WHAT IT’S ABOUT:

Only the worthy survive the Bonding Trials. She’ll risk her life—and her heart—to be one of them…

Meryn Cooper has never dreamed of being one of the Bonded, the King’s elite warriors who form mental links with massive, vicious direwolves. She’s made peace with her life scraping by in poverty in the shadows of the castle. But then her younger sister Saela is kidnapped, stolen across the border by the immortal monsters her country has spent centuries fighting.

And Meryn’s world falls apart.

Desperate to cross the front and save her sister, Meryn enlists in the army—only to discover that there are Bonding Trials this year, where all soldiers are forced to risk their lives in an attempt to connect with a direwolf. It’s too late to turn back; Meryn is thrown into the deadly competition against her will.

Now, she’ll need to survive the next four months of training at the castle if she wants a chance of finding Saela. Everything here is a test, from the brutal classes where one mistake means death, to the glittering court parties where every smile hides a knife.

To make things worse, Meryn is bound to a feral direwolf who refuses to communicate. The other trainees would love to spill her common blood. And her gorgeous instructor, Stark Therion, is as malicious as the wolves himself.

Everyone is out to get her—everyone but the dangerously handsome crown prince, Killian Valtiere. But if she loses her heart to him, she may also lose her life.

And the castle is hiding dark secrets…

Fourth Wing meets The Hunger Games in dark action-packed fantasy series, perfect for romantasy fans of A Court of Thorns and Roses , The Serpent & the Wings of Night , When the Moon Hatched and Quicksilver!

MY THOUGHTS (spoiler-free):

“Make me your instrument of vengeance. Let my hands act out your every savage, depraved thought. Use me. I’m yours.”

Sometimes you just come across the right book at the right time. Direbound was that book for me. From the very first page, I was hooked and I flew through it, without being able to stop. This was everything I want in a fantasy romance. Does that mean it was perfect? No. It is a little tropey and I predicted a few plot twists before they happened. And I have some questions. But the thing is… I don’t care one bit. Because I ENJOYED reading this book so much. The vibes were on point and I am eagerly awaiting the sequel (coming in July, so thankfully the wait isn’t too long). But for now, let me recap everything there is to love in Direbound:

DIREWOLVES!

I mean, I love me some dragons, but direwolves? So fun! I loved the telepathic bond the Bonded riders had with their direwolves, and of course especially Meryn’s wolf Anassa.

Siphon villains

I felt like the siphon villains added a darkness and eeriness to the book. Basically, the country is at war with siphons (who are like vampires) and only the direwolves are strong enough to fight them. And also, the siphons steal kids from their beds at night and then they’re never seen again. I mean, we only touched the tip of the siphon iceberg in book one, but they creeped me out sufficiently already and I’m eager to learn more about them.

An academy setting with deadly trials

What’s not to love about an academy setting with common rooms and dangerous classes and badass instructors and hidden passageways? Add deadly trials to that and I am hooked!

An underdog heroine

Meryn is a commoner, a fierce alleycat who participates in streetfights to make some money to survive. In that, she is very different than most of her fellow Bonded recruits, who come from Bonded families and have grown up a lot more privileged. But Meryn is a fighter in more ways than one. She will keep going to reach her goals, no matter what and I loved that about her.

Friends and family-focused

At first glance, Meryn may be a tough cookie – and she is. But I also loved that she cares about people so deeply. The most obvious is her family of course: her mother who is mentally ill and her little sister who she practically raised and would do anything for (very Katniss-coded). And of course, the friends she makes during the Bonding Trials, like Isabel and Venna. I liked that we got to see loner Meryn learn about friendships and opening up thanks to them.

Fine, the handsome, brooding instructor too…

I’m not going to go into too much detail about Stark, but let me just tell you… the training scenes, the tension, the angry stares, the banter, the licking of tattoos (just read it, it’ll make sense)… Perfection!

Overall, I can only recommend this book for any lover of romantasy. If you love high stakes, romantic tension and telepathic wolves – this is the book to read!

Tell Me:
Have you read Direbound or will you be reading it?