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A review by starcrossreverie
Broken Bonds by J. Bree
emotional
fast-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
2.0
2/5. I hate how much I couldn't stop reading this book. It reminded me of the soulmate fanfics I used to read on fanfiction(dot)net in middle and high school a decade ago.
The writing is so bad to me.
The amount of times "freaking" was used was ridiculous. You can easily end up in a hospital if you turned how many times it was used into a drinking game.
The story also has that classic misogyny where every female character is an enemy to our precious female main character. Only two women are nice to her, and any other women who are nice are workers under one of her bond's payroll so they don't count.
I'm surprised all the guys weren't written to be lusting after Oli. Her character is a complete mary sue, and it's not even her powers that are the reason for me calling her that. I love overpowered characters! The reason for her mary sue label is that I'm still not over how after ONE week of Gabe training her she's able to expertly see the flaw in someone's fighting stance. And despite dropping out of high school and simply going to the library during her life on the run, she's able to immediately get good scores in a prestigious college with the help of some studying sessions.
At some points the timing was weird? Like the training with Gabe was said to went on for some time, but then Oli outright states they've been training for only a week.
The characters are pretty decent. They're cartoonish, in a half good half bad way. Some of the dialogue made me cringe, and I had to skip a few of them.
And that ending was so lackluster. The action kicks up, and then the story is abruptly over. I honestly thought there was going to be a next chapter but nope. That's just the way the story ended.
Unfortunately, this story has something I love dearly, and that is soulmate stories with some angst, plus ones where the person has multiple hot soulmates. I have a huge weakness for that in fanfics, and this is the first time I'm reading a book centered around that.
Some tiktoks have said that the other books get better, and I hope to god that's true. Please! I need this story to be written better.
I am looking forward to reading the rest of the books. I want to see North and Nox grovel for the way they treated Oli, and I hope to HIGH FUCK that she doesn't immediately forgive them. I am begging and hoping that their redemption arcs are long and filled with juicy rejections from Oli.
The writing is so bad to me.
The amount of times "freaking" was used was ridiculous. You can easily end up in a hospital if you turned how many times it was used into a drinking game.
The story also has that classic misogyny where every female character is an enemy to our precious female main character. Only two women are nice to her, and any other women who are nice are workers under one of her bond's payroll so they don't count.
I'm surprised all the guys weren't written to be lusting after Oli. Her character is a complete mary sue, and it's not even her powers that are the reason for me calling her that. I love overpowered characters! The reason for her mary sue label is that I'm still not over how after ONE week of Gabe training her she's able to expertly see the flaw in someone's fighting stance. And despite dropping out of high school and simply going to the library during her life on the run, she's able to immediately get good scores in a prestigious college with the help of some studying sessions.
At some points the timing was weird? Like the training with Gabe was said to went on for some time, but then Oli outright states they've been training for only a week.
The characters are pretty decent. They're cartoonish, in a half good half bad way. Some of the dialogue made me cringe, and I had to skip a few of them.
And that ending was so lackluster. The action kicks up, and then the story is abruptly over. I honestly thought there was going to be a next chapter but nope. That's just the way the story ended.
Unfortunately, this story has something I love dearly, and that is soulmate stories with some angst, plus ones where the person has multiple hot soulmates. I have a huge weakness for that in fanfics, and this is the first time I'm reading a book centered around that.
Some tiktoks have said that the other books get better, and I hope to god that's true. Please! I need this story to be written better.
I am looking forward to reading the rest of the books. I want to see North and Nox grovel for the way they treated Oli, and I hope to HIGH FUCK that she doesn't immediately forgive them. I am begging and hoping that their redemption arcs are long and filled with juicy rejections from Oli.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse