Reviewed by Donna
SERIES: A Shadow Bound Novel
AUTHOR: Garrett Leigh
PUBLISHER: Fox Love Press
LENGTH: 256 Pages
RELEASE DATE: October 11, 2019
BLURB:
“He’s not a wolf.”
Devastated by the death of his best friend, Zio is a soldier with one thing on his mind: revenge. Consumed by a conflict that’s raged as long as he’s been alive, he’s had little time or inclination to learn the legends of the shifter world he was raised in. And he certainly doesn’t have time to deal with a shifter of a different kind, even if it’s for the good of the war effort. For the good of his pack. The fact that he’s already crossed paths with the new face in his unit is almost irrelevant.
Almost.
Do no harm. Give life not death: it’s the oath Devan was reborn to live by, so when he’s sent abroad to embed with a wolf pack as their resident healer, he doesn’t hesitate. In the supernatural world, some bonds are instant—soldiers become brothers, pack become family. But others run deeper and before long, Devan’s at the mercy of instincts he can’t control.
Zio’s inner wolf is desperate to be with Devan, while Devan struggles to keep the pack safe. But as the war escalates, and new love is tainted by anguish and pain, the battles within might prove the toughest of them all.
“I won’t let him die.”
REVIEW:
If you have a look at the many reviews written for this story, you can see that readers are pretty polarized with their opinions. And I totally understand what they’re all saying. I enjoyed this book, Garrett Leigh is a quality writer who delivers polished tales with engaging plots and characters with depth. This story offers all of those things, as Garrett Leigh takes the plunge into the shifter world with a rather unique approach.
I’m putting my hand up as a Zio fan, the angry werewolf soldier was definitely my favourite here. He was a bit of an ass, and bit selfish and overly reactive, but…considering he was grieving his best friend I felt it was acceptable. To be honest, Devan, absolutely great guy, but a bit of a goody-goody, it was kind of enjoyable to read Zio being a dick to him.
I loved the idea behind this world, that werewolves and shifters were different creatures who warily got along but preferred to avoid each other. I think the author also did a great job with the war between the Northern wolves and the Southern packs. It was more than just battle scenes, and included well planned out twists and turns as the enemies strategized to take each other out.
So I loved all of this, the plot and the characters and the world the author created, the problem was, the world building was a bit lacking. It felt like I’d been dropped into the middle of a series and had missed some important background information. While the world was interesting, there wasn’t enough time spent explaining or describing it. It wasn’t as though I was confused, but more like I couldn’t connect enough to the story.
Having said that, I still really liked this book, I just would have loved it more had I had a deeper understanding of the world it was set in. Hopefully the author chooses to continue this series and delivers the extra insight that many readers seem to feel we need.
RATING:
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