A review by kreadsromance1
War Bound by Tara Grayce

3.0


Genre: Fantasy romance set in a quasi-historical time period in a fictional world. The plot is focused mostly on intrigue and on Farrendel's struggle to adapt to life among humans in a visit to Essie's former home. Some violence but no sexual content at all.

Spoiler
Main pairing: Farrendel/Essie
Favourite character: Farrendel
Villain(s) The trolls

Character rating: 8/10
Plot rating: 5/10
Setting rating: 6/10
Overall rating: 6/10

Pros: Farrendel continues to be a nuanced and empathetic character that you just want to squeeze into a hug and never let go. Watching him struggle was the emotional heart of this book and the topics of his PTSD and anxiety were dealt with really sensitively by the author. It's also nice to see an elvish character who isn't arrogant and self assured for a change.

We got to learn more about Essie's past and see her interact with her family. The first book took her away from everything she knew so quickly that is was enjoyable and insightful to see her interact with the world she used to be part of.

The plot twists were interesting - if sometimes predictable - and the ending was a cliff hanger with enough promise to guarantee I will read the next book when it comes out.

Cons: The first book in this series is one of my all time favourite fantasy romance novels. So I was disappointed that this one fell short for me.

The first book had a good focus on the growing relationship between Farrendel and Essie. For some reason, this book felt like that relationship had taken a huge step back although I can't quite pinpoint why. The couple suddenly seem less sure around each other and interact less. I love this pairing so I was disappointed to lose the majority of the fluff! The plot is essentially occupied with two things: Farrendel's deep anxiety and unhappiness in the city, and the plot against the elves that bubbles away in the background. These were interesting directions for the book to go in, but ultimately I am reading for the couple rather than the secondary plots. I want romantic (and preferably sexual) tension, damn it!

I do feel that Essie as a character lacked some insight in this book. She has a relatively good handle on who Farrendel is as a person but did not foresee some of the issues he was obviously going to have. While it isn't her job to be a mind reader, I felt like some basic thoughts and conversations were missing.

Final opinion: This wasn't the sequel I was on tenterhooks waiting for, and the focus of the plot had definitely shifted in a direction that didn't appeal as much personally. I still enjoyed the read and I'm sure for other people this was much more of a hit.