Dire Bound (The Wolves Ruin, # 1)
By: Sable Sorensen
Publication: May 21, 2025 by Requited
605 pages
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romantasy
Source: Personal Kindle Library
*Note: The above link to Amazon is an affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.
Goodreads description--Only the worthy survive the Bonding Trials. She’ll risk her life—and her heart—to be one of them.Meryn Cooper has always hated the Bonded, elite warriors who form mental links with the massive, vicious direwolves they ride. While they live in luxury, Meryn struggles to keep her family out of poverty. When her little sister, Saela, is kidnapped—stolen across the border by the immortal monsters her country has spent centuries fighting—Meryn’s world falls apart.
Desperate to cross the front and save her sister, Meryn enlists in the army and is thrown into the deadly Bonding Trials, where any mistake will cost her life.
Now Meryn must survive four months of training at the castle. She is bound to a feral direwolf who refuses to communicate. The other trainees would love to spill her common blood. And her cold and beautiful instructor, Stark Therion, is eager to punish any weakness.
Everything is a competition, and everyone is out to get her—everyone except the dangerously handsome crown prince, whose attention adds another target to her back. In the castle, every smile hides a knife…and the halls hide dark secrets.
It’s bond or bleed. Duel or die. Failure is ruin.
Dire Bound contains mature content including depictions of graphic violence, and is therefore recommended for readers 17+. For a full list of tropes and TWs, please visit the author's website.
If you liked Fourth Wing, then chances are good that you will enjoy Dire Bound.
Meryn's father died serving in the military, and her mother has slowly been losing her mind to visions and hallucinations. Meryn has taken the responsibility of taking care of herself and her younger sister, Saela. Meryn earns extra money by fighting in the fighting pits. She's also in a loose relationship with Lee, who works in the palace. When Saela is kidnapped by the immortal monsters (siphons) of the neighboring nation, Astreona, which has been at war with theirs for 500 years, Meryn knows she has to do whatever she can to be sent to the front so she can find Saela. It just so happens the Bonding Trials are starting, and Meryn needs to enter--not because she wants to bond with a direwolf, but because the trials are her best bet to making her way to the front as soon as possible.
Against her wishes, a direwolf does choose her, but bonding is anything but easy or natural for Meryn. Most of the other trainees are descendants of previous bonded. And they are all about culling the weakest links to make the pack as strong as possible. There are four packs that each channel a specific type of magic from wolf to rider.
Stark is one of the strongest bonded riders, both in magic and in physical ability to fight. And he's in charge of the bonded trials. Meryn can't figure out if he has a personal vendetta against her or if he's actually trying to help her survive. At the same time, things with Lee are progressing. Just because Meryn is in the bonded trials doesn't mean the two of them are over.
Meryn isn't a perfect character. One of her flaws is how quick to pass judgement she is. She judges the Bonded before knowing them. She assumes they walk around flaunting themselves and judging others. She assumes they are evil and don't hesitate to kill or execute others--even when those people are deserters. She resents those who have more than she grew up with. It's understandable in most cases, but that doesn't mean it's right. And she judges things she knows nothing about. She occasionally blurts out her opinion with little thought or consideration for the opinions of those nearby.
Twists were somewhat predictable to me. Although I was surprised a time or two. I found it surprising that Meryn's internal dialogue had moments like, "Please, let some of these people survive tomorrow's test." Um, ma'am, who exactly are you sending that thought out to? Are you, perhaps, praying? Yes, there are "gods/goddesses" in this series, but I felt like this was actually a bloop on the author's part. I don't mind it, but I found it an inconsistency with the character/world.
Another question/inconsistency I saw was that Meryn notes how attractive all of the bonded are. Does that mean the wolves only bond with people who are attractive? Or does the bond itself change people's appearances to make them more attractive than they were before bonding?
Favorite quotes:
-Confidence makes men sloppy. And sloppy men are easy targets.
-"Someday, Meryn...someday, you might come up against someone who has outmaneuvered you. You might not even see it coming."
-"Careful with that smart mouth once you're in the army," Igor warns. "Commanders don't love it when their soldiers talk back."
-I try to separate myself from his glare, but it's like trying to read a book while sitting under a guillotine.
Unlike Fourth Wing, a direwolf does die if their human bonded dies. I felt like this was understood by the authors, but it wasn't talked about enough for me. The choices that people make, the choices the direwolves make, seemed to make little sense when given this knowledge. Choices felt like they should be different at times.
Why did Meryn get to negotiate about being the one who interrogated the siphon caught that one time? She doesn't have bargaining power. She has no power at all. Yet Stark gives in to her in a way that makes zero sense at all. Interrogation is a skill. One Meryn has no experience in.
Dire Bound was a book that was easy to get hooked on the storyline and the plot. But I found myself questioning things so often. Most of my highlights also have notes attached to them--which is actually rare for me. I found so many inconsistencies in character, thought, world-building, or at the very least, things that just didn't make sense to me. This isn't a book that stands up to scrutiny very well. Dire Bound gets 3.5 Stars. I originally rated it 4 Stars in my mind, but upon writing my review and reliving it a little, I decided to bump that rating down. Have you read Dire Bound? What did you think? Let me know!
*Note: Dire Bound does include language and open door bedroom scenes. I prefer to skip over those while reading. But I like to note them in my reviews for other readers who might want to avoid them altogether.
This review is part of my All Things Halloween event--a month of fantasy, paranormal, supernatural, mystery/thriller, etc reviews and books.
