Book Review: The Binding by L. Filloon

Author: L. Filloon

Series: Velesi Series #1

Source: review copy provided by the author

My Rating: 5 cups

Blurb (from Goodreads):

Two nights after her eighteenth birthday, Lily is attacked while out jogging, but is saved by Tharin Lunar, a Sidhe prince. When she discovers that her attacker is her own brother, Lucas, who disappeared four years ago, Lily refuses to believe that her brother would truly hurt her and becomes determined to find Lucas and bring him home. Lily finds that Lucas’ disappearance is somehow tied to Tharin; so when he informs her that she is his betrothed and must return with him to Velesi, fulfill a treaty between their families and unite the two strongest clans through their marriage, Lily agrees. However, she’s not going to Velesi for a wedding, but to bring home her only family, Lucas.
On their journey to the borders of Velesi, the realm of the Thirteen Clans, they’re pursued by a Sidhe assassin group call the Ange, meet with an ogre crime lord that ends badly, deal with a sleazy troll motel manager, and when they discover that there’s a bounty on their heads, they must keep one step ahead of every assassin, bounty hunter and low-life criminal in Velesi.
Protecting Lily has become the biggest challenge of Tharin’s life. Lucky for him he has help in the form of his twin brother, Tolan, Lily’s best friend Julia and his three bodyguard cousins.

If there's one thing I love more than anything is a good fantasy book. The Binding was, in my opinion, more than just "good". It was more than great, actually.

The first thing that caught my attention was that we don't have just one perspective, but two. The book is written in first person, but we get to see Lily's and Tharin's take on the action, alternatively. That's where I, as a reader, tip my hat to the author. Seriously. As a reader that's weary of books written in 1st person, it was so refreshing not having to worry about that. Because you get two views on the same scene (or almost the same), it's like actually seeing the entire picture, like having eyes on the back of your head also and seeing every little detail around you.

The world we find in The Binding is new, fresh, surprising. Out of all the supernatural creatures, elves are the least used, so it was a nice change to see them as the main species in a story. You also find ogres, orcs, demons, wizards, wolves and a few other creatures I've never encountered before.

The characters were amazing. Lily, the heroine, managed to surprise me a lot. Just when you think you have her figured out, she does or says something that changes everything you think you know about her. She can be both strong and weak, she can be fair and she can overreact at some point, she can be happy and sad. The one thing that is constant through the entire book is that she's an extremely friendly person. And when she cares about someone, she'll do whatever it takes to protect them, even if it means endangering herself. I liked her friendship with Julie. It's one of those really rare friendships and I for one haven't found them in a lot of the books I've read.

Tharin was a very interesting hero. I'm sure that if the book was told only from Lily's perspective, I would've wished to smack him a few times. But since I got to be inside his head, see why he said the things he said, why he acted in a certain way, I can't imagine a better hero. And I liked that Tolan, his twin brother, wasn't as perfect as I first thought. There were times when I laughed alongside Tharin at his brother's behavior. So don't think that one twin is flawed, while one is perfect. They both have faults as they have moments of utter perfection. That, in my opinion, makes this characters real, it gives the idea of layers upon layers and it just made me want to uncover everything about them.

I loved the ending. It made me groan and scream in frustration, but the cliffhanger is AMAZING! I think it's best if I say there are at least two cliffhangers, not just one. I am impatiently waiting for book two.

If you like fantasy, paranormal, young adult, you should definitely try The Binding. You won't be disappointed!