Bind the Soul (Steel & Stone #2)

Much like the previous book, “Bind the Soul” was an enjoyable read with exciting action, interesting (even if sometimes predictable) twists, and even the occasional swoon-worthy romantic moment.

I liked getting to visit a different world as well as being introduced to some new characters. There were a few times where the story ventured into some darker territory than had been featured before – mostly involving physical/mental torture. Thankfully this didn’t last the whole time and the focus returned to the action/adventure that I’ve come to expect from this series.

While I still have some questions regarding the human world and its current condition – which is apparently post-World War Three – I appreciated the creativity behind the daemon mythology/history and how past events are impacting the present situation. Once again, relaying this information often slowed down the general pacing of the book, but I still applaud the author’s efforts.

On its own, this book isn’t all that satisfying as the overall plot doesn’t really progress much. However, I like how it continues the story from “Chase the Dark” and I anticipate the next installment will further elaborate on the developments made in this one.

The ONLY thing that isn’t even better than the first book is that Ash isn’t on literally every page. I’ll keep this as spoiler free as possible (and plot free, summaries abound and are not my strong suit).

This book is… I don’t even know how to explain it. It sucked me in so completely – I read both this and the previous book in one day – I couldn’t get it out of my head. You know books that you have to come up for air from? This is one of those.

Piper, Ash, Lyre, and Zwi are back and as amazing as ever. This book has more action, New characters, and more despicable antagonists than the first (also more Ash /Piper, which I consider to be a very good thing).

One of the strongest points in this book remains (like the first) the authors ability to have tension, drama, action, plot twists, etc without making you give up on, hate, pity, or lose faith in the characters. I have LOTS of deal breakers with books but the biggest one is when you can’t root for the characters you love on every page. This is a book (series) where you can, no regrets.

Plus? The author doesn’t have a need to unnecessarily kill beloved characters as a plot point (ahem, hedwig, literally every character in game of thrones, etc) and the plot doesn’t suffer for it. At no point is the book slow or do you think, “you know what this book needs? More gut wrenching sadness to pull me in” because that’s not how she writes- you’re sucked in without it.

I don’t write book reviews and I don’t gush but I legitimately loved this book. And I’m a decade too old for YA. I will definitely keep reading Annette Marie’s books, and I already preordered the third book (these are the first books I’ve read with kindle unlimited that I’ve bought because I know I’ll keep rereading them).

Brilliant! Action packed! Breath-taking! Full of tension. Plot twists ad infinitum! I can go on and on and on.

Wow this was one of those books you cannot stop reading! It had so many facets and interesting things just too many to mention. The author has a scary ability to expertly tell an amazing story with a perfect mix of all the right elements that makes a story great. I totally do not expect the events to unfold as they did and are unable to predict any outcome.

I love all the gems thrown into these books – beautiful and live inspiring quotes. I particularly love the following which can be said the same for this series: “… turning him over in her mind like some mysterious puzzle box she couldn’t quite figure out but knew held something amazing if she coud only solve it.” (Chapter 3, page 26, location 411 in Kindle).

This book was even better than the previous book in this series and highly, highly recommended!

***Contains Spoilers***

This book was just…wow… It was awesome. I couldn’t put the first book, Chase the Dark, down the first time I read it and it was just as difficult to do it the 2nd time around too! And then you read this one, Bind the Soul, and you realise the story is only going to get more gripping as it progresses.

Ms Marie writes so beautifully, you’re pulled into Piper’s world first hand, you experience her pain, her joy, her growing feelings for Ash – and her panic when she realises Ash is missing. She knows there’s only one place he can be – the Underworld. And it’s the one place she needs to avoid like the plague now that Samael has the stone and he knows she’s the only one who can wield it!

However, once again her life goes to hell in a handbasket (literally) and she finds herself a captive of Samael in the Underworld. True to the environment, the story gets quite dark and painful and we see how these events mould Piper into a stronger, more self-aware version of herself. We also gain deeper insight into the Sahar itself, how it was created and why Piper appears to be the only person who can wield it. We also begin to understand a lot more about what drives Ash and get tantalising hints of the real, caring daemon beneath the killer rep. The story of the draconian race is fascinating and I suspect this may feature somewhere in one of the many threads that will end the story.

This is where we begin to realise that sweet Piper doesn’t fully understand what Ash really means to her; She comes across quite niaive and believes her concern and determination to save Ash is what friends would do for each other. But, from a readers perspective, it’s clear that something totally scrumptious is blossoming between them. For readers looking for a straight romance story you may be a little disappointed…. there is definitely romance here but I just don’t read romance stories per-se, and this definitely isn’t one! This story beautifully combines urban fantasy, a kick-ass protagonist, gorgeously wicked heroes, fantastical new worlds and first class story-telling enchantingly wrapped up in ribbons of romance. The type of romance that leaves you wanting to lick the plate after finishing your dessert – totally more-ish!!

Piper doesn’t yet realise she’s led a very sheltered and protected life – I have serious issues with her father (and her mother!) and I’m really hoping that her father’s way of raising her is not due to his ‘non-existent parental chromosome’ but because he loves her. After all, the Piper we love just wouldn’t be Piper without the upbringing she had! Let’s see what the next book reveals in this regard.

Now onto Book 3 of the Steel & Stone series, Yield the Night! If you’re planning on reading these (and I recommend you do – they’re totally, absolutely awesome!) then you should read them in order – they are not standalone novels. There are not many series out there that I just can’t wait to get my hands on but this is one of them – they will have a permanent home on my bookshelf.

Book 2 starts a matter of weeks after the events of book 1 and follows Piper as she seeks to find Ash and to save them both from Samael. The story moves along at a heck of a pace and I found I just couldn’t put the book down, as the two protagonists find themselves in danger again and again.

The tension, violence – and particularly the romance – are ratcheted up from the first book, and it’s very definitely Piper and Ash’s story; there’s actually very little of Lyre, or Piper’s father or uncle, in this book. I liked the change of emphasis – there’s a lot of UST between Piper and Ash and although not at all explicit, there’s a couple of very hot scenes between the two of them. What this book loses fairly early on is the original background of Piper’s story in terms of her training and desire to be a Consul. That loss allows the reader the see Piper as an adult rather than a child, and therefore helps the sexual tension work better.

This series is ranking highly as a new favourite and if you like Karen Chance, Ilona Andrews or Susan Ee I think you’ll feel the same. I can’t wait for March and book 3!

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