Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Savage Bonds

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Savage Bonds by J. Bree

11 reviews

carsons1996's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious 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

4.5

Definitely more plot and character development than the first book. More of a set up for the "big show" of the series.

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pinj_'s review against another edition

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medium-paced

Loveable characters? No

1.0

Again it was a very repetitive book. I'm actually so annoyed by Oli. She just whines so much and keeps saying the same stuff; like "kill me" "i'm gonna kill myself" "i want to drown myself" "i want the ground to swallow me hole" etc etc. It's triggering to me who has had actual issues with that sort of thinking and mental health.

The book was basically the same as the first one.

As much as l love BDSM and dirty talk and hardcore fucking, it made me really uncomfortable to have Gryphon have those to be Oli's first and second times. She obviously was a virgin. They set no boundaries and no rules. Gryphon gave no warning about his likes and just did whatever. I feel it was very insensitive of Gryphon. He just said "this is how it's going to be between us" and nothing about what Oli might want and make her comfortable. There is always time for that sort of fucking later. It should have been more sensitive for her first time. She was obviously very frenziend and not in control and regretted it immidiately. Those are very serious feelings that have to be dealt with.

So no did not like this book.

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fleetwitchmac's review against another edition

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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

4.5

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hanna_montalvo's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

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sillih28's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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slyveimaeve's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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liliana_b's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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bangiebangs's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.75

I'm really enjoying the extended world-building and slow burn romance(s) in this book. It's pretty well-paced, something always keeps the story going and there weren't really any lengths for me here.

What I didn't enjoy:
- the dubious or nonexistent consent (again); they all seem ruled by their bonds occasionally, and one bonding occurs here where neither of the people involved have any agency over their actions, but the bond still completes.
- Oleander is still pretty whiny and naive. Some specks of self-esteem are showing up but if she and everyone else just communicated... this would be much less annoying.
- What I LOATHE in this series is the body shaming... like, Oleander seems to be conventionally pretty/ have a normal, slim body; throughout the book(s) she starts tactical training (sounds like basically CrossFit plus martial arts), so she gets pretty physically fit. AND STILL there are so many scenes where she just thinks about her body, like why the guys would like her "lean, toned" legs (because how is that appealing, a mystery!), or her belly (that was slim to begin with, and is now even flatter). This is also a book with the "she eats more than the guys and still doesn't put on any weight!" trope (both the FMC and her sidekick best friend).
Like, in the scene after the bonding, we're talking sex haze afterglow... just nope:

"I'm definitely not perfect but he says it with so much conviction that I desperately want to believe him. His hand begins to move to stroke over the soft skin of my belly and I'm happy that all my training has shrunk the little belly I have there. I still have one, probably because it's housing my uterus because, hi there, I'm a girl, but it's not something I'm self-conscious of anymore."

So, a completely flat belly but she needs to explain that organs need space? So over this, and it's the reason that none of these books will get 5* from me, I think. We don't know anyone's eye color iirc, but we have heard about her belly a dozen times. Hard nope.

What I enjoyed:
- some more hints at the mechanics of bonding... and possibility of manipulating it? I'm really curious to learn what is going on there.
- more of the Resistance, though I still have no idea what their goal might be other than terrorizing the Gifted community? But am looking forward to see what all the foreshadowing was about. So far, a confusing but good villain.
- the bonding itself. With my favorite. Here for it! (Spice overall would say 2/5)

So yeah, some issues with this, lots of CNs to watch out for, but still enjoyable.

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