Review by Charis -- The Bonding by Imogen Keeper
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Charis
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- Latest Review: "The Bonding" by Imogen Keeper
Review by Charis -- The Bonding by Imogen Keeper
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Bonding" by Imogen Keeper.]
4 out of 4 stars
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The Bonding By Imogen Keeper
The Bonding is an erotic romance sci-fi novel, and I am not ashamed to say that I unabashedly loved. It incorporated all of the elements of a book that I find appealing- from the fully fleshed out settings, to the use of sci-fi/futuristic elements, well developed main characters, great action sequences, and a highly intriguing plot. I have always loved reading all sorts of genres from a young age but the genres that I tended to gravitate more towards tended to be primarily fantasy or science fiction. I also have always loved a good love story. When was I was young however, the books I read didn’t always include a romantic plotline. Even more so, they never had a heavy erotic plotline (probably because I was younger and reading slightly more age appropriate novels such as books like Ender’s Game). As I’ve grown older though and have grown in my appreciation of sex, I admit I have definitely had fun/guilty pleasure reading those types of trashy steamy erotica novels that had great sex scenes(but not always the best plotline) and I would find myself skipping through the book just to get to the sex scenes.
The Bonding is not like one of those trashy steamy erotica novels that had a crappy plot. It is an epic love story and a book that rekindled my young love of sci-fi/fantasy books. It is also erotic, raw, and emotional. It makes you want to read every page, and the erotic and passionate sex scenes are just like an amazing dessert on top of a satisfying meal.
The book starts out with the character Nissa, who is the queen-designate of her planet Triannon. She discovers that her planet is being attacked by other-worlders (aliens). Nissa, along with her father, the king and the other elders, decide to try to save the last of their kind by storing themselves and 98 selected others (a total of 100 people) into cryopods that could keep them alive for up to 500 years. Their hope is that others would be able to wake them up and rescue them before the 500 years were up.
After several hundred years, Tam, a warrior Captain on a spaceship from another planet called Argentus, discovers Nissa’s pod. He discovers that she is dying from a sickness that comes from being in the cryopods for too long called the “blue tinge”. Tam is an alien creature that are very similar to humans but for them, the act of sexual intercourse, called “bonding” or “the bond” is addictive for both partners, can happen with only one couple at a time, meaning they mate for life (with one other person only) and their semen, or “serum” as they call it, has life-restoring properties. Their bond also has a huge emotional, mental and psychological component, because once they bond, they can always feel each other’s feelings, thoughts, emotions, even if they are not physically near each other. In order to save Nissa’s life, his serum is the only cure for the “blue tinge” and they must bond, or she will die.
At first, because it wasn’t entirely Nissa’s choice, to her it seemed as though their love or their “bond” was purely biological, compulsory, or chemical. Over time spent with each other, their love grew, but they didn’t realize it. Once they finally realized how much they loved each other it was almost too late. Throughout this story there was adventure, action, suspense. Events that I did not expect to happen, happened! They were literally “star-crossed lovers” as they encountered obstacles in space to be with each other.
The author noted at the beginning that it was very graphic/erotic, and she was not kidding, it definitely was, but those scenes really only just enhanced the story to me. They were the kinds of sex scenes I would love to have in real life. There are so many things I liked about this book and story, and the author was also very good at making me feel like I was in the scene with her vivid descriptions of the background, scenery, characters. I really don’t have anything that I didn’t like about this book, except maybe that I wish it was longer and I wish it didn’t have to end.
Throughout the story it appears the author brought up lots of different questions to issues and thematic elements, such as the meaning of true love. What qualifies and quantifies as true love versus physical attraction or chemistry? Can you even qualify or quantify those things? She even explores issues of consent and rape, and really makes you think about how important those issues are. The whole science-fiction aspect of “the bonding” also make you think, what would relationships look like if this happened to us as humans? Would we be happier? Or worse off? This book touched my heart and soul, and I teared up a few times throughout the novel. The author really let me feel the character’s pain, I could imagine myself in their situations and I could imagine the emotional turmoil that the characters were going through.
Both main characters Nissa and Tam were very realistic and honest characters that I felt I could definitely relate to. I am a huge romantic (I got married at 18 and still together with him), and I believe in true love and soulmates, so that’s why I felt like it related to me. I love seeing stories that have true and pure love.There weren’t really any typos that I noticed, probably the most that I can remember might have been seeing “and” instead of “an” or vice-versa but I’m not sure. There may have been some grammar mistakes, but they weren’t so noticeable that I was unable to understand what was going on. Also, I figured if those were the most that I could remember, then it really didn’t have very many at all to begin with. That’s why I rate this book a 4 out of 4. I really hope there are more books to this series because I was sad when the book was over, and that’s all I really didn’t like about it.
******
The Bonding
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4 out of 4 stars
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The Bonding By Imogen Keeper
The Bonding is an erotic romance sci-fi novel, and I am not ashamed to say that I unabashedly loved. It incorporated all of the elements of a book that I find appealing- from the fully fleshed out settings, to the use of sci-fi/futuristic elements, well developed main characters, great action sequences, and a highly intriguing plot. I have always loved reading all sorts of genres from a young age but the genres that I tended to gravitate more towards tended to be primarily fantasy or science fiction. I also have always loved a good love story. When was I was young however, the books I read didn’t always include a romantic plotline. Even more so, they never had a heavy erotic plotline (probably because I was younger and reading slightly more age appropriate novels such as books like Ender’s Game). As I’ve grown older though and have grown in my appreciation of sex, I admit I have definitely had fun/guilty pleasure reading those types of trashy steamy erotica novels that had great sex scenes(but not always the best plotline) and I would find myself skipping through the book just to get to the sex scenes.
The Bonding is not like one of those trashy steamy erotica novels that had a crappy plot. It is an epic love story and a book that rekindled my young love of sci-fi/fantasy books. It is also erotic, raw, and emotional. It makes you want to read every page, and the erotic and passionate sex scenes are just like an amazing dessert on top of a satisfying meal.
The book starts out with the character Nissa, who is the queen-designate of her planet Triannon. She discovers that her planet is being attacked by other-worlders (aliens). Nissa, along with her father, the king and the other elders, decide to try to save the last of their kind by storing themselves and 98 selected others (a total of 100 people) into cryopods that could keep them alive for up to 500 years. Their hope is that others would be able to wake them up and rescue them before the 500 years were up.
After several hundred years, Tam, a warrior Captain on a spaceship from another planet called Argentus, discovers Nissa’s pod. He discovers that she is dying from a sickness that comes from being in the cryopods for too long called the “blue tinge”. Tam is an alien creature that are very similar to humans but for them, the act of sexual intercourse, called “bonding” or “the bond” is addictive for both partners, can happen with only one couple at a time, meaning they mate for life (with one other person only) and their semen, or “serum” as they call it, has life-restoring properties. Their bond also has a huge emotional, mental and psychological component, because once they bond, they can always feel each other’s feelings, thoughts, emotions, even if they are not physically near each other. In order to save Nissa’s life, his serum is the only cure for the “blue tinge” and they must bond, or she will die.
At first, because it wasn’t entirely Nissa’s choice, to her it seemed as though their love or their “bond” was purely biological, compulsory, or chemical. Over time spent with each other, their love grew, but they didn’t realize it. Once they finally realized how much they loved each other it was almost too late. Throughout this story there was adventure, action, suspense. Events that I did not expect to happen, happened! They were literally “star-crossed lovers” as they encountered obstacles in space to be with each other.
The author noted at the beginning that it was very graphic/erotic, and she was not kidding, it definitely was, but those scenes really only just enhanced the story to me. They were the kinds of sex scenes I would love to have in real life. There are so many things I liked about this book and story, and the author was also very good at making me feel like I was in the scene with her vivid descriptions of the background, scenery, characters. I really don’t have anything that I didn’t like about this book, except maybe that I wish it was longer and I wish it didn’t have to end.
Throughout the story it appears the author brought up lots of different questions to issues and thematic elements, such as the meaning of true love. What qualifies and quantifies as true love versus physical attraction or chemistry? Can you even qualify or quantify those things? She even explores issues of consent and rape, and really makes you think about how important those issues are. The whole science-fiction aspect of “the bonding” also make you think, what would relationships look like if this happened to us as humans? Would we be happier? Or worse off? This book touched my heart and soul, and I teared up a few times throughout the novel. The author really let me feel the character’s pain, I could imagine myself in their situations and I could imagine the emotional turmoil that the characters were going through.
Both main characters Nissa and Tam were very realistic and honest characters that I felt I could definitely relate to. I am a huge romantic (I got married at 18 and still together with him), and I believe in true love and soulmates, so that’s why I felt like it related to me. I love seeing stories that have true and pure love.There weren’t really any typos that I noticed, probably the most that I can remember might have been seeing “and” instead of “an” or vice-versa but I’m not sure. There may have been some grammar mistakes, but they weren’t so noticeable that I was unable to understand what was going on. Also, I figured if those were the most that I could remember, then it really didn’t have very many at all to begin with. That’s why I rate this book a 4 out of 4. I really hope there are more books to this series because I was sad when the book was over, and that’s all I really didn’t like about it.
******
The Bonding
View: on Bookshelves
Like Charis's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "The Bonding" by Imogen Keeper
