Spell Bound (Early Review)

Spell Bound by Kelley Armstrong

Women of the Otherworld #12

Savannah Levine is in terrible danger, and for once she's powerless to help herself. At the heartbreaking conclusion of Waking the Witch, Savannah swore that she would give up her powers if it would prevent further pain for a young orphan. Little did she know that someone would take her up on that promise.

And now, witch-hunting assassins, necromancers, half-demons, and rogue witches all seem to be after her. The threat is not just for Savannah; every member of the Otherworld might be at risk. While most of her fellow supernaturals are circling the wagons at a gathering of the council in Miami, Savannah is caught on the road, isolated from those who can protect her and unable to use her vast spell-casting talent, the thing she counts on most. In a story that will change the shape of the Otherworld forever, Armstrong gathers Elena, Clay, Paige, Lucas, Jamie, Hope, and other beloved characters, who soon learn that the greatest threat to supernaturals just may come from within.

At the end of Waking the Witch, Savannah lost her powers. In Spell Bound she is trying to come to terms with this, but really not succeeding. Her spells feel as important to her as breathing, so losing them was quite devastating. It doesn't help that trouble keeping coming up, putting her in situations that make her miss the lost firepower even more. It seems all supernatural are a target for some sort of nefarious scheme. While everyone else meets in the Cabel strong hold in Florida, Savannah and Adam are out on the front lines trying to get to the bottom of things. They'll need to get to the bottom of things quickly or run the risk of their world being forever changed.

At times while reading this I felt more as if I was reading a YA novel than an adult. It just didn't have the feel to it that Kelley Armstrong's other adult novels have. Perhaps it is because Savannah still seems so immature despite her age. She continually makes poor decisions, which in itself is not the issue. The problem is that she doesn't step up to the plate and admit her mistakes, she just runs off at the first sign of confrontation. She also threw several "temper tantrums" because things were not going her way. At one point in the book she talks about how she was always respectful and helpful whenever she visited the werewolves growing up, but was completely lazy and constantly disobeyed Paige and Lucas when she was home. It is obvious that she really cares for her guardians, so why treat them with less respect than the werewolves? Clay did seem to give her a wake up call in Spell Bound, so perhaps we will start to see some major progress in her behavior.

I am a very impatient person when it comes to relationship progression, so the issue with Savannah and Adam is driving me nuts. I was really hoping for some relationship progression in this book, but it just felt like things were one step forward and two steps back. Yes, I understand that this is only Savannah's second book, but things really started many books ago when she first met Adam. Of course the age difference was an issue at the time, but it just isn't anymore. I understand her hesitation to admit her feelings to him, as she is afraid he will turn her down. However, Adam would have to be blind not to have figured it out by now, considering the fact that everyone else has. Besides, I really think he cares for her too, so I'm not sure why he hasn't spoken up, unless it is due to her immaturity. As the next book is supposed to be the last one, I can only hope to finally get some satisfaction about these two characters coming together before the series is over.

While Spell Bound read very quickly, there just didn't seem to be a lot of action or real plot development. It felt more like a set up for a final battle in the next book as we don't even get a real picture as to who or what the "bad" guys are. As I am a huge Kelley Armstrong fan, the slow movement and lack of progression did come as a little bit of a disappointment. However, I do have a feeling that the final book will definitely pick things up so this great series can go out with a bang. All in all, while Spell Bound may be a bit of a slower installment than the previous Women of the Otherworld books, it still is a pretty enjoyable read that fans of the series won't want to miss.

(Received from Netgalley)

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Spell Bound (Otherworld, Book 12)

Other Reviews

• Amberkatze's Book Blog
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Previous Books

1. Bitten
2. Stolen
3. Dime Store Magic
4. Industrial Magic
5. Haunted
6. No Humans Involved
7. Personal Demons
8. Living With the Dead
9. Frostbitten
10. Waking the Witch

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