Unbound

by Adrew Mali

Being a prince is hard, especially if you don't want to be one in the first place. All Mo wants is to run away with the young soldier-in-training he has deeply fallen in love with. Seeing his predicament, an old crone hatches a daring plan to let his sad soul break away from the fate that binds him. A quest for his freedom awaits, but can he face the darkness that hides deep in the woods?

Genres: Romance, Queer, Fantasy

209 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 12, 2019

Reviews

[Wolf Klouwens · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were some minor grammar/typo issues but that's really the only negative I can come up with. I really enjoyed reading through the entire story and I was positively surprised with the ending. If you don't enjoy happy sappy endings, maybe this isn't for you, but for me this was a very welcome change in my reading experiences. The way Adrew writes is clever, fun and really poetic too at times. I loved the personalities of the characters, and seeing all of their strengths come to light made me happy. I only wish I could read more about these characters, as one book simply couldn't dive deep enough into all of its characters and their stories. When I bought this book at a convention Adrew Mali told me another book was in the making, and needless to say after reading the first I'm incredibly hyped to read the next one too!

(Also, I want to thank Calipygos for the beautiful drawing of Finn they signed for me in the book. Your art is absolutely beautiful and because I sometimes struggle with remembering names having faces attached to those names helped me out tremendously!)

One note for GoodReads; this book has more pages than the site/app mentions. My version has 282 pages. It doesn't matter a whole lot or change my opinion of the book but it's worth noting anyways!

Do I recommend this book?
Yes, highly so! Especially if you are into queer fantasy and need something to pick you up.

[Mad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very very gay, really good characters, really cute characters and a really interesting fantasy story. Definitely worth reading (big plus, the author signed the book for me hehe)

[Colin · Rating 5 out of 5]

After buying this book on Comic Con, I didn't think I'd love it this much, it surprised me so much.
A fun and easy fantasy read about a bunch of abnormal, each in their own way, gays.
Immediately fell in love with Griffin, his humor was a great addiction to the enjoyable story, and I
also liked that we got to see more of his emotional side. And Seb also got a special place in my heart.
It was nice how, even though there were 8 main characters, we got to see quite a lot of each of them and got to know them all. Only one I missed that with a bit was Eggyolk.
Hoping and looking forward to the day that there will be more books of Adrew Mali to read. (or are there already? I was not able to find any more at least)

Spoiler going deeper into Seb: How Seb went to a peaceful retainer, to being into a dark place and the part where we explored Sebs consciousness were amazing and great to read. I also loved how Finn, Mo and Seb ended up in a polyamorous relationship, I did not see that coming and was preparing for Seb being sad forever. Loved seeing some polyamory represented in a book, that one is not common at all (for me at least).

Goodreads did mess up the page count though, my book has 282 pages instead of 200!

[Roderick Leeuwenhart · Rating 3 out of 5]

With great enthusiasm and good insight into the inner lives of his characters, Adrew Mali crafts a queer fairytale that reads like a Dungeons & Dragons campaign. A colorful handful of boys and men go on a journey into a dark forest to save the kingdom - battling outside expectations and inner (romantic) conflicts.

Clearly a debut work, Mali goes hard on telling, rather than showing, and the story folds up a little too neatly and sweetly for my tastes. Nevertheless, this is a promising story with loveable characters.

[Rinke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute. That is the word that comes to mind having read unbound. Cute boys that have cute meet moments that are the start of some puppylove type relationships.

But cute is not all there is to it. In the very dungeons and dragons like quest there are some real stakes and the battles are wel written.

All in all a light hearted story that is easy to read and will have you rooting for the boys to get together.

[Peggy Roos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing to read! I quickly got attached to the majority of the characters, the plot was really nice and it was easy to get through! A perfect combination of the queer romances and the adventure! I loved it!