Bloodbound: The Eynhallow Saga, Part 2

by Heather Palmer, Freya Mavor (Narrator), Jessie Mei Li (Narrator)

The stunning sequel to Audible Original hit Deathbound, Bloodbound continues the epic tale of magic, loyalty, and revolution in the kingdom of Eynhallow.

Narrators Freya Mavor (Industry) and Jessie Mei Li (Shadow and Bone) return, and are joined by Iain Glen (Game of Thrones) and Tunji Kasim (Nancy Drew)

Princess Ythsie and her squire Stroma are on the run, hunted by the Deathless and separated from everything they once knew. While Ythsie searches for a way to free the undead army that has plagued her kingdom for centuries, Stroma must choose between her oath to the princess and a growing revolution that promises to reshape Eynhallow forever.

But King Gillivrey's grip on the throne grows stronger by the day. As he amasses a new army and seeks a royal marriage to cement his power, time runs out for those who would oppose him. With the kingdom balanced on a knife's edge, even the strongest oaths may not be enough to prevent everything from falling apart.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Lesbian, Romance

Audible Audio

Published January 29, 2026

About the author

Heather Palmer is the author of the Eynhallow Saga, an Audible Original series. Their first novel, Deathbound, was released by Audible in 2025 and followed by Bloodbound in 2026.
Based in Fife, they are a Scottish writer with a passion for exploring nature and the stories of the long-dead or undying. She loves writing queer romance, unpicking the status quo and making people laugh.
In 2019 they won a Scottish Book Trust New Writers’ Award – the first writer ever to win with a comics script. In 2020, she successfully funded a Kickstarter for a self-published graphic novel, SMITHERS&WING, in collaboration with artist Kirsty Hunter.
Beyond writing, Heather has worked for some of Scotland’s favourite literary events, including Cymera Festival, StAnza Poetry Festival and Scotland’s National Book Awards.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I made it to 44% and I just have no interest in continuing further. There are 4 POV characters and I can’t stand 2 of them so just don’t care what’s going to happen next.

I’m sure this is probably just a me thing but when I don’t even want to finish the chapter I’m halfway through it’s time to stop reading the book

[Hannah Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why do I set myself up to get my soul ripped out? Also, screw you Ythsie! I hope she figures it out!! Now I have to wait for the next book 🤦🏽‍♀️

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best part of this book is the character work. It's rare that an author can consistently make arguments understandable from both sides and characters show their changing opinions on things through their actions. I thoroughly enjoyed the conflicts, the complex politics of not everyone being completely right or wrong and the way your beliefs can put a wall between you, those you love and who love you. It's really refreshing. Overall, incredibly well done.

Other than that, the book is rather simple, the plot is fairly straightforward and predictable and prefers to keep a smaller cast but get the most out of them. My biggest gripe is that while Deathless are the most important part of the story, the driving force for all sides, they get very little actual presence in this book. We mostly hear about them and even when they do show up it's usually short-lived. It was nice to get more lore on them and more world building but it still doesn't feel nearly enough.

So far, this book has improved on the previous one and I'm hoping that trend keeps going.

[Courtneyisokay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have listened to both of these stories too fast! So good and such a fresh take on a new world. Really looking forward to what comes next!

[JJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started the book, I was surprised that there were two new additional POVs, and I have to be honest, I was a bit disappointed by that. At times, I had to force myself to get through those chapters because they felt boring to me. However, as the story progressed, they grew on me, and it started feeling like they actually contributed to the story (also, more gays, there can never be too many gays).

I‘m not going to summarise what happens, I‘m just here to say: WTH YTHSIE!??? I have to agree with Stroma’s ex; never under any circumstances would I leave my deadly wounded lover behind to die, let alone do it TWICE????? But Des (is that how you spell it?) is right; she seems the type 😅

There is a lot more to say about this book, but I mainly wanted to express how the new POVs grew on me and how much Ythsie frustrated me. I assume they’re planning to make Ythsie and Stroma endgame in part 3, but personally, I have no idea how they want to redeem her after all the I WANT THE THRONE 👹 I DON‘T LOVE YOU 👹 BYE I‘M OUT OF HERE, GOOD LUCK DYING!

We shall see, I guess.

[Micheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the other two character perspectives that we got in this book. I found that it brought more to the story, which I wasn’t too keen on where it would go but I think it was done really well. I really liked that we got to see more of Stromas father who was the one that started all of this along with the king. I didn’t really care for the story as a whole tho… the way that the girls got split up was interesting but the whole mess they get themselves into of Ythsie wanting the crown and not caring for Stroma as much. And then Stroma being the way she is with their dads. I hated that they both ended up dying but how the rest of the story will go on will be interesting. I don’t know, given how much I didn’t necessarily like this one I doubt I’ll be continuing to listen to the story.

[Natalie Fagan-Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Magic, Loyalty, and a Kingdom on the Edge”

Bloodbound by Heather Palmer weaves political tension and dark magic into a story that feels constantly on the brink of eruption. At its heart is Princess Ythsie, fierce and burdened in equal measure, trying to untangle a curse tied to an undead army, while her loyal squire Stroma wrestles with divided allegiances and King Gillivrey tightens his grip on power. The plot balances rebellion, ancient magic, and shifting loyalties without ever losing its emotional pulse, and I found myself both anxious and invested — rooting for courage while bracing for betrayal. It left me tense, slightly breathless, and thoroughly absorbed, the kind of fantasy that keeps your heart rate just a little higher than normal.

[Abigail Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sequel to ‘Deathbound’ continues the journey of Princess Ythsie and her squire, Stroma, who are now on the run and being hunted by the Deathless after getting on the wrong side of Gillivrey (now king). Ythsie is desperate to reclaim the throne and keep her word to the Deathless to free them, but with her believed to be dead and her squire now a wanted criminal this is far from an easy task. Will she be able to remove Gillivrey from the throne and become the queen she’s been training to be from birth, or will her loyal squire betray her now she’s joined the rebellion against the kingdom?

One thing I really liked about this book was the addition of two new POVs, Stroma’s dad, Skuli, (voiced by Iain Glen), and Bramair, an advisor to the king. Initially I wasn’t keen on Bramair’s POV, feeling it took away from everything else, but the more the book progressed, the more I liked him.

I instantly liked Skuli’s POV and found, if anything, it ended up being my favourite. It was interesting seeing his loyalty torn between his old king and friend and his daughter and, although his ending was sad, it felt perfect for his character. The surprise with Ythsie’s dad showing his eagerness to keep the throne for himself was good and only helped to add to the depth of Skuli’s character. I won’t spoil it, but everything that happened between the two dads made Skuli even more likeable!

The plot in this novel I found to be more gripping and, while it was a bit slow on occasion, I enjoyed seeing the growth of Ythsie and seeing her taking a more dominant role. There was a lot going on, sometimes too much with the multiple POVS, but it worked and all of the stories eventually connected and made sense.

The main reason I rated this lower than book one is because I loved the sapphic storyline but felt it was overshadowed by the MLM relationship between Bramair, his boyfriend, and the king. While I enjoyed more queer representation, I felt like the sapphic storyline ended up taking a back seat because of the focus on the male relationships.

Overall, a great audiobook that makes you eager for the next one!

[Tatiana Schott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book as much as the first. For a sapphic romance, there is a lot more focus on a MLM relationship. One of the POV’s seems to mainly be there just to add some smut to the book, although their character does greatly improve near the end. There are a few tropes that get used over and over again in this one, to the point it feels like you could condense a lot of the book and miss very little.

[Mya James · Rating 4 out of 5]

great narrations. 1.5 chillies. LGBT.
honestly I've been loving these books. bad ass female lead characters and magic who doesn't love that!? this part 2 is less mystery and more of a 'will they make it' vibe. I like it. gave a chance for some character development and story arc building. I love the extra characters the author added to give a rounded perspective on what was happening in the kingdom. I will be reading the next one when it is released.

[Wabooz K · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were bits of this that I really liked, but a lot of it dragged and felt uninteresting. I liked seeing more of Storma's dad and seeing his perspective. But the story felt unfocused, like we forgot who's story we were telling, which undercut a lot of the emotional stakes. I was honestly pretty bummed after the first one had a lot of potential. The beginning of the story was better, but it just got less and less focused as the story went on.

[Elizabeth Gerard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this on Audible - again, great narrators. This was the ‘epic journey’ portion of the story, and it was a bit slower as you watched the various characters travel and slowly find each other as events unfold. Uses the classic miscommunication trope at times, which is a pet peeve. But overall a solid second addition to the story.

[Maddie Amick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Calling each book a part rather than a book feels apt, endings and beginnings feel like suggestions at times.
I simultaneously feel like absolutely nothing and everything happened but I absolutely enjoyed it nonetheless

[Megan Hinkelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️- character development and storyline vastly improved with this book. I loved the addition of Stroma’s father as a character and narrator. Again I do not feel the book adequately describes the romantic relationships of the characters and should clearly state this is a queer book.

[Sara Zandford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although there was some character development this very much felt like a filler second book to me which was a little disappointing. I do like the story overall however so I will likely stick around for book 3

[Millieobooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the 4 POV but it made all the twists and turns so much more impactful. I loved the character development especially the growth of Ythsie. I can’t wait for the next one!

[Kenzie Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is suchhhhhh a good second part! I SOBBED at the end. The only thing that bothered me was the loud ass music at some of the important parts, making it hard for me to understand or hear what was happening.

[Rose Sanchez · Rating 5 out of 5]

SOBBING at the end oh my god I need the next installment

[ife · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5!!

[Nonikell · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[HER Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this second instalment. Evolved so much from the first in every way excellent. Loved the new POVs and the ending of this excites me so much for what’s to come next.

[Thanwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

holy crap, slow start, but once it ramps up, it doesn't stop!!! cant wait for #3

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good second book in the series, want the next book now but still in love with the characters and the ways the story progressed

[Lara Dickens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audible: I can’t remember what happened

[Harriet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This felt a lot messier than Deathbound, with less attention to characterisation, which was a pity. But I'm still looking forward to the next instalment of the saga.