Our protagonist, Rachelle, is marked by a forestborn and given a choice: either die, or kill someone to complete her transformation into a bloodbound, a sort of interim phase before she will become forestborn herself. It’s fascinating as people’s plans start unraveling.

Everyone’s hiding secrets and everyone has their own agenda. All the characters are layered and complex. This fantasy world with a French flair is mysterious and elaborate. Ahem, moving along… Crimson Bound is a take on Little Red Riding Hood and the lesser-known fairy tale The Girl Without Hands (only gender swapped). Her writing is beautiful and atmospheric. I love how she combines completely different elements flawlessly and seamlessly in her stories. Rosamund Hodge’s books are breathtaking, magical stories, if at times slightly confusing though still pretty epic. Inspired by the classic fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, Crimson Bound is an exhilarating tale of darkness, love, and redemption. In a palace built on unbelievable wealth and dangerous secrets, can Rachelle discover the truth and stop the fall of endless night?

As the two become unexpected allies, they uncover far-reaching conspiracies, hidden magic, and a love that may be their undoing. When the king orders her to guard his son Armand-the man she hates most-Rachelle forces Armand to help her find the legendary sword that might save their world. Three years later, Rachelle has given her life to serving the realm, fighting deadly creatures in an effort to atone. After an illicit meeting goes dreadfully wrong, Rachelle is forced to make a terrible choice that binds her to the very evil she had hoped to defeat. But she was also reckless- straying from the forest path in search of a way to free her world from the threat of eternal darkness. When Rachelle was fifteen, she was good-apprenticed to her aunt and in training to protect her village from dark magic.

Crimson bound book