Official Review: Bound by Michael Campbell

[Christine Penny]

At first, being a survivor, sexual abuse I was concerned with being triggered, so I was glad that you included so much detail in your description and the fact that there was very little graphic sex. However, my only comment is maybe the author didn't include much backstory because as far as the BDSM lifestyle, there really is no background concerns... basically the master does not care about the person, they assume that whatever they do to the person, i.e. humiliation, pain... is turning them on and the more it happens the more their sexual tension is building... this couldn't be more wrong... because having been part of that lifestyle while I was recovering. and doing much research afterward... the master's literally keep their slaves for a while and then give them to other masters to enjoy... it is really degrading and sick in the head and the only submissives or slaves that would allow that... are people who have been abused in their own lives and have no sense of self-esteem or identity to know that it is not love it is not right and it is the worst of human behavior. Dogs get treated better than that. Some call it play, but I call it sociopaths finding joy without the kill.
Great review!

[kfwilson6]

The poor dialogue was evident right from page one. I couldn't even read 3 full pages. The content and the writing were so ridiculous. I'm glad to see I'm not missing out on anything by passing on this book. I wasn't that interested in the sub/dom aspect of this book (which pretty much seems to be the majority of the book). I didn't think anything could be worse than 50 Shades of Grey, but I managed to read 2 full books in that series which is a lot more than the 2 PAGES of this one I suffered through. Good review. Very thorough and informative.

[Kay87]

This is a fantastic review. I love to read but books with little to no information about a character is a no-no for me. Thank you for giving a clear understanding of the book and for making an effort to complete it. I may have given up before the end.

[aks9120]

I downloaded this book because ot looked interesting and all of the other reviews made it look well written even with some of the subject matter.i usually dont like to read books without plots that are just romance/sex but this one caught my eye due to the characters in it. From the little bit i have read so far and the reviews,it seems as if there are some deep characterizations developed. It seems there are several deeply disturbed people in it and that fascinates me.i am pretty laid back,so the other parts i usually just read through and not focus on it. I look forward to finishing it and learning what made the characters like they are and hope the author is able to provide it.i truly hope it is better written than the review says.

[Ktwills79]

Great review and I have to say that based on that alone I probably wouldn't read the book. Even the beginning of the story sounds confusing--Tom is paying off a debt to Jacqueline, but his master is actually Ginger? That doesn't make sense, but perhaps the story would clear that part up. I don't mind erotica unless it becomes disruptive and repetitive, which the reviewer stated it doesn't, so that part wouldn't bother me. The lack of characterization though and the difficulty in determining who is speaking would be a turn off though, so I appreciate the reviewer noting those key aspects of this book.

[anwidmer]

With such mixed reviews I think I'm going to have to read this one for myself to see. But what all of you are saying are things that put me off in a book so we shall see if I'm able to get over that part. It may be the undoing of me reading it all through

[Kate S]

I love dialogue. It's one of the things I most look forward to in a novel, so the formatting of it is very important to me. It would frustrate me to no end if I didn't know who was speaking. Sometimes going a short stretch of dialogue with no tags is okay if it's between two (maybe three) distinct voices/characters. You mentioned how you couldn't tell the female characters apart because they were all strong-willed and brave. That would also make me frustrated as those characters would fall into the strong female character trope. I have no problem with strong female characters, but it seems like some authors forget that there's more than one type of "strong." A female could be physically weak, yet emotionally strong. She could be cunning and resourceful (Scarlett O'Hara from Gone With the Wind being one of my favorites for this). Variation in characters is important because people can experience the same things, and still come out with different mindsets (Ex: how some protagonists and antagonists are parallels to each other, yet come out of their experience with different mindsets). I'm sorry. That was a rant.

Needless to say, I don't think I'll be picking up this book. Thanks for the review!

[theceo]

Thank you for this review I have to read this book and also give some suggestions related to this series

[Rosemary Khathibe]

I would like to read about Tom's duties to the widow and how he ended up owing her, but your review of the book has me thinking twice. Thanks for the great review. It really saves me from getting head on into the book.

[Triciat50]

Wow--thank you so much for your thorough and honest review. I appreciate how well you described exactly why you didn't like the book. It's refreshing to see this.