I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Blade Bound by Chloe Neill Narrator: Sophie Eastlake
Series: Chicagoland Vampires #13
Published by Tantor Audio on April 25, 2017
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Length: 10 hours 32 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Since the night of her brutal attack and unwilling transformation into a vampire, Merit has stood as Sentinel and protector of Chicago's Cadogan House. She's saved the Windy City from the forces of darkness time and again with her liege and lover, Ethan Sullivan, by her side.
When the House is infiltrated and Merit is attacked by a vampire who seems to be under the sway of dark magic, Merit and Ethan realize the danger is closer than they could have imagined. As malign sorcery spreads throughout the city, Merit must go to war against supernatural powers beyond her comprehension. It is her last chance to save everything - and everyone - she loves.
My top thoughts:
Better late than never, right? I do wish I had read this back when I was reading the rest of the series, so that events and characters would have been more clear for me. But, for the most part, I was able to remember enough to really enjoy this conclusion to Chicagoland Vampires.
What I liked/didn’t like:
For me, it was the characters that I had grown to love that made this final installment great. Especially the Merit – Mallory friendship, which continues to be full of snark, loyalty, love, and chocolate. It didn’t take long to remember the other characters and why I loved them, from the Omsbudies and especially grandpa Merit, to Jonah and of course Ethan and the Cadigan house vampires. I feel like everyone I remembered caring about had a bit of time in this book, which I enjoy in a series ending.
The action/plot, came back to me less readily. I didn’t really remember the specifics of what happened in the most recent books and since this really built off of that, I definitely was missing some key information. Since I recalled the fuzzy outlines, I was able to follow along well enough, but yeah, if I had just finished the last book I probably would have been that much more into the action/plot of this book.
That being said, even without knowing all the nitty gritty details, you couldn’t help but pulled along by first the bachelor(ette) parties and wedding, followed by the new-ish supernatural threat attacking Chicago. The action in this series has always been good and the plot follows a predictable pattern that works. I think the one thing that shocked me was the realization that this book is only a year after book 1! So much happened in just 1 year!
I think it’s a satisfying conclusion to the series for sure and I look forward to reading the spin off (what got me to finally finish the series!).
Narrator thoughts:
I listened to the entire series and I do enjoy Sophie Eastlake’s narration (I also could swear she goes by another name, because she sounds just like another narrator I’ve listened to lately). I’m not sure if she narrates the spin off, but if she does, I won’t be disappointed.
Berls FINALLY finished Chicagoland Vampires by @chloeneill ! Check out her 4/5 stars #audio #review! Share on X
I enjoy this series. I own the whole thing on audio. It’s one of the first series I listened to on audio along with Harry Potter and Harry Dresden.
I’ve always wanted to read this series!