This book was given to me by the author through the Making Connections ARR group for an honest review, thank you.



Spirit Binder is the story of Theodora, or Theo. She was born under a prophecy that many interpreted differently. What doesn’t alter is that she is the manifestation or ‘fountain’ of Spirit. She can feel Spirit around and in everything. Many worship her, many try to control her and many wish to destroy her. Theo has lost her memory of the past ten years and is trying to remember who she is, what the people around her mean to her, and who is helping and hindering her recovery.

How I interpret Theo, is that she is like Jesus Christ, the Buddha, Yoda and all the great Spiritual Masters that have a connection to the Divine, so much so that they manifest it. Theo has lost some of her memories of who she is and this symbolizes to me the author’s message of how humans have lost their connection to the Divine, and how different factions manipulate the ‘message’ for their purpose, just like in religion.

This story reminds me of a dystopian fic. It appears to be set on Earth after a war or the devastation of the Earth from human destruction of habitat. The time we live in currently is called, “The Before.” The people, who live in Cascadia, are magic users. The ones who don’t have magic are called “Lackings.” From the descriptions in the story the location is somewhere in Oregon or Washington State. I’m not sure where “The Chief” is located since it’s supposed to be a mountain in that area by that name.

There is a romantic triangle between Theo, Ren and Hugh. Theo is destined to be with Hugh, but finds herself bound to Ren. I’ll let the readers find out how Theo became bonded to Ren and how it is resolved. There really aren’t any sexual scenes in this story; only a slight hint of one which I don’t consider very explicit.

The formatting and editing are very good. There were a few grammar issues that slipped by, but not that many to be concerned about.

Now I come to the major issue I had with Spirit Binder. Despite how much I wanted to like this book, I couldn’t get into it. It wasn’t a DNF book, but it was a book that I would put aside and wish I didn’t have to pick up again because it didn’t hold my interest. I didn’t feel drawn to the characters, nor did I feel any sympathy for them. I felt as if I was reading through a hazy distance filter and observing all the characters rather than being a part of the action. It was only toward the end of the story that I think I figured out why I felt disconnected. Unless the other characters addressed Theo and used her name, the author has Theo refer to herself as 'she.' There were a couple times the author used 'Theo' but those appeared to be errors. This made me feel as if I was watching the story from far above. I couldn’t feel what Theo felt, I didn't feel what the other characters felt because Theo looked at everyone and everything as an observation. This could have been a technique by the author to make us feel that Theo was Spirit, but it left me not caring what happened to the characters.

Despite Spirit Binder being an interesting concept, the author couldn’t get me to feel for any of the characters. I’m sure it won’t bother other readers, but I prefer feeling deeply the character’s emotions, and I really didn’t get that from this book. I can therefore only give this story 3 stars


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Before I start this review, I should say that I owe Meghan an apology. She asked me to review her book over a month ago, and I just got so involved in my own life, it slipped out of my fingers. But here it is, and I can definitely say, I was denying myself a great pleasure by waiting so long!

I started my love of fantasy back in grade school, when I picked up a copy of Beowolf and was totally enthralled. I then was given a copy of Lord of the Rings and my reading fate was set thereafter.

Recently, I have found myself moving away from my love of fantastic literature and into more modern veins, and hadn’t even really realized it. Reading Meghan’s Spirit Binder brings me back to those times, and back to the feelings that they inured within me. The sense of scope, of breadth, of tales of magic and hopefulness that open out the soul and exercise the mind.

This isn’t Beowolf, nor is it Tolkein. It is a sweeter, gentler story all its own, filled with a magic that one can identify with and comprehended. There is a strong layer of a past dystopia, now forgotten and yet living all around – The Before. Now, magic and trolls and maybe even a dragon or two roam the lands. And much like Tolkein, and yes, the author of Beowulf, whomever that may be, lost in the annuls of time, this story encompasses as much the magic of the human soul as it does magic itself. Theo is a woman who is, supposedly, a prophesied fountain of power and magic, whose very being is to change the world. As a youngster she is spirited away, to an unknown location by person or persons unknown. Now, ten-years later, she has returned, bloody, battered and dying, to the world she used to know, with her memory gone. What happens after this is a story in the vein of the great old stories, and yet with a modern twist overall that makes the story eminently readable, understandable and immensely enjoyable.

Highly recommended.

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As stated previously, this book was provided to me by the author for a realistic review. That has no impact on my opinion. I just simply loved the book. ( )

This well-written book was not my cup of tea. It began with Theo, the protagonist, waking up in a strange location and with ten years of her life missing. The plot felt fuzzy since I, as the reader, only know what Theo knows. I found this frustrating. However, I became emotionally invested in the storyline and will probably read the next book in the series since I would like to know what happens to Theo. ( )