shaykay's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Broken Bonds! It's the start of this new crazy world, and I loved this first book so much. The first book, and honestly the second one, are my favorite of the series because I loved the school setting. This book is a slow burn and, frankly, a bully romance mixed with enemies to lovers, and I just could not get enough of it. Oli is fantastic, and she went through so much before this book started that we don't even realize it until later in the series when her secrets start to come out. Anyway, this one was a fantastic start to a really good series, and I really want to get a physical set of them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Bullying
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Rape
Minor: Kidnapping
kaitlyns22's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Murder
piggelin's review against another edition
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
So much teenage angst and repetitive swearwords. Feels very YA, but definitely with trigger warnings. Fun idea with multiple bonded to an otherwise normal YA fantasy plot with a special underdog.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Violence
noellelovesbooks's review
4.5
Content Warnings: violence, ptsd, grief, bullying, kidnapping, physical abuse, body shaming, death of loved ones, sexual harassment, and sexual assault.
Joined a local book club and this was our first book club pick. I've heard from a lot of mutuals that this series was good but never heard any specifics about the series. Going in not knowing anything aside from the back of book description was a lot of fun.
Though she's only 19 I easily related and loved Oli and her BFF Sage. We get good world building and I love the way each relationship with each of the bonds is different but also constantly evolving.
I planned to read this slow...so I could attempt to space it out but...it was so good I devoured it. I was at 30% and the next thing I knew it said I was at 89%...at which point you have to finish. Right? haha
I'll definitely be jumping immediately into book 2 😎
Joined a local book club and this was our first book club pick. I've heard from a lot of mutuals that this series was good but never heard any specifics about the series. Going in not knowing anything aside from the back of book description was a lot of fun.
Though she's only 19 I easily related and loved Oli and her BFF Sage. We get good world building and I love the way each relationship with each of the bonds is different but also constantly evolving.
I planned to read this slow...so I could attempt to space it out but...it was so good I devoured it. I was at 30% and the next thing I knew it said I was at 89%...at which point you have to finish. Right? haha
I'll definitely be jumping immediately into book 2 😎
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Violence, Bullying, Kidnapping, and Grief
jen_sten's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Bullying, and Rape
Moderate: Death, Murder, and Violence
countesslemongrab's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
So many unanswered questions and mystery, hoping they’re answered in the later books.
The narration was at sometimes really annoying but for the most part I enjoyed the story and the info about the magic system. It’s something entirely unique and I’m interested in finding out more
The narration was at sometimes really annoying but for the most part I enjoyed the story and the info about the magic system. It’s something entirely unique and I’m interested in finding out more
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
sillih28's review
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Alcohol, Bullying, Car accident, and Abandonment
Moderate: Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Vomit
Minor: Abortion and Miscarriage
liz21's review
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I enjoyed some of the characters (Gryphon, Sage, Atlas, mostly Oli), but Gabe, North, and especially Nox were vile. I must preface this as saying that I don’t normally read dark romance, so maybe you’d be fine with this, but there’s a lot of things that are big no-nos for me in fiction and naturally in real life too. I like some of the characters well enough that I’m possibly interested in reading more, but ultimately feel like something Nox did.
Trigger and spoiler warning****
Ultimately, I’m still trying to decide if I want to read on because Gryphon’s character especially was really wonderful, as was Atlas, but I’m just struggling with Nox a lot.
Trigger and spoiler warning****
Spoiler
Nox rapes Oli but I’m getting a vibe that they might just brush it off as “she wanted it because she came,” which is horrible. Idk if that’s a normal dark fantasy / dark romance thing, but it’s not cool to paint it as something she didn’t want, but it’s “not really rape” because she didn’t—and couldn’t—say no in the moment despite saying no many, many times throughout the course of the book.Ultimately, I’m still trying to decide if I want to read on because Gryphon’s character especially was really wonderful, as was Atlas, but I’m just struggling with Nox a lot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape
elauren113's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape
emmelinemontgomery's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
You know that term Popcorn-Movie? This is definitely a popcorn book. Easy to read to read quickly and fun. It’s definitely a “if you liked ZA you’ll definitely like this” sort of series so far- except here everyone is more nuanced and make more sense and the motivations/plot feel more logical too. Basically, just much less zany.
Oli is darkly enjoyable to read and I really enjoyed how much emphasis was put on deep female friendships here, v refreshing! Buuuut then there was also a lot of internalized misogyny that came out in all the characters that was (for me) a bit off putting every time. So just a real fun mix.
Everything moves so fast that any emotional moments or any time for introspection are just blazed by. Did that thing matter?? Who can say. I guess the interactions of all the characters are fascinating enough though that I am hooked, and will keep reading.
If I had to pick a fave character rn it’d be Atlas.
Oli is darkly enjoyable to read and I really enjoyed how much emphasis was put on deep female friendships here, v refreshing! Buuuut then there was also a lot of internalized misogyny that came out in all the characters that was (for me) a bit off putting every time. So just a real fun mix.
Everything moves so fast that any emotional moments or any time for introspection are just blazed by. Did that thing matter?? Who can say. I guess the interactions of all the characters are fascinating enough though that I am hooked, and will keep reading.
If I had to pick a fave character rn it’d be Atlas.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault