Author: Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Format: Paperback
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
The synopsis is basically a survival story about a group of six criminals formed and led by crime mastermind Kaz Brekker, tasked to take part in a dangerous heist which will result in unimaginable riches or death.
This is one of the first reviews where I would like to keep short and concise. I didn’t enjoy this book. The story felt like it dragged on, the characters felt like stock characters that were likable traits predetermined to be liked my mass audiences and the lackluster of a heist didn’t take place until two-thirds of the book. This book was meant to be character driven yet the character development was kept to bare minimum. The story and characters felt very predictable almost as if the author was ticking check boxes of what would make YA audiences go nuts :
- a brooding male lead with a rough past but a bleeding heart, √ CHECK,
- an exotic female lead, whose “badassery” falls short during critical moments in the story to advance the romance between her and the male lead, √ CHECK.
The story itself felt predictable but it basically lacked the pizzazz I expected from a heist story. The duology has such a strong fan base and and I admittedly really wanted to like it. On a positive note, the world the story was set in was good and engaging but it would have probably been easier to get into had I read the Grisha Trilogy. The book itself had all the makings of an awesome heist story but I’m in the minority it seems as it falls short of anything close to fantastic.
BOUND BY WORDS 