Stormy Smith

One of those fantasy YA books that keeps you up until the wee hours of the morning. I mourned with the characters, jumped for joy at their love and hope and success, and cried for more when this book ended.

Smith paints the struggles of firsts in a coming of age story about love, magic, family, and difficult choices.

Instantly purchased book 2 to keep reading. So much talent.

*I requested to review a copy of this audiobook for an honest review from the author or narrator.

Amelia has locked herself away inside her mind. It's all she can do to keep the Keeper from harming anyone she loves. Aidan is determined to get her back to herself, even with the terrible news of what happened in the battle at Cresthaven. The whole group of friends have many heartaches to overcome, but they will need to and work together to stop Queen Julia and free all the mages to live as they show more should. Once Amelia learns about the magic she carries in her, she will have to make a choice to do what she wants or what is needed.

Kristin is always a treat for me to listen to. Her favorite voice for me, Bethany and her sweet southern accent. And oh, the strong personality for Bethany that pops with the accent. lol. And Micah's accent. I love it! This is a great cast that Kristin makes fun to listen to and easy to differentiate the characters as they speak. The different characters personalities and attitudes ever present in their voices. Male and females are all different in accent, tone, and feels as we listen. Oh! When two sing a song, we get both voices! The harmony of the two together. I love when we get these little extras that makes the story feel more alive with the characters.

I was so relieved to get back to Amelia and Aidan's world. Amelia was left in a bit of a secluded spot and I wanted to know if she gets out along with if they figure out Aidan is her special person. In the beginning, I was surprised that Amelia and Aidan seem to know they are the prophesied couple. It almost seemed as no one knew who her 'man' would be and that he'd have to be found at the end of Bound by Spells. But, we get back into the story here, where a few of the characters are left in moments of pain; physical or emotional.

In the beginning everything is tough and people are sad or scared and hurting in some way. We start to see a small flicker of light spark when trying to find a way of helping Amelia. Having Amelia moving among the people would influence moral, giving a solid, positive direction to things. But things don't happen as hoped and Amelia feels she's a curse more than a prophecy that the people need. It's sad and some huge mountains for the characters to figuratively climb to overcome.

Not only do we journey through the prophecy of what's to come of Amelia and Aidan, but we also get to the root of Amelia's Keeper power mystery. Amelia has grown! I was worried going in that the book would fall flat for getting us through Amelia's Keeper powers. Yet we get something a little different other than her finding a way to work with what she has. I enjoyed this. She's come into her own with help from someone we didn't expect. She finally faces the magic and love that she's been scared of for so long. We even end with a fight that's not as deadly as it could have been. It moves quick and keeps us listening yet with Amelia and Aidan in the place they are now, it doesn't need to be bloody. It's more than that.

I really liked this ending!

A wonderful YA read of letting yourself love and accept who you are. Even when in battles, it doesn't always have to end ugly. There are options and choices in life that you get to pick from even if it doesn't seem that way. You need to accept and live by your choices.

I love the feel of the theme in this story. How Amelia is bound by what was set in motion, through prophecy, for her. But in the ending, all learn they are not bound by others but that they are bound by their choices in life. It felt like it really hit to the heart for me. show less

We are reading this for our book club, and the author is going to come to our meeting, so that adds a layer of excitement to an already good book. I loved the people in this book and how real they felt. I love that in an instant society, Trevor was willing to wait for Charlie. I loved that he understood the importance of a first kiss. I loved that you could have a love story, and it could be rated PG. Some of the themes were not for kids, but they were real. The struggles were real. Not show more knowing what to do, or knowing what to do and just not knowing if you had the courage to do it, it was all very real. I can't wait for the discussion! show less

I received an ARC of this book in exchange of my honest opinion.

I dived into BOUND BY DUTY not really knowing what to expect. The cover had really caught my attention. I went to Goodreads to see the feedback this book had and realized it has a 4.47 out of 5 in rating! I was blown away! Most of the books in Goodreads have a much lower rating, so for this book to have that much and has 47 reviews, I just knew it had to be good and I am happy to say, Stormy Smith delivered it!

It started with a show more prologue that was short yet straight to the point and with a hook, good enough to give the readers the want to keep reading right from the start. This story has surprises everywhere you read. When you think you have some things figured out, Stormy does a 180° and changes everything—the reader ends up with mouth wide open and scratching the head a couple of times trying to figure out what is going on. The suspense in the book is not that intense but it is palpable enough to keep you guessing.

I got frustrated at times with Amelia because she would react way too strongly to situations but then I realized I would definitely do the same thing and probably do it more times than she did, so she is forgiven. Amelia is very strong for having to deal with every curve ball life is throwing at her from every angle. She doesn't have a break!

Aidan, the one Amelia wants but can't because he is human; Bethany, Amelia's best friend and roommate; Micah, Bethany's boyfriend and helps Amelia with her powers; Cole, Amelia's older brother—these characters play a big role throughout the whole story. I am Team Aidan all the way. I suffered with him a lot while reading the book and I just wish...*sighs*. Bethany is a country, hyper girl that gives the humor to the whole book and I love her for it. Micah is a character that I had my reservations with in the beginning and I shall say no more. Cole is the protective brother who was there for Amelia, helping her regain control of her powers until she turned 10, leaving Amelia with her father, whom is not so right in the head, or is he? Amelia decides to move to a college that is near Cole and once again he is there for her.

This story contains a lot of secrets. It gets to a point where the reader's brain will lead to explosion because there are a lot of secrets from the characters and they are very important so read carefully.

What I noticed and liked was how Amelia was introduced as already knowing she is not human, not like other book characters that don't know anything. BUT, Amelia doesn't really know how to control her powers, given that she wasn't taught how to, the proper way. Her powers had me so excited and I swear it was like the excitement was building up inside me every time she would use them half-way and even more when it was full force (even though she tried to control it but couldn't).

I HIGHLY recommend this book. It is definitely a nail biter and sitting on the edge of the chair kind of book just so you can jump when things get rough. The ending is so heart breaking and leaves you NEEDING that second book. This story was beyond amazing and exciting to read. show less