The concept of the old bookshop or the story in a book becoming a hidden world, with young people from our normal world dragged into proceedings, is a familiar path for us fantasy readers. So what’s new about STORYBOUND? Edie Keller has a powerful personal backstory, which she gradually reveals. She and their mum are supporting themselves since her father was confined for having dangerous hallucinations, is part of it. Ever since, Edie has preferred to lose herself in a book series about a young wizard. She never imagines she’ll fall into that story.  

Kane the Traveler is not who Edie thought he was; his story has been glamorised by a scribe in the real world. In his own life, Kane is more of an antihero, who might kidnap a princess or rescue her if the pay is right. He lives in the Kingdom of Mithres and when Edie arrives, scared out of her wits and without any magic to fight off hellhounds, he does intervene but then dismisses her with the name ‘Cupcake’. She’s had romantic thoughts about being the right girl for Kane, but he doesn’t know her or need her, and she’s nothing to him. Kane does have a problem, however, and Edie knows how that story ends. Or thinks she does. Maybe a lot has changed from the books.

For me the best part about Edie is the tae-kwon-do lessons she’s been taking; they help her battle much larger (fanged, slavering) opponents and give her the presence of mind to pick up any tool and use it as a weapon. Her main disadvantage in the demon-infested world (which otherwise is sadly just a shabbier form of here) is that demon beasts can pick up the scent of her iron-rich blood. Come for dinner, hell-cat!

Watch out for some strong language and on the good side, a would-be romance which doesn’t get time to develop into anything too soppy. Because this isn’t the middle-grade version like The Neverending Story; this is the young teen version in which things are definitely out to eat the characters. They can’t stand in one place too long, and when a small party boards a boat, even that isn’t safe. Edie learns a great deal about herself and suspects a lot more about her family. But she doesn’t know if any of her new friends will make it to the story’s end alive. STORYBOUND by Emily McKay will be good for boys or girls who want something out of the ordinary, with less structure than the Harry Potter books and less clarity over who is on whose side.

Book Summary

Read an Excerpt