Book Review: Blood Bound by Sharon Stevenson

I know it’s been a bit, but I have a new and interesting book review to share, and it’s my first review as part of the Fae Books team! This time around, I read Blood Bound (A Gallows Novel #1) by author Sharon Stevenson.

For starters, the story has the supernatural elements of nearly every paranormal entity you can imagine. Vampires, werewolves, witches, fairies, ghosts, and things I’d never even known the names of until now, all thrown together for one heck of a tale. That’s what really got me hooked on this book. Despite life and all its annoying intrusions getting in the way and stealing my reading time, I really didn’t want to put this one down.

The two lead characters are twin demon hunters, Shaun and Sarah. The background of demon hunters is explained early on, being descendant of angels known as The Fallen. Sarah and Shaun go through some interesting trials with various demons and have to battle the bonding that seems to be gripping Shaun-especially since he neither wants to be bound to another demon hunter nor does he particularly like his apparent soul mate. His fate is uncertain, but when Sarah’s life starts revolving around a vampire, things get sticky.

I love the characters in this story. They are so incredibly well-defined that I felt like I knew them personally. Sarah and Shaun were unique characters; determined, and unconventional in every way. The imagery is crazy good, and I could vividly see the hallucinations as well as smell the scents of the various creatures. The amount of detail that the author puts into this book is phenomenal. It’s a read that grips you from the beginning, and keeps you enthralled until the very end, which leaves the reader craving the next book just to continue the story. There is just so much to this book that really sets it above other in this genre.

There were a couple of elements that were left unfinished, but I have a feeling those are going to be picked back up in the next book. I really can’t wait to read the second book! I like to think I’m a tough reviewer, but to be honest, as I was reading it, I couldn’t think that this was an indie author who isn’t signed with Simon & Schuster or one of the other big publishing houses. It really was that good, and I have to thank Sharon for this opportunity to read her awesome book! As for a score, I’d simply have to give this one 5/5 (or 10/10) stars.  Awesome book, I have already recommended it once and I’ll do it a thousand times over.

Reviewed by Ashley of Fae Books.