Vengeance Bound

I really enjoyed Vengeance Bound by Justina Ireland. I’ve read a few books that have the furies in them, but I thought Vengeance Bound was a really unique. Even if you’re exhausted by Greek Mythology in YA, I definitely recommend picking up Vengeance Bound – it wasn’t like any Greek Mythology stories I’d read before.

The protagonist, Cory, had a really messed up life and I really enjoyed the way she sometimes questioned whether or not she really was possessed by the furies, or if she was just as crazy as everyone said she was. I really liked that there was a psychological level to the story that I wasn’t expecting.

The secondary characters were interesting fairly well-rounded, some more than others. I think they all played a pretty key role in Vengeance Bound, which I really liked. I like seeing how stories play out because of the secondary characters – when even smaller actions help push the story forward.

I really, really enjoyed the plot of Vengeance Bound. Like I said, the use of the Furies in the story was different than I’d seen them used before and I just loved the grotesqueness of it all. Justina Ireland didn’t shy away from the murderous bloodlust and there were a lot of intense moments.

The ending of Vengeance Bound was fairly quick, but I thought it wrapped up well and was satisfying, although I was left with one of those “but I want to know what happens to the characters next!” moments. While Vengeance Bound was sold in a two-book deal, it had an ending that could easily make it a standalone, so I’m not sure if it’s going to have a sequel or not.

Either way, I definitely recommend picking up Vengeance Bound by Justina Ireland. Her use of Greek Mythology was refreshing and the story was intense. I really liked the protagonist and I was rooting for her the entire time. I’ll definitely be reading more from Justina Ireland!

With retelling of one of the less-used Greek myths about Furies, Vengeance Bound tells us a story about a girl possessed by these vengeful mythological beings. Amelie Ainsworth aka. Cory Graff is tortured by her own tragic past, running away from psychiatric hospital, fighting against unforgiving rightfulness of her possessors and desperately trying to save her integrity and a piece of her humanity.

Sounds like something awesome and original? Yes. Was it really? Weeeeeeeell... not so much. I don't know how but Vengeance Bound turned into a cliched young adult paranormal plot: new school, meeting group of good friends, insta-love with handsome moody and quiet boy who can (of course) save our heroine... Honestly, when I got up to that I thought about DNF-ing this book. I kept on reading just because MILA 2.0 started the same and then turned into action-packed page-turner. Sadly, Vengeance Bound did not stray from well known formula for young adult paranormal novels.

I am not sure what was Justina Ireland's intention with Amelie/Cory. Should we feel sorry for her because of traumatic events during her childhood? Should we be impressed with her awesome powers and declare her our favorite kick-ass heroine? The more I got to know Amelie, the more unfortunate resemblance to possessed girl from movie The Exorcist came to my mind. Talking in altered voices, easily angered, has attacks when she can't control her actions and gets violent (occasionally murderous) tendencies toward other people, puking green slime if she tries fighting against the beings that possessed her...

As always when you get some idea stuck in your mind, I could not get rid of this vision of Amelie anymore. I didn't like her, I could not cheer for her, I didn't believe in her narration and descriptions because I did not trust her judgement... The way she told her story, every girl in school was either mentally deranged or a slut or both and all men were horny and amoral. I hoped that the ending is going to get me to at least respect Amelie for winning against her possessors, but it did not happened as I expected. The feeling that Amelie accomplished anything was not there because everything resolved without her influence, just a lucky coincidence...

As always when I do not like the book and write a negative review I feel like I was too harsh. I feel sorry for the writer who invested a lot of time into writing a book. Justina Ireland writing was easy to read, her descriptions were very vivid, I could sometimes almost feel the heat and wind when the Furies raged... And picking a topic about when pursuing justice and being righteous is overstepping the boundaries of humanity is great choice. I'm all for "Let He Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Stone" philosophy. Sadly, all that got lost in my dislike for heroine and cliched ya novel setting. But I am sure that there are a lot of people out there who are going to enjoy and love Vengeance Bound.

I recommend this book to fans of: young adult paranormal novels; just-moved-to-town starting-new-school premise; heroines with tragic and traumatic past; insta-love romance; greek myth about furies; ...

Disclaimer: I was given a free eBook by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for a honest review.