Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Broken Bonds by J. Bree

22 reviews

simplicity1511's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Every book but the last one ends in a cliffhanger. However, it feels like 1 book just divided into 6 parts which means no unnecessary summarizing of the previous books in the story.  I devoured each book within a week, which is why I recommend getting all the books at once if you hate cliffhangers.

The first two books are mainly told from Oli's perspective except in the second where we get a North Prologue. Every other book that follows is told from the various characters in the bonded group.

I found I wanted to know what the other characters were thinking a lot more than just hearing Oli's perspective since I'm so used to reading at least dual points of view or from the past and present within a story.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND CHECKING OUT THE TRIGGER WARNINGS I POSTED BECAUSE THEY WILL GIVE YOU A BETTER IDEA IF THIS BOOK SERIES IS FOR YOU. I RECOMMENDED A SIMILAR BOOK THAT'S YA (YOUNG ADULT) BUT STILL HAS ALL THE GREAT PLOTS THAT I ENJOYED IN THE BONDS THAT TIE WITHOUT ALL THE SUPER DARK INTENSE THEMES.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment and Bullying

Minor: Torture and Death of parent

I think if you're going to start this series you should know all the trigger warnings ahead of time before you become invested. Some of these content warnings are spoilers.

explicit sexual content, threesomes, orgies, war, murder, violence, explicit depiction of torture, incest/pedophilia, rapes and attempted rape (mentioned but not explicit), cult brainwashing, domestic & child abuse

The first two books make it seem like this story is like Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead where the main character leaves for a year and then is forced to come back, even though she and her best friend are being targetted making their school unsafe for them. Add some supernatural elements, hot guys and complicated family relationships and BAM a young adult version of "The BONDS THAT TIE' which is a dark ADULT romance series. If these trigger warnings scare you then I suggest reading Vampire Academy as the content in this series gets darker as you read.

phlipsie's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Confinement, and Abandonment

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

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Slavery, Abortion, Sexual violence, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail

sbordo's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Bullying, Abandonment, and Sexual assault

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

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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

grace33's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, and Sexual content

Minor: Car accident

amberandthings's review

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Sexual assault

Moderate: Bullying

Minor: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Car accident, and Death of parent

jackieyvette's review

dark 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

0.5

I would have said at least a 3.25 if it did not have an SA scene, so that is the only thing that let it get more than a 0. I was not expecting it it literally came out of nowhere and was the only explicit scene in the whole book. 


Crying score: no. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Grief, Car accident, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture

Minor: Vomit

booksalacarte's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.75

2.75⭐️ 2.5🌶️ (1 SA scene not included)

This was out of my comfort zone. Reverse Harem just isn’t for me. From this I’ve found that I am just not a fan of more than 1 love interest in a book.

It’s an entertaining read, bachelor-esk and surprisingly has quite a bit of plot outside of the main relationships. I appreciate the RH clarification in the synopsis from the author. There is also a LOT of cursing in this book.

Forced proximity

One bed

Instalove

Slow burn

Strong friendships

Life on the run

College life

Oil being 19, in college, and forced into living under house arrest isn’t my ideal set up. But the prologue was attention catching, for sure.

It reads as a little bit of a bully romance… but for the world building, kinda-almost-maybe justified? But I hate the name calling (effing B*tch) between main love interests. It feels super disrespectful and foul. Especially from someone, or many, who are supposed to be endgame love interests. I hate it. I don’t even like typing out the words. There was also a SA scene with a love interest. Be aware.

The romance was slow burn, which is good, considering the vitriol that is flying left and right. There is a lot to make up for and any actual romance would have been gross without warming up.

The world building was really minimal, which it being a contemporary romantic fantasy isn’t as important as a high fantasy. But I found a lot to be desired in that area. The magic system is interesting, but very vague. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Alcohol, Car accident, Gaslighting, Murder, Cursing, Alcoholism, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

emwith's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Confinement

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Emotional abuse

Minor: Death of parent, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Rape, Abandonment, Violence, Abortion, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Fire/Fire injury

tifcochran's review

dark emotional funny tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Bullying, and Death of parent

Moderate: Abandonment