28th June 2021
After the death of my mother and her Bonded, I was relieved to find my own Bonds.
I was sure everything would be okay if I had them.
It wasn’t.
The fate of our people is in my hands and I know we’re better off if I’m alone.
After five years on the run, I’m caught and dragged back to face the men I ran away from.
I thought I was doing the right thing.
Now, I’m not so sure.
North, Nox, Gryphon, Atlas, and Gabe may never forgive me but one thing is for sure.
I won’t ever forgive myself.
First things first: I’m back!
I took a break from reviewing to sit my exams, and it ended up dragging into a much longer break because I felt so burnt out. But I’m keen to get back into the swing of things, so let’s start with this offering by a popular reverse harem author. It’s my first J. Bree book, but unfortunately, the SPECTACULAR premise got let down on the execution.
19-year-old Oleander (which is an amazing name, shame she shortens it to Oli) lives in a world where some people get Bonds, basically fated mates. She has five of them, but she ran away from them at age 14 after her parents died in a car crash. When they finally track her down again, they’re not pleased – and they’re determined to make sure she knows it. But everything she did was for their own good…
✔️ The quickest way to make me get behind a bully romance is have there be an actual REASON for the bullying. Heroine who runs away from the heroes? Totally, sign me up. Her actions meant that I was more willing to tolerate crappy behaviour from the heroes than I otherwise would’ve been.
✔️ I’m a massive fan of a heroine who’s way more dangerous than her heroes.
✔️ Oleander is a decent heroine. Not stupid, not sweet, pretty much normal.
✔️ The heroes did – just about – feel like distinct people. Some are a lot less defined than others, but in general it’s been a week and I still broadly remember all of them.
But:
❌ There is some OW drama. I didn’t exactly mind that the heroes weren’t celibate while the heroine was gone, because she made it very clear that she was ditching them, but the OW drama continues after she comes back. Mostly it’s obvious that they’re desperately trying to make her jealous, and I love that she wasn’t really getting jealous, but this will probably bother some readers.
❌ Needs to be a lot more worldbuilding. Like, where did Bonds come from? How do you know someone’s your Bond? How did the guys know she was their bond from childhood when they’d never met each other before?
⤅ Overall
I’m excited for the sequel, but I’m keeping my expectations mid-range.
The Literary Invertebrate 