'The Buried and the Bound' Book Club Readalong Day 1!

Welcome to the first day of our book club readalong for OwlCrate's January book, The Buried and the Bound by Rochelle Hassan!

Just a reminder that this will be a SPOILER discussion for Chapters 1-5 of The Buried and the Bound, so make sure you read are finished this section before continuing.

Discussion questions are listed below, and anyone who participates in the comments will be entered to win a free OwlCrate box!

The story begins...

Chapter 1:
Tristan made a deal with the hag - ten years of servitude for a magical favor. One year in and the hag is unhappy with him. She bonds Tristan to hounds, giving him the ability to control them, so that when they hunt and kill they will also nourish her.

Chapter 2:
Aziza, a hedgewitch, loves magic, and spends her time searching Blackthorn for magical beings that crossed the veil from Elphame, in order to return them and keep the people safe. She is doing just that when she hears dogs barking and people screaming at the solstice festival in town. She sees a man killed and hauled away by one of the massive hounds, and seeing a boy, Leo, just standing instead of fleeing she drags him out of the festival grounds and into the forest. There, they are attacked but a boy Aziza just barely sees appears and together the boy and the hound disappear.

Chapter 3:
Leo finds his little sister and offers Aziza a ride home. In the car he explains that when he was a child he was cursed by something, and that curse made him forget his true love when he was sixteen. For the past year he’s been grieving for something he can’t remember. She tells him she can’t help, but Leo won’t give up.

Chapter 4:
Tristan is unable to die, unless by the hands of the hag, for his entire ten year servitude. And the magical favor he was promised will only be granted on the very last day, so this is his life now. The hag tells him to get the witch for her to feed on. The girl he saw in the clearing. And although he knows it makes him monstrous, Tristan will do it.

Tristan crosses into Elphame to bury the victims of the hounds’ attack.

Chapter 5:
Aziza greets her grandfather Jiddo at home. Aiziza is a hedgewitch, someone born to a place that needs protection, and for Aziza that is Blackthorn. She tells him all about the attack of the bleak hounds. The magic between realms has been getting worse, and Jiddo doesn’t want her going out at night any longer.

 Questions:

1. What do you think happened to Aziza’s parents?

2. What do you think caused Tristan to make the bargain with the hag?

3. Do you think Leo’s curse can be broken?

4. Did you enjoy the first section of the book?
   

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