My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️
Title: Bloodbound (The Scrolls of the Eshani, #1)
Author: J.A. Good
Pages: 465
Format: audiobook
Listening Hours: 16 hours (approx.)
Narrator (s): Ri Paige
Publisher: Tantor Media
Publication Date: 10/6/26
Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Romantasy
Six strangers. One soul-bound Ring. No way out.
Isara Virelle has spent her entire life avoiding people. Unfortunately, becoming Eshani means binding your soul to five of them.
When the Binding Ceremony assigns her to Ring Six—the most elite fighting unit in Veryuun—Isa is forced into the last place she wants to surrounded by strangers who can hear her thoughts, feel her emotions, and know her secrets. Worst of all, their commander is Niko Veyshar.
Feared across the continent as Rathvenorn’s deadliest weapon, Niko is everything Isa has been taught to hate. Cold. Dangerous. Untouchable. And now they’re bound together.
As political tensions rise between nations and whispers of forgotten gods begin to spread, cracks appear within Ring Six. Ancient powers stir beneath the surface, forbidden magic awakens in Isa’s blood, and the bond tying her to her team may be unraveling before it has a chance to hold.
To survive, Isa must learn who she can trust. Because in Veryuun, loyalty is sacred. And betrayal can cost far more than your life.
Content Warning: violence
+ I thought this narrator did a really good job with the big cast of characters in this book. She brought the story to life, and I got a really good sense of the FMC, Isara, because of how she was narrated.
+ This story follows Isara who is curse-born. Her dad was killed by his wife (her mom) and everyone knows her story. It makes Isara a very distrustful, sarcastic and snarky character. She builds walls to not let people in but she’s forced to bind to 5 other people to make Ring Six – a fighting unit who need to rely on one another to survive. Most of the story is about training to be Eshani and in this Ring Six, and controlling her powers. Even though the story was mostly training and missions, I think it moved quickly enough because of the found family element which was my favorite thing about this book. Isa’s ring/her found family grew on me as they grew on her. She went from not having a family to getting a new one and it changes her.
+ The romance between Isa and her unit leader and enemy, Niko, is not the typical enemies to lovers where they hate one another openly. Isa is taught to hate him because her mother was Rathvenorn like he is. But the more time he spends training her, she can’t help the attraction. Plus he’s always in a mask that covers the bottom of his face which adds to the appeal. They get close through training and missions, there are some spicy scenes but then something happens at the end which makes me curious how their relationship will continue. So it’s a forbidden romance that they try to keep hidden,
+~ In the beginning I did think nothing much was happening in the story except for the training but I think there was something happening – the building of the found family, which is very important to Isa in the end. The second half picks up more as they go on missions. I liked seeing Isara grow throughout the story. There is political intrigue, Eshani lore, magic, betrayal and a twist at the end.
Final Thoughts:
I thought the narrator did a great job with bringing this audiobook to life. I love Isara because of her sarcastic personality and it was nice seeing the walls come down as she let friends into her life. I enjoyed the romance too but the twist in the end makes me wonder what will happen in book two. I’ll be looking forward to the next book!
Read if you like:
- fighting unit/training/missions
- forbidden romance
- found family
- betrayal
Book Links:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
