The Buried and the Bound (The Buried and the Bound, #1)

by Rochelle Hassan

As the only hedgewitch in Blackthorn, Massachusetts, Aziza El-Amin has bargained with wood nymphs, rescued palm-sized fairies from house cats, banished flesh-eating shadows from the local park. But when a dark entity awakens in the nearby forest, eroding fairyland’s boundary, run-of-the-mill fae mischief turns into outright aggression, and the danger becomes too great for her to handle alone.

She is forced to seek help from two unlikely allies: Leo, a boy who was cursed to forget his true love and isn't afraid to risk his life looking for answers; and Tristan, a mysterious young necromancer she's not certain she can trust.

They’ll have to work together to eradicate the new threat and take back their hometown... even if it forces them to uncover deeply buried secrets and make devastating sacrifices.

• ISBN10: 1250822203
• ISBN13: 9781250822208
• Publish Date: 15 May 2023 (first published 24 January 2023)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Roaring Brook Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Book Summary:

As far as she knows, Aziza El-Amin is the only hedgewitch in Blackthorn. That makes her solely responsible for protecting the boundaries between humans and fae. In other words, she must protect harmless fae from getting into trouble with the dangers of the human world. It also means protecting the unsuspecting humans from more dangerous creatures.

Leo Meritt's family is cursed. It isn't a figure of speech. His mother and father have unique curses, and now Leo is dealing with his own. He knows he has a great love but can't remember who they are. His curse caused him to lose all that, and he's willing to fight to get the memories and his love back.

My Review:

The Buried and the Bound is one of several 2023 releases I had been looking forward to. So imagine my joy when I found it in one of my OwlCrate boxes! While I loved Rochelle Hassan's overall writing style, I didn't feel as connected to this story as I would have liked.

The core concept is brilliant. We have a hedgewitch essentially working all on her own, figuring out the rules of her magic and the boundaries of the land. Then we have a tortured soul, desperate to find a way out of the dark deal he made. Finally, we have a boy who knows he's lost his great love but can't recall anything about them. You can see why this book has a lot of potential, right?

And on the surface, it does! I loved the world, the magical system, and the darker secrets behind the scenes. The problem for me was that I struggled to feel any real connection to the characters (whom I wanted to love).

That said, there were twists and teasers at the end that excited me to see what happens in the next book! So yes, I will 100% be buying and reading the rest of this series.

Highlights:
Fae and Fantasy
Dark Magic
Lost Love
LGBTQ+

Trigger Warnings:
Homophobia
Memory Loss

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