Bound by Victoria Lynn
JD's Rating: 4 of 5 bookmarks

This short novel tells a heart-wrenching, yet also heart-warming, story of two children, Levi and Casey, who are growing up in abusive environments. They do not know each other, but when they each decide to run away from their respective homes their paths providentially meet. This high-emotion story delves into some tough issues in a tasteful manner without sugarcoating those issues.

The story is told primarily from the children's points of view and I found myself rooting for them. They were very likable characters and believable for the most part. The horrible things they had faced had taken a toll on them emotionally and physically and the way they responded to the struggles they encounter on their journey seemed very realistic. Having had personal experience with the foster care system in various ways, I know that Lynn has either done a lot of research or has also had some personal knowledge to be able to write so accurately and convincingly about the subject.

And I cannot neglect to mention that the main adult characters, Abel and Mariah, were wonderfully developed. They were charming without being too quaint and were multi-faceted too. There is much more to them than the first glimpse that we see of them even begins to show and I love characters like that.

The plot of the story, while containing a few minor surprises, was fairly predictable. But that is not necessarily a bad thing in a story like this. You begin to care about these characters as you get to know them and you want the best for them; you want that happy ending.

One minor gripe I have is that I wish Lynn had been more specific about the story location. For me, details like that always help to make the story that much more believable and alive. There were a couple other small annoyances I had with the plausibility of certain occurrences, but these were also minor things. Aside from these issues, the prose, while not perfect, seems like it is written with much care and thought. There is a certain innocence to Lynn's writing which could be construed as naïveté, but I find it refreshing.

All said, I found the tone of Victoria Lynn's Bound to be uplifting, touching and purposeful. This is not a page-turning, action-packed, suspense tale. But it is a true-to-life depiction of the sad reality facing many children in our world today. Bound shows how despite a rough beginning in life, with determination, love, and God's help, one can overcome the odds and live a fulfilling life.

Recommended for 15 and up due to some of the issues addressed.




J.D. Sutter is the producer and host of the Bookworm Banquet podcast and editor of the blog. He is the founder of Porchlight Family Media.











Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Victoria Lynn is one of the writers for this blog and she provided a pre-release copy of this book for review. Neither of those facts impacted the opinions expressed herein.