Ethan Knightley's Reviews > Unbound: The Blacksea Odyssey Book 2

Unbound marks another strong entry by Vodvarka in the Blacksea series. It is every bit as good as the first book, very cinematic at key moments, and with compelling plot threads being tugged at throughout. The ending - a strength in the first book - was suitably dramatic and satisfying again in this one. Vodvarka clearly has a knack for them. Furthermore, her descriptions of how magic 'feels' from the perspectives of characters who possess it is very strong. And I really liked the use of a liminal space setting to create a sense of wonder at the fantastical nature of the world - this is something which I crave in fantasy novels, and which I wished there was more of in the first book.

The romance plotlines are also generally strong. Multiple of her characters seem to suffer from a touch of cognitive dissonance concerning their romantic feelings and interpreting reciprocity or lack thereof from their crushes. At first I wondered if this was a problem: why are these characters with very obvious chemistry, and who are even seeming to pick up on their would-be partners' signs that they return a degree of romantic interest, not just getting together already? Then I reconsidered, reflecting that actually... in real life we all tend to suffer from that same cognitive dissonance when feeling out a potential romance. I do think that in the main protagonist's individual case, this possibly runs in contrast to her behaviour in parallel situations in the first book - though there are reasonable explanations for why she has changed in the context of the story.

There is one thing that I wish was different about the book: there is a betrayal by an ally, which is executed as a shocking reveal without the reader having any significant clues that this would happen beforehand. I understand why this choice was made - Vodvarka presumably wanted the moment to be a surprise. After the reveal, a great deal of effort is put into explaining why the character behaved as they did. However, even after this explanation is given... I personally didn't feel that the justification given was strong enough to explain their actions, given what we'd learned of the character in question's priorities and values in this and the last book. I don't think it was an unthinkable choice for the character to make (if we were shown rather than told their reasons for being conflicted), and I still don't think it spoils the book meaningfully (I was able to look past it and enjoy the rest of the story on its own terms). However, I personally think it would have been a better choice - even if this risks spoiling the surprise - to lay the groundwork for the betrayal beforehand in clearer terms: i.e. show in advance the character's inner turmoil as they began to be pulled in two different directions by different factions, show how they agonised and struggled in a vain attempt to reconcile the irreconcilable and so keep both sides happy, and thus make it instantly understandable why, in a moment of weakness, they made the wrong choice (even if we had been previously led to believe they were, following a wobble, veering towards the right one). I think tackling the plot twist in this way would have been fairer to the betrayer character, and would probably have strengthened the story even more.

As I said, this didn't ruin the rest of the story for me - and there's a lot to LOVE about Unbound, hence why I am not docking a star. In many ways it is more gripping, more complex, and more dramatic than the first, so it would not be right to score it less than I scored the first novel.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Unworthy. Vodvarka deserves plaudits for her efforts!