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A review by princessleopard
Mystic Bonds by C.C. Solomon
3.0
Preface: I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review
Explicit content: Violence, kidnapping, attempted sexual assault, death
Actual rating: 3.25 stars
I read a lot of books with potential but weak execution, and this is a typical example. You have an interesting premise with an excuse to go full fantasy-kitchen-sink, but nothing's really done with it. There's no attempt to explain what happened or why the world is the way it is, or any real internal logic (turns out there's fairies and trolls and all that stuff, but also angels and literal hell - and no one thinks this is remarkable).
Aside from a world, in a story, you also either need a strong plot, or strong characters, and this novel has neither. Plot-wise, it's just a lot of waffling as our characters float from one town to another without any real purpose. They kinda wanna save their friends, but take their sweet time. They kinda feel like they need to go to the town they see in their dreams, but don't really know why. They kinda want revenge on the villain, but after he gets sent to literal hell (?!) they just forget about him, until he pops up again, like every bad slasher villain ever. Any time something bad happens, either our MC pulls new powers out of her butt, or someone else swoops in to save the day, rinse and repeat.
Similarly, the characters are fairly bland and one-dimensional. Our main character knows almost nothing about her own powers, despite having had them for 9 years when the story opens. Similarly, she learns absolutely no lessons about risking herself to help strangers, despite doing so leading to the kidnapping and captivity of herself and her brother for six long months. She's just naive and trusting to a fault. The other characters are similarly one-note. Erik is big and gruff and protective (i.e. every were-creature ever). Her brother is...there, sometimes (I'm not sure he even gets to legit use his powers a single time). The girly girl is girly. The bartender is...also there. Felix is a gentle giant. And Philip is a psycho. Seriously, there's supposed to be a love triangle, but there's absolutely no competition. Erik is a big tough hot-but-gentle guy who actually talks about his feelings like a mature adult. Philip controls peoples minds for the greater good and...psychically makes normal humans commit suicide? Traps the main character in solitary confinement for a week? Chops off a rule-breaker's hand? But he's supposed to be a good guy at heart, just misunderstood. Eye roll. I also get the nasty feeling he's this triangle's "winner" - like Erik is going to sacrifice himself for them, or something. Ick.
All that said, the writing style to this isn't terrible. There's nothing particularly offensive or irritating. It's just a bland, paranormal fantasy read. Nothing really to hate, but nothing really to love, either.
Explicit content: Violence, kidnapping, attempted sexual assault, death
Actual rating: 3.25 stars
I read a lot of books with potential but weak execution, and this is a typical example. You have an interesting premise with an excuse to go full fantasy-kitchen-sink, but nothing's really done with it. There's no attempt to explain what happened or why the world is the way it is, or any real internal logic (turns out there's fairies and trolls and all that stuff, but also angels and literal hell - and no one thinks this is remarkable).
Aside from a world, in a story, you also either need a strong plot, or strong characters, and this novel has neither. Plot-wise, it's just a lot of waffling as our characters float from one town to another without any real purpose. They kinda wanna save their friends, but take their sweet time. They kinda feel like they need to go to the town they see in their dreams, but don't really know why. They kinda want revenge on the villain, but after he gets sent to literal hell (?!) they just forget about him, until he pops up again, like every bad slasher villain ever. Any time something bad happens, either our MC pulls new powers out of her butt, or someone else swoops in to save the day, rinse and repeat.
Similarly, the characters are fairly bland and one-dimensional. Our main character knows almost nothing about her own powers, despite having had them for 9 years when the story opens. Similarly, she learns absolutely no lessons about risking herself to help strangers, despite doing so leading to the kidnapping and captivity of herself and her brother for six long months. She's just naive and trusting to a fault. The other characters are similarly one-note. Erik is big and gruff and protective (i.e. every were-creature ever). Her brother is...there, sometimes (I'm not sure he even gets to legit use his powers a single time). The girly girl is girly. The bartender is...also there. Felix is a gentle giant. And Philip is a psycho. Seriously, there's supposed to be a love triangle, but there's absolutely no competition. Erik is a big tough hot-but-gentle guy who actually talks about his feelings like a mature adult. Philip controls peoples minds for the greater good and...psychically makes normal humans commit suicide? Traps the main character in solitary confinement for a week? Chops off a rule-breaker's hand? But he's supposed to be a good guy at heart, just misunderstood. Eye roll. I also get the nasty feeling he's this triangle's "winner" - like Erik is going to sacrifice himself for them, or something. Ick.
All that said, the writing style to this isn't terrible. There's nothing particularly offensive or irritating. It's just a bland, paranormal fantasy read. Nothing really to hate, but nothing really to love, either.