Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Broken Bonds by J. Bree

22 reviews

witcheep's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.5

The main character is wrapped in a mystery that just keeps growing the more we learn about her. She is put in a situation where the control of her own life is taken away from her (and it is very distressing to read about it), but she hints that she can manage it and will take her freedom the first chance she gets. I'm interested in finding out what the mystery of her will unfurl into in the sequel(s).

The book left me quite disappointed, though. Mostly I just wish we would have learned more about the FMC's mysterious past and gift in this first book already. Her Bonds are acting very toxic towards her, mist of them restricting her freedom and choises to the extent of kidnapping and treating her in a nearly hostile way even when thwy allow her a little freedom. There is also some university life material that feels unnecessary filler to me: I just want to learn about the mystery, not dwell in the FMC:s crave for normalcy when she clearly is something extraordinary.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Kidnapping

Moderate: Grief, Physical abuse, Bullying, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Death of parent, and Vomit

kristanjenkins's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Death, Bullying, War, Grief, Kidnapping, and Sexual assault

fleetwitchmac's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Confinement, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Grief, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Body shaming

angelinanajel's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I was captivated by this book. The suspense surrounding Oli's decision to run away kept me engaged. I'm a sucker for badass female main characters, and Oli nails that role perfectly. The inclusion of my favorite tropes, like "touch her and die" and forced proximity really enhanced my enjoyment of the book. I also thoroughly enjoyed the slow build up of sexual tension between Oli and her bonds. 

My only qualm lies in the sparse world-building and my strong aversion to Nox Draven.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Medical content, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Grief, Blood, Car accident, and Stalking

lillithstorm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Grief, Bullying, Death of parent, Murder, and Physical abuse

unboundbooklover's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, and Physical abuse

jesreadssmut's review

emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Sexual violence, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Car accident

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 😎 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Violence, Bullying, Kidnapping, and Grief

taylormaria's review

challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

i honestly loved this. the plot , the characters , the conflict : chefs kiss. i def recommend you read this!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

bangiebangs's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Oh this was a tricky one.

Things I liked:
- the writing (notwithstanding occasional typos)
- the mysterious setup... this feels like a pretty new take (maybe I just havent read the book series similar to this one?)
- Gryphon. Also Atlas. They seem like rounded people who think before they act. (The rest of the bonds are just insufferably childish, self-centered dudes)

Things I disliked
- he world-building. There is some info about what these bonds are and how they work, but why, when do you usually learn about your bonds, how do you find them (like, some people are "waiting to find" them? Also, seems like you can reject a bond, what happens then? How is power heightened or acquired when a bond is completed? So many questions, but not in a good "mystery we will uncover" way, but more a "causes confusion when reading" way. Also, what is the Resistance resisting against and why? No idea. But they seem to be the baddies for some reason?
- the FMC's naivité. Annoying as hell. I'm personally not a fan of mysteriously self-sacrificing characters, especially when it is then used to explain some shitty behavior without much context?
- description of FMC through the book. She seems to have a normal (or even hot) body in the beginning, enjoying her food, and as soon as she is forced to do more physical exercise the fact her clothes don't fit and are too big gets mentioned a lot. I find that annoying. 
- How old are the bonds? Like, all around same age, or some way older? Some are councilmen and uni professors, others students?

But overall... I read this quickly, and I was hooked. Spice is not happening here (0.5/5 for some drooling over hot bodies), but that's likely because this is setting up the series. Wished that I wasn't so confused half of the time when it comes to in-world politics, but hoping that things will clear up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Stalking

Moderate: Death of parent, Car accident, and War

Minor: Abortion and Gun violence

sexual assault neglect (FMC is left without food for days on end, not being taken care of later in the book) FMC is violently implanted with a tracker (against her will)