Crimson Bound is a really interesting take on Little Red Riding Hood, and there are definitely a lot of parallels between Crimson Bound and the story of Little Red Riding Hood that we all know. After reading Cruel Beauty, I was really looking forward to Crimson Bound, which I liked almost as much as Cruel Beauty. 
 I thought the mystery of the bloodbound and the Devourer was really interesting, but it did get sort of confusing at the end. I definitely had to re-read parts of it to see if would make any more sense, and it sort of did, but not much. Something about the world and the mythology made me think of the His Fair Assassins trilogy by Robin LaFevers, so if you like that series, you might want to check out this book. 
 It's also pretty slow for a good chunk of the book, so it takes a while for anything interesting to happen, but I actually didn't mind the slow pace, because there is a really interesting world we see in the book, and I just wanted to absorb as much of as I could. There are a lot of hints and it seems really vague, so I might have to hunt down a more clear explanation of the mythology and everything with Zisa and Tyr to see if that will make it less confusing. I did really like the description of the Forest, which seemed more metaphysical than anything else. 
 I didn't particularly care for the love triangle, mostly because I didn't feel like there was anything between Rachelle and either love interest. I don't have any strong feelings towards Armand or Erec, but I really liked Rachelle and how she tried so hard to hold onto her humanity. It is a lot darker than I expected, even for a YA fantasy, but I really liked that about the book, even though it didn't have the same spark that Cruel Beauty did. There wasn't as action much as I thought there would be, given the summary, and while I didn't mind, I think that's why the book had a slower pace. And like I said earlier, I didn't mind the slower pace, but a little more action throughout the book would have been nice. 
 My Rating: 3 stars. I liked it, especially the world and the mythology, but I also wish the mythology was a little less confusing.