Really I would say this book is a 4.5 stars for me. It was just so close to being a 5 star like Blood Bound but I wasn't as completely thrown as I was with that book. Maybe because I wasn't really expecting much from the series (I wasn't really sure what it was going to be about when I started it) and then I read Blood Bound and was just blown away by what Rachel Vincent created. 
 Shadow Bound picks up about six weeks after the events in Bllod Bound. Kori, helping cam and Liv in the first book, was ultimately caught in the end and her fate remained to be seen. Well, Shadow Bound it Kori's book. She was caught after she helped Cam and Liv break into Jake Tower's home and now she's paying dearly for her deception. Except Jake Tower decides to give Kori a test of sorts. Recruit Ian Holt into the Tower sundicate or be executed. Of course that would leave Kori's sister Kenley, a Binder, unprotected, so Kori knows she can't fail. 
 Ian Holt is a Blinder. Meaning he can call the darkness to himself and block out viewing eyes. He's spent his whole life keeping himself out of the spotlight in order to avoid drawing a syndicates notice. Suddenly, however, he wants them to notice. His brother has broken a bond and now his life is in danger and the only way to save him is to find the person who originally Bound his brother, namely Kenley. 
 Rachel Vincent has a wonderfully planned out series here so far. The intricacies are so complex at times. There are so many rules in this world, but yet so many ways to work around them it's interesting to see the characters try to interact with each other without having to face the consequences. 
 This book is at times sad and heartbreaking. Kori is damaged and run down after being tortured for six weeks. She doesn't trut anyone anymore and she's looked at as disgraced by the people she used to work with. She's treated badly by everyone and is tasked with a seemingly impossible mission in recruiting Ian Holt. There were times I just wanted to cry for all that she'd been through and all the she was being forced to continue to go through. Yet she is such a strong character. She knows that she's no longer in favor with Tower yet her motivation is to succeed in order to keep her sister alive. She's very self-less in her actions. 
 Watching Ian and Kori basically initially work for opposite means (one wants to keep Kenley alive the other wants her dead) is heartbreaking. You wonder how long before everyone's intentions are out in the open. And what is really best for everyone involved. Will the right decisions be made considering they are both on opposing sides? The opposing sides theme is something that we saw in Blood Bound with Cam and Liv working for different syndicates, but having to work together or one common goal, yet not ever really thinking they could trust each other. The point is being able to find and learn how to trust someone that you really shouldn't. Being able to take a gamble on someon based on how your heart feels instead of what your head thinks. The same theme / message runs throughout this book and I think will be in the next book as well. 
 The journey that Kori makes in this book is difficult, but hopeful. So far I like this series better than her Shifters series. There's one more book Oath Bound due out next year which, from the title, seems like it will be Kenley's book and the conclusion to this series sadly enough. I highly recommend this series for anyone who wants to read something a little bit different than your vampire, werewolf, shifter stories out now.