Reviews with content warning for Child death - Blood Bonds

Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Blood Bonds by J. Bree

12 reviews

witcheep's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

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

1.5

I really should stop trying to give this series new chances. It isn't for me, even if the bonds getting personified and getting interaction as POV chapters is somewhat interesting.

I find the plot as a whole too superficial to really care about. The motivations for the resistance aren't very clear or well-articulated: what are they resisting, if they are represented as super evil powerhungry

torturers, mindwashers, and child-abductors/killers

? The resistance's main role seems to be the BBEG organization that is there to cause shock and horrors. The worldbuilding begins crumbling down when every action seems just like a rushed reaction to something, without the reasoning being shown properly. So much of the reasonings is only briefly mentioned (not even properly told) rather than shown, which makes the plot feel very shallow.

My main icks with the series are the same as with the previous books, though:

The bonded group is way too possessive in every way. One bonded would like to lock Oleander away so no one else can even look at her, and another would prefer parading her around to show everyone that she is his. Oleander isn't much better herself.
The men of the bonded group try to take away Oleander's agency in turns, and they often overlook the consept of consent completely in more than one area of life. They also joke about it (in the lines of "maybe you should have a gps chip again", for example). The bypassing of consent is represented as somewhat acceptable because it stems from the possessiveness and a want to keep the central bond safe. This is very offputting and problematic to read.

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jla's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Pretty good plot, just some minor annoyances. The age of the characters just doesn't do it for me. Griffin, North and Gabe I like. They seem more mature. I really like Kieran, too.

Atlas is a bit too saccharin.

I really can't get over Nox and his toxicity, and I'm not looking forward to 3 more books of that. We get it he was abused as a kid. I'm guessing one of the abducted brainwashed gifted, but how he can hold onto his opinion of her despite all the evidence contrary is dumb.

That cliffhanger, though...ugh.

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onyxghost's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

There is significantly more spice in this book but still less than you would expect from the third book in a RH

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dkgreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.0

Daaaaaaamn! Didn’t see that ending coming! I’m fully invested in this series at this point, especially after that cliffy. I like getting to know the Bonds/Bonded better and see how their family unit is growing stronger. Oli’s gifts are insane and badass. I desperately need to know Nox’s story, so I hope we dig deeper into that in the next book. Pretty grateful that I stumbled on this series after it was already completed so I can binge the hell out of it, lol!

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iben_flor's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

2.0

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wellreadandhalfdead's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

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koistyfishy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.5

4.5 Void Eye Stars ⭐
Spice Rating: 🌶️🌶️/5

These books are becoming too serious, we only had 260 fucks...where are the 466 like Book 1???

This book and its brilliance can be summarised into 3 words... North "FUCKING" Draven!!!!

There is something about a domineering, possessive, rich, gorgeous, overprotective, sophisticated asshole that my brain just turns into mushy peas. EVEN when the man does absolutely nothing extraordinary. JUST OH MY GOD were my insides squealing and squirming every time that man came on page! He could literally say the most unflattering and unsexiest thing alive and I'd still have hearts in my eyes.

So I am not going to repeat my complaints about these books, because I was vocal about them in my previous reviews - and they are still very very present in this instalment . These books are not perfect. There hasn't been some you know, miraculous epiphany (or rewrite of the entire style) to make those horrible annoying things go away. So if you want more details into the shit that annoyed me you can read my reviews from book 1 and book 2.

The main issue I have with this book is the story is starting to feel quite repetitive. It seems to have lost "something" as everything that caused angst, drama or shocks almost seems to have happened in some shape or form in book 1/2 and we are following the same rinse-and-repeat shampoo and conditioner cycle. A LOT of this book could have been skipped or skimmed and you wouldn't miss much...The ending cliffhanger though - that's still a bitch and the worst one yet!

I don't want it to seem like I was super annoyed with the book as there were aspects I loved... North Draven, North Draven, North Draven, North "FUCKING" Draven!!!! BUT we see a little bit more into the bond system and how sentient the "bonds" actually are, especially for some people. There is a little bit more added to the dynamic of bonds and bonded people and there is a lot of character development that happens. Except for Nox...He is still a sexy enigma. The men also now know almost everything that happened with Oli and her motivation for her choices in the past and this does change how some of them act towards her.

I also enjoyed that we do get a couple more POVs added into the story. We have some chapters from the men's point of view, which was a nice touch to be out of Oli's head all the time, and we finally meet the ~~monster~~ bond...

Overall this was still an enjoyable read. I loved this and I inhaled it because it's literary crack...

Also North Draven has also introduced my new favourite trope that I didn't know I needed in my life. Shadow Bondage...now that I have discovered how my brain melts for it...I NEED IT WITH RABID URGENCY! If you know about any books where you know shadows are used as restraints... Hook a girl up cause apparently my brain can't get enough...

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