Justina Ireland
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Publication date: April 2, 2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (thank you!)
Purchase: The Book Depository • Amazon
Cory Graff is not alone in her head. Bound to a deal of desperation made when she was a child, Cory’s mind houses the Furies—the hawk and the serpent—lingering always, waiting for her to satisfy their bloodlust. After escaping the asylum where she was trapped for years, Cory knows how to keep the Furies quiet. By day, she lives a normal life, but by night, she tracks down targets the Furies send her way. And she brings down Justice upon them.
Cory’s perfected her system of survival, but when she meets a mysterious boy named Niko at her new school, she can’t figure out how she feels about him. For the first time, the Furies are quiet in her head around a guy. But does this mean that Cory’s finally found someone who she can trust, or are there greater factors at work? As Cory’s mind becomes a battlefield, with the Furies fighting for control, Cory will have to put everything on the line to hold on to what she’s worked so hard to build.
Original and action-packed, Vengeance Bound is a pretty decent read, though there were its fair share of flaws. despite the very cool ideas Ireland explored in it.
Vengeance Bound settles around a girl, Cory Graff, who isn't who she seems to be. Inside her head are the Furies - mythical creatures who crave for blood and justice, who will be more than happy to unleash their fury when justice needs to be delivered.
Cory is a... disturbed protagonist, to say the least. While she's not entirely unlikable and hard to sympathize with, she never did leave a lasting impression on me. I valued her bravery and the way she managed to handle herself even while the Furies were around. She has no conscience; she kills whatever targets the Furies sends her way, and that makes her stand out from the typical 'good' heroes and heroines in today's YA genre. She's an interesting character, full of depth and personality, even though it does get a little challenging when it comes to connecting with her.
Moving on to the plot: it was unique and creative, I'll hand Ireland that! I absolutely loved what she did with the mythological genre, twisting and turning her debut novel into something speical. Ireland explores justice in a very different way from what one might expect.
The characters were quite well written - distinguishable and realistic, though I felt that the rivalry between Amber and Cory was a little forced, like the author had included it in just for a bit of high school drama. The romance was done decently enough, with an average though not-too-special love interest.
Abbreviated.
PROS: Amazing plot; original; realistic and distinguishable characters
CONS: Not particularly memorable; cliche scenes/events
OVERALL: Vengeance Bound pales slightly compared to other debuts of 2013. It's not entirely bad, just not very memorable, and that's the novel's main problem. My favorite part of the book was definitely the plot. Justina Ireland has done a fairly good job with her debut novel.
This sounds pretty good and it's the first review I read on it so so far so good! Cory sounds entertaining to say the least >.< Can't wait to see how she works in the mythology in this! Great review, chickie!
ReplyDeleteHeh, that's probably because the book doesn't come out for another 2 weeks. :P She is! Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the other characters, but this book is definitely worth a try, if you're patient enough to read through cliche scenes and unmemorable characters.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by, Giselle. :)
I've heard similar things about this one! The Furies part sounds really unique, but I also heard that it's not all that memorable. I'm sorry to hear that you didn't really connect with Cory, but I wouldn't mind reading about a protagonist that's not exactly "good". This one sounds fascinating! Lovely review, Meg! :)
ReplyDeleteDespite the fact that it is hard to connect with Cory, I like the sound of her. It's always fun to see different characters and the concept of the furies is great :D Wonderful setting too!
ReplyDeleteThe main character DOES sound interesting, especially if she remorse for her killings? I might have to check this one out. From the summary though, i thought there would be a little more play in the love interest, but I guess not. Hmmm. Great review :)
ReplyDeleteI always want to read books with disturbed main characters and I've been looking forward to Vengeance Bound for one of these reasons. But I'd have liked to connect with her and understand her mindset. I'd still like to read it though.
ReplyDeleteGreat review, Meg!
The whole idea is unique, really, and this was one rare instance when I didn't mind connecting with Cory, so yeah. I wouldn't exactly say that it's worth your money, but if you find it in your library, I'd say borrow it! :)
ReplyDeleteCory's definitely a one-of-a-kind MC - in a good way. The concept is wonderful, but I still felt the book could have been executed better. :)
ReplyDeleteSorry it had some cliches but the main character sound interesting and fun to read about.
ReplyDeleteBrandi @ Blkosiner’s Book Blog
I love books about Mythology. Plus the cover of Vengeance Bound is an absolute pretty. I have high hopes for this one. Though, I need to connect with the main character.
ReplyDelete-Dannielle
I've been hearing mixed reviews on this book. It sounds interesting and I like that you think Ireland did something different with the whole mythology concept. I don't mind a slightly heartless main character either. This will go on my TBR list, but I don't think I'll put it very high up. Great review :)
ReplyDelete