kind that'll just suck you into the story.Rachelle was such a different heroine from what I'm used to. There were times when she wallowed up in self-pity, and there were times when she came out strong and fierce. I liked that she wasn't just a one-dimensional character and had a lot more to her than you'd think at first.The romance was fine and took a backseat in this one. I was hoping for a little more development and a lot less love-triangle, but I wasn't bothered too much by this aspect because the story's main focus was on the action and adventure, which I adored.I would definitely recommend this one to anyone looking for a dark, mysterious, and unique retelling.

Rosamund Hodge just became an auto buy author! I completely fell in love with this world.

An ARC of this title was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts are my own.This review can also be found at The Starry-Eyed Revue.I loved Crimson Beauty  so much that I've already read and/or listened to it over five times since I received the ARC a little over a year ago. Beauty and the Beast has always been one of my favorite fairy tales, followed very closely by Little Red Riding Hood. Intriguing that one of my new favorite authors on the scene has retold both now. And her sophomore novel may have trumped her debut on my list of favorite retellings ever.The thing is, I can't really talk about the aspect I loved the most in this story because it would probably be considered a major spoiler to most if I revealed anything about it. And because I value romance pretty highly, I myself would consider any mention of this type of romance to be ruining. I can say that the way this romance plays out would disappoint many, especially those who feel very strongly on the kind that feature three points. I discussed it in great length with Lauren, who famously despises LTs and as far as I know, she has plans to stay very far away from this one. Just in case you were wondering. :)Here's the thing, kids. I've been trying to write this review for weeks. I was blown away by this book when I read it and I've wanted to tell the world ever since, but I wanted to be coherent when I did so. Apparently, when it comes to me and one of Rosamund's books, that's maybe an impossibility I've yet to accept. It's just…the way she weaves a tale you already know and love into a story that's wholly it's own is rather remarkable. I don't like to compare authors because they all have their own style and their own methods, but the way Hodge writes her characters reminds me a lot of Sarah J. Maas. I just love how they always have questionable motives and very little compunction. I live in the gray areas, and I like to see characters that do the same, that battle with good and evil, black and white, on a daily basis. It makes them more real to me.Crimson Bound is not only based on the tale of Little Red Riding Hood but also on the story of The Girl With No Hands . I absolutely LOVED how Hodge combined these tales to make one truly engaging story, one where the evil is closer than you know or want to admit, and trusting anyone else might be your biggest mistake yet. It's a story where girls are allowed to kill and have unpure thoughts and villains aren't necessarily all evil. I just love a redeemable bad guy….like, there's no other character I like to see more. Besides the heroine who's allowed to be selfish and want things for herself, even if she knows it goes against what she's been taught or who she's sworn to protect. Not everything is black and white, and I fully appreciate a story that can illustrate that without being preachy.Also, Hodge reminds us of the story's origins by including faerie folk and reminding the MC constantly of what is owed, but I still love how understated the faerie presence is in her stories, despite the fact that many fey have made themselves noticeable at this point in the story. I really enjoy how this author takes fairy tales and flips them on their heads; these stories are definitely inspired by some of my favorite fairy tales, but they don't follow through with those essential happily ever afters, peaking the interest of a hard-core fairy tale lover like me.This is technically the third story I've read from Rosamund Hodge, but I have to say, it's my favorite. Her characters have become increasingly more complex and the story that much more frenetic, and I have a hard time controlling myself when one lands in my lap. Her stories are not the type to be read sparingly, bit by bit. No, Hodge's stories inevitably need to be read all in one go, by someone who fully understands that life isn't black and white but lived in shades of gray.GIF it to me straight: In other words, trust no one.

Crimson Bound is a standalone, dark fantasy novel written by Rosamund Hodge. It is considered a fairytale retelling - which I'm not a fan of btw - but Ms. Hodge's style just does it for me somehow. Her willingness to keep these tales as dark and haunting as possible is a beautiful thing. In Crimson Bound, Ms. Hodge incorporates a mixture of The Grandmother's Tale (a 14th century French version of Little Red Riding Hood) and The Girl without Hands. Personally, I had never heard of either of these fairytales before researching a bit about the inspiration behind this book. Ms. Hodge really delved into the core of these stories during her retelling and the outcome is deep, complex, and brilliant. During my personal reading experience, I did find some pieces of the storyline didn't quite flow well while transitioning from time periods, places, etc. and those periods were a tad distracting for me, but I was invested in this fantasy world, I was thoroughly engaged with the characters and their struggles, and I was eager to see this story through to the end. But as Ms. Hodge notes at the very beginning of the book, "This story begins with endless night and infinite forest; with two orphaned children, and two swords made of broken bone. It has not ended yet." God, I love this author!My favorite quote:"Everyone tries to be good until it stops being convenient."Note: I so desperately wanted to share Ms. Hodge's inspiration for Crimson Bound, and show how it connects to the original fairytales, but it's just too detailed. I'll direct you to THIS ONLINE INTERVIEW instead. I found it fascinating and I hope you'll check it out! Also, if you're interested in reading the original fairytales, you can find The Grandmother's Tale at THIS WEBSITE and The Girl without Hands at THIS ONE. Enjoy!5/11/2016:My favorite quote:"This is the human way. On the edge of destruction, at the end of all things, we still dance. And hope."

(source)This book was absolutely spectacular. And I desperately want to give it five stars. Unfortunately, I don't feel as if it deserves the full five - there were too many issues. But I want to make it clear to everyone that this comes as recommended as most of my fives. I want to get the issues out of the way first. The first half is really, really confusing. The pacing is just a little off; events feel slightly manufactured due to the confusion. But Hodge managed to keep me fairly engaged and interested, even when I was confused. My advice would be to push through the first 150 pages if they confuse you, because it is DEFINITELY worth it. The plot massively improves in the second half, with a few twists I didn’t see coming. Now, let’s talk everything amazing about the book. I LOVED RACHELLE. I cannot overexaggerate just how compelling I found her character. She has a good balance between overpowered and incompetent; she makes mistakes and she doesn’t always succeed, but she’s smart as a whip and tough as nails. She’s not merciless, but she’s also not afraid to kick ass or lie when she needs to. She’s confident and solid in herself, but also hates the darkness inside her. This is such an interesting, perfect balance. She’s very unlikable at times, but her character feels so realistic that it’s easy to ignore. “She didn't even look at me,” said Erec, his voice mock sad. “I wonder what I've done to offend her?”“Breathing, I think,” said Rachelle. “But also wearing that jacket.” I can totally understand why the romance plots annoyed some, but it drew me completely in. There is a love triangle, but it’s used entirely for character development. It is clear from the beginning which guy is right for Rachelle, and which one is wrong, but we also see why she likes both of them. (view spoiler)[I saw one review mention her quick jump in with the other guy as a negative, and I honestly have to disagree. That action absolutely fits into her character arc as I viewed it. (hide spoiler)]The plot between Rachelle and Armand was awesome. I feel the same way about this romance plot as I did about the romance from Daughter of Smoke and Bone; yes, there's a wiff of instalove, but their relationship dynamic is compelling. The author gives reasons for their relationship; they understand each other and work well together. I found myself invested only 200 pages in. I liked that Armand was disabled but it doesn't hold him back; it's always great to see positive rep. Hodge also deserves praise for her prose. She depicts setting very well. While the worldbuilding isn’t completely the focus here, the descriptions of the city and the forest worked perfectly for me. I almost wish more time was spent in the city, because my mental image of it was beautiful. VERDICT: Despite some disengagement in the first half, this book manages to land solidly on its feet with excellent character work, a twisty plot, and a sweet romance. While it's messy at times, I highly recommend this. My Blog | My GR Account["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

Originally posted on Books with Chemistry.Crimson Bound is the story of Rachelle. When she was 15 years old, she was – let’s say – a good girl. She was being trained by her aunt as the next woodwife (they protect people from the power of the forest), but Rachelle is also reckless. One day, while in the woods with a forestborn, she gets careless for a moment and she’s marked by him, thus being damned: She has three days for killing someone on cold blood and becoming a bloodbound, or else she dies. Rachelle then had to kill someone and the guilt will haunt her for the rest of her life.Three years later, the king hires her as his official bloodbound, with the task of protecting his son Armand. But there’s also an evil force – the Devourer – threatening the city and Rachelle can help for it to be eliminated.I started this book with high expectations. I had read and loved Rosamund Hodge’s Cruel Beauty a few months ago, and so I was eager to picking up this book. This one, however, was more like my kind of book – it has action, gore, sexy romance, fantasy, and a dark world that’s also fascinating.I think this book ended up being better than Cruel Beauty not only for the fact I said before, though. The writing, for once, was better. The descriptions of the forest were beautiful and could give you chills up your spine because of how dark they could be sometimes.I also loved the main character better. Rachelle is a complex heroine, and I loved her for that. She was brave and strong, but she could get selfish or insecure at times, and that made her even more relatable. I’ve said perfect characters are usually not easy to like for me, but flawed ones are more realistic and I like them better.Rachelle was not the only one that way, though. Erec (another bloodbound, and Rachelle’s friend) was complex too. He was impossible to decipher. His personality is a bit seductive and he may appear like a villain at times, but in some others, he could seem like a good guy. The best part about him is that he’s neither and both – just like I like it.And the Armand I talked about in the synopsis is the guy Rachelle must protect. He doesn’t have hands, but hecan handle things perfectly. He was flawed too and I really loved him.There are some hints here and there about Little Red Riding Hood, but the story is not similar at all, so I wouldn’t say this is strictly a retelling. Yes, it’s based upon fairy tales (LRRH and The Girl With No Hands), but Hodge gets original and adds more things to story.The world building and setting were amazing too. Hodge does a great job describing what bloodbounds and forestborns are without overfilling the book with too much information. Most of the story is set in the forest, which was a bit creepy because of that Devourer and the dangers they had to fight, but I loved it.I must say that this book would have been miles better if the audience had not been young adult. There are already some disturbing and sexy scenes, but in my opinion, things would have been more interesting if the book had been aimed at more mature readers.Still, I cannot say that fact prevented me from enjoying this book, because that would be a lie.If you didn’t like Cruel Beauty, I’d say you give a chance to Crimson Bound. They’re not similar at all, and what you might have disliked from the first book, is probably not present in this one.Now, when is Rosamund Hodge publishing another book? I would totally read it.P.S.: The stupid spiral staircase on the cover is giving me the creeps. I blame Marcus Sedgwick's The Ghosts of Heaven for this.

A love triangle that works?! How is that possible?!It's not entirely on your face, that is how!This Red Riding Hood retelling does a very good job at offering a solid fantasy setting with specific powers and with focus on human relationships. Albeit the realization of love comes a bit abrupt just like in Cruel Beauty, the steady development of the story with Rachelle being the focal point of everything is simply great.You have Rachelle, a hoodwinked young woman who is surviving day by day hoping to put an end to the evil that lurks in the Great Forest and even though the trope of being of a special someone that saves the day is very common in all such books, Rachelle sets the tone much better. Her background and the 3 year gap from her fall to the current time show that she was always striving and searching for the weapon that would end the Devourer. Even after the book started, she still failed in her search and things did not just come out of the sky to help her. Everything was just flowing completely natural.Then you have the other 2 love interests; Erec, the playful, yet arrogant person who helped her stand back on her feet and shares the same fate as hers and Armand, the King's nephew who is rumoured to have insidious plans of overthrowing his uncle and the person Rachelle has to protect. The mysteries and secrets surrounding this trio are too many and often things come up too late in a situation, which makes this an even more interesting read. Add to the mix Amelie, who is Rachelle's one and only friend; la Fontaine, the king's mistress; the bishop and his retainer, who are against the king; the whole Great Forest that lurks and you have a solid fantasy book.Even if the romance is a bit awkward, I love that Rachelle is not afraid to go through mud and makes mistakes. She has very relatable thoughts and is being very honest to herself as she knows she has made huge mistakes but does not hide from the fact that she still wants to live. She is humn through and through!In general, a great read with a few flaws here and there, but the concept and execution of various ideas were great. A tad predictable sometimes, but a thorough enjoyable time!

I liked this one more then I expected I would.

Full Review:http://ohdangmandy.blogspot.com/2015/...Rachel is a Woodwife apprentice, responsible for creating charms to protect the people from the dangers of the forest. Not satisfied with just waiting around on the defense for the Devourer to wake up, swallow the sun and moon, and wreak havoc on the world, Rachel decides to fix the world herself. She confronts a Forestborn, sure she can out smart him and find out how to destroy the Devourer. But in this story it's not the Big Bad Wolf who kills. Rachel gets marked, and has three day to decide: kill someone and live forever as a Forestborn, or die. Three years later she serves the King while trying to accomplish what she originally set out to do 3 years ago. But the clock is ticking, and getting assigned to babysitting duty of the King's son isn't helping. Wow, just wow. Let me start by saying that this was not what I was expecting. The promise of a Little Red Riding Hood retelling was what solidified my decision to read this book. But this is so much more than just a retelling. The prologue, the initial catalyst that began the story is a retelling, but everything else that happens before and after is astonishingly unique and intriguing. A Devourer that swallows the sun and moon and brings the return of eternal night. Forestborn that lose their humanity, and hunt and terrorize humans. Ancient stories of a brother and sister who found a way to stop the Devourer the first time using swords made of bone. To say that this is just a retelling would be a disservice.

4.5 STARS!WOW. What a fantastic way to start 2017. Truly. This book really is a gem - I only wish more people would give it a chance and not focus so much on the "star rating". But I understand, that to some a rating of 3.68 isn't high enough and they set the book aside for something deemed better. I actually do that myself. But please, don't do that with this book! This is such an original and amazing story filled with relatable characters (especially Erec, he's my favorite....though he's considered the "jerk". Oh well). Each character had ample pro's and con's to them, which is how we all are as human beings! No one is perfect. So I really enjoyed all their believable personalities.Though, I will be honest and say that this is a rather morbid book that doesn't really have any "happy endings" throughout...so don't read it if you're looking for something uplifting. This book will just leave you feeling torn. Take me for example, who cried at the end and felt strangely at ease, but not. It just leaves you shattered!Okay, okay, some people I know have read this book and are telling me I enjoyed it too much, that it wasn't that good, yada yada - don't listen to people like that! Just trust me, your fellow stranger, and give this wonderful novel a try! I guarantee, it won't disappoint.

"She walked forward. She couldn't stop her feet from moving, though she tried desperately, because even a glimpse of the cottage's flat walls and closed door - its roof thatched with bones - made her choke with terror. But she still took one step and then another. She knew that when she reached the door, she would be helpless to stop herself from opening it. She knew that what lay beyond the door would destroy her. One step forward.Then another."...I really shouldn't be surprised at this point, but I'm just so pleased. Crimson Bound is yet another fairy tale retelling from Rosamund Hodge that I thoroughly enjoyed. This little nightmare of a book follows Rachelle, a girl whose blood is bound to the Great Forest that surrounds the city she's sworn to protect. The Fleur de Lis on her red cloak marks her as a guard to the King, but the black star on her neck makes others see her as a murderer. And...she kind of is.Something I love about Hodge's retellings are her characters. She isn't afraid to make her heroines flawed, and Rachelle isn't a special snowflake. She's angry, vicious, and not afraid to get her hands dirty. She almost crosses into the territory of unlike-ability. But I couldn't help but sympathize with her plight, and Hodge did an excellent job revealing the vulnerability of her character.Rachelle is determined to redeem herself for her past misdeeds, and her journey towards redemption was beautiful, and extremely cathartic. I also really liked Armand. He was unconventional as far as YA love interests go, and I thought him and Rachelle had great chemistry. Unlike Cruel Beauty, whose romance was angtsy and heart-pounding, the love story in Crimson Bound was a little more understated. But it was also...sweet, and founded upon mutual trust and respect. I really loved them together. And the writing in this book. It was so delicious. The seductive magic of the Forest seeped off the page. I could feel the terror and the menace of this nightmarish story. Dark fairy tales like this are perfect to read this time of year, and Rosamund Hodge definitely delivered. Zisa walked among the pools, bones rustling beneath her bare feet. She picked one up, and asked it, "Who are you?"The bone sang to her:"My mother, she killed me,My father, he ate me. I once had a name, But now I have none."And so sang every bone she asked.It's hard for me to label Crimson Bound as a straight up "retelling" of Little Red Riding Hood, since Hodge crafts such a unique, compelling fantasy world around the bare bones of a story we know and love. The mythology and lore was fascinating, if a little confusing at times, but I was blown away nonetheless. Hodge's ability to craft mesmerizing, sinister stories is constantly surprising me. I have to admit, however, that the first act of this book didn't completely grip me. I enjoyed Rachelle's character introduction, but the world-building was a little confusing, and I found the plot to meander somewhat. There is a point when the story explodes, though. I couldn't put this book down past the halfway point.Everything, from the plot to the characters, tied together perfectly in the end. The third act of this story was perfection. There were a couple twists that made me scream out loud. Villains were given emotional depth, characters were faced with impossible choices, and at the end, I was desperately begging for more.I can't wait to read even more from Rosamund Hodge. If you're looking for something fresh and different in the YA genre, read Cruel Beauty or Crimson Bound. I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of her books.What a great start to 2018!

THIS IS ALSO MY FAVOURITE.