Reviews with content warning for Fire/Fire injury - The Gifts That Bind Us

Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The Gifts That Bind Us by Caroline O'Donoghue

23 reviews

peppermintz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Honestly a beautiful haunting book. Every new chapter you learn something and gradually, more and more things keep going wrong.

I genuinely don't get this series keeps improving. Maeve is so violently a teenager girl that I feel like I am back at school. And the metaphors! They are beautiful.

And the complexities of Fiona's identity. Not relegated to a best-friend archetype, but give the freedom within the narrative to explore and grow.

I also loved the graudla shift of Lily and Maeve's relationship. How forgiveness has to be earned and rituals can't fix years of neglect and mistreatment.

Content Warnings

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I love this trilogy and i love maeve but god good that cheating sub plot is one of the most stressful experiences of my life

‘“Its almost September,” lily says, her eyes out the window. I don’t know why she says it except perhaps as a reminder of the longer nights and the fact that everything will get darker from here on out’

‘Everyone that craves power once had none.’

Content Warnings

barnesbookshelf's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I was so excited to keep reading Maeve's story that i couldn't put this book down. And now I'm itching to find out the resolution!

It did bother me a little how all of the friends clearly had things they weren't telling the others. They are teenagers, so I'll give them the smallest pass. Hopefully they will communicate better in the next book.

I loved the new characters and the transition of the old ones. I can't wait to see where this story goes and how the crew handles COB!

Content Warnings

jaylulah26's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

deliak03's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The book started out very slow, especially compared to the first book. I really enjoyed the added magic lore and background that was provided through this book, as well as getting to know the background characters better! The last six or so chapters of the book were so engaging that I couldn’t put the book down! If you like magic, this is a good book for you to read! There are also religious undertones throughout the book that are approached through multiple perspectives, which was interesting to see.

Content Warnings

veggiestrawenjoyer13's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Personally, I liked this book more than the first one. All the new plot points tied in really well and didn’t feel randomly added in, they felt planned. The modern media references continued to throw me off, but there were less so it was easier to read. I really enjoyed the conflicts and personal struggles each character went through. They felt realistic and relatable. The plot twists towards the end of the book had my jaw dropped and I didn’t know who to trust. I would say the only thing that I disliked was (minor spoiler about a new character’s background)

Manon’s source of power. Gods were never mentioned before this, so it felt very random. It seemed like a way to give the group a super powerful ally (because they desperately needed one.)

Otherwise, I think the plot moved at a good pace and I enjoyed all the characters. It’s not a literary masterpiece, but it’s still a really good sequel and a nice casual read.

Content Warnings

runes_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The cover art and art within the book was gorgeous just like the first one. This takes place directly after All Our Hidden Gifts, with a lot of similar themes. There are some differences in the content warnings, so I would look at them.
There are a few storytelling differences between this and the first book. I feel like this one didn't focus on character flaws as much, but it still was a pretty big focus. We got some more lore/knowledge about the magic in this one, which I really liked. I felt that the protagonist, Maeve, had less character development than in the first. This wasn't a bad thing, she still had a lot.
I'm very excited to read the third book in this trilogy!

Most of the characters are in the equivalent of United States senior year of high school in the story. There's a recurrent worry for them about change and the future, something any teenager can relate to. Please look at the content warnings for this story, it's a YA, but a heavy one. I'd recommend it for ages 15+, so upper YA, verging on New Adult but not quite there.

I read this one in one day, I couldn't put it down! (Also it was a library book so I had a time limit, lol). I haven't decided on a star rating, definitely 4 stars at minimum. I think it's a 4.75 for me, there's nothing wrong with it, and I would highly recommend it. It just wasn't life changing for me personally. It was a great read, and I'll definitely remember it.

Content Warnings

meganpbell's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This series is just so fantastic at capturing the feelings and growing pains and interpersonal challenges of the teen years, all while fighting religious fundamentalism with witchcraft, queer love, and the power of friendship. This installment especially excels with representations of queer, racial, neurodivergent, and disability marginalization—and with portraying the suffering so often behind the worst actions—and it’s just a fun ride!

Content Warnings

geminireader's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is easily one of the most creative and truly fun series I’ve read. It is not a light-hearted series - in fact, this particular book covered many grim and triggering topics. But the book still remains so whimsical and interesting, even if it does trudge into dark territory. I have endless praise for the author. I never know exactly where this series will go and the threads of the magical elements and problems alongside common teenage problems is woven so beautifully together to create a truly excellent young adult novel. I did take off a star only because some parts felt a bit rushed and some problems get solved a little too conveniently. I think this is aligned with the nature of the world and the series but still, can be a bit of a downfall when book-long problems are solved within a page. Regardless, if I convince you to give this series a go: I am a paper book only reader, and I have purchased the third book in hardcover just so I can read it. That’s how much I love this series and how much I want to know what happens!

Content Warnings

rinku's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The beginning of The Gifts That Bind Us was so great that I was ready to give it five stars but sadly, the focus of the main plot shifts later to the aspects that didn’t interest me so much and it becomes a bit too irritating for my taste.

Lily is now back, and all our characters got some kind of magical power: Maeve can now read minds and emotions of other people, Fiona has healing powers, Roe can open doors, and Lily is able to control electricity. Weird things start to happen, and the friends have to find out what causes them before it’s too late. If I’m being honest, I was more invested in the coming-of-age-elements of the story since it’s the last year of school and Maeve is not totally sure what she wants to do after school and struggles with dealing with all the changes happening around her.

What I still love about this novel is how fantasy elements get combined with social justice issues, like queer rights or classism, though I wish the Children and their influence on the town would’ve been thematized more. I’ve said it before, but this plot point still really reminds me of the Engelsfors series. This is probably coincidental but when comparing the two series, Engelsfors is just better in showing how a cult can slowly take over a whole town and manipulate it. Another similarity of both novels is that

the school is some kind of magically important place

Towards the ending though, the story just got a bit weird, and I didn’t fully understand what was happening at the end. It was so obvious from the beginning that

Heather was evil. The story gets quite creepy towards the end which I liked but it’s so weird how Maeve suddenly owns the school

What I appreciate about the characters is that they are a realistic portrayal of teenagers and that there’s a big focus on the friendship between them. At first, there’s jealously between them since Lily is back and mixes everything up between Maeve and Fiona. This creates a kind of tense dynamic between them. In the course of the story,

we see how Lily and Maeve get closer to each other again which was great

. What I appreciate about Maeve is that her feelings are quite relatable and that she messes up because she isn’t hundred percent a good person. Aaron is still an interesting character but I’m not sure what I should think about

his redemption arc. He was a great villain before, and I don’t know about the new villains

. I furthermore have to admit that I totally forgot that Lily and Roe are siblings since we barely see them interact as such.

Besides some of the critique I had about The Gifts That Bind Us, I’m still curious how the story will end and if I will be happy about the ending.

Content Warnings

More...