Fury Bound is the second book in the ‘Wolves of Ruin‘ series, and having enjoyed Dire Bound, I was looking forward to seeing where the story was going to go. This is definitely not a standalone, so if you are interested, read book one and then dive in. For a world-building summary, read my review of Dire Bound here.
Opening sentence: Take a breath, Meryn.
Queen Meryn and Stark
Let’s start by highlighting the things I liked about Fury Bound. Firstly, it catapults you straight into the cliffhanger action that the first book ended with: Meryn dealing with her younger sister Saela having been turned into a Siphon (vampire). Another big plus is the introduction of Stark (our leading man) POV chapters that really help ramp up the longing and sexual tension element of the read.
Meryn and Stark are just wild, violent creatures at their core, and I love it. They are different from the other romantasy couples I’ve read so far in that sense and it definitely keeps things interesting.
On the topic of Meryn’s relationships, her bond with her direwolf, Anassa is explored further. it was nice how they talked about the trouble they had bonding in Dire Bound, this felt considered and gave depth (which didn’t happen everywhere, more on that in a bit…) Also, Anassa is a delight as always, giving Tairn-levels of sass that are very amusing.
Plot-wise, Fury Bound follows Queen Meryn as she tries to reclaim her family’s royal status, develops her relationship with Stark and goes to war for her people against the Siphons, while of course, hunting for something (as is the pre-requisite for all romantasy books). In this case, tears of the goddess. It does makes sense in the context of the story, I promise!
Alistair Brightbane is my older brother, but I inherited the throne instead of him. This entire war has been his vengeance.
As mentioned in my review of Dire Bound, I feel like these authors (Sable Sorensen is a writing duo) are intentionally laying on the romantasy cliches, and I do like that element. It’s definitely very present in Fury Bound.
That said…
…I’m not sure I’m emotionally invested in this series and when I think about why, it comes down to a general feeling that the book skims the surface of a few ideas to move the plot along but doesn’t delve deep enough into a few of them. This leads to basic plot flaws that I couldn’t really overlook, including a main ‘evil’ character just bowing to everything Meryn wants and the fact that Meryn has the gift of foresight but rarely uses it / forgets to use it.
Then the ending wasn’t quite there for me either. The big high-drama power battle just didn’t have the oomph I’m used to from reading other books in this genre, it all felt a little flat.
However, the third book was set up at the end of this and that feel intriguing. As Wolves of Ruin is apparently a trilogy, it would be rude not to read the final book. Fury Bound was absolutely an enjoyable read, just not quite what I hoped it would be, if I’m being honest.
- Get your copy of Fury Bound here;
- Published by Wayward TxF 2026;
- 608 pages;
- Book review rating:
Books on the 7:47 