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Crimson Bound eBook Rosamund Hodge

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Crimson Bound eBook Rosamund Hodge

Rose Hodge's "Crimson Bound" was an absolute must for me after I finished her "Cruel Beauty" novel earlier in the year. I was not disappointed with her second novel, and I was very pleased that the "payoff" of the novel was quite different from "Cruel Beauty", in which I appreciated the T.S. Eliot and C.S. Lewis references, and the very satisfying story which I already knew, although I didn't know *this version*. While "Crimson Bound" purports to be a retelling of the Red Riding Hood tale, it does so in a way that is not obvious, and folds many layers into the tale. (To my mind, this is good, because when I hear "Little Red Riding Hood", I don't exactly jump and go "YESSSS!")

While the elements of the Red Riding Hood story are there, it's nothing like the tale we know from our childhood. An innocent girl goes into the woods, meets danger, there is devouring, etc. But it also has elements of other fairy tales (the Girl with No Hands), and elements of very effective horror, as well as romance and lots of fighting, with some gore. Frankly, it's exactly what I wanted when I tried to pick up Gail Carriger's (utterly atrocious) novels. As other reviewers have discussed the plot, I'd like to mention ... everything else.

Everyone mentions the world-building she does in the novel, and indeed it is noteworthy. Too many fantasy novels seem to be either a re-hashing of Tolkein, or full of so many superlatives it's difficult to keep track of what level of awesome we're surpassing now. Rose, on the other hand, builds a complex world-within-a-world, as she also weaves a story-within-her-story. There was a bit of a learning curve (as I found with "Cruel Beauty" as well), but once I was able to keep track of forestborn/blood-bound and a few other things, I was able to pick up the pace, to say nothing of when the story itself began to pick up.

I adore the way religion is used in this novel. A few reviewers mentioned being confused by the religion - no doubt it's because, as a Catholic, I recognize many of the more obscure concepts and references. For example, the Dayspring is clearly a Christ-figure, whose title is drawn from the O antiphons, which one would recognize from the many verses of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel". One of these is "O Come Thou Dayspring from on High". I was also fascinated how the description of the bloodbound slowly becoming a forestborn by becoming more and more like the Devourer was very much an inversion on Augustine's description on how consuming the Eucharist makes the believer more like Christ. There were many deeply Catholic elements that I very much appreciated, without the book being too predictable. In fact, I was a little surprised at the skepticism of religion and belief in general that was presented at first. Certainly it never at any point felt like preaching.

The French(ish) setting was also just gorgeous. Lavishness of decoration and description and courts that harkened back to Marie Antoinette (especially the salon) etc I found very pleasing.

I haven't seen much like the friendship between Rachelle and Amélie, and the importance it held for Rachelle. I understood instinctually and exactly what she was talking about in every facet of that relationship, and how Amélie's painting of her face was a special kind of intimacy (I use the word in the non-romantic sense), but was so necessary for Rachelle as a *human* and as a person, a part of her that couldn't have been filled up by either Erec or Armand. It struck me as quite a beautiful little detail.

There were only minor things I didn't love, some of which I give a pass because it's YA fiction -- the "bad boy" of Erec (who, although he doesn't fall 100% along the lines of the typical character, was that way most of the time, anyway). Some of the prose was a bit repetitive in places ("but she was a bloodbound, and being a bloodbound meant ________" etc). And while there was a lot that needed to happen at the end, I felt like some bits were a bit too short and others were drawn-out. I was also a little unsure of the urgency of the timeline, as the forest had been manifesting since the beginning of the book, so for a reader it sort of felt ... normal, rather than the shocking occurrence it was supposed to be. And one or two times when the forest manifested, it also didn't feel like as big a deal as it ought to have been.

Notwithstanding these MINOR criticisms, I highly recommend this book for the originality of the world, the pacing of the plot overall, the lyrical quality of the prose, and the complexity of most of the characters. I recommend it *even more highly* to any Catholic, as it seems to me there is a wealth of riches in this book for those who have the key.


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Crimson Bound eBook Rosamund Hodge Reviews

I hated this. I would have given it 1 star if it weren't for the last 25% of the book, which was original and fit into more of what I expected from the story. The best way I've been able to describe the writing is clumsy, there are a lot of passages that are just awkward and don't fit in or make any sense whatsoever. There are also several times where the story includes things that don't work into the world and are thinly applied. There is no world-building at all, so I could be wrong about these things, but they completely removed me from the story. I don't know that I'm pick up this author's books in the future. Cruel Beauty was pretty enjoyable for me, but left me confused a lot of the time, but this book was just nonsensical and a waste of time.
"You will be the lady dearest and most dreadful."

I can't put my finger on exactly why, but I really enjoyed this audiobook and kindle, more so than 'Cruel Beauty'! I appreciate that the author took a classic fairy tale that isn't retold as often and tried to make it her own. It starts off as a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood with Rachelle meeting a forestborn in the woods who curses her and forces her to choose between killing someone or dying in three days. The story then evolves past Little Red Riding Hood and into the Cruel Beauty universe. Years later, Rachelle is a bloodborn, one of the king's guard and a skilled fighter who spends her days defending the realm from forest creatures. She is summoned by the king and tasked with guarding the king's heir Armand. She ends up coercing Armand into helping her find a sword of legend able to defeat an evil that would bring about darkness in the land from forestborn creatures.

For me, it was an interesting read all the way through. I was halfway through the audiobook when I realized I had no idea what was going to happen next. It's amazing when you can fall so far into another world that you forget to pick it apart and ask what's going to happen next. I love when books make me feel like I'm just along for the ride and that is what happened with me and this story. It was pure enjoyment! I'm already planning on a re-read.
Rose Hodge's "Crimson Bound" was an absolute must for me after I finished her "Cruel Beauty" novel earlier in the year. I was not disappointed with her second novel, and I was very pleased that the "payoff" of the novel was quite different from "Cruel Beauty", in which I appreciated the T.S. Eliot and C.S. Lewis references, and the very satisfying story which I already knew, although I didn't know *this version*. While "Crimson Bound" purports to be a retelling of the Red Riding Hood tale, it does so in a way that is not obvious, and folds many layers into the tale. (To my mind, this is good, because when I hear "Little Red Riding Hood", I don't exactly jump and go "YESSSS!")

While the elements of the Red Riding Hood story are there, it's nothing like the tale we know from our childhood. An innocent girl goes into the woods, meets danger, there is devouring, etc. But it also has elements of other fairy tales (the Girl with No Hands), and elements of very effective horror, as well as romance and lots of fighting, with some gore. Frankly, it's exactly what I wanted when I tried to pick up Gail Carriger's (utterly atrocious) novels. As other reviewers have discussed the plot, I'd like to mention ... everything else.

Everyone mentions the world-building she does in the novel, and indeed it is noteworthy. Too many fantasy novels seem to be either a re-hashing of Tolkein, or full of so many superlatives it's difficult to keep track of what level of awesome we're surpassing now. Rose, on the other hand, builds a complex world-within-a-world, as she also weaves a story-within-her-story. There was a bit of a learning curve (as I found with "Cruel Beauty" as well), but once I was able to keep track of forestborn/blood-bound and a few other things, I was able to pick up the pace, to say nothing of when the story itself began to pick up.

I adore the way religion is used in this novel. A few reviewers mentioned being confused by the religion - no doubt it's because, as a Catholic, I recognize many of the more obscure concepts and references. For example, the Dayspring is clearly a Christ-figure, whose title is drawn from the O antiphons, which one would recognize from the many verses of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel". One of these is "O Come Thou Dayspring from on High". I was also fascinated how the description of the bloodbound slowly becoming a forestborn by becoming more and more like the Devourer was very much an inversion on Augustine's description on how consuming the Eucharist makes the believer more like Christ. There were many deeply Catholic elements that I very much appreciated, without the book being too predictable. In fact, I was a little surprised at the skepticism of religion and belief in general that was presented at first. Certainly it never at any point felt like preaching.

The French(ish) setting was also just gorgeous. Lavishness of decoration and description and courts that harkened back to Marie Antoinette (especially the salon) etc I found very pleasing.

I haven't seen much like the friendship between Rachelle and Amélie, and the importance it held for Rachelle. I understood instinctually and exactly what she was talking about in every facet of that relationship, and how Amélie's painting of her face was a special kind of intimacy (I use the word in the non-romantic sense), but was so necessary for Rachelle as a *human* and as a person, a part of her that couldn't have been filled up by either Erec or Armand. It struck me as quite a beautiful little detail.

There were only minor things I didn't love, some of which I give a pass because it's YA fiction -- the "bad boy" of Erec (who, although he doesn't fall 100% along the lines of the typical character, was that way most of the time, anyway). Some of the prose was a bit repetitive in places ("but she was a bloodbound, and being a bloodbound meant ________" etc). And while there was a lot that needed to happen at the end, I felt like some bits were a bit too short and others were drawn-out. I was also a little unsure of the urgency of the timeline, as the forest had been manifesting since the beginning of the book, so for a reader it sort of felt ... normal, rather than the shocking occurrence it was supposed to be. And one or two times when the forest manifested, it also didn't feel like as big a deal as it ought to have been.

Notwithstanding these MINOR criticisms, I highly recommend this book for the originality of the world, the pacing of the plot overall, the lyrical quality of the prose, and the complexity of most of the characters. I recommend it *even more highly* to any Catholic, as it seems to me there is a wealth of riches in this book for those who have the key.