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The Devoured Worlds #3
The Bound Worlds
Worlds will collide and fates will be rewritten in the thrilling conclusion to the Devoured Worlds space opera trilogy by award-winning author Megan E. O’Keefe.
Naira and Tarquin have found a new home on Seventh Cradle. But the peace they’ve built is short-lived as mysterious assailants ambush the settlement and Naira is haunted by visions of a monstrous future. Catastrophe strikes when Tarquin uncovers a plot to bring about the end of the universe. As humanity races against the clock to prevent their extinction, old secrets come to light and loyalties fracture, and Naira realizes she may be the key to saving the world—or ending it.
Naira and Tarquin have found a new home on Seventh Cradle. But the peace they’ve built is short-lived as mysterious assailants ambush the settlement and Naira is haunted by visions of a monstrous future. Catastrophe strikes when Tarquin uncovers a plot to bring about the end of the universe. As humanity races against the clock to prevent their extinction, old secrets come to light and loyalties fracture, and Naira realizes she may be the key to saving the world—or ending it.
457 pages, Paperback
First published June 25, 2024
188 people are currently reading
2881 people want to read
About the author
Megan E. O'Keefe
20 books1,239 followersMegan E. O'Keefe was raised amongst journalists, and as soon as she was able joined them by crafting a newsletter which chronicled the daily adventures of the local cat population. She lives in the Bay Area of California, and spends her free time tinkering with anything she can get her hands on.
Her fantasy debut, Steal the Sky, won the Gemmell Morningstar Award and her space opera debut, Velocity Weapon was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award.
Her fantasy debut, Steal the Sky, won the Gemmell Morningstar Award and her space opera debut, Velocity Weapon was nominated for the Philip K. Dick Award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 417 reviews
April 10, 2024
The Bound Worlds was the perfect ending to The Devoured Worlds. It’s always scary to read the last book in a series you love, but this not only exceeded any expectations I had, but it did it beautifully.
If you know me, you know I love Megan E. O’Keefe’s space operas and I haven’t shut up about The Blighted Stars since I got my hands on that book. And here we are. It’s over and I’m in love with the ending. This was such a high-stakes book I knew, inevitably, characters would die. I told myself I’d be happy as long as a specific someone survived. And then I experienced the book through waves after waves of realization that I didn’t want anyone to die (not even he-who-shall-not-be-named).
The Bound Worlds felt like running an Iron Man (a crazy ‘obstacle course’ that not many people finish). And by the 85% mark, it all seemed to end… beautifully. But it wasn’t an ending. And what came after was such an emotional roller coaster I cried for the first time in three years (which is crazy, if this book has healed my tear ducts, I owe O’Keefe a beer lol). I’m going to do my thing and do my usual ‘fangirl’ review, meaning that I will talk about shit I keep obsessing about. I usually call it the ‘good’ and the ‘not-so-good’ list, but unlike Naira’s ‘to-stab’ list, my not-so-good list remains empty this time. This won’t have spoilers (but I will have spoiler talk at the end because wow).
- Characters: 10/10. Obsessed. What do I even say? I don’t do drugs, but what O’Keefe’s characters make me feel must be what snorting coke feels like. They’re funny, adorable, brilliant. By the end of the book I felt so dumb for how much I was crying. BUT I’ve spent so much time reading and re-reading about Nai, Tarq, Kav, and Kuma that I lowkey need them to come into existence and adopt me.
- Twists: Shit man. Too many. So good. I didn’t expect half of them. If you’re reading this book, I’ll just tell you: don’t forget the Chinese rooms. And do keep in mind who resonates and who doesn’t.
- No questions left unanswered and no loose ends: This. I had so many. All of them answered. Even at the end when I was bawling my eyes out and I was just thinking ‘I just don’t get why this had to happen.’ O’Keefe clarified it all brilliantly. And I do want to explain this wasn’t a deus ex machina kind of thing either.
- The writing and pace: I love her writing. Pace-wise? Shit. This was fast-paced. You didn’t get a break until the 80% mark and then all shit blew up and the sobbing started. But I loved it. I wish we had 50 more pages after the end just to vibe with everyone and chill for two minutes.
- Representation: I started my ‘O’Keefe journey’ with The Protectorate and I was coming from loving The Expanse series, and I was critical. Too critical. But the one thing that set O’Keege apart was just how deliciously diverse her characters are. We got nonbinary, we got trans, we got different ethnicities, we have straight, gay, old, and disabled (visually disabled but also the less visible kind). And it just rocks. I remember re-reading The Protectorate when I broke my right ankle because Sanda didn’t have a right leg and it just made me feel okay to know Sanda did not stop being badass and incredible for a single minute. And Naira is the same. I don’t have chronic pain or anything that I can sympathize with, but the visibility of this, the fact that we have a transgender main character, we have a nonbinary demisexual character, we have a mix of ethnicities and there is not an ounce of hate or discrimination. I always say sci-fi authors should do this: you’re creating a world and you have the power to make normal things normal. Sexual or ethnic minorities struggle in the real world, create one that isn’t as shitty. And O’Keefe is the queen of that.
- The badass women: Naira, Kuma, Helms, Ward, Dr Sharp, Jana (special mention to Paison here). The men are also OK, I guess, but the women 🤌🤌🤌🤌
- Tarquin: I have given Tarq his own section in every review just to berate him. That’s no more. I am sorry for calling Tarquin a shithead and a little shit and saying he hasmushed bananarocks in place of a brain.
- The ending: I already said it but it was perfect. Exceeded every expectation and did not let me down. I could’ve gone without O’Keefe making me cry for 40 pages though.
”What is grief, if not starving for what was lost?”
Now to the spoiler rambling:
If anyone wants to chat about the Devoured Worlds please do let me know I am and will forever be obsessed.
Thank you Orbit for the ARC!
If you know me, you know I love Megan E. O’Keefe’s space operas and I haven’t shut up about The Blighted Stars since I got my hands on that book. And here we are. It’s over and I’m in love with the ending. This was such a high-stakes book I knew, inevitably, characters would die. I told myself I’d be happy as long as a specific someone survived. And then I experienced the book through waves after waves of realization that I didn’t want anyone to die (not even he-who-shall-not-be-named).
The Bound Worlds felt like running an Iron Man (a crazy ‘obstacle course’ that not many people finish). And by the 85% mark, it all seemed to end… beautifully. But it wasn’t an ending. And what came after was such an emotional roller coaster I cried for the first time in three years (which is crazy, if this book has healed my tear ducts, I owe O’Keefe a beer lol). I’m going to do my thing and do my usual ‘fangirl’ review, meaning that I will talk about shit I keep obsessing about. I usually call it the ‘good’ and the ‘not-so-good’ list, but unlike Naira’s ‘to-stab’ list, my not-so-good list remains empty this time. This won’t have spoilers (but I will have spoiler talk at the end because wow).
- Characters: 10/10. Obsessed. What do I even say? I don’t do drugs, but what O’Keefe’s characters make me feel must be what snorting coke feels like. They’re funny, adorable, brilliant. By the end of the book I felt so dumb for how much I was crying. BUT I’ve spent so much time reading and re-reading about Nai, Tarq, Kav, and Kuma that I lowkey need them to come into existence and adopt me.
- Twists: Shit man. Too many. So good. I didn’t expect half of them. If you’re reading this book, I’ll just tell you: don’t forget the Chinese rooms. And do keep in mind who resonates and who doesn’t.
- No questions left unanswered and no loose ends: This. I had so many. All of them answered. Even at the end when I was bawling my eyes out and I was just thinking ‘I just don’t get why this had to happen.’ O’Keefe clarified it all brilliantly. And I do want to explain this wasn’t a deus ex machina kind of thing either.
- The writing and pace: I love her writing. Pace-wise? Shit. This was fast-paced. You didn’t get a break until the 80% mark and then all shit blew up and the sobbing started. But I loved it. I wish we had 50 more pages after the end just to vibe with everyone and chill for two minutes.
- Representation: I started my ‘O’Keefe journey’ with The Protectorate and I was coming from loving The Expanse series, and I was critical. Too critical. But the one thing that set O’Keege apart was just how deliciously diverse her characters are. We got nonbinary, we got trans, we got different ethnicities, we have straight, gay, old, and disabled (visually disabled but also the less visible kind). And it just rocks. I remember re-reading The Protectorate when I broke my right ankle because Sanda didn’t have a right leg and it just made me feel okay to know Sanda did not stop being badass and incredible for a single minute. And Naira is the same. I don’t have chronic pain or anything that I can sympathize with, but the visibility of this, the fact that we have a transgender main character, we have a nonbinary demisexual character, we have a mix of ethnicities and there is not an ounce of hate or discrimination. I always say sci-fi authors should do this: you’re creating a world and you have the power to make normal things normal. Sexual or ethnic minorities struggle in the real world, create one that isn’t as shitty. And O’Keefe is the queen of that.
- The badass women: Naira, Kuma, Helms, Ward, Dr Sharp, Jana (special mention to Paison here). The men are also OK, I guess, but the women 🤌🤌🤌🤌
- Tarquin: I have given Tarq his own section in every review just to berate him. That’s no more. I am sorry for calling Tarquin a shithead and a little shit and saying he has
- The ending: I already said it but it was perfect. Exceeded every expectation and did not let me down. I could’ve gone without O’Keefe making me cry for 40 pages though.
”What is grief, if not starving for what was lost?”
Now to the spoiler rambling:
If anyone wants to chat about the Devoured Worlds please do let me know I am and will forever be obsessed.
Thank you Orbit for the ARC!
December 31, 2024
4.5 ☆
this book was such a rollercoaster, definitely one of the best sci-fi / romance series i’ve read in a long time. just when i thought the plot couldn’t get any more complex, it does and the characters have to deal with the consequences of these multiple copies and more mind cracking. the way my heart dropped towards the end .. stop, cause i would’ve never recovered from that. Tarquin has so much development here and really stepped up in ways he hadn’t before. the main surprise for me was Fletcher— i loved the way he turned out to be more of an asset instead of a pain, he really does care about Naira in his own way and what he did for her and Tarquin was the proof. Naira and Tarquin have become another one of my fav couples, such a unique (and sometimes confusing) series, but 100% worth it!
this book was such a rollercoaster, definitely one of the best sci-fi / romance series i’ve read in a long time. just when i thought the plot couldn’t get any more complex, it does and the characters have to deal with the consequences of these multiple copies and more mind cracking. the way my heart dropped towards the end .. stop, cause i would’ve never recovered from that. Tarquin has so much development here and really stepped up in ways he hadn’t before. the main surprise for me was Fletcher— i loved the way he turned out to be more of an asset instead of a pain, he really does care about Naira in his own way and what he did for her and Tarquin was the proof. Naira and Tarquin have become another one of my fav couples, such a unique (and sometimes confusing) series, but 100% worth it!
November 8, 2024
The Bound Worlds is a satisfying conclusion to a space opera trilogy packed with romance and heart.
I nearly DNFed this after the first 100 pages. I’m glad I didn’t. I took a break from it, came back, and inhaled the rest of the novel.
As with the previous books, the stakes get even higher.
In my other reviews for this series, I’ve mentioned that the first two leaned on the corny side, but this one seems to have dialed it back a bit. That, or I’ve become used to it. The characters even made me chuckle a time or two.
This series has lots of great representation. There was Queer representation throughout, and this final book has disability representation.
I was never the biggest fan of Tarquin, but this conclusion changed my mind. The ending was quite emotional.
All in all, this series is well worth reading.
Thank you to Orbit for providing a copy to review.
https://booksandwheels.com
I nearly DNFed this after the first 100 pages. I’m glad I didn’t. I took a break from it, came back, and inhaled the rest of the novel.
As with the previous books, the stakes get even higher.
In my other reviews for this series, I’ve mentioned that the first two leaned on the corny side, but this one seems to have dialed it back a bit. That, or I’ve become used to it. The characters even made me chuckle a time or two.
This series has lots of great representation. There was Queer representation throughout, and this final book has disability representation.
I was never the biggest fan of Tarquin, but this conclusion changed my mind. The ending was quite emotional.
All in all, this series is well worth reading.
Thank you to Orbit for providing a copy to review.
https://booksandwheels.com
June 13, 2025
4.5⭐️
I’m so sad this is over. These characters 😭😭 I love them (& strongly hate some of them) SO MUCH. The women?! 10/10. There’s also a certain character that I didn’t know I’d absolutely fall in love with & cry so hard over. He ended up being my favorite.
The stakes in the first two books were high, but this one?! Wild. The pacing was quick. I’m not lying when I tell you my heart rate was elevated the entire time I read this. The twists were everything & that ending will stick with me for a very long time.
The only negative part of this book was the fact that there’s elements to this story that get really repetitive. I understand it’s part of the plot, but holy whiplash.
Overall, this trilogy is REFRESHING. I don’t know if I’ll ever read anything like it. I’m a big fan of Megan O’Keffe.
I seriously can’t wait to read these books again. Eventually I’ll shut up about this trilogy…. maybe😜 Read it please. I’m begging hehe
I’m so sad this is over. These characters 😭😭 I love them (& strongly hate some of them) SO MUCH. The women?! 10/10. There’s also a certain character that I didn’t know I’d absolutely fall in love with & cry so hard over. He ended up being my favorite.
The stakes in the first two books were high, but this one?! Wild. The pacing was quick. I’m not lying when I tell you my heart rate was elevated the entire time I read this. The twists were everything & that ending will stick with me for a very long time.
The only negative part of this book was the fact that there’s elements to this story that get really repetitive. I understand it’s part of the plot, but holy whiplash.
Overall, this trilogy is REFRESHING. I don’t know if I’ll ever read anything like it. I’m a big fan of Megan O’Keffe.
I seriously can’t wait to read these books again. Eventually I’ll shut up about this trilogy…. maybe😜 Read it please. I’m begging hehe
September 20, 2024
Come for the epic sci-fi action, stay for the charmingly broken characters just doing their best.🥺🫶
Naira had cracked. She had promised to keep coming back if she could, but it’s getting more and more difficult and Tarquin is terrified to losing her to the endless scream.
This series has my whole heart now. I haven’t been so eviscerated by a series recently. I fell asleep dreaming about the plot. I wanted to squeal about it with someone constantly (I had to make do with my cat). I have been recommending it to everyone.
It showcases one of the MOST HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS ever.
He'd made a mistake. She'd made plenty. They'd both make mistakes again.
They know each others’ damage. They know their strengths and weaknesses and work to hold each other accountable. In the midst of the end of the world where the enemy is trying to pitch them against each other.
“Our experiences change the way we see the world. You can't look out of someone else's window from within, only from without, and there's no telling how that glass is tinted on the other side."
If you haven’t got it from my gushing, yes you should read this, but if you have read this review, I think you have at least read the first two!
For a series that gave me similar vibes - The First Sister or Artifact Space.🪐
Bookstagram
Naira had cracked. She had promised to keep coming back if she could, but it’s getting more and more difficult and Tarquin is terrified to losing her to the endless scream.
This series has my whole heart now. I haven’t been so eviscerated by a series recently. I fell asleep dreaming about the plot. I wanted to squeal about it with someone constantly (I had to make do with my cat). I have been recommending it to everyone.
It showcases one of the MOST HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS ever.
He'd made a mistake. She'd made plenty. They'd both make mistakes again.
They know each others’ damage. They know their strengths and weaknesses and work to hold each other accountable. In the midst of the end of the world where the enemy is trying to pitch them against each other.
“Our experiences change the way we see the world. You can't look out of someone else's window from within, only from without, and there's no telling how that glass is tinted on the other side."
If you haven’t got it from my gushing, yes you should read this, but if you have read this review, I think you have at least read the first two!
For a series that gave me similar vibes - The First Sister or Artifact Space.🪐
Bookstagram
August 3, 2024
What the hell. After devouring the first 2 novels in this series, I’ve just finally finished the final book in the series two weeks after starting it. Where did the pacing, characters and plotting of the first two books go?
After books one and two created a huge universe of politics and sentient AIs infected with a conscious symbiotic fungi and body-hopping soldiers, the 3rd book is reduced in scope to a 400 page slog of interpersonal drama and miscommunication helped along by dubious time travel mechanics and incomprehensible tech plot lines.
The new villain introduced in book 2 gets an unearned redemption arc while Tarquin and Naira spend the entirety of the novel fighting, sniping or separated from each other. Their fragile relationship of the first two novels - the messy ups and downs of the 2 characters navigating a huge divide in class, wealth and power while trying to save something they both believe in - feels pushed aside. The two characters are separated to fight apart and against each other. Where this might have been an opportunity to complete the arc of these two, instead Tarquin never quite finds his footing, he continues to make mistakes rooted in blind privilege and Naira continues to go off half-cocked falling into multiple traps. This undermines the relationship so painstakingly built over the last 2 books, what happiness can one imagine for two characters who spend 400 pages of doubting and double crossing each other?
In this third book the canus-relkatite-amanthrite-human relationship goes from a little bit complicated but understandable to so completely enormous that the story is dragged down by its out of left-field complexity. The relkatite is fueling a collapse of the universe and now there’s time traveling and cracking makes you see the future and there’s a multiverse of Nairas? What?
In the end this just feels like the author trying to do too much, introduce too much, balance too much without finishing what was already there.
After books one and two created a huge universe of politics and sentient AIs infected with a conscious symbiotic fungi and body-hopping soldiers, the 3rd book is reduced in scope to a 400 page slog of interpersonal drama and miscommunication helped along by dubious time travel mechanics and incomprehensible tech plot lines.
The new villain introduced in book 2 gets an unearned redemption arc while Tarquin and Naira spend the entirety of the novel fighting, sniping or separated from each other. Their fragile relationship of the first two novels - the messy ups and downs of the 2 characters navigating a huge divide in class, wealth and power while trying to save something they both believe in - feels pushed aside. The two characters are separated to fight apart and against each other. Where this might have been an opportunity to complete the arc of these two, instead Tarquin never quite finds his footing, he continues to make mistakes rooted in blind privilege and Naira continues to go off half-cocked falling into multiple traps. This undermines the relationship so painstakingly built over the last 2 books, what happiness can one imagine for two characters who spend 400 pages of doubting and double crossing each other?
In this third book the canus-relkatite-amanthrite-human relationship goes from a little bit complicated but understandable to so completely enormous that the story is dragged down by its out of left-field complexity. The relkatite is fueling a collapse of the universe and now there’s time traveling and cracking makes you see the future and there’s a multiverse of Nairas? What?
In the end this just feels like the author trying to do too much, introduce too much, balance too much without finishing what was already there.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 22, 2024
Reread July 2024: 🥹❤️
Reread June 2024: I still stand by my original review, but gah, gotta update to 5 stars!! The combination of O'Keefe's writing and characters with Saward's narration is just ✨magic✨
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4.75 stars.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance reading copy; all thoughts my own.
This was my most anticipated book of 2024 and it did not disappoint! I’ve only experienced this story so far via audiobook, so I must admit that I did wonder whether my deep love for this series was in part down to the stellar narration by Ciaran Saward. However, I needn’t have worried; O’Keefe’s writing and storytelling shines, no matter the format! The banter and dialogue in particular were *delicious* and I absolutely cannot wait to hear Saward’s performance.
All of these characters are so dear to me, and right from the beginning when this story starts with a bang, O’Keefe doesn’t let up the pace. The tension was threaded throughout, meaning that I was constantly on the edge of my seat, head reeling at this twist or that, this revelation or that. And I loved every second of it!
My only slight issue with this book is that I found the major problem faced by our characters here to kind of have come out of nowhere – I would have liked to see more/stronger hints in previous books to tie the trilogy together a little better.
Still, this is an excellent conclusion, and I'm looking forward to many more rereads of this series in the future!
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4.75 stars! RTC, but for now: asfjkglslkfglkdjf
Reread June 2024: I still stand by my original review, but gah, gotta update to 5 stars!! The combination of O'Keefe's writing and characters with Saward's narration is just ✨magic✨
-----
4.75 stars.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance reading copy; all thoughts my own.
This was my most anticipated book of 2024 and it did not disappoint! I’ve only experienced this story so far via audiobook, so I must admit that I did wonder whether my deep love for this series was in part down to the stellar narration by Ciaran Saward. However, I needn’t have worried; O’Keefe’s writing and storytelling shines, no matter the format! The banter and dialogue in particular were *delicious* and I absolutely cannot wait to hear Saward’s performance.
All of these characters are so dear to me, and right from the beginning when this story starts with a bang, O’Keefe doesn’t let up the pace. The tension was threaded throughout, meaning that I was constantly on the edge of my seat, head reeling at this twist or that, this revelation or that. And I loved every second of it!
My only slight issue with this book is that I found the major problem faced by our characters here to kind of have come out of nowhere – I would have liked to see more/stronger hints in previous books to tie the trilogy together a little better.
Still, this is an excellent conclusion, and I'm looking forward to many more rereads of this series in the future!
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4.75 stars! RTC, but for now: asfjkglslkfglkdjf
June 6, 2024
Advanced Review Copy provided in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books.
Score: 3/5
Since this is an ARC, the review aims to be as Spoiler-free as possible.
Read this Review and more on my Medium page:link: Distorted Visions
The conclusion to The Devoured Worlds trilogy, The Bound Worlds ties up the story of Liege Tarquin Mercator and Executor Naira Sharp as they battle against the alien outbreak within their neural implants, for the future of the human race.
Right off the bat, I must admit that I was left unsatisfied with the direction taken by the final installment of The Devoured Worlds trilogy, especially since I thought that the first book, The Blighted Stars explored novel concepts and provided reasonably fresh takes on standard sci-fi tropes. It is a novel that felt familiar yet provided enough to keep you glued to the series. The sequel, The Fractured Dark succeeded where most middle books fail: the world was expanded, new elements were added to deepen the lore, and the stakes were significantly increased. With a cracker cliffhanger, I was deeply looking forward to where the O’Keefe would take us with the finale, and was thrilled to receive a review copy of The Bound Worlds.
Which makes my disappointment that much more severe.
Fundamentally, The Bound Worlds is not a bad book by any means, nor is it a wholly disappointing conclusion to the series. My major grouse with this series ender was that it felt like O’Keefe reduced the scope of the narrative and narrowed down several aspects, perhaps to present a more cohesive and complete conclusion to the major plotline.
One of the aspects I thoroughly enjoyed about The Fractured Dark was the broader universe impacts that were being built up towards the climax of the book. The stakes heightened considerably as the virophage canus continued to dig deeper into the material relkalite, used for all the post-human implants (called pathways) in the story. The pre-sentience that canus portrayed as it manipulated infected hosts towards its malignant spread across the imperium of human-occupied space was something that was expertly crafted. There is always something particularly delicious about a non-human malevolent antagonist that cannot be reasoned with, unlike human enemies.
All of that build-up was slashed down to an almost wall-hanging background quality, bringing forth Jonsun back as the primary antagonist, putting the narrative back in bog-standard Human Vs. Human territory, which ended up being quite lackluster.
The major focus of The Bound Worlds is the internal (and external struggle) of Naira Sharp as she navigates being “cracked” and that effect on her romantic progress with the now-leader of the Mercator faction, Tarquin. One of the areas where Megan O’Keefe excelled, particularly with the first two books of this series was in keeping the readers anchored in the personal element of an otherwise expansive sci-fi story. Told through the POVs of Tarquin and Naira, the story always felt grounded in something more tangible, even with increasing stakes. However, with the climax of the entire series looming over us in The Bound Worlds, the increased emphasis on the interpersonal (and romantic struggle) between Tarquin and Naira ate up far too much space in the overall narrative and stole much of the nervous excitement of a story ramping up to a crescendo.
In addition, a few more elements were added to the story (spoilers redacted) which felt more like a deux-ex-machina moment (quite literally in some cases) and signaled that the author struggled with tying all the plot threads set up over the series in a meaningful way. In addition, the character arc of the finalizer Fletcher Demarco from menacing hench-villain to antihero, to straight-up protagonist did not feel earned at all and went further to cheapen the stakes. Furthermore, Aceleus Mercator (Tarquin’s father) proved to be a much more capable and vehement antagonist, making Jonsun feel like a sub-boss that should have been dealt with as a side-plot rather than towards the end of the series. At no point, even in Act 3 of the book, did I ever feel satisfactorily anxious about the tension created by the weakened plotlines. Bah!
The downgrade of the non-human threat and heightened emphasis on the personal character conflict reached a climax that felt cheapened by the reduced stakes. All of these elements robbed The Bound Worlds of an ending that felt rewarding and earned. Moreso, it reduced my memory of the previous books as well, marring my overall impression of The Devoured Worlds series.
Score: 3/5
Since this is an ARC, the review aims to be as Spoiler-free as possible.
Read this Review and more on my Medium page:link: Distorted Visions
The conclusion to The Devoured Worlds trilogy, The Bound Worlds ties up the story of Liege Tarquin Mercator and Executor Naira Sharp as they battle against the alien outbreak within their neural implants, for the future of the human race.
Right off the bat, I must admit that I was left unsatisfied with the direction taken by the final installment of The Devoured Worlds trilogy, especially since I thought that the first book, The Blighted Stars explored novel concepts and provided reasonably fresh takes on standard sci-fi tropes. It is a novel that felt familiar yet provided enough to keep you glued to the series. The sequel, The Fractured Dark succeeded where most middle books fail: the world was expanded, new elements were added to deepen the lore, and the stakes were significantly increased. With a cracker cliffhanger, I was deeply looking forward to where the O’Keefe would take us with the finale, and was thrilled to receive a review copy of The Bound Worlds.
Which makes my disappointment that much more severe.
Fundamentally, The Bound Worlds is not a bad book by any means, nor is it a wholly disappointing conclusion to the series. My major grouse with this series ender was that it felt like O’Keefe reduced the scope of the narrative and narrowed down several aspects, perhaps to present a more cohesive and complete conclusion to the major plotline.
One of the aspects I thoroughly enjoyed about The Fractured Dark was the broader universe impacts that were being built up towards the climax of the book. The stakes heightened considerably as the virophage canus continued to dig deeper into the material relkalite, used for all the post-human implants (called pathways) in the story. The pre-sentience that canus portrayed as it manipulated infected hosts towards its malignant spread across the imperium of human-occupied space was something that was expertly crafted. There is always something particularly delicious about a non-human malevolent antagonist that cannot be reasoned with, unlike human enemies.
All of that build-up was slashed down to an almost wall-hanging background quality, bringing forth Jonsun back as the primary antagonist, putting the narrative back in bog-standard Human Vs. Human territory, which ended up being quite lackluster.
The major focus of The Bound Worlds is the internal (and external struggle) of Naira Sharp as she navigates being “cracked” and that effect on her romantic progress with the now-leader of the Mercator faction, Tarquin. One of the areas where Megan O’Keefe excelled, particularly with the first two books of this series was in keeping the readers anchored in the personal element of an otherwise expansive sci-fi story. Told through the POVs of Tarquin and Naira, the story always felt grounded in something more tangible, even with increasing stakes. However, with the climax of the entire series looming over us in The Bound Worlds, the increased emphasis on the interpersonal (and romantic struggle) between Tarquin and Naira ate up far too much space in the overall narrative and stole much of the nervous excitement of a story ramping up to a crescendo.
In addition, a few more elements were added to the story (spoilers redacted) which felt more like a deux-ex-machina moment (quite literally in some cases) and signaled that the author struggled with tying all the plot threads set up over the series in a meaningful way. In addition, the character arc of the finalizer Fletcher Demarco from menacing hench-villain to antihero, to straight-up protagonist did not feel earned at all and went further to cheapen the stakes. Furthermore, Aceleus Mercator (Tarquin’s father) proved to be a much more capable and vehement antagonist, making Jonsun feel like a sub-boss that should have been dealt with as a side-plot rather than towards the end of the series. At no point, even in Act 3 of the book, did I ever feel satisfactorily anxious about the tension created by the weakened plotlines. Bah!
The downgrade of the non-human threat and heightened emphasis on the personal character conflict reached a climax that felt cheapened by the reduced stakes. All of these elements robbed The Bound Worlds of an ending that felt rewarding and earned. Moreso, it reduced my memory of the previous books as well, marring my overall impression of The Devoured Worlds series.
September 25, 2024
After rating books 1 and 2 in the low-to-mid 4* range and really enjoying them, I was disappointed in the direction book 3 took on several fronts. Everything that worked in the first two books was turned on its head for all the wrong reasons as we deus ex machina'd all the plot threads to their uneven conclusions.
November 15, 2023
IM CRYING
thank you to edelweiss and the publisher for providing the arc! full review to come
thank you to edelweiss and the publisher for providing the arc! full review to come
September 13, 2024
♾️ STARS
———
UPDATE: this is the first 6 star series I’ve ever read. I finished this ONE MONTH AGO and I still think about these characters and this story every. single. day. I will NEVER be the same. The characters Naira and Tarquin are everything to me. The story was an absolute INSANE experience and I can’t possibly comprehend how this author could ever think of it.
———
👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽 what an absolute mindfuck. I think this was a perfect trilogy. fuck me. I’ll return when I stop sobbing, tysm.
———
UPDATE: this is the first 6 star series I’ve ever read. I finished this ONE MONTH AGO and I still think about these characters and this story every. single. day. I will NEVER be the same. The characters Naira and Tarquin are everything to me. The story was an absolute INSANE experience and I can’t possibly comprehend how this author could ever think of it.
———
👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽 what an absolute mindfuck. I think this was a perfect trilogy. fuck me. I’ll return when I stop sobbing, tysm.
October 1, 2024
I received this book for free from Orbit Books in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
As the last book in The Devoured Worlds trilogy, I was super excited to pick up The Bound Worlds, which was easily one of my most anticipated reads of 2024. I couldn't wait to see how everything ended for main characters Naira and Tarquin. After all, the first book in this trilogy, The Blighted Stars, single-handedly made me vow to read more science fiction. So I don't know if it was my high expectations or the book itself, but unfortunately The Bound Worlds was a pretty disappointing read for me.
Though the previous two entries in the series focused on the horrific spread of a sentient alien parasite known as canus, The Bound Worlds chooses to go in a different direction, bringing back a former human villain, who used to be a compelling character, as the main (and rather basic), purely evil antagonist. Sadly, so much of what made this series intriguing is thrown out along with the kitchen sink on this novel. This character being brought back to life to be the evil villain felt like a huge step backwards after the horrors of Fletcher and Tarquin's father, let alone the ever-growing canus.
What's more is that the novel renders canus to be a pretty insignificant entity early on in favor of a deadly expansion of the universe and a threat from the future. To be honest, time traveling or hopping to alternate dimensions in order to save the world is one of my least favorite tropes of all time. I feel like it's usually, but not always, a lazy narrative choice that is used as a fallback when the story has been written into a corner and other, organic plot lines are no longer available. Though I must say that The Bound Worlds at least puts a unique spin on this trope, it doesn't really end up going anywhere or having lasting repercussions for the characters.
To make matters worse, I constantly felt like I wasn't seeing the full picture of things and worried that I had missed some kind of essential explanation somewhere along the way that would suddenly make everything comprehensible to me. I didn't understand much of the scientific stuff involving the "expansion of the universe" at all. I felt like I was hurtling from one issue to the next with little understanding of what was going on or what the consequences were and why they were happening. But what I really don't understand is how Naira always ends up being the breaking point for the entire universe.
It feels like everything revolves around her and that her plot armor is limitless, which is a problem I started feeling in the previous entry of the series, The Fractured Dark, but not to this extent. Nobody can survive a ship blowing up? Naira does. Nobody can survive cracking? Naira does. Nobody survives defecting from Mercator? Naira does. Nobody can use the crack repair software and come out with their personality intact? Naira does. Her endless ability to subvert all of the rules makes her incredibly unlikeable and unrelatable. And it doesn't help that the novel is constantly telling us just how special Naira is at every single given opportunity. If she's really that amazing, surely her actions can speak for themselves without her constantly needing to be hyped up as a living legend.
And what's more, is that there are never any lasting consequences for her choices or deaths. In The Bound Worlds, Naira is considered a traitor two times over, but she's able to waltz back to both sides and be welcomed with open arms and not a word of dissent. And it's all because she's just that amazing and everything is apparently just that easy. Naira and Tarquin used to balance each other out, he was the brains, and she was the brawn, but that give and take is nowhere in sight in The Bound Worlds. It's Naira’s universe and the characters are all just living in it at her discretion. And sadly, most of her complexity as anything more than a stone cold boss bitch is gone.
Meanwhile, her lover, Tarquin, never does anything wrong, but also never stops getting blamed and apologizing for everything. It's maddening. Yes, he grew up in privilege and is currently in a very powerful position, but he's trying to change and to communicate healthfully, and has already displayed a ton of character growth and that he's making decisions with the good of all of humanity, and not just his family, in mind. He's also planning on giving up his power at the earliest reasonable opportunity—whenever his resignation won't have massive universal ramifications for all of humanity, a fact that Naira refuses to consider. But Naira doesn't have a single iota of patience reserved for him, the man she supposedly loves. All of her patience seems reserved for former friends, and especially for Fletcher, whose reappearance and sudden good guy transformation apparently warrants an entire scene devoted to Naira beating up his random childhood bully that I hadn’t even remembered hearing about in the first place. Oh-kay.
I felt incredibly bad for Tarquin for the entire book. It's odd to see a main male character's agency completely stripped away in order to make the female lead look good, but that's exactly what happened here. Tarquin isn't even given the spotlight for his expertise in science and geology and needs Naira's mother's help in his research. I really feel he got a raw deal in this book in general, but especially with his relationship with Naira. He's still very lonely and sad, wishing people could see him for him and not his last name. Instead, he gets the opposite in Naira, who readily believes him capable of committing atrocities. Frankly, the fact that she or anyone else could believe that he'd end up a worse person than his father felt like an affront to my intelligence.
Supposedly there are hints that he's slipping and becoming more like his dad, which Naira implies in conversations with others. But to me, I saw a man drowning in his new role as the leader of humanity, with no life ring in sight, and someone struggling with the weight of power and the responsibility of saving humanity from the brink of extinction. So what if he knocks things off a desk once or twice? That doesn't mean he's got a foot in the door to becoming pure evil.
The happy ending the two receive just doesn't feel like a victory for Tarquin, it feels like a capitulation to the greatness of all that is Naira. Despite being the most powerful man in the universe, nothing Tarquin does will ever be enough for him to deserve her. I felt exhausted on his behalf. And I also can't picture Naira ever being content with simply living a normal life with just Tarquin.
I wasn't able to like Tarquin or Naira in this novel at all and that was from someone who previously liked both characters. Fletcher, the former main antagonist, became my favorite character of The Bound Worlds. My newfound liking of him wasn't because he had an incredible redemption arc, which he definitely doesn't, but because he was one of the only characters I could stand. His transformation from A Bad Guy to a Good Guy feels as ridiculously easy as flipping a light switch and is completely unjustified from a narrative standpoint, merely using the excuse that now that he's no longer infected with canus, he's able to have a change of heart. Regardless of how well it was executed, I was grateful to have a reprieve from reading from the perspectives of Tarquin and Naira.
It's also next to impossible to feel any tension in The Bound Worlds because characters, like Fletcher, who should be dead, keep coming back to life. These revivals are even against the framework of the world-building and what should actually be possible within the pre-established foundations of two prior books. When you constantly have characters doing the impossible, it doesn't take long for the action to lack any tension or climax. As a result of this constant defiance of the laws of the world, I was pretty detached from most of the events in the novel. Why did any of it matter if none of the rules were going to apply? Why get tense or anxious when I knew with complete certainty that Naira would be fine no matter what horrific thing happened to her that was impossible for anyone else to survive?
From the beginning, what I loved the most about this series was the awesome world building. I loved the idea of printing of people into bodies, the political scheming of the powerful families of Merit who ruled humanity in space, and the exemplars who guarded them. Though dying and being able to be reprinted into a new body seemed like an absolutely wild concept, the series made it work, because there was a cost to this technology—the cracking that occurred when someone's death was too traumatic or when they'd been reprinted too many times. Or the literal cost of these reprints, which were outside of the realm of possibility for most average people. There was also a cost to the pathways that supplemented the human bodies and gave them abilities—the possession by canus. To get rid of canus, there was also another price to pay, and so on and so forth. Unfortunately having the characters defy all of the preestablished laws of the universe from two whole prior books made for a very ostracizing reading experience.
Despite all of the issues I had, I must say that The Bound Worlds was still an engrossing read with steady pacing. There was always something interesting going on (even if I didn't quite understand it), that kept me wanting to find out what happened next (even if I suspected I wouldn't like it.) And I really love this series as a whole and still consider The Blighted Stars to be one of my favorite reads of all time. However, I just couldn't help but to be sorely disappointed with this conclusion. Though the novel circles back to old characters to give them all a resolution, I couldn't help but to feel this was a disservice to The Bound Worlds as a whole, as it felt like the end result was prioritized over the journey of both the characters and the plot in the novel to reach that final goal post. Unfortunately The Bound Worlds really missed the mark for me with its new direction, but at least I will always have the first book in the series and the newfound appreciation for science fiction that the series granted me.
As the last book in The Devoured Worlds trilogy, I was super excited to pick up The Bound Worlds, which was easily one of my most anticipated reads of 2024. I couldn't wait to see how everything ended for main characters Naira and Tarquin. After all, the first book in this trilogy, The Blighted Stars, single-handedly made me vow to read more science fiction. So I don't know if it was my high expectations or the book itself, but unfortunately The Bound Worlds was a pretty disappointing read for me.
Though the previous two entries in the series focused on the horrific spread of a sentient alien parasite known as canus, The Bound Worlds chooses to go in a different direction, bringing back a former human villain, who used to be a compelling character, as the main (and rather basic), purely evil antagonist. Sadly, so much of what made this series intriguing is thrown out along with the kitchen sink on this novel. This character being brought back to life to be the evil villain felt like a huge step backwards after the horrors of Fletcher and Tarquin's father, let alone the ever-growing canus.
What's more is that the novel renders canus to be a pretty insignificant entity early on in favor of a deadly expansion of the universe and a threat from the future. To be honest, time traveling or hopping to alternate dimensions in order to save the world is one of my least favorite tropes of all time. I feel like it's usually, but not always, a lazy narrative choice that is used as a fallback when the story has been written into a corner and other, organic plot lines are no longer available. Though I must say that The Bound Worlds at least puts a unique spin on this trope, it doesn't really end up going anywhere or having lasting repercussions for the characters.
“Nai….Stop. fighting isn't your job anymore.’
‘But it's the only one I'm good at.”
To make matters worse, I constantly felt like I wasn't seeing the full picture of things and worried that I had missed some kind of essential explanation somewhere along the way that would suddenly make everything comprehensible to me. I didn't understand much of the scientific stuff involving the "expansion of the universe" at all. I felt like I was hurtling from one issue to the next with little understanding of what was going on or what the consequences were and why they were happening. But what I really don't understand is how Naira always ends up being the breaking point for the entire universe.
It feels like everything revolves around her and that her plot armor is limitless, which is a problem I started feeling in the previous entry of the series, The Fractured Dark, but not to this extent. Nobody can survive a ship blowing up? Naira does. Nobody can survive cracking? Naira does. Nobody survives defecting from Mercator? Naira does. Nobody can use the crack repair software and come out with their personality intact? Naira does. Her endless ability to subvert all of the rules makes her incredibly unlikeable and unrelatable. And it doesn't help that the novel is constantly telling us just how special Naira is at every single given opportunity. If she's really that amazing, surely her actions can speak for themselves without her constantly needing to be hyped up as a living legend.
And what's more, is that there are never any lasting consequences for her choices or deaths. In The Bound Worlds, Naira is considered a traitor two times over, but she's able to waltz back to both sides and be welcomed with open arms and not a word of dissent. And it's all because she's just that amazing and everything is apparently just that easy. Naira and Tarquin used to balance each other out, he was the brains, and she was the brawn, but that give and take is nowhere in sight in The Bound Worlds. It's Naira’s universe and the characters are all just living in it at her discretion. And sadly, most of her complexity as anything more than a stone cold boss bitch is gone.
“Fletch doesn't worry me. Someone attempting to frame me doesn't worry me. What really fucking worries me, Tarquin, is that you're acting a little too much like the head of Mercator lately.”
Meanwhile, her lover, Tarquin, never does anything wrong, but also never stops getting blamed and apologizing for everything. It's maddening. Yes, he grew up in privilege and is currently in a very powerful position, but he's trying to change and to communicate healthfully, and has already displayed a ton of character growth and that he's making decisions with the good of all of humanity, and not just his family, in mind. He's also planning on giving up his power at the earliest reasonable opportunity—whenever his resignation won't have massive universal ramifications for all of humanity, a fact that Naira refuses to consider. But Naira doesn't have a single iota of patience reserved for him, the man she supposedly loves. All of her patience seems reserved for former friends, and especially for Fletcher, whose reappearance and sudden good guy transformation apparently warrants an entire scene devoted to Naira beating up his random childhood bully that I hadn’t even remembered hearing about in the first place. Oh-kay.
I felt incredibly bad for Tarquin for the entire book. It's odd to see a main male character's agency completely stripped away in order to make the female lead look good, but that's exactly what happened here. Tarquin isn't even given the spotlight for his expertise in science and geology and needs Naira's mother's help in his research. I really feel he got a raw deal in this book in general, but especially with his relationship with Naira. He's still very lonely and sad, wishing people could see him for him and not his last name. Instead, he gets the opposite in Naira, who readily believes him capable of committing atrocities. Frankly, the fact that she or anyone else could believe that he'd end up a worse person than his father felt like an affront to my intelligence.
Supposedly there are hints that he's slipping and becoming more like his dad, which Naira implies in conversations with others. But to me, I saw a man drowning in his new role as the leader of humanity, with no life ring in sight, and someone struggling with the weight of power and the responsibility of saving humanity from the brink of extinction. So what if he knocks things off a desk once or twice? That doesn't mean he's got a foot in the door to becoming pure evil.
The happy ending the two receive just doesn't feel like a victory for Tarquin, it feels like a capitulation to the greatness of all that is Naira. Despite being the most powerful man in the universe, nothing Tarquin does will ever be enough for him to deserve her. I felt exhausted on his behalf. And I also can't picture Naira ever being content with simply living a normal life with just Tarquin.
I wasn't able to like Tarquin or Naira in this novel at all and that was from someone who previously liked both characters. Fletcher, the former main antagonist, became my favorite character of The Bound Worlds. My newfound liking of him wasn't because he had an incredible redemption arc, which he definitely doesn't, but because he was one of the only characters I could stand. His transformation from A Bad Guy to a Good Guy feels as ridiculously easy as flipping a light switch and is completely unjustified from a narrative standpoint, merely using the excuse that now that he's no longer infected with canus, he's able to have a change of heart. Regardless of how well it was executed, I was grateful to have a reprieve from reading from the perspectives of Tarquin and Naira.
“Such an odd thing, to have thought being cracked might have been her ending. Such a foolish thing, to have ever feared an end at all.”
It's also next to impossible to feel any tension in The Bound Worlds because characters, like Fletcher, who should be dead, keep coming back to life. These revivals are even against the framework of the world-building and what should actually be possible within the pre-established foundations of two prior books. When you constantly have characters doing the impossible, it doesn't take long for the action to lack any tension or climax. As a result of this constant defiance of the laws of the world, I was pretty detached from most of the events in the novel. Why did any of it matter if none of the rules were going to apply? Why get tense or anxious when I knew with complete certainty that Naira would be fine no matter what horrific thing happened to her that was impossible for anyone else to survive?
From the beginning, what I loved the most about this series was the awesome world building. I loved the idea of printing of people into bodies, the political scheming of the powerful families of Merit who ruled humanity in space, and the exemplars who guarded them. Though dying and being able to be reprinted into a new body seemed like an absolutely wild concept, the series made it work, because there was a cost to this technology—the cracking that occurred when someone's death was too traumatic or when they'd been reprinted too many times. Or the literal cost of these reprints, which were outside of the realm of possibility for most average people. There was also a cost to the pathways that supplemented the human bodies and gave them abilities—the possession by canus. To get rid of canus, there was also another price to pay, and so on and so forth. Unfortunately having the characters defy all of the preestablished laws of the universe from two whole prior books made for a very ostracizing reading experience.
Despite all of the issues I had, I must say that The Bound Worlds was still an engrossing read with steady pacing. There was always something interesting going on (even if I didn't quite understand it), that kept me wanting to find out what happened next (even if I suspected I wouldn't like it.) And I really love this series as a whole and still consider The Blighted Stars to be one of my favorite reads of all time. However, I just couldn't help but to be sorely disappointed with this conclusion. Though the novel circles back to old characters to give them all a resolution, I couldn't help but to feel this was a disservice to The Bound Worlds as a whole, as it felt like the end result was prioritized over the journey of both the characters and the plot in the novel to reach that final goal post. Unfortunately The Bound Worlds really missed the mark for me with its new direction, but at least I will always have the first book in the series and the newfound appreciation for science fiction that the series granted me.
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September 8, 2024
3.5 Stars
This was a decent conclusion to the trilogy that started with The Blighted Stars. I found it a touch underwhelming. I liked but didn't love the first two books so I was hoping this novel would push the series into the favorites.
If you love character driven sci fi, this one may appeal to you. I wasn't personally very attached to the characters which likely held me back from loving this one.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
This was a decent conclusion to the trilogy that started with The Blighted Stars. I found it a touch underwhelming. I liked but didn't love the first two books so I was hoping this novel would push the series into the favorites.
If you love character driven sci fi, this one may appeal to you. I wasn't personally very attached to the characters which likely held me back from loving this one.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
July 5, 2024
This book was a doozy. I was really excited for it, and then I felt like it decided to go in different directions that were hard to follow.
We were dealing with politics and power, and a practically sentient fungal invasion of horrifying proportions, and prints and neural maps cracking and all that. And then it basically boiled down to man vs man, but also suddenly the sudden expansion of space and fucking time jumping/casting??? What??? Suddenly we're dealing with future Naira and a future where Tarquin does horrible awful experiments. And there's no timeline apparently where he doesn't do it or at least if he doesn't do it everyone dies or whatever. It's hard to follow.
Also, the two characters for a time are forced apart and while it's not great it felt like the entire chunk was just constantly making the other character angry at each other. To the point that it wasn't fun to read about your characters thinking awful of each other.
I love Naira and Tarquin deeply, and I loved the side characters. This book did make me forgive and enjoy Fletcher too! But basically the world was saved because um a kid told the World what was in the river and Naira was mad. I actually thought perhaps it was a very unique way it was going when Naira was struggling against not having anything to FIGHT or do, when it seemed like science would have to save the world. But no.
Also, the canus problem isn't fixed which is yes a hit realistic because how could you solve such a huge deep problem but it's in an AI ship (trapped maybe somehow???) and everyone just seems oddly okay by it??
I did completely SOB when Tarquin was cracked and Lee Cadwaller rocking his body like 😭😭😭😭😭😭 and Naira going FURY MODE because you really fucked up because she's got nothing to lose. But yeah, this book just felt like major flop to me.
But I am so happy Fletcher was able to uncrack Tarquin and bring him back. And Tarquin and Naira can live happily ever after.
We were dealing with politics and power, and a practically sentient fungal invasion of horrifying proportions, and prints and neural maps cracking and all that. And then it basically boiled down to man vs man, but also suddenly the sudden expansion of space and fucking time jumping/casting??? What??? Suddenly we're dealing with future Naira and a future where Tarquin does horrible awful experiments. And there's no timeline apparently where he doesn't do it or at least if he doesn't do it everyone dies or whatever. It's hard to follow.
Also, the two characters for a time are forced apart and while it's not great it felt like the entire chunk was just constantly making the other character angry at each other. To the point that it wasn't fun to read about your characters thinking awful of each other.
I love Naira and Tarquin deeply, and I loved the side characters. This book did make me forgive and enjoy Fletcher too! But basically the world was saved because um a kid told the World what was in the river and Naira was mad. I actually thought perhaps it was a very unique way it was going when Naira was struggling against not having anything to FIGHT or do, when it seemed like science would have to save the world. But no.
Also, the canus problem isn't fixed which is yes a hit realistic because how could you solve such a huge deep problem but it's in an AI ship (trapped maybe somehow???) and everyone just seems oddly okay by it??
I did completely SOB when Tarquin was cracked and Lee Cadwaller rocking his body like 😭😭😭😭😭😭 and Naira going FURY MODE because you really fucked up because she's got nothing to lose. But yeah, this book just felt like major flop to me.
But I am so happy Fletcher was able to uncrack Tarquin and bring him back. And Tarquin and Naira can live happily ever after.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 10, 2024
Unfortunately this instalment didn’t hit like the first two and I am left a little disappointed. I adore Megan E O.Keefe and have read all of her books so definitely went in with high expectations.
For me this just felt like far too much back and forth between the two main characters and one was constantly looking for reasons to be angry at the other. I was enjoying things well enough despite that but then a switch happened about the 40% mark that I really didn’t buy into and some plot introductions felt a bit too late in the game.
For me this just felt like far too much back and forth between the two main characters and one was constantly looking for reasons to be angry at the other. I was enjoying things well enough despite that but then a switch happened about the 40% mark that I really didn’t buy into and some plot introductions felt a bit too late in the game.
December 10, 2024
Rating: Absolutely Loved It, 5 stars
This series was so much fun, and is definitely on my favorites list! It is the perfect mix of sci-fi, coziness, light horror, and a romantic plotline. I came to really love and care about the characters in this series, and I think it wrapped up really well.
Overall, the characters are done really well, their interactions are delightful, and it is paced super well. I feel like the end wrapped up a little quickly and I had a hard time following exactly why what happened worked, but that didn't ruin my enjoyment at all.
Overall, a fantastic series and one I am so glad I read! It gave me the cozy but epic vibes I desperately needed as I clawed my way back from a months-long slump.
This series was so much fun, and is definitely on my favorites list! It is the perfect mix of sci-fi, coziness, light horror, and a romantic plotline. I came to really love and care about the characters in this series, and I think it wrapped up really well.
Overall, the characters are done really well, their interactions are delightful, and it is paced super well. I feel like the end wrapped up a little quickly and I had a hard time following exactly why what happened worked, but that didn't ruin my enjoyment at all.
Overall, a fantastic series and one I am so glad I read! It gave me the cozy but epic vibes I desperately needed as I clawed my way back from a months-long slump.
July 29, 2024
Thank you Orbit and NetGalley for this eARC
I really loved the first 2 books but this conclusion to the trilogy felt like it dragged on and on and on. I ended up soft DNFing when I was about 30% in and had zero motivation to pick it up again. Alas, I finally did but needed the audiobook to help get through it.
Where The Fractured Dark expanded the world and heightened the stakes, The Bound Worlds returns to a very narrow narrative which worked exceptionally in book 1, but book 3 also changes the overall antagonist back to someone that ultimately made it feel lackluster.
Another big aspect I really loved about the first 2 books was the romance and how Megan O'Keefe was able to masterfully balance it with the plot. Whereas the romance in this 3rd book was too overdone in my opinion. A lot of the plot took a backseat to Naira and Tarquin's relationship, which would be fine if it didn't feel so repetitive and exhausting.
I used to be hesitant of the concept of mind mapping at first but was impressed with O'Keefe creating consequences for it and it not being a complete get out of jail free card. Yet, all of that is thrown out the window in this last book and the characters are constantly finding convenient solutions to avoid those consequences. So all of the stakes and tension that were created in book 2 end up dissolving in this final book. There's also a some time travel which is honestly a trope that is so hard to do well and felt like it was forced into the book and didn't have much of an actual impact.
I'm also usually such a sucker for a redemption arc but it just didn't work for me here. It didn't feel deserved at all and the book was more so telling us we were supposed to like them again instead of actually showing us.
Overall it's not a bad book but just such a disappointing ending to what I thought was going to be a new all time favorite series. I still am very excited to read more books by Megan O'Keefe and see what she comes up with next!
I really loved the first 2 books but this conclusion to the trilogy felt like it dragged on and on and on. I ended up soft DNFing when I was about 30% in and had zero motivation to pick it up again. Alas, I finally did but needed the audiobook to help get through it.
Where The Fractured Dark expanded the world and heightened the stakes, The Bound Worlds returns to a very narrow narrative which worked exceptionally in book 1, but book 3 also changes the overall antagonist back to someone that ultimately made it feel lackluster.
Another big aspect I really loved about the first 2 books was the romance and how Megan O'Keefe was able to masterfully balance it with the plot. Whereas the romance in this 3rd book was too overdone in my opinion. A lot of the plot took a backseat to Naira and Tarquin's relationship, which would be fine if it didn't feel so repetitive and exhausting.
I used to be hesitant of the concept of mind mapping at first but was impressed with O'Keefe creating consequences for it and it not being a complete get out of jail free card. Yet, all of that is thrown out the window in this last book and the characters are constantly finding convenient solutions to avoid those consequences. So all of the stakes and tension that were created in book 2 end up dissolving in this final book. There's also a some time travel which is honestly a trope that is so hard to do well and felt like it was forced into the book and didn't have much of an actual impact.
I'm also usually such a sucker for a redemption arc but it just didn't work for me here. It didn't feel deserved at all and the book was more so telling us we were supposed to like them again instead of actually showing us.
Overall it's not a bad book but just such a disappointing ending to what I thought was going to be a new all time favorite series. I still am very excited to read more books by Megan O'Keefe and see what she comes up with next!
February 16, 2025
What a way to end this trilogy! If you're like me and science fiction sounds scary, this is the perfect trilogy to start with. Megan E. O'Keefe is a WONDERFUL writer, and as someone who has trouble distinguishing between characters, I did not have that problem once. A character mentioned in passing in book one could (and did) show up in book three and I was like OH IT's THAT ONE!
I was a bit disappointed with the ending, which is why I feel a little bittersweet towards this finale. I expected it to be a lot bigger of a deal or none of it at all. When it happened I was genuinely confused and just assumed it wasn't real. When it kept going for chapters on end I finally realized it happened and found it kinda lame. The actual ending in itself is good and I kinda wish there was a novella or short story collection following all of the characters years ahead.
The Bound Worlds was definitely the most action-packed of the three and with only 140 pages left, I wasn't sure how the end would wrap up, but it ended WONDERFULLY. I definitely got manipulated by Fletcher and Acaelus by the end of this series, but it's okay.
Final Series Ranking
1. The Fractured Dark ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
2. The Bound Worlds ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3. The Blighted Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was a bit disappointed with the ending, which is why I feel a little bittersweet towards this finale. I expected it to be a lot bigger of a deal or none of it at all. When it happened I was genuinely confused and just assumed it wasn't real. When it kept going for chapters on end I finally realized it happened and found it kinda lame. The actual ending in itself is good and I kinda wish there was a novella or short story collection following all of the characters years ahead.
The Bound Worlds was definitely the most action-packed of the three and with only 140 pages left, I wasn't sure how the end would wrap up, but it ended WONDERFULLY. I definitely got manipulated by Fletcher and Acaelus by the end of this series, but it's okay.
Final Series Ranking
1. The Fractured Dark ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
2. The Bound Worlds ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
3. The Blighted Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
July 29, 2025
4.75⭐️ - every single thread of this book was followed to perfection and I am just mind blown by how thoroughly plotted this was. it was the perfect combination of a high stakes well developed plot and a central romance with so much angst - the situations we were in throughout this whole book just had me in a chokehold. the characters felt so real and I am sad to say goodbye to them🥺 I truly don’t think I will ever read something like this again. beautifully done miss megan o’keefe
December 3, 2024
3.5
I feel like I really enjoyed myself in books one and two compared to this third book.
This last book was missing more of the romance aspect, although it had some good moments. I wanted more out of this space opera ending.
I love the mind mapping in these books, but I felt I wanted more drama in the final moments. I was expecting more from how everything wrapped up and was wanting a much more dramatic ending.
I wanted much more despair, complication, and drama.
Overall, I give The Devoured Worlds Trilogy four stars. It gives you space, adventure, and a bit of romance.
I feel like I really enjoyed myself in books one and two compared to this third book.
This last book was missing more of the romance aspect, although it had some good moments. I wanted more out of this space opera ending.
I love the mind mapping in these books, but I felt I wanted more drama in the final moments. I was expecting more from how everything wrapped up and was wanting a much more dramatic ending.
I wanted much more despair, complication, and drama.
Overall, I give The Devoured Worlds Trilogy four stars. It gives you space, adventure, and a bit of romance.
anti-library
May 17, 2024Speed rereading book 1 and book 2 because I actually have this more than a month before it releases? (But LBR, the og release date was sometime in May)
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I want it so bad gahhhh
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I want it so bad gahhhh
August 25, 2024
I am dehydrated from all my tears.
Incredible. Phenomenal. Astounding.
I am still shocked that O'Keefe managed to make me LOVE a character that she previously made me HATE. How??
This is one of my absolute favorite sci-fi trilogies with the most incredible world-building and characters. It has firmly and distinctly shoved me into a sci-fi headspace.
Just imagine my review is a standing ovation with tears just flowing down my cheeks, ok?
Incredible. Phenomenal. Astounding.
I am still shocked that O'Keefe managed to make me LOVE a character that she previously made me HATE. How??
This is one of my absolute favorite sci-fi trilogies with the most incredible world-building and characters. It has firmly and distinctly shoved me into a sci-fi headspace.
Just imagine my review is a standing ovation with tears just flowing down my cheeks, ok?
April 27, 2025
3.5 again. Would’ve liked this book more if Naira and Tarquin weren’t pissing me off the whole time. I liked this series as a whole but the individual books just need something more for me. If I lost my memory i would reread them.
July 30, 2025
W O A H.
RTC … maybe
RTC … maybe
November 9, 2024
this was one of the best series i’ve ever read, and one of the MOST satisfying endings to a trilogy. will forever be recommending this series & thinking about this world, these characters, the betrayals and redemption arcs, the enemies to lovers, the pining, the “i will find you in every life time” and “i will love you in any body”. i truly can’t say enough good things about this series
July 27, 2024
this was one of my most anticipated books of the year and unfortunately i did not have a good time reading it. a non-exhaustive list of things that frustrated me:
- there is so much plot in this book. o'keefe's books are always dense and plot heavy and this one surpasses them all in terms of how many plot threads it's juggling at once. i liked a lot of them, in concept (i loved that the ultimate world-ending threat wasn't canus itself but rather a side effect of humanity disrupting canus's ecological niche). all the threads come together by the end in a way that mostly makes sense, which is kind of a neat trick. but there are probably two or three 450-page books worth of material here, which meant that nothing felt fully, satisfyingly explored. not the plot, not the characters, not anything. i'm going to mention some specifics, but that's the tl;dr of this review.
- this book pulls in some classic time travel tropes that i love. there's a Bad Future that characters are traveling back in time to either ensure or prevent. there's a time loop-adjacent plot point where a character keeps going back and repeating a certain period of time because they keep making the wrong choice at a crucial moment. this is all like catnip to me, which makes it all the more disappointing that the book doesn't seem interested in having any fun with it. we only see the teeniest-tiniest glimpse of the Bad Future. we never get to experience any other iterations of the loop. it's all told and not shown, just hanging there in the background to provide stakes for the present timeline, which is fine, i guess, but it was a big let-down from what i was expecting.
- i was prepared to open my heart to a fletcher redemption arc (especially after seeing so many reviews where people were shocked and awed by how much they liked him in the end) but wow did the execution of it do absolutely nothing for me. it was at best mildly amusing and at worst tonally offputting, like when naira remembers something horribly invasive and controlling that he did to her, and then she slaps him about it, and then they have a banter-flavored exchange about how he totally deserved that. or when, not long after that, the already overfull book grinds to a halt so it can dedicate a whole chapter to naira beating up his childhood bully, and i'm supposed to be clapping and cheering and feeling catharsis on his behalf, i guess? i don't know. what are we doing. who is this for.
- one of my favorite things about the first two books was the gradual development of naira and tarquin's relationship, how they care for each other and learn to communicate despite their vastly different backgrounds and ideological conflicts. none of it felt unearned or taken for granted, which i've found is a rarity for a romance subplot. this book spends much of its first 300 pages gradually breaking down that relationship. it's believably done, and it has to be, because an important plot point hinges on the idea that this relationship could be broken beyond repair. in fact, it's so believably done that their inevitable reunion feels rushed and underwhelming by comparison. they just sort of kiss and make up without so much as a conversation about any of the conflict they've been dealing with, because there's no time for that, we have to rush off to the book's climax. one of her closest friends in the world just died in an airstrike that he authorized and it affects their feelings about each other not at all. alright. "we're okay?"/"we will be." i'm sorry but that's lazy! i want you to convince me!
- speaking of the climax, it didn't hit me emotionally like i wanted it to, largely for reasons related to my last point. which is sad, because i could have really loved the ending under different circumstances.
will i get over it? no. but life goes on
- there is so much plot in this book. o'keefe's books are always dense and plot heavy and this one surpasses them all in terms of how many plot threads it's juggling at once. i liked a lot of them, in concept (i loved that the ultimate world-ending threat wasn't canus itself but rather a side effect of humanity disrupting canus's ecological niche). all the threads come together by the end in a way that mostly makes sense, which is kind of a neat trick. but there are probably two or three 450-page books worth of material here, which meant that nothing felt fully, satisfyingly explored. not the plot, not the characters, not anything. i'm going to mention some specifics, but that's the tl;dr of this review.
- this book pulls in some classic time travel tropes that i love. there's a Bad Future that characters are traveling back in time to either ensure or prevent. there's a time loop-adjacent plot point where a character keeps going back and repeating a certain period of time because they keep making the wrong choice at a crucial moment. this is all like catnip to me, which makes it all the more disappointing that the book doesn't seem interested in having any fun with it. we only see the teeniest-tiniest glimpse of the Bad Future. we never get to experience any other iterations of the loop. it's all told and not shown, just hanging there in the background to provide stakes for the present timeline, which is fine, i guess, but it was a big let-down from what i was expecting.
- i was prepared to open my heart to a fletcher redemption arc (especially after seeing so many reviews where people were shocked and awed by how much they liked him in the end) but wow did the execution of it do absolutely nothing for me. it was at best mildly amusing and at worst tonally offputting, like when naira remembers something horribly invasive and controlling that he did to her, and then she slaps him about it, and then they have a banter-flavored exchange about how he totally deserved that. or when, not long after that, the already overfull book grinds to a halt so it can dedicate a whole chapter to naira beating up his childhood bully, and i'm supposed to be clapping and cheering and feeling catharsis on his behalf, i guess? i don't know. what are we doing. who is this for.
- one of my favorite things about the first two books was the gradual development of naira and tarquin's relationship, how they care for each other and learn to communicate despite their vastly different backgrounds and ideological conflicts. none of it felt unearned or taken for granted, which i've found is a rarity for a romance subplot. this book spends much of its first 300 pages gradually breaking down that relationship. it's believably done, and it has to be, because an important plot point hinges on the idea that this relationship could be broken beyond repair. in fact, it's so believably done that their inevitable reunion feels rushed and underwhelming by comparison. they just sort of kiss and make up without so much as a conversation about any of the conflict they've been dealing with, because there's no time for that, we have to rush off to the book's climax. one of her closest friends in the world just died in an airstrike that he authorized and it affects their feelings about each other not at all. alright. "we're okay?"/"we will be." i'm sorry but that's lazy! i want you to convince me!
- speaking of the climax, it didn't hit me emotionally like i wanted it to, largely for reasons related to my last point. which is sad, because i could have really loved the ending under different circumstances.
will i get over it? no. but life goes on
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2024
no one is more shocked by how disappointing this conclusion is than i am... whatever the author was cooking in the first two books is DIRELY missing from this third and last instalment in what could've been one of my favourite series of all time.
so many things went wrong with this. it's not that it's a bad book per se, it's that it's so underwhelming and inferior to the first two books of the trilogy that the contrast is staggering. the character work that was painstakingly woven through the high-octane, action-packed plots of books 1-2 completely broke down in this one. the interpersonal relationships felt redundant and trite, and the endless pursuit of plot twists at a break-neck pace made the story so BORING. it was just one thing after the other and it felt like a cover-up for how lacking the story was. like if you throw enough shit at the wall something might stick. i don't even think detailing everything i disliked about this book would be productive. it just sucked big time, i hated how naira acted (a savior/martyr complex held together by unwarranted anger), her relationship with tarquin was just confusing because it felt like she hated him, to be honest i wish tarquin had told naira to shut the fuck up and get a grip because her behaviour and her continuous harping on the same topics felt so tiresome like there's a year long time jump between books two and three and yet there has not been a SHRED of development between them, the villain was a moustache-twirling caricature, none of the emotional moments landed, the plot overextended itself and ended up feeling like it was running around like a headless chicken, much of the story felt redundant, trite and circular, and the redemption arc for one of the characters felt so unearned and so out of the blue that it marred the story even further, etcetera etcetera.
womp womp womp i expected a banger and all i got was an overly angsty rehash of the same bullshit. that book was the one book too many of the trilogy. how this book got so many five-star ratings is a mystery to me. a fallacy even. i am left feeling befuddled, confused, bamboozled, frustrated, completely discombobulated by the sheer disappointment that I'm feeling right now. how could this go from the blighted stars to this!!
so many things went wrong with this. it's not that it's a bad book per se, it's that it's so underwhelming and inferior to the first two books of the trilogy that the contrast is staggering. the character work that was painstakingly woven through the high-octane, action-packed plots of books 1-2 completely broke down in this one. the interpersonal relationships felt redundant and trite, and the endless pursuit of plot twists at a break-neck pace made the story so BORING. it was just one thing after the other and it felt like a cover-up for how lacking the story was. like if you throw enough shit at the wall something might stick. i don't even think detailing everything i disliked about this book would be productive. it just sucked big time, i hated how naira acted (a savior/martyr complex held together by unwarranted anger), her relationship with tarquin was just confusing because it felt like she hated him, to be honest i wish tarquin had told naira to shut the fuck up and get a grip because her behaviour and her continuous harping on the same topics felt so tiresome like there's a year long time jump between books two and three and yet there has not been a SHRED of development between them, the villain was a moustache-twirling caricature, none of the emotional moments landed, the plot overextended itself and ended up feeling like it was running around like a headless chicken, much of the story felt redundant, trite and circular, and the redemption arc for one of the characters felt so unearned and so out of the blue that it marred the story even further, etcetera etcetera.
womp womp womp i expected a banger and all i got was an overly angsty rehash of the same bullshit. that book was the one book too many of the trilogy. how this book got so many five-star ratings is a mystery to me. a fallacy even. i am left feeling befuddled, confused, bamboozled, frustrated, completely discombobulated by the sheer disappointment that I'm feeling right now. how could this go from the blighted stars to this!!
June 1, 2024
I devoured (ba dum tsss) the first book of the Devoured Worlds trilogy, and the second book kept that going. This book, I am delighted to say, sticks the landing. Delighted with the book and the trilogy, but there’s also a lot of other emotions kicking around here too. This book put me through the wringer.
I don’t want to give spoilers, either for this book or for the first two. So, to keep this generic: a lot of things happened I did not at all expect. There were some directions I thought things were going to go, and some that took me completely by surprise. A number of things that were foreshadowed (either subtly or in a “hey, look, there’s a gun on the wall!” kind of way à la Chekov) happened, some good, some … not so good. There were several moments where things happened that left me terrified to turn to the next page. At one point (despite my desperate desire to know what happened next) I spent probably 36 hours stalling before I could make myself continue.
This was more strongly character-driven than the first two books. There’s still lots of things that the characters are struggling against - it’s not about internal stuff, and it’s not about Tarquin and Naira’s relationship, per se. But the conflicts they’re dealing with are framed in terms of their relationship, and their relationship is what shapes their decisions.
My only real criticism is the science of the book. Relkatite has always been something of an Unobtanium as a plot device. I’ve never really had a problem suspending disbelief on that score, but this book pushed that at points. I also wish the villain from the first book played more of a role here; they were kind of sidelined, and didn’t have a huge amount of agency in the role they did play.
But those are, overall, minor complaints. This series is excellent, and I am very much looking forward to whatever else Megan E. O’Keefe has coming.
My blog
I don’t want to give spoilers, either for this book or for the first two. So, to keep this generic: a lot of things happened I did not at all expect. There were some directions I thought things were going to go, and some that took me completely by surprise. A number of things that were foreshadowed (either subtly or in a “hey, look, there’s a gun on the wall!” kind of way à la Chekov) happened, some good, some … not so good. There were several moments where things happened that left me terrified to turn to the next page. At one point (despite my desperate desire to know what happened next) I spent probably 36 hours stalling before I could make myself continue.
This was more strongly character-driven than the first two books. There’s still lots of things that the characters are struggling against - it’s not about internal stuff, and it’s not about Tarquin and Naira’s relationship, per se. But the conflicts they’re dealing with are framed in terms of their relationship, and their relationship is what shapes their decisions.
My only real criticism is the science of the book. Relkatite has always been something of an Unobtanium as a plot device. I’ve never really had a problem suspending disbelief on that score, but this book pushed that at points. I also wish the villain from the first book played more of a role here; they were kind of sidelined, and didn’t have a huge amount of agency in the role they did play.
But those are, overall, minor complaints. This series is excellent, and I am very much looking forward to whatever else Megan E. O’Keefe has coming.
My blog
October 11, 2024
Well I'm done.
I have to admit to caring less and less about Tarquin and Nayra and the whole extra dramatic plot by a third thorugh this book. But it held together and there was a relatively satisfying conclusion, as far as i remembered, it's been a few weeks. If I'm honest I have to say that I enjoyed the Protectorate series a lot more than this one. But it had some cool ideas. Wasn't bad, but was a ittle too much for me.
I have to admit to caring less and less about Tarquin and Nayra and the whole extra dramatic plot by a third thorugh this book. But it held together and there was a relatively satisfying conclusion, as far as i remembered, it's been a few weeks. If I'm honest I have to say that I enjoyed the Protectorate series a lot more than this one. But it had some cool ideas. Wasn't bad, but was a ittle too much for me.
July 14, 2024
i'm going to need a whole business month to recover from how emotional this book made me
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