Latest / Deep Trope Fantasy & Romance Podcast / Dire Bound by Sable Sorensen Episode 1: Chapters 1-5 | Recap, Theories & Spoilers
Transcript
- Rachel: Welcome to Deep Trope, where we go deep into fantasy and romance books, one trope at a time. We're your two book besties gushing over plot characters, Easter eggs theories, and of course, our favorite spicy moments. I'm Rachel, Romantasy Theorist. Kate: and I'm Kate lover of all things dark and spicy. Rachel: And today we're kicking off episode one of our deep dive into Dire Bound by Sable Sorensen. And while this episode will only cover chapters one through five of the book, we are discussing it from the perspective of two people who have read the full ⁓ multiple times at this point. So that means spoilers. If you haven't finished the book yet, pause the podcast and finish reading before joining us. Kate: Now again, assuming that you've all read the book, I just want to give you a reminder that any triggers that apply to the book also apply to this podcast. We are not really going to be shying away from any of the darker themes and things like that. So just fair warning, this podcast is for adults. So I think that I wanted to start with, and honestly think one of the reasons that we chose Dire Bound as first book is ⁓ of comparison Fourth Wing. Like if you look at the internet discourse right that's like the main topic is people comparing the two. ⁓ Obviously, Fourth Wing is this huge sensation. It's, you know. everybody that read romantasy has probably read that book. ⁓ it's easy to make those kinds of comparisons. And, the discourse is kind of you either ⁓ like that or you don't, but I feel like it's what brought me here. It's certainly, the first thing that you mentioned you recommended this book. was, hey, you know, I've heard that it has some similar themes to Fourth Wing and obviously we both really loved that book. So, you know, at a high level the breakdown is that we have a female main character that bonds with a powerful beast, trains for war, has a love triangle with a blonde dude and a dark-haired tattooed bad boy, and up realizing she's more powerful than she ever thought that she would be. So, okay, you see the comparisons. I get it. ⁓ But... Rachel: Wait, who's the blonde in fourth wing? Kate: Dain, right? He's He, I mean, in my head, he was just always blonde. Do they never actually say that he's blonde? He just gives such- Rachel: Are we calling Dain blonde? I like that take. pretty sure he has like brown hair, but I think. Kate: ⁓ God, he just gives such strong blonde vibes. brain was just like, that dude's blonde. don't... ⁓ Rachel: I think we've just trained ourselves that we like the guy with the dark hair and the other guy's blonde. Kate: ⁓ my god. Okay, well, fair enough. Maybe he's not blonde, but he is though, right? So anyway, like high level, you can totally see the comparisons. get that. after reading it, I mean, what do you actually do you feel like that's a fair comparison? ⁓ I we were turned off by that assumption. We were looking to having you know, a similar experience to how much we enjoyed that one. But what are your thoughts? Rachel: I big draw for me, obviously. heard, I heard Fourth Wing and Dire Wolves and in my mind immediately went to Fourth Wing and Game of Thrones, which I am here for. Like I want a Dire Wolf. I have a Siberian Husky for a reason. I want a Dire Wolf. So, so it was definitely a big draw for me. And I will also read any and all books with a dark haired tattoo, surly man that I hope will become the lover, but starts out as the enemy. So yeah, mean, yes, there were similarities, but in the best ways. And also... ⁓ Kate: We're always here for that. Rachel: Chapters one through five, did not get a lot of fourth wing. Like, yes, there is a character that is going into bonding trials, or there's a character that's going into trials that she wasn't expecting, but it really reminded me more of Spark of the Everflame, which I don't know, did you read that series? Kate: I have not read that one yet. Rachel: Okay, you will love that series. It's very different from this and very different from Fourth Wing, but they both start with this woman who starts in essentially a hovel you know, like so many books, know, Feyre's hovel ⁓ started from the bottom, now we're here kind of thing, and to fight their way up. So that really reminded me of Spark of the Everflame and even like Quicksilver and, you know, starting out in the whatever quarter they start out in there. Kate: You Right, yeah. Yeah, but that, you know, so that's the background we had going into this. We were certainly both intrigued by the comparison, but having read it, I mean, I definitely feel like this book carves its own path, right? in genre, I feel like that, ⁓ especially fast it's grown and how ⁓ much there is now in romantasy, Rachel: Absolutely. Kate: you're going to have overlaps in plot points and things like that, you know, so it's really just always ⁓ to see how each author is able to ⁓ it their own, right? So we were really excited to dive into this book ⁓ and let's into it. Rachel: All right. So our story starts in a warehouse fighting ring where our FMC, Meryn Cooper, a frequent fighter known as the Alley Cat of the Eastern Quarter is fighting a man who currently thinks he has the upper hand. with blood dripping down her face, Meryn thinks, quote, women in pain give men confidence. Confidence makes men sloppy and sloppy men are easy targets. I love this quote. they are. It reveals so much about her character. What did you think about Meryn in this opening scene? Kate: Yes, they are. I mean, I was definitely happy that we're starting with a strong FMC. You know, she's fighting to survive in terrible circumstances. She's using her strength and her wit. But of the tropes that I definitely could do without is frail, ⁓ weak, FMC is we keep hearing how tiny, how... how, you know, ⁓ small and weak she is, and then we're so surprised when she has these great powers and she's so strong in the end, right? I ⁓ really lose that trope. I don't need it. I like starting with a strong woman. ⁓ Obviously, she has room to grow and to build on even more. And we're going to see her do that. ⁓ But she's starting she's already Rachel: Yes. Kate: strong badass woman. So I love that for her. Rachel: Absolutely. Yeah, me too. also thought that this pointed out that she's a highly strategic fighter. So the fact that she feigns weakness and it makes her opponent, a man, feel confident and assumes that she's weak because she's a woman, and it takes him off his game. So she sets a trap for him lures him closer to her so she can knock him over and attack. And that really tells us something about who she is and her strengths that are going to come into play later in the book. Kate: Hmm. Yeah, using a man's weakness against him. after my own heart. Rachel: (laughs) So after the fight, we meet Igor, her trainer, who hands her her winnings, eight silvers, which will cover her mother's medicine for the next two weeks, which is getting more expensive and resources are becoming more difficult to acquire to make the medicine. Kate: So at this point, I was kind of wondering, you know, what is this medicine for? wrong? Why is it becoming more difficult to acquire? ⁓ kind of just chalk it up to, they're at war. And that just means that resources ⁓ more scarce, harder to come by. But don't know, I'm always... ⁓ I get very suspicious of any... Kingdom, say, that makes healthcare difficult to access ⁓ and expensive because there's usually somebody benefiting from it ⁓ at another So, you know, red flag here just for the state of this kingdom for sure. Rachel: Right. Yes, I look forward to learning more about what that medicine is and what pharmaceutical company owns it. Kate: Who's getting the kickback? Rachel: Ha We then meet Lee, who puts his arm around her shoulder and says, nice fight, kitten. He slides a bag of clicking coin into her pocket and tells her to buy something nice for her sister for her name day. Vom! I wanna know how many people DNF'd right here because of that nickname. Kate: Eugh! I cringed so hard at that nickname. I mean, your girlfriend is a badass fighter with a nickname Alley Cat and you're gonna reduce her to a kitten? That's like, no thank you, red flag. Rachel: That is not a support- that is not a supportive boyfriend. Kate: not cute. I'm not digging it. I don't want to hear him say it in bed. ⁓ we're set up at this point dislike Lee, but that as the first intro, yeah, it was a red flag for me because that was cringe. Rachel: Definitely a red flag. During her fight, Meryn had sensed someone come in and push their way to the edge of the ring. She assumes it was Lee, but since we've read this book and everybody listening has read this book, we have to point out, was it Lee was it a certain tattooed dark haired gentleman ⁓ to check on her? Kate: Good question. Rachel: So here's what we know about Lee so far. He smells of pine. He has a sharp jaw, hard body, light scruff, dazzling sea blue eyes, and he works as a castle messenger and needs to live at the castle most of the time. But he has a small flat in the Northern Quarter. How they met. Meryn in the Northern Quarter to pick up her sister, Saela from school. when a spooked horse broke loose from its merchant and was heading right for Saela. Meryn couldn't get there in time and was sure she was going to see her die when Lee jumped in front of the horse and it magically stopped. She thanked him and when their eyes met, she knew she would be his. Kate: So this was kind of weird wording for me, right? Like usually you hear something, it feels more like love at first sight she's like, I knew that we would be together or I knew that we were fated or something like that. But this one to hear her say, she knew she would be his. What is that? Is it just infatuation? Is it obsession? Is it ownership? It's just, it feels. Rachel: Right. Kate: like a glimpse into their future Dom sub tendencies. Rachel: She knew she'd be his kitten. Kate: ⁓ no. Yeah, that to me was again, just something that stood out of like, this isn't a normal of relationship. Or it's not it's not love at first sight. So what is it? Rachel: Yeah, that's a great point. There were so many pros and cons for Lee in this scene. he her a bag of coins, which in some ways is ugh, but in some ways is fabulous. Like I would love a man with a sharp jaw and hard body and dazzling sea blue eyes to give me money to buy gifts for people. That sounds great. ⁓ Kate: Yeah, doesn't love a little treat, you know? But at this point, I texted Rachel with my thoughts after chapter one. Rachel read this book before me. So I finished chapter one and texted her ⁓ and quote, literally only one chapter into Dire Bound, but here's what I'm thinking so far. Lee is either going to betray her or die. I do not trust a healthy, happy relationship this close to the beginning. Did they really meet by chance or did he plan it? Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: And so I'm obviously on edge already. I don't trust this dude for so many reasons. It's got to be a combination of prior romantasy experience just knowing that at this stage in the book, a relationship can't be trusted. But also just my general distrust of blonde MMCs just put me on alert right away. didn't realize that I had such strong feelings. Rachel: Never trust the blonde. Kate: about that, but realizing that I just assumed that Dain was blonde and didn't double check that at all, yeah, I think I might have a bias. I'm so sorry. Rachel: I mean, I like the fact that you apparently have not seen nearly as much fan art generated by whether human hand or AI as I have, because I feel like I know exactly what every single character in Fourth Wing looks like. Kate: think I think I need to retrain my algorithm or something because yeah I just I've either ignored it or just not seen it come across my feed so I gotta go look for that because apparently I've been making some wrong assumptions here ⁓ am I wrong am I really wrong that he's giving blonde energy Rachel: No, he, yeah, no, he has, definitely has blonde vibes and ⁓ so does Lee. ⁓ Kate: Okay, okay. Rachel: back to the scene. A disheveled man pushes through the crowd and yells at Meryn for fixing the bets and pulls a knife on her. Meryn defends herself, ending with the knife at the assailant's neck, and he soils himself. She lets him go and tells him she'll finish him off if he ever comes back. I thought this was important in showing Meryn's character because she shows mercy to this man when she doesn't need to. ⁓ I just want to call out so we keep it on our radar. As I was reading of the book, there are other moments where that may change in the future. And I think this is an important part of her character arc. So I think we should call out that her initial instinct is to have mercy. Kate: for sure. Rachel: Lee cleans up her wounds, which has been their after fight ritual for the past year. And she notes he is unusually quiet and she assumes her fight worried him. He says, someday you might come up against someone who has outmaneuvered you. You might not even see it coming. This is so creepy knowing what we know about Lee and how this story goes. What is happening here? Does he feel bad? Does he know Stark is there? what is happening? Kate: On my reread I agree, this just came off so much creepier knowing we know later in the book. This feels like he's so confident, he's sure that he has one over on her that he's like, I can say it straight to your face and you're not even gonna know it. ⁓ And that is just yucky, very manipulative, and ⁓ yeah, again, just flags popping up all over the place that weren't necessarily there in my first read. Besides the blonde thing, of course that was an immediate red flag. Rachel: haha immediate red flag. Igor runs over and tells them that another child has gone missing from Eastern. About 10 years old, dark hair and hazel eyes, Meryn immediately runs home worried that it could be her sister, Saela. She runs from Southern, the poorest quarter where seedy things like the fights are, to her home in Eastern, which is not much better. Kate: So this one, I mean, she's talking about how she's taking these shortcuts and things. She's getting to get there so much faster. But this scene and then the scene, a scene that we get on the mountain later on, it's making me feel like she has some kind of superhuman strength. Like she's sprinting through, she's sprinting through an entire city. She's just like pushing her body past its limits all the time. And again, I mean, Rachel: ⁓ that's interesting. Kate: The mountain scene later on is an even bigger example of this and where I really thought like, what is this girl? it just, it like it was pushing beyond the bounds of just like, ⁓ yeah, well, she's a fighter, she's trained, she's physically fit. It's ⁓ giving like, she wants something, she's able to like transcend her body. ⁓ Rachel: That's really interesting. That is not something that I picked up on, but it definitely makes sense that it's something we need to keep our eye out for. Kate: Yeah, she's like, oh, it'll take like 45 minutes if I take the main roads. I'll just take the back roads and it'll take me like 10 because I can just fly over walls and down alleys and stuff. Like, okay, girl. Rachel: That's when she fully becomes a cat. Kate: Yeah. Rachel: Back in Eastern, Meryn learns Saela's friend and classmate has been taken by Nabbers, adding to a growing list of missing children. Kate: Nabbers. The visual I got here immediately is like Old school burglar tiptoeing around with a burlap sack slung over his shoulder. But the burlap sack has like a child in it instead of like or jewelry. And he's got the ski mask on and everything like that nickname. That's 100 % the visual that I got. Rachel: No, I was imagining the guys from Home Alone, but you're imagining Creepy Santa. Kate: I mean, I don't know about a beard and everything, but definitely a creepy sack of ⁓ children. Rachel: The sack. so Meryn returns home and describes her house as shorter than the rest. She says her father was going to add a level, but ⁓ returned from the war. This stood out to me. We get a lot of mentions of her father. ⁓ he die? Because what I've learned in books is no body, no crime. And there just so many references to her father in this book. So we're gonna be keeping an eye out for them. We're gonna be on the lookout. for Mr. Cooper. She finds her mother at home and her house is lit by a single candle and her mother's pacing back and forth. Her hair is wild and she's muttering to herself, yanking at her nightgown with vacant eyes. She doesn't appear to know Meryn and she's ranting about Lumina and the twins. They're trying to find you. Saela knows to lock herself in the bedroom she shares with Meryn. So they're obviously familiar with these episodes. And I think here we're getting the hint at why her mother needs this medication. What were your thoughts here? Kate: I mean, again, so many romantasy books, we're just trained to be suspicious of these kinds of things. I this, ⁓ she's me, clearly not insane, right? ⁓ These episodes hers, they might be driving her mad, but she's not crazy, right? And it seems like nobody her is even considering the Rachel: Mm-hmm. Kate: idea that she might not be crazy or that these delusions and these rantings that she has are not just nonsense. They're all just assuming nonsense. She has no idea what she's talking about. This is just made up gibberish. And that was a little bit weird to me that nobody's even considering that what she's saying has some kind of truth or some kind of validity behind it. I mean, like I know, ⁓ in mind, ⁓ you've got magical beasts, have vampires, why would the idea of a soothsayer be so far-fetched, right? But Rachel: That's a great point. something that I did not think about or catch until right now is she's ranting about Lumina and the twins saying they're trying to find you. Is she foretelling Venna and Isabelle? Kate: You know, I didn't catch that either. But yeah, mean, how many twins are gonna be in this story, right? So yeah, maybe she is. Rachel: And it could also tell us that means that their arc could be more important than we know. Kate: point, good point. You know this is why we talk about these things, there's always something new. Rachel: Interesting. That's right. Moving on, the next day, Meryn trains with Igor and is consumed by the thought of doing something regarding the Nabbers. So she decides to train the children so that they can protect themselves if they're attacked. This hit home so much for me on my reread in today's current state of feeling so compelled to do something. Even if you don't know if there's anything that you can do and you can't even imagine something that you could possibly do to have an impact in such a overwhelming obstacle. Kate: And just a reminder, Meryn decides to do here, ⁓ best place to start if you're not sure how to make an impact in a overwhelming scenario, ⁓ the best to start is with your local community. That's where you can see the most impact from your and it's where you can really make a difference. So just keep that in mind, you know, not... talking about anything specific, but it feels like there's a lot of things that are out of our control. And I think Meryn's on the right track here by just starting small, starting with her local community and using her skills to make an impact just in her neighborhood. It's a good place to start. Rachel: Absolutely, and I think you made a great point of using her skills. Everybody has their own personal skills that you might need to get creative with what's going to have impact closest to you, but everybody has something that they can do. Kate: Absolutely. Rachel: So here in this scene, we also get a big data dump the Nabbers and who the big bad is. Children have been getting kidnapped for as long as Meryn has been alive, maybe as long as the war. How long has the war been happening? Do we know here? Kate: I don't know exactly we get it, but it's about 500 years. Rachel: Okay, so 500 year long war and children have been getting kidnapped the entire time. Important to note, because apparently they're not even sure if the king's aware that they're getting nabbed. also get our first mention of siphons, our monstrous enemy from the neighboring country of Astreona They steal kids out of their beds, take them across the border and feed off of them sucking out their powerful child life force and eventually draining and killing them. They don't know if the king knows, but he certainly doesn't care about the Nabbers because he's too focused on the war. Kate: this just so ⁓ fucking to me. ⁓ I what a red flag because listen, it's so suspicious that the king wouldn't care about these constant kidnappings when the assumption here is that the children are literally fueling their enemy that they've been at war with for centuries. And there's the that Sturmfrost, the city, is the furthest from the border. So the concept here is that there's enemy infiltrating so far into your kingdom, ⁓ children out of their beds in your backyard. And it's so constant that they have a nickname for them that everybody in this city or at least, you know, in the outskirts of the castle are just like, yep, another nabbing by the nabbers. Like, it's so constant. The idea that he know is ridiculous me. ⁓ So knows, okay? Like, he can't not know. And so the question is, why isn't he doing anything about it? Because I'm thinking these children are fueling your enemy. quite literally, you would think that cutting off that supply would be in your best interest to weaken the enemy regardless of whether you give a shit about these kids or not. Okay, because maybe he doesn't. And we know that a lot of powerful men don't give a shit about kids, right? So So knows about it ⁓ it's impossible for him not to. He's ignoring it and not doing anything to help. So ⁓ is he benefiting from this? Because that's the only way that this scenario makes sense. Rachel: Absolutely, mind blowing that nobody's whistle blowing on this situation. But it also shows ⁓ Kate: Right? Like. Right? Everybody's just like, yep. kids are being nabbed and the king doesn't do anything and it's powering the enemy soldiers or whatever it is. You know, like it's just, yep, another, another nabbing. And again, it feels a close to home that we're like screaming from the rooftops. Wow, this isn't a problem. And everybody's just. ⁓ become accustomed to having these issues and having children be put at risk and the powerful men are doing nothing to stop it. And guess It's because guaranteed they're benefiting from it in some way. So. Rachel: They're, yes, exactly. And I think it's also not a coincidence that it's starting in the poor quarters where, you know, they're not just not concerned about the children, they're not concerned about the poor communities. Kate: So anyway, again, huge red flag there because their assumption is that he doesn't care, but my assumption is it's because he's getting something out of it. Rachel: That's right, the king and the pharmaceutical companies. What have they got going on here? Kate: Always the enemy. Rachel: one thing that I loved learning here is that the bad guys are vampires. I haven't read a lot of vampire books lately, with the exception of like Quicksilver. I really haven't read that many vampire books lately, so ⁓ was excited about this ⁓ excited to see where this goes. Moving on, Saela and Meryn go to the market and see the bonded come into town. We learn that the bonded are warriors who have bonded to direwolves. Technically, anyone can be bonded if they make it through the trials, but it's typically generational. They have become an almost more beautiful breed of human after generations of riders. in this scene, a massive midnight black direwolf larger than a battle horse is pulling a man behind him. on top of this dire wolf, he's being ridden by a dark-haired, dark-skinned man in his late 20s a red streak through his hair, covered in tattoos, which Meryn recognizes as war tattoos. He sneers at Meryn when they make contact. Meryn recognizes the man that they are dragging as the one who attacked her last night. The bonded man declares that he is a deserter from the front lines of the war and he brutally executes the deserter and then his direwolf eats him. Kate: Brutal. brutal. And are we believe here that it's a coincidence that the who attacked Meryn night the one is now being executed in the street? Rachel: We are to believe that here. I actually don't know that we learned that he was not a coincidence until the bonus chapter. Definitely the end of the book and possibly the bonus chapter. Kate: Well, definitely a strong coincidence here. Rachel: What a way to win over your mate. Kate: I know what she'll like. Rachel: It's like a cat bringing a a treat. Like, this is what my queen will love. Kate: Mm-hmm. Rachel: Okay. The sneer. Kate: But yeah, mean, the sneer, the description here of Stark, ⁓ my God. I mean, it's the beginning of a beautiful love story. Rachel: second he walks on the page, the writers are doing everything they can to gross us out about him and we're all like, but he has tattoos and dark hair. Kate: Yeah, I'm like, mmm. But what's the sneer sensual? me more about it. Listen, ⁓ love an enemies to lovers trope, okay? And it is the darkness that lives inside us and that's okay. I've come to embrace it. But yeah, no, ⁓ this is a brutal, horrific description. I'm on the edge of my seat. Tell me more. Rachel: We do. So romantic. Kate: ⁓ Rachel: A few weeks later, Meryn is training with the children and we learn a child managed to fend off a nabber the night before thanks to her lessons. again, showing what we can do to have a small impact in our community. Igor mentions Meryn could make money doing this up north where nabbings have become more prevalent. Igor mentions, Meryn could make money doing this up north where nabbings have become more prevalent lately, even though they have more resources. So this is interesting that the nabbings are happening more often as well as, yeah. Kate: Agreed. Yeah, like, so it seems like it's starting to infiltrate even more well-off areas of this city, Like it's growing. What is that's requiring more ⁓ child fuel the Nabbers? Like it's, I listen, when it starts affecting people with money, you know that there's a bigger issue going on, because usually... ⁓ Rachel: ⁓ God. Kate: They're the ones that can get the attention to get something fixed, right? That's who powerful people listen to is the people with the money. Rachel: exactly what's happening. What's happening. Lee comes over for dinner, which he does every other Tuesday. And surprisingly, Meryn's mother is coherent and cooking when they arrive. Lee tells Saela about the bonded city and seeing dire wolves from his apartment in the castle. And Saela is just enthralled by talk about the dire wolves. Suddenly something shifts within her mother. Staring at Lee, she says, ⁓ nocturn is And when he escapes, he's going to tear the world apart. This is the first time her delusions have been aimed at Lee. And then she turns on Meryn. You are not where you are meant to be. Obviously, is huge for readers, especially on the reread. And obviously, we're supposed to wonder, who is Nocturn? Where is he trapped? Where should Meryn be? Kate: We're supposed to wonder that, apparently Meryn is just like, mom's crazy. Rachel: She doesn't know what she's talking about. Get this lady some drugs. Kate: is all her very specific ramblings, all of her recurring characters in her delusions. So silly. Rachel: Mom and her imaginary friends again. Once she manages to give her mother medicine and put her in bed, Meryn finds Lee reading Saela a legend about gods. Saela says, quote, Meryn does the best voice for the goddess. And a quote from the book is, the goddess was locked in the towers and nobody knew she was there. She knew that if she was going to escape, she'd have to find a way to do it herself. Obviously is important foreshadowing. because of what we learn later in the book. But two things stand out here. The lovelorn gods part really stands out. I don't think this actually comes back in the books, the Love, Lore, and God. I don't think this comes back at any point in Dire Bound, so I'm hoping this is something we get in Fury Bound. throwing that out there. We're going to be on God Watch. In this podcast, we're going to be on God Watch to see what else we can find out about these lovelorn gods. But I do not think that this comes back as any sort of gods that had a romantic past. Kate: guess we'll just have to look out for Furybound. Rachel: That's right. So I hope that's something we learn more about in Fury Bound. The other thing that stood out to me here is that the goddess knew that if she was going to escape, she'd have to find a way to do it herself. So I just love that it's, again, at ⁓ powerful woman making her own path. Kate: Okay, so as millennials, I assume that you are familiar with the Cheetah Girls. ⁓ Are you familiar with the Disney Channel original movie, The Cheetah Girls? Rachel: WHERE'S- familiar with the Cheetah Girls. Now, that being said, you are a slightly younger millennial than me, Cheetah Girls was not my prime. I was a little bit past Cheetah Girls, I gotta say. I know who they are. Like, was JoJo a Cheetah Girl? Kate: Yes. Okay, all right. I don't think that JoJo was a cheetah girl. was a cheetah girl. Rachel: Raven-Symone, okay, yes. And I love Raven-Symone. Kate: So I bring this up because this quote sounds exactly like their song Cinderella that talks about, I don't want to be like Cinderella sitting in a dark, cold, dusty cellar waiting for somebody to come and set me free. I'd rather rescue myself. So. ⁓ Rachel: Yes. Yes. Yes. Obviously Sable Sorensen, listen to Cheetah Girls. Kate: Wisdom is wisdom, you know? They're a fan. Rachel: After Saela goes to bed, and Meryn step outside and Lee suggests that the girls move in with him and leave their mother to be regularly checked on in their home. Meryn answers him with a kiss and after a makeout scene, he asks her suggestively to spend the night at his house. She declines, not wanting to leave Saela alone overnight. And this was so infuriating. Knowing what we know. This was obviously his goal to keep her away for the night, but also this is actually insane behavior. I would say, I know we had some red flags before, but this is like the first major sign that he sucks, that the mom had this breakdown and he's like, you know what? Your mom's and in bed. Won't you leave your little sister home alone with her to spend time with me? Girl, break up with your MAGA boyfriend. Kate: Lose his number. Yeah, this was wild that he even consider that Meryn would want to leave her mom and her sister alone for a night just to go to pound town. ⁓ is, first all, probably overestimating his skills. But second of all, like there's just no world in which Meryn at this stage after having, to deal with another one of her mom's episodes and being so on guard about the and worried about her sister that she would just be like, yeah, you know, let's, they'll be fine. be fine for the night. Let's just go jaunt off to your love shack ⁓ and it on I'll totally un-worried about the family that is the only thing that I worry about every single day. Rachel: Literally. Kate: Wild. Rachel: And then, Meryn goes home, opens the door to her and Saela's room where she finds the window open and Saela gone. Her shoes and coat are where she left them and the only sign of her is a piece of fabric in the corner of the window that matches her nightgown. What was your initial reaction here? Kate: So first of all, thank God Meryn has a head on her shoulders and was not tempted by Lee's dick enough to leave. Because what would she have felt if she had come home after an entire night away to find that Saela was gone? Like it's bad enough that she missed this in the short amount of time that she was gone. But it would have been awful. But also it felt even more kind of devastating here because Rachel: ⁓ my god. That would have been awful. Kate: They had just learned about that kid who is able to kind of defend himself from the Nabbers. She's been trying to do her part, train the kids, give them way to fight back. And then ⁓ kind of getting lulled into this semblance of security almost. And then just have the rug ripped right out from under her again. It seems like maybe she would be even more caught off guard by this and just that much more devastated. ⁓ So tragic. Rachel: Yeah, so true. And she even said too during the lessons how Saela asks a lot of questions and she just wants to do her best. So yes, she's a good pupil. She should have been able to fight them off, maybe. Kate: Right, she's a good pupil. Rachel: Meryn, Lee, and Igor search through the night, but there is no sign of Saela Meryn goes to bed defeated, where she stays for days. is lucid enough to understand what happened and Meryn overhears her say, quote, it's just like what happened with her father after his first year at the front. He didn't speak for five days after he got back, wasted half his leave that way. What did her father see? He left and never came back, but her mother never took off her engagement bracelet? It doesn't feel like abandonment. Kate: I mean, think they assume that he died. So they're like mourning him. Right, but again, you said no body, no crime. We don't actually really know what happened to him. Rachel: Right, but. And at this point in the book, I don't think. Right. At this point in the book, I don't think that they're saying he's dead, right? In the last scene... Kate: I think that's just the assumption, but I think it's just still kind of up in the air, right? It's like he was a soldier, he went off to war, he didn't come back. The assumption is that he died in war. Rachel: I am just saying that they obviously wrote this in a way where they're inconsistently referring to the father and whether he abandoned them or died. So, we are supposed to wonder what happened to him. Maybe he did just die at war. Maybe he came to a very tragic ending, such as what we may learn about later in the book. I don't know, maybe it's literally just to get us thinking about it until we get to that point. But I think it's important because I could also see him coming back in book two. but we'll see. Kate: Certainly a possibility. Anything could happen. But I do wonder, what horrors did he see that left him basically comatose for half of his leave? Rachel: Right, exactly, what did he see? Meryn is in bed for days, finally Lee comes to visit her, which apparently motivates her. The next day, she signs up for the army, believing that it's her best chance to find Saela by getting to the front lines and confronting the siphons. After enlisting, she goes immediately to Lee's flat, which she's only at every few days, since he lives at the castle most of the time for his job. She has his schedule memorized and knows he should be there, and Here again, his lie is just so detailed and creepy. Kate: He puts so much effort into deceiving her. Rachel: Like the fact that she knows his exact schedule so that she can just show up unannounced. It's just so creepy. When Meryn sees Lee, she suddenly feels calm. She says, I can't remember why I was anxious. So theory time, is this the hold that he has over her? We need to keep an eye out here. While it wasn't immediate, his visit to her the day before seems to be what motivates her to get out of bed. They also have the ritual that he cares for her after their fights. And I just think that there's something about the emotional connection that they have that is... Kate: this is such a good theory. I didn't think about it initially, but once you mentioned it, I couldn't stop seeing these signs in my reread. Because it is, it's so immediate, the shift in her emotions when she's around him. Rachel: Mm-hmm. Yes, every, and it's multiple times that it's immediate. Kate: Like that's just, it's. ⁓ Mm-hmm. Good theory. Good theory. Rachel: So we're gonna keep an eye out. We're gonna keep an eye out for that. When Meryn tells Lee she enlisted, he is visibly upset, although he does tell her that he understands why she did it. He reveals that there are about to be bonding trials. The trials are an opportunity to bond with the direwolf and every newly enlisted recruit is required to participate in the trials. They're held sporadically and kept a secret so no one is deterred from enlisting because they are so deadly and dangerous, people would be scared to enlist. Meryn is shocked, but still resolved to go. Lee explains that they will make her do the first trial, which is a mountain climb, and the wolves are at the top. Bonding is a choice, not required. So all Meryn needs to do to survive is to survive the climb. Not for the first time, they tell each other, love you, but quote, today, I love you sounds an awful lot like goodbye. In tears, Meryn leans in to kiss Lee, knowing it may be their last time together, which leads us to Sexy Time. And I love a Chapter 5 Sexy Time, even if it is with someone who calls her kitten. Kate: Wut wut? Yeah, I mean. We do appreciate a slow burn. And I think that there are going to be elements slow burn here because we know that he is not the only MMC in this series. But I also appreciate just getting right to it. ⁓ We can have both, why not both? Rachel: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Thank you, Sable Sorensen. Also in this scene, we learn that Lee is a Dom. Quote. Kate: You love that for us. Rachel: quote, reach your hands over your head and grab hold of that table leg behind you, which is basically a wordier version of put your hands on the headboard, hold on tight. And because you have not finished the ACOTAR series, you don't know what I'm talking about, but hopefully that convinces you to read it. Kate: You know me so well. Yeah, I mean, listen, that visual is very clear regardless of the characters involved, but okay. ⁓ Rachel: What would we call that? Because I was reading that and my husband was sitting next to me, I described it. I go, would that be called bondage? And he's like, well, there's nothing bonding her. like, I know, it's like bondage by choice. And he's like, no, but there's nothing bonding her. So do we just call that dom and sub? Or is there a term for like, diet bondage. Kate: I like diet bondage. I don't mean, maybe one of listeners ⁓ is ⁓ knowledgeable of ⁓ of romance might be able to tell us, but I feel like ⁓ in my brain, diet makes sense. That's the vibe I'm getting here, but definitely Dom. Yeah. Rachel: We're calling it diet bondage. Yes, we're calling it diet bondage, but if we have any BDSM listeners that could educate us, we would appreciate that as well. Kate: Yes, please. Rachel: Afterwards, while they're resting in bed, he's bites her neck a few times. When I read this the first time, I was buddy reading with Gabrielle over at the reading alley and she noted this immediately. She goes, what's up with his bites? I didn't even notice it. On the reread, I think the bites are important and I think they're important foreshadowing. Kate: He is bitey. Maybe there's something wrong with me that that's a green flag for me, but... ⁓ Rachel: same. Kate: It's on my pros list actually for Lee. Rachel: Listen, listen, you read Quicksilver, right? Kate: Yes. Rachel: There's a reason that I love Quicksilver and it's because of that. Kate: Yes. Yes. I appreciate direction this is going. ⁓ ⁓ say that, again, the scenes with Lee are the when like him the most. ⁓ Rachel: Same. I think that's intentional. I think that's intentional. Going back to the hold he has over Meryn, I think that's also the hold he has over us. Kate: Yeah, you know what? He knows what he's good at and for him, I guess. ⁓ But yeah, it almost made me forget that like all the other red flags and blondness of him. But I think that might be a conversation for my therapist. Rachel: No, Lee has Meryn and all of us dick-notized That's what's happening here. Kate: 100%. Rachel: After the sexy time, Lee insists on buying her all of the gear that she needs to survive the trials and reveals that he has been saving up for an engagement bracelet, which again, seems like a pro. like a green flag. Once Lee Meryn finish shopping, she makes her rounds to say her goodbyes, visiting both the laundry where she works as well as Igor and both promise to take care of her mother while she is gone. As she is packing, her mother comes to her room showing her an ancient looking necklace with a teardrop shaped opal pendant set in gold and a delicate gold chain burnished by age. I had to write that down verbatim because it's such a specific description. There's no other way to describe it. Meryn is surprised that she has never seen this necklace before. The pendant looks like a rainbow frozen into ice and polished into precious stone. Her mother tells her the necklace is for protection and has been in their family for generations, passed down woman to woman. Meryn is moved by her mother's instinct to protect her, but insists her mother keep the necklace, not wanting it to get destroyed during the war. And she tells her that she'll feel better knowing that it's keeping her mother safe and she can give it to her when she gets back. She kisses her on the cheek and wonders if it's the last time that she will kiss her mother. This was an intense scene, not only for the goodbye, but also the fact that her mother has been lucid enough her entire life to have this necklace and hide it from her. I think that, I just think that was important. Like how was she able to hide it? Kate: You think maybe this beautiful old generational heirloom necklace might be an important part to the story? I think that's a good instinct, yeah. Rachel: I'm just saying the fact that she was lucid enough to hide it as well. Like that seems like tied to maybe some of its magic. I don't know. so that brings us to the end of our recap of the chapters. We've got a few fun little games planned here. throughout these five chapters, we've seen a lot of pros and cons for Lee. He's got a lot of green flags, lot of red flags. So I think we need to build our pro con list. Kate: Number one, pro, he's a dom in the bedroom. He's kind of bitey. I've already been in, I don't need to dive in again, but 100 % it's on my pros list, yes. Rachel: Number one. Yep, yep, agree with that, agree with that. I also liked the bag of coins him buying her supplies training. I like little treat, I like a little treat. What can I say? I never get them, but I do like a little treat. ⁓ Kate: You like a man to get you a little treat? get you a treat, Rachel. Rachel: Thank you. Kate: I also liked how consistent he was, right? Like you were saying before, he sticks to his schedule. She always knows where to find him. He shows up for her. He's always there where he's ⁓ to be, like in her mind at least. And takes care of her, right? He tends to her wounds. He gives her a little cash sometimes when she needs it. Rachel: Yes. Kate: ⁓ he's, you know, thoughtful. He's thinking about their future. you know, all these things that again, we have in a slightly different light later in the book, but you know, at this stage, it's not bad. Rachel: Right, yeah, they seem like pros. Okay, Lee's cons, number one. You wanna say it? Kate: He's blonde. Rachel: I know we've said it enough, but... Kate: I realize I felt so strongly about it, but ⁓ more I read romantasy, the it just gets hammered into my brain that I'm not into it. Rachel: So I have a question for you because of other characters and other books that you did like, are you with silver hair? Is that the exception? Isn't it wild that we've created this world for ourselves that silver hair is good, black hair is good, dark brown hair is good, but any hint of blonde that's a pass. Kate: Yes. Yeah, it's not. It's like, it's classical conditioning, okay? If I read enough stories with shitty blonde MMCs, it's just getting deeper into my brain. I mean, I've also, I also realized in the last few years, it clicked that I have like a very specific type that I am attracted to in real life as well as books. And it's very specific. Rachel: I know. Kate: And I just don't know that I'm very movable on that. And yeah, it just happens that these books reinforce that in me. what are your cons? Rachel: mean, Kitten the biggest one, Kitten. ⁓ like the creepy stuff that he did with pulling her, trying to pull her away for the night the mother had the breakdown, that was like a big no for me because while I like a little treat, I also like acts of service and what she does show when he's like cleaning her up and stuff, his aftercare, but like. Kate: Yeah. Rachel: I don't know, there's something about that that creeps me out too. But being consistent supportive partner, no one would do that. No one that I'm interested in would do that. They would be the one taking the mom to the hospital to like get her her medication, you know? Kate: Absolutely. I mean, it really a departure from ⁓ he had been ⁓ for her before, which was, like you said, that consistency, the support. I mean, in that scene, she really needed the emotional support of him understanding how on edge she was, ⁓ ⁓ she was about the people that she loved. And to only suggest that She basically abandoned her mother, but to suggest that she leave them alone for the night was just not it. Rachel: Any others? Kate: I think we've covered a lot. I think this is gonna continue to grow though. Rachel: Okay, so we're pretty, it's pretty 50-50 right now though, so. Kate: Yeah, I mean after the first five chapters, I definitely didn't hate him. You know, mean obviously we know everything the book now, but ⁓ definitely did not hate him at this stage. Rachel: We'll see. Same. he was gonna do some fuckery and betray her in like a dumb way. Like he in like a way that he thought it was supportive, and then it made her realize how crappy of a person he is. That's what I thought was gonna happen. So I do appreciate the plot twists in this book. There were many and they were well done, I thought. Kate: Yes. Yeah, yeah, I mean. Yeah, I agree. again, going back to that initial text that I sent you after reading chapter one, ⁓ instinct was that he was going to betray her or die. So at this stage, I still didn't really know which one was going to happen. I knew that this ⁓ was not going to last in this way, but, you know, he didn't do anything so overly evil or anything at this stage that it made me think immediately, OK, he's definitely going to betray her. Death still on the table, you know. Rachel: Yeah, absolutely. Yes. right. Time for our game. Fuck, marry, kill. Kate: A tragic death. ⁓ Classic. Rachel: Igor, Meryn, and Lee. Kate: Easy. This is too easy, Rachel. Sorry, old man, but 100 % I am going to fuck Lee, marry Meryn, and kill Igor. No contest. Rachel: At this point in the book, yes, although possibly I would fuck Meryn, marry Igor, and kill Lee. I think that's how I would end the book. Or maybe, actually hold on, I have a new answer. I think I'm gonna fuck Igor, marry Meryn, and kill Lee. Kate: Okay. Rachel: Igor is a boxing trainer, a fighting trainer. He's like Rocky. Kate: I mean, yes. Okay, I get it Rachel, you're from Rachel: thinking of the new Rocky with Michael B Jordan? Creed. Yeah, like imagine Rocky in Creed. That's who Igor is. Kate: Creed. I mean, is Creed on the table? ⁓ my God. Rachel: I mean, obviously, Creed obviously Creed is a very big departure from where we're But Michael B Jordan in fourth wing, if that happens, because he's producing it. Kate: Well, yes, and he's producing. Rachel: He's producing it and may do a side ⁓ role. Rumors, maybe. Fingers crossed. Kate: getting excited. Okay, I mean, ⁓ you're very clearly going to kill Lee though, even though he had a decent amount of pros for you. ⁓ Rachel: I don't know. exact same answer as you. Kate: I mean, why not? If I'm right, I'm right, Rachel. You can accept that. That's okay. Rachel: just giving another perspective here that knowing what I know now, if I want to kill Lee, I don't think that, I think fucking Igor would be fine. He's just got a terrible name. Like I think, I think it's the name. Kate: Oh, I'm sure that it would be fine. He's a nice man. He has strength that would come in handy. Rachel: His strength. Yeah. He might do all the stuff that we liked about... No. And you know what? No. I actually stand by my statement, even if I didn't know. Even if I didn't know how this story ended. Fuck Igor, marry Meryn, kill Lee, because Igor would never say kitten. Kate: ⁓ that's true. That's a fair point. Yeah, mean, in the moment, I don't know. mean, you making some assumptions about his style in the bedroom, but I think probably fair ⁓ with what know about him. ⁓ I mean, do agree that we would marry ⁓ Meryn, which a tongue twister, but so we do agree on that. Rachel: Igor would talk me through it. Just saying. Kate: And you want that? Rachel: I mean, is that... do we not all want that? That's... that's... in most of these books! Fingers crossed, Stark talks us through it Furybound. Kate: I mean, okay, yeah, we want the play by play. Okay. Rachel: He would definitely give us a good girl. Igor would give us a good girl. Kate: Fair, Iris. Yeah. Yeah, he would. Rachel: We don't need to have the same answers. Kate: No, I know, but you know, you're making good points. Well, we'll see. We'll try again later and see if I change my mind. I'm just, you know, we got this spicy scene with Lee and I think that that's just my decision at this point because they're, you know, ⁓ just, not set up to view Igor as a romantic interest. Rachel: Well, no, because they gave him- Kate: Not to say he doesn't have the potential, I just, these five chapters, and hearing, yet listening to that scene with Lee, I'm like, yeah, I wouldn't mind a little bit of that. ⁓ Rachel: No, that's totally fair. And they obviously gave Igor a terrible name. So it's not his fault. Kate: Yeah, not one that I think I'm gonna be, you know, screaming out. It's not cute. It doesn't like roll off the tongue real nice. Rachel: No, I wouldn't call him Igor, he would be daddy. Kate: Good point, good point. All right. Rachel: Okay, That brings us to the very end of our episode and our thing we need to do before we leave is tally up our tropes. So I think we have six. Should we count them down? Kate: Go for it. Rachel: Mentor, mentee, daddy, Igor. Palace Worker, Meet Cute, even though we don't see the Meet Cute, we hear about the Meet Cute, so I'm counting it. Magical Creature Bonding, again, we don't see it happen, but we meet and we know of it. Rags to Maybe riches? We'll see. But she essentially lives in a hovel. so we're calling, start from the bottom now, we're hopefully gonna be there eventually, a trope. And I see you put dead parent on our list as well, which... Kate: I think that's a trope, right? ⁓ We see it pretty often. ⁓ Rachel: think so, especially a mysterious, I think a mysteriously dead parent, especially. Kate: Yes. Yes. So we're, I think it's on the list. So that brings us to six. So we'll see how that evolves, but that's a good place to start. We're already on a good roll there. Rachel: and is a good place to start. Alright everyone, next week join us as we enter the bonded trials and we see Meryn on her journey to hopefully not find a direwolf. Kate: Yeah, that's what she's looking for at this point. Yeah. Let's let's see how that goes for her. Rachel: Thanks for listening everyone. We hope you enjoyed our first episode, Deep Diving into Dire Bound by Sable ⁓ If you enjoyed the podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review. And you can find us on at Deep Trope Podcast across Instagram and TikTok. And we'll see you next week as we enter the bonding trials. Kate: See you next week, bye.