Review: Bound - Paperblog

When a photo shoot ends in tragedy, Kira discovers her best friend, Lydia, has been keeping a secret. Knowing the truth, and accepting it, will change Kira’s life forever and thrust her into a world of ancient curses, magical objects, and savage enemies. What happens next will challenge everything Kira knows about her world, herself and the shape-shifting warrior she’s falling in love with. No longer the timid mouse her mother accused her of being, but a woman who finds the mental and physical strength to endure and survive.

My Rating:
My Review:
Kira is your typical teenage girl until she finds out that her best friend Lydia has a big secret. After saving Lydia's life, Kira finds that they are bound forever, which is not such an easy task since someone wants Lydia dead and has been chasing her for some time. Not only does Kira discover that Lydia has a completely different life that she doesn't know about, but she finds that Lydia has a brother Octavion who will stop at nothing to keep his sister safe. Though Kira stumbles upon the adventure, she finds it impossible to get off the ride and she too is swept into a magical adventure.
While this book started off great for me, I soon realized that this was just not the read for me. I initially loved how Kira was the normal heroine and she is forced into a situation where she has to do the best that can. But this soon changes. The dialog seemed to be excessive and only in place for world-building. Though the book is a pretty good length, most of it seemed like dialog where Kira learns the background of her friend. Other than the dialog not much really happened. We had a scuffle or two, but they were over too quickly and seemed a bit underdeveloped for my tastes. Then when the action really gets going, the book ends with a cliffhanger and no real resolution to any of the issues introduced. I also found Kira and Lydia's characters to be a bit unnatural. They were constantly arguing with Octavion and making the same bad decisions over and over again. It would seem that if you really feared for you life, you would be a bit more cooperative. I definitely had a problem with the romance and how fast it evolved considering that the story took place over a couple of days, but romances of this sort are quite typical of YA so it didn't ruin it for me.
Overall, I didn't connect with the characters, didn't feel like there was enough plot for the length of the book, and I dislike cliffhangers. The combination made this a disappointing read for me. However, there are tons of good reviews on Goodreads so check those out before deciding whether this is the book for you.