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A review by qdbibliophile
These Twisted Bonds by Lexi Ryan
adventurous
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
4.25
This book picks up right where the last one left off; Brie is running after just having turned fae. She then uses her newly enhanced powers to rescue some Unseelie children and after collapsing finds herself in the Wild Fae kingdom with the King, who is also Pretha's brother. She feels deeply betrayed by Sebastian but still feels a draw toward him and ends up jumping back and forth between her feelings for Sebastian and Finn quite a bit. While Sebastian's amorous feelings toward Brie seem genuine, he still thinks he's meant to rule the Unseelie and tries to convince Brie to return to him seeing as how she still is in possession of the crown and the throne rejected Sebastian outright. Meanwhile, Sebastian's mother, the Seelie queen is growing more and more powerful and continues to imprison Unseelie children to have them mine fire gems, keeping them in camps and injecting them with a toxin that inhibits their powers. Within the Unseelie kingdom itself the children are falling asleep and not waking. Not dying but not waking either.
The group tries to decide what to do and ends up deciding to request a visit to the underworld to have a chitty-chat with Mab. Brie finally decides that she wants to be with Finn and upon reaching the underworld, we learn that Brie is actually the one who is from Mab's line (the power laid dormant among her mother's line until it was needed) and that Finn is her tethered match. The two return from the underworld with a seemingly impossible resolution: Brie & Sebastian have to bond forever or Seb has to give up his life. Brie and Finn resign themselves to be star-crossed lovers and will sacrifice their relationship for the good of the realm. On their way to do so Arya (Sebastian's mother and Seelie queen) attempts again to kidnap Brie, this time being successful. She kidnaps both Brie and Sebastian and Arya blackmails Brie with Jas. She tortures them and Brie ends up having to full accept her shadow self in order to escape and freeing Sebastian in the process. She kills Arya effectively transferring the crown to Sebastian. Sebastian and Brie still plan to do the bonding in order to save the children and the kingdom but at the last second Sebastian takes the stone from around Brie's neck which was a blood stone and not a fire gem. He drinks the liquid and ends up giving up his immortal life and turning mortal (thereby satisfying the premise of Seb having to "give up his life" -- he didn't die, he just didn't remain immortal).
HEA: Brie ends up with Finn, ruling over the Unseelie court as an immortal and Sebastian gives up his romance with Brie and rules over the Seelie court as a mortal ruler (that no one but the inner circle knows about). The next book is Jas' so it'll be interesting to see if she stays human or not.
What I liked: The world building and magic system in this world. I feel like shadow abilities are gaining in popularity but still underrated. Brie has some exceptional abilities. I liked that Brie was self aware, especially toward the end and that the message there was that she needed to truly accept all aspects of herself including her trauma. The HEA wrapped up in a bow was certainly satisfying.
What I didn't like: I'm not a fan of love triangles where the FMC teeters between feelings for two guys when clearly one of those relationships is more out of a feeling of pity and obligation than true connection. I get irritated with indecisiveness so the murkiness of Brie's feelings between Sebastian and Finn was really annoying for me. The demise of the villain felt a little too easy. The fact that Brie kept insisting she had to be human to go visit her sister -- Sebastian obviously was able to glamour himself for 2 years to be there so why can't she? Also her inability to see past herself in the beginning "what does this have to do with me?" and "why would you want to be bonded" -- she's lonely but can't understand the idea of a bond, and while yes it was involuntary, she has powers and she still can't wrap her head around what it has to do with her. I guess the author was leaving room for character development but I wasn't empathizing with Brie in the beginning there.
Spice rating: 2; on-page but not overly explicit and there is only 1 scene
Overall good read -- Kind of a cross between ACOTAR & Cruel Prince but the "light" version.
The group tries to decide what to do and ends up deciding to request a visit to the underworld to have a chitty-chat with Mab. Brie finally decides that she wants to be with Finn and upon reaching the underworld, we learn that Brie is actually the one who is from Mab's line (the power laid dormant among her mother's line until it was needed) and that Finn is her tethered match. The two return from the underworld with a seemingly impossible resolution: Brie & Sebastian have to bond forever or Seb has to give up his life. Brie and Finn resign themselves to be star-crossed lovers and will sacrifice their relationship for the good of the realm. On their way to do so Arya (Sebastian's mother and Seelie queen) attempts again to kidnap Brie, this time being successful. She kidnaps both Brie and Sebastian and Arya blackmails Brie with Jas. She tortures them and Brie ends up having to full accept her shadow self in order to escape and freeing Sebastian in the process. She kills Arya effectively transferring the crown to Sebastian. Sebastian and Brie still plan to do the bonding in order to save the children and the kingdom but at the last second Sebastian takes the stone from around Brie's neck which was a blood stone and not a fire gem. He drinks the liquid and ends up giving up his immortal life and turning mortal (thereby satisfying the premise of Seb having to "give up his life" -- he didn't die, he just didn't remain immortal).
HEA: Brie ends up with Finn, ruling over the Unseelie court as an immortal and Sebastian gives up his romance with Brie and rules over the Seelie court as a mortal ruler (that no one but the inner circle knows about). The next book is Jas' so it'll be interesting to see if she stays human or not.
What I liked: The world building and magic system in this world. I feel like shadow abilities are gaining in popularity but still underrated. Brie has some exceptional abilities. I liked that Brie was self aware, especially toward the end and that the message there was that she needed to truly accept all aspects of herself including her trauma. The HEA wrapped up in a bow was certainly satisfying.
What I didn't like: I'm not a fan of love triangles where the FMC teeters between feelings for two guys when clearly one of those relationships is more out of a feeling of pity and obligation than true connection. I get irritated with indecisiveness so the murkiness of Brie's feelings between Sebastian and Finn was really annoying for me. The demise of the villain felt a little too easy. The fact that Brie kept insisting she had to be human to go visit her sister -- Sebastian obviously was able to glamour himself for 2 years to be there so why can't she? Also her inability to see past herself in the beginning "what does this have to do with me?" and "why would you want to be bonded" -- she's lonely but can't understand the idea of a bond, and while yes it was involuntary, she has powers and she still can't wrap her head around what it has to do with her. I guess the author was leaving room for character development but I wasn't empathizing with Brie in the beginning there.
Spice rating: 2; on-page but not overly explicit and there is only 1 scene
Overall good read -- Kind of a cross between ACOTAR & Cruel Prince but the "light" version.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content