Book review: SPELL BOUND by Kelley Armstrong

Spell Bound by Kelley Armstrong

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


[Note: A rating of 3 stars and above signifies a satisfying read for me.]

Kelley Armstrong's newest Otherworld novel SPELL BOUND is an enjoyable read. Picking up the moment that WAKING THE WITCH leaves off, Savannah leads us on a whirlwind adventure as she tries to discover what happened to her mysteriously vanished powers and, more importantly, who she is without them.


SPELL BOUND seemed, to me, to have two main purposes: to force Savannah to do a lot of growing up in a short amount of time, and to set the stage for an epic showdown in the forthcoming final Otherworld novel.

The issue of Savannah's maturity (or, in many cases, lack thereof) was definitely the heavy hitter and I enjoyed reading her realistic emotional struggles and witnessing her missteps. That sounds a bit sadistic but Savannah's slow-to-come realization that she has behaved like a spoiled princess was very well written. Armstrong didn't pull any punches when it came to Savannah's friends and family calling her out, which only made Savannah's process of coming to terms with who she'd been and who she wanted to be that much sweeter.

Adam Vasic gets a lot of screen time (so to speak), which I loved. He's a fun, strong character and a great match for Savannah. Their dialogue is sharp and entertaining, with the exception of one bad habit of Savannah's: she cuts Adam off constantly. I'm sure it's realistic--conversations are a much more fluid thing in real life than they are on the page--but it became a bit tiresome and irritating for me after a while. In addition to Adam, we get to see a some of Paige and Lucas, and there are cameos from just about every major character in the series, which was really fun to read.

I would have liked to give SPELL BOUND four stars but unfortunately, I just didn't feel the same sense of urgency and risk with the bad guy plot that I normally do with Armstrong's books. It could be that the book's events were given a bit of a back-burner feel because it was Savannah telling the story and the most important thing to her was the mystery of her missing powers (which isn't the primary driver spurring on the bad guy, action-based plot).

SPELL BOUND is a very enjoyable book, one that I would recommend to any fans of Armstrong's Otherworld series. I'm eager to find out what happens in the final book--to see whether or not Savannah can step up and become the person she wants to be and to witness the epic supernatural showdown that's been building all through this book.

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Available July 26, 2011 Pre-order at B&N | Amazon | Indiebound