Blood Bound

Overall Rating: 5/5

You duel or you die.

Astrid has always known that she will die one day in a duel... she is the last of the Nachstern witches, and heir to the Queendom of Arturea.... And now her time has come... it is her turn to fight the heir of the Kingdom of Vatra for the source of magic that is known as the Heart. She knows she may die, but this is a chance to secure the Heart so that she may push the Blight back as the Queen of Arturea will die with her.

Meanwhile Skylar and her traveling troupe have also arrived to Vatra, eager to profit off the spectators that are flocking to the capital to view the spectacle of the dual between the heirs. She despises all royals and what they stand for... especially after the King's guards murdered her mother.... And when her best friend disappears, her search brings her uncomfortably closer to the royals that she despises.

And as the two draw closer, joined together by the threads of Fate... they must both battle their inner demons, their families, and the growing rebellion...to determine if they are going to save their world...

Or doom everything they hold dear.

A spellbinding blend of Harry Potter and Fourth Wing...

Dragons? Absolutely.

Magic? Yep.

Toss witches in too, and a captivating power struggle over the main source of all magic?

Well, you definitely have my attention now.

Blood Bound holds something so unique, and so fantastic... that I don't think I've ever read something that compares to what story is told in these pages...the world is not overwhelming and yet presents so much overwhelming potential for MORE. The emotions were done so perfectly, everything from love, to betrayal, to grief, and so much more....it all felt so ALIVE... and at times, I felt like I was living in the book instead of curled in my closet hiding from the world and reading (don't judge me). Ellis Hunter has truly outdone themselves in this masterpiece.

Everything about Blood Bound seems like a fever dream, a combination of every single element of fantasy that I have come to love and adore, and I still cannot believe that I found it. There is so much more I want to know in this world, I want to know more lore, more about the dragons, more about the characters...

CLIFFHANGERS STRIKE AGAIN. Welp... I guess it's the pillow fort of waiting again...alas, such is the life of an ARC reader....