ARC Review: Feather Bound by Sarah Raughley

Posted June 20, 2014 by Melissa in Uncategorized / 3 Comments

Title: Feather Bound
Author: Sarah Raughley

Series: N/A
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Published: June 5th, 2015 
Page count: 300 pages
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Book Summary:
When Deanna’s missing friend Hyde turns up at his father’s funeral to claim his corporate empire and inheritance, she is swept into his glittering world of paparazzi and wealth.

But re-kindling her friendship and the dizzying new emotions along for the ride are the least of her concerns. Because Deanna has a secret – and somebody knows. Someone who is out to get Hyde. And if she doesn’t play along, and help the enemy destroy him…she will be sold to the highest bidder in the black market for human swans.

Now Deanna is struggling to break free from the gilded cage that would trap her forever…

Feather Bound is a dark debut reminiscent of Gabriel García Márquez’s A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings, and the twisted truth behind the fairy tale of Cinderella.

     *The Reader’s Review*

     My rating: 3.5/5 stars

Well … Feather Bound is a nice read. I think it had a lot of potential because, come on, human swans? That’s totally cool and so different from the same old shape-shifters we read on a daily basis. It’s only that this book felt like if it were the sequel instead of the first book in a series. It lacked world-building, the background story needed more development, and the characters, although likeable, didn’t cover for everything else.
When we first meet Deanna, it seems as if she was only leading a very hard life (economically speaking) with her family. After her mother’s death, her father lost his important job and ends up with a meager one that hardly helps out to run the house. But after she goes to her “dead” friend’s father funeral, we get to know in a colorful way that in her world exists “human swans,”people whose feathers can give you full control over them if you manage to get hold of one. 
Do you see what I was talking about the interesting concept? This world is dark and works quite differently. People use the swans to do their bidding, they see them nothing more than animals, as slaves actually. But the thing is that I wasn’t pleased with the way everything was explained. I needed more information about the works of the swans. We only get a tale for how they first came to be, and that’s it. The other things are just there for us to guess. 
Now, heading over to the other part of the equation, Deanna’s dead friend turns out to be very much alive and not buried underground as she was led to believe for several years. The guy comes back in full swing and, besides from taking over his father’s company, he also wants to win Deeana’s heart back.
The romance between Deanna and Hyde (that’s the guy’s name) was pretty good. It was the best part of the book and the thing that kept me going. I liked how Deanna at first didn’t cave in that easily to Hyde’s charms even though he was always sweet with her. She had self-respect and liked to get answers before making her choices, and wasn’t swayed much with Hyde’s money. Although it is Hyde’s money the thing that makes her life dangerous later on. That guy seems to make new enemies every time he breathes!
This book may not be the best book out there, but it does make for a fun read if you’re not bothered with its world-building. If you get to the end of it, you will be amused with what it has in store for some of the characters and, at least, it finishes off with a nice bang.

Related Posts

3 responses to “ARC Review: Feather Bound by Sarah Raughley”

    • thereade

      Thanks! Yeah, haven't seen this book around much either, and now with Strange Chemistry closing its doors, I guess it will be less likely to happen.

      Glad you stopped by from the party! 🙂