DIREBOUND Book Review

Direbound¹ (book 1 in A Wolves of Ruin series) by Sable Sorensen, eBook, 610 pages

Synopsis from GoodReads: Only the worthy survive the Bonding Trials. She’ll risk her life—and her heart—to be one of them…

Meryn Cooper has never dreamed of being one of the Bonded, the King’s elite warriors who form mental links with massive, vicious direwolves. She’s made peace with her life scraping by in poverty in the shadows of the castle. But then her younger sister Saela is kidnapped, stolen across the border by the immortal monsters her country has spent centuries fighting and Meryn’s world falls apart.

Desperate to cross the front and save her sister, Meryn enlists in the army—only to discover that there are Bonding Trials this year, where all soldiers are forced to risk their lives in an attempt to connect with a direwolf. It’s too late to turn back; Meryn is thrown into the deadly competition against her will. Now, she’ll need to survive the next four months of training at the castle if she wants a chance of finding Saela. Everything here is a test, from the brutal classes where one mistake means death, to the glittering court parties where every smile hides a knife.

To make things worse, Meryn is bound to a feral direwolf who refuses to communicate. The other trainees would love to spill her common blood. And her gorgeous instructor, Stark Therion, is as malicious as the wolves himself. Everyone is out to get her—everyone but the dangerously handsome crown prince, Killian Valtiere. But if she loses her heart to him, she may also lose her life...and the castle is hiding dark secrets…

BOOK REVIEW: Not since I read Bound Souls have I finished a book with such an amazing cliff hanger that left me literally saying I am not okay and my jaw dropping to the floor. When I tell you that it was PAINFUL to fall asleep knowing that I only had like 3 or 4 chapters left but I couldn't keep my eyes open, I am not kidding. Did my alarm go off telling me it was time to take my child to the bus only for me to turn it off and finish the last page and a half...yeah. That happened!

The world that these author's created together (Sable Sorensen is a pen name for the two besties writing this series) is nothing short of spectacular. It is everything that you would expect from a fantasy world. Yet again I was so excited to read a book with wolves as the focus instead of witches and vampires. I had a few theories that ran through my head as I was reading. One that I had an inkling about and had desperately hoped I would be wrong started about halfway through. Another came and I kept thinking that there was no way this particular character could be that blind. Then there is the mic drop of a freakin cliff hanger that left me so bewildered that my husband looked at me like I was crazy and asked if I was okay...to which I said no absolutely not. This is a full 5 star read. I hate that I was given this as an ARC to read before it came out in February but life happened and I just got to it and in all honesty, I'm glad I did because book 2 is set to come out at the end of July so I don't have to wait too much longer to find out what happens next. That's how good of an ending this book had. There are some spicy scenes that are extra hot but a handful over the course of 600 pages is not enough for me to classify this anywhere close to being smut. That said, I'm clearing my schedule of ARCs so I can prepare for what I only imagine will be another 600 page book 2 coming out this summer. I HIGHLY recommend this and as of 5.20.2025 this book is available in the KU library. Get it and read it before the next installment comes out so you can roll right into it! 5.27.25 UPDATE: After this review was written I found out that the authors have been picked up by a publishing company. While the book is still available on KU and an audiobook is in the works, the paperback has a limited amount of copies left and will not be reprinted as there is going to be a re-release of the paper back on August 26, 2025 with a bonus chapter from another character's POV however the special edition hardback won't be available in the US until March 2026 which is also the the new release of book 2. If you want more updates, here the link to their FAQ on their website and you can sign up for their newsletter to stay up to date! I will keep the Bookshop link in this post for now and update it when the new edition comes out in August.

5/5 Stars

2025 Reading Challenge: 31/50 complete

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