A review by grogu_djarin
A Bond Undone by Jin Yong

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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

Overall Thoughts:
This was a fantastic follow-up to A Hero Born! While there were substantially fewer historical tie-ins, the story takes its own original direction diving deeper into the martial arts realm and strengthening the relationship between Guo Jing and Lotus. This book begins immediately from where A Hero Born left off which means the book starts on an exciting note, but unfortunately it immediately slows down a bit after that and takes a while to build momentum again, but once it gets going it stays going. I definitely recommend reading this back-to-back in order to get a smoother narrative. That said, it builds on all the groundwork laid in the first book and I binged this book like the first one because I had to find out what happened next. It's certainly a grand adventure and features everything from martial arts masters to pirates!

Likes:

• Guo Jing and Lotus are a great team and really play to each others' strengths.
• Guo Jing has a significant power-up in this book and it feels rewarding watching him grow. I especially liked his face-off with Gallant Ouyang during Apothecary Huang's trials. 
• I enjoyed getting to learn more about the five martial arts greats and several feature prominently in the story. Apothecary Huang in particular was equal parts impressive and terrifying.
• The fight scenes again were superb.
• The themes present in the first book (such as loyalty, duty, honor, love, etc) are all present in this one as well. 
• There aren't as many twists as in A Hero Born, but the ones that are there fit well into the story especially the unexpected return of a certain character.

Dislikes:

• The pacing was a bit odd. It started off probably at its most intense because it begins immediately from the cliffhanger in A Hero Born and has a quite action-packed beginning but later on there are several chapters of downtime that is mostly focused on Guo Jing training, but after a point the story picks up again and has a fairly steady pace.
• The promised face-off between Guo Jing and Yang Kang that the whole first book built up to was really underwhelming, especially compared to their fight in the first book. 
• The name localization feels even more inconsistent here. While partially localized names like Skyfury Guo and Ironheart Yang seemed alright in the first book, one of the prominent characters is called Count Seven Hong and that especially felt out of place. 

Other Notes:

• While this book ends on a cliffhanger like A Hero Born, it feels like a more natural one at that rather than in the middle of an action scene so I think you could get away with taking a break after this one if you're reading all four volumes.
• Like the first book, the appendix is full of notes that give added meaning to various cultural and historical references. Again, they aren't necessary but I found them worthwhile reading.

Would Recommend To:

• Anyone who enjoyed the first book, A Hero Born. This continues immediately from where that left off and expands the story in new directions.

Do Not Recommend To:

• Anyone who hasn't read the first book, A Hero Born, because this picks up immediately after that one.