NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

I was drawn to the book by the beautiful cover art. However the story within just blew me away. Peera is "rescued" by Bennett, a vampire and comes to learn that life is not what she thinks it is. She is not all human. This book will draw you in.

I wasn’t a big fan of this book but it did have its moments. I just felt that although it’s supposed to be more new adult, it read more young adult obviously except in certain scenes.

The beginning of the book caught my attention with a fascinating plot that left me eager to solve the main character's problem. The story introduced a group of paranormal and mythical creatures called The Dark Consortium, and I found their dynamics intriguing. However, I wished to learn more about them beyond their appearance. The main character, Peeraphan, also known as Punch, displayed a sense of wonder despite her perilous circumstances. Her pivotal moment came when she stopped pretending to be someone she wasn't and embraced her true identity.

However, I found the connection between Peeraphan and Bennett too rushed, following the clichéd "Instant love" trope. The chemistry between the characters was lacking, and their dialogues felt constricting. While I understand that Bennett's character is a vampire who has lived for a long time, his robotic way of conversing with Peeraphan feels stiff and unnatural.

I appreciate that the story was written in the third person limited, giving me insight into the perspectives of Punch and Bennett. However, the narrative was too reliant on telling rather than showing from their viewpoints.

This book is a quick-paced tale of discovering oneself, experiencing love at first sight, and finding a new family.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.

Peeraphan, or Punch as her friends refer to her, lives in Seattle. While rehearsing for a dance performance, one of the other dancers presents her with a pair of red shoes that fit perfectly. These red shoes soon expose her to a world of magic and mythology. A vampire, Bennet, who works for a secret organization that locates magical objects, claims to want to save Punch from the shoes that force anyone wearing them to dance to their death. Punch, however, seems to have a strange ability to counter the deadly effect that the shoes have on mortals. Perhaps Punch isn't as mortal as she first seems.

Drake creates an interesting world of folklore and myth in the first book of her new series. Punch, Bennet, and the supporting cast of characters are interesting and readers will be excited to learn more about each character's abilities. At times the writing does fall flat and the flow of the story stalls. Readers who enjoy Sarah J. Maas and/or the Twilight series will enjoy Wings Once Cursed & Bound.

A very enjoyable book one.
I really liked the Thai mythology and how fluid the world building and paranormal aspects wove into the story.
The characters were great and I’m interested to see them get even more developed as the series continues. It didn’t feel like a cliffhanger as much as the adventures have other places to explore.
*this is tagged as YA I don’t think that is accurate?

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuester Children’s publishing.

I didn't finish this book. I received this book by mistake.
I received this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book which I didn't read.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! There are things I loved about Wings Once Cursed & Bound and other things I thought fell flat. I loved the characters overall. Peeraphan (Punch) isn’t what she seems, or even what she initially thinks of herself. I loved the banter between her and Bennet. I love a good “facing our truths and suppressed feelings to move forward”…it’s something we all face in our lives. The downside is parts just felt choppy. It seemed to sometimes jump from situation to situation without much explanation or flow. This made the world building less complex which was surprising since it was compared to Maas and Armentrout who I feel like both build complex worlds in their writing. I liked it enough that I’d read book 2 to see where the story is going!

This was an interesting read and I like the Thai Mythology woven into the story. I was hooked from the start and didn’t want too stop. First book I read from this author and it won’t be the last.

I liked the plot, however, It moved slow at times. The writing style was too matter of fact and I didn’t get very much emotion out of it. I still liked the storyline but the flow was not there.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great fantasy novel and I throughly enjoyed this novel. This book was a great read.

A lyrical take on Thai Mythology about an extraordinary human who find out she isn’t human at all - she a mythological bird princess. It’s got shades of Indiana Jones x Twilight x Supernatural. If SJM had written this, it would have been 2 books, but this has a lot of plot that happens pretty fast. Good 🌶️

This started out extremely strong for me and then ended up fizzling out pretty quickly and I felt like I wasn’t enjoying it as I continued. I feel like it had a lot of competing storylines and could have benefitted from some editing or choosing one storyline and running with that one.

It did get compared to Sarah J Maas who has become one of my all-time favorite authors so maybe I had my hopes and expectations too high.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for this opportunity!

Holy mother of Pearl but what was this book? Oh it was lush, romantic and dangerous to my reader mind! I have zero criticism as this is a perfect book. The author spun such a fantastic tale that sucks you in and spits you out with a major book hangover!

This book hit me exactly the way I expected. I enjoyed the reading all the way through and have not one complaint on the characters or plot. The storyline was also very appealing.

The only issue I have is it hit me exactly as I expected it to. There was nothing that I would say surprised or shocked me. Not that that is necessary in every book but, I just felt as though I had already read this book. The characters were all new to me but the story in many ways wasnt.

I know there are many people who are going to absolutely adore this read and give it a 5 star review. I personally give it 3.5.

I was lucky enough to get this book as an ARC from NetGalley. I have to say that I have been a fan of Piper J. Drake for a while. Because I enjoyed her other books, I was excited to read this new one.

This is the story of Peeraphan "Punch", a Thai bird princess who lives in modern day Seattle. She is a dancer who has received a new pair of dancing shoes, which unknown to her are actually cursed. Meanwhile a vampire named Bennet finds her and is shocked to see that she isn't falling victim to the curse of not being able to stop dancing once the dancer starts. Bennet pretty much kidnaps Punch and pulls her into a supernatural world where other vampires are hunting down the shoes that Punch now cannot take off. She meets dragons, a witch, and werewolf family members. All while of course falling for Bennet.

Over all this is great book. It's a good start to the Mythwoven series and I can't wait to see where Piper is going to take this next. If you are looking for a good start to a new Urban Fantasy series, then I would recommend picking this book up. You will enjoy it.

Ebook received for free through NetGalley

I absolutely loved this story and had trouble putting it down once I had started. Would love to read more but love how the story ended too

Thank you sourcebooks for the E-Arc

“My wings unbound, I am the Thai bird princess, the kinnaree, and no matter the cost, I will be free.”

Like from start to finish I was captivated. The book sucked me in to a world like no other. I have always been a fan of mythology and the supernatural. Like who isn’t right? But omg I’m obsessed. I need to read more. Like it just wasn’t enough. I need to know the back stories of every character I just read. Like I need to know about Duncan , Thomas, the back story of Bennett. Can’t wait to see what’s next.

Everyone has to read the story of Peeraphan Rahttana ! Highly recommend

I got to 6% into this book before giving up. I don’t think that is nearly enough to give a fair assessment, but I can already see this book will not be for me.

The dialogue feels stilted and there’s something off about the prose in general. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but the choices the author is making with the wording just feels awkward.

For example: “his features came together like a sculptor’s attempt to capture primal intensity and a hunter’s patience in a human visage.” This phrasing just feels so awkward and painful to read.

This is true for the dialogue as well. For example:
“You don’t believe me and you don’t have any reason to, except you should.” His tone had taken on a quiet urgency. “This is similar to standing on a ticking bomb. Listen to me now and ask questions after you are clear of the blast zone.”

I understand that the character speaking is not human, but even still, that is some weird phrasing given the situation.

I was looking forward to this book, but I am choosing not to continue. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book. Because I did not get very far, I don’t think it’s quite fair to give the book a star rating. The NetGalley system is requiring me to do so to submit this review.

Stopped at 5%. This is almost all telling, no showing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

3/5 stars

The premise of this book had so much to offer but fell short in my opinion. Punch was a kinnaree which was not really explained well in the book. I still have a very basic knowledge of what that means. Which I was hoping the book would explore the folklore of a kinnaree more.

Punch was a dynamic main character. I loved her little sugar gliders and enjoyed her quirkiness. Some of the things she went along with might have been a little far fetched. I think her relationship with Bennett didn’t feel as organic as it could have. Especially since at the end they were saying I love you and had only spent a few days together. Along with that he barely knew anything about her.

I had such high hopes for Bennett. With him being a vampire I was looking forward to him having to resist her blood as well as work on the mystery of the red shoes. Overall it just seemed like he wanted to be around Punch but didn’t have the vampire tendencies. He was almost too caring for a vampire.

Overall I enjoyed the story building and the fantasy island. This book was definitely more character driven than plot. Half the time they ignored the shoes to pursue other things. I would have loved to have more information on the kinnaree themselves.