Thank you so much NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for a copy of this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

I had high expectations for this sequel, given how much I loved These Hollow Vows last year (was in my top 5 reads). I wanted it to blow me away, but I wasn't quite prepared for just how much it would exceed all that I hoped for. This is a fantastic read, and I don't think I'm going to be able to come down from the high it's left me on for some time.

If the theme of the first book was betrayal, the second is about trust. I loved following Abriella's journey back from the deceit and pain of the betrayals she experienced/inflicted during THV, and watching her learn how to trust in this new world as a member of the Fae. This time, the layers of the bonds that Brie created in the first book are very much so at the forefront of this journey, and whilst at times they were exasperating, I was thoroughly invested in seeing how Brie, Finn and Bash would untangle everything between them.

And okay, with the love triangle that was established in book one, I had hoped for it not to be dragged out for long in book two as it's not a favourite trope of mine. However, the way it weaved into the story, how the bond forged between Bash and Brie caused continuing challenges, and the connection between Finn and Brie morphed into something more were both written in a way that is so rewarding to read. I found myself going through the ups and downs along with Brie, understanding her frustrations and the loneliness that came from having no clear answer on who to trust. I also really appreciated Lexi Ryan's endeavour to make Brie someone who could rely on herself. She's already had to for so long in her life, but it was refreshing to see Brie refute the easy routes with both men. Her inner strength has always been something I've admired about her and seeing her reap the rewards and come into her true being through this novel made my love for her as a formidable female character grow.

The additional storyline about the dying Unseelie court, ongoing tensions with the Golden Queen, the new characters brought into this world (I love Misha so much, and he is totally joining the top ranks of the "I wish he was my friend too" club), and the return of old favourites created such an immersive experience. I felt as if I were truly along for the journey and loved what each character brought to this story both good and bad. My feelings for Finnian and Sebastian remained the same from who I adored more in the first book, and I'm very happy with how the author concluded the placement of both men in Abriella's life. Yes, a lot of my exasperation still came from Bash's actions, but I expected that, and I'm glad he continued to be the character I'd come to enjoy him as in THV. Finn continued to cement his placement as a fictional book boyfriend, and I'm thrilled with his character revelations and growth in this story too.

The romance aspects of this were even better than the first book, and holy hell, when it got steamy, you got a good glimpse at what Lexi Ryan writes best - romance. I loved the spicy moments, the genuine emotions that built through the love in this story and the pain that came from it too. I am so glad I took the time to read some of Ryan's romance in between the wait for this second book as I came to appreciate the best of both worlds she's created in These Twisted Bonds.

If anything were to be something to critique, it'd be that this world has ended. Whilst I knew this would always be a duology, I truly do hope Lexi Ryan considers revisiting this world. I'd love for her to explore the changes that concluded this world, especially around Bash and Jas' new roles. I'd also love any and every update we could get on Brie and Finn too. I do hope Lexi Ryan returns to writing fantasy again. I've thoroughly enjoyed her attempt at this genre and will continue to look forward to anything she brings out in the future too.

I so wanted to rate this book a bit higher as it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, but I think my expectations were set too high. These Hollow Vows was one of my top reads of 2021 so I went into the sequel with a lot of demands, and whilst I did love the book it didn't quite hit me in the way that the first one did.

I have to say I didn't like Brie as much in this book. After the explosive ending of book 1 I fully expected her to hand Sebastian his balls as such, but I felt like she essentially slapped him lightly on the hand for what he did to her? There's a lot of back and forth with her that made me a little dizzy, but eventually she finds her way. Sebastian is insufferable in this book, everything about him was giving me the ick. Finn is my baby and I love him with all my heart <3

I thought the plot was pretty good, but the ending felt a bit rushed. I was 85% through and it kind of seemed like it was building up for a cliffhanger into a third book, which I knew wasn't the case. Regardless, I still loved how it all played out, and I'm very excited to see what LR comes up with next! Overall I rate the duology 4/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book! What a truly fantastic conclusion to this dualogy, I was completely invested with the characters and their journeys through out! I loved how the book kicked off straight from the cliffhanger at the end of book one. The world building was even more epic in this book and not once was I left feeling that there could of been more, I was left content by the end. I look forward to more fantasy books from this author.

After reading and loving the first book I was so excited to get the arc for the sequel.
It gripped me from the start, kicking off straight from where the first book ended and I read the whole book in one day.
Just like in the first book the relationships between the various characters, both romantic and platonic, are very well written and make you really care about the characters. There were so many stand out moments and at times I was genuinely worried about how things would work out for everyone.
The only reason I am giving a 4 and not 5 is because I felt the end was slightly rushed, I would have loved for that last 5% to have gone on longer (and honestly with some tweaking the duology could have been a trilogy and I'd have loved that as well!)
I cant wait to read more fantasy books by this author in the future.

After that jaw dropping cliffhanger in These Hollow Vows, These Twisted Bonds hits the ground running, picking up immediately in the aftermath of the revelations, chaos and utter betrayals. The axis of Brie’s life has completely shifted and she must quickly decide her next plan of attack. What transpires next is a story packed with more twists, Brie’s search for her place in the world and an adventure to hopefully save the entire Faerie kingdom.

A round of applause for Lexi Ryan!!! *applause, applause applause!*
This is *thee* duology of 2022! What. A. Conclusion. I squealed, I laughed, I cried. It was heartpoundingly entertaining, intricately crafted, extremely romantic… Honestly I could be here all day raving about it.

The magic system and its function in the plot was INCREDIBLE! These Twisted Bonds explores more of the history of faerie, more specifically the formation of the seelie and unseelie courts, how each received and used their power, why the courts are split instead of one big happy kingdom, all of which I absolutely loved. It felt very satisfying finally seeing all of the threads come together in a richly descriptive way. I found These Twisted Bonds more politically developed than its predecessor, whilst remaining very light in its feeling, through Ryan’s own clever style.

On the point of clever: the twists! The turns! The plot was truly electrifying. I didn’t predict some of the plot manoeuvres, and even the bits I did predict were still great, because Ryan’s development of it all was enjoyable and engaging, her characters were interesting and their dialogue was a whole lot of fun.

Ryan upped the ante with Abriella’s character. I adored everything she can be read to stand for. She is not just a survivor: she’s a warrior who is battling the evils of the world, not just for herself but for everyone around her. Naturally, this is an exhausting role and more often than not, thankless and isolating. At the same time, she deals with very dark emotions: self loathing and loneliness, to name some. Ryan illustrated these very potent emotions so loudly, I had tears in my eyes and even ended up sobbing at Brie’s lowest points. I didn’t expect it to be so raw and painfully relatable. Her vulnerability called to me so much so it haunted me at night. I really would have climbed into the book just to give Brie that moral support and a big old hug. I love when fantasy borders that line of being so tangibly real through a character’s emotions… it was extremely powerful. In short, her characterisation was impeccable.

And the romance?? Is it actually possible to be seduced by fictional men?? I think Ryan and everyone at Hodderscape met up and said “let’s find out”. Ryan definitely feeds us, that’s safe to say. Whether all book friends will be happy with how the love triangle ends… Well, all I can say is, I definitely was. These Twisted Bonds offers more pull-and-tug, steam and heartfelt moments that made my breath catch and heart soar.

The side characters are all either likeable or serve their purpose. Would I have liked to have seen more exploration and development of other characters? In truth, yes, I would have. I’d have liked to see beyond Brie’s feelings for who she ultimately ended up with/loved, to see more of him as a person in of himself, versus what he was for/toward Brie. Also, I loved every moment of newcomer, Misha, who quite frankly almost stole the show for me. I’d loved to have learned more about him beyond his support and incredible friendship with Brie. Nevertheless, I think it’s very clear: this is very much Brie’s story, with every other character - even her love interests - serving her arc, the world building and overall plot.

These Twisted Bonds is a sequel and conclusion that delivers everything you’d expect and a little bit more to a highly readable duology that’s easy to obsess over and get swept up in. It’s fast paced, full of action and curveballs, stomach swooping romance… All of which make the books truly palpitating and the definition of a page turner. I loved this book as much as the first, I’ll happily reread both in future and I’ll cheerlead for it wherever and whenever. I was truly gutted to finish it - never being able to read it for the first time again - which is the prime example of a well loved story. So yes, Ryan and Hodderscape, if you wish to explore more stories set in this world (*cough*, maybe the Wild Fae Lands, *cough*)… I wouldn’t be against that… not at all!

Thank you beyond words to Hodderscape for an e-ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc!!

A solid follow up to the first book! I have a few copies of these ordered so I can’t wait to pop it on my shelves!

I am so grateful to have received an ARC of this book for review from the publisher via NetGalley. This was one of my most highly anticipated reads of the year, so I jumped at the chance to get my hands on it a bit early.

I reread These Hollow Vows in preparation for this and a lot of my feelings for that book hold true here. This isn't necessarily the best written book in the world, or the most original, but it still has me in a choke hold.

This continued the fast paced and addictive story right where it was left off in THV. I think a duopoly was best here, and the author did well not to drag this out to a trilogy and have a filler second book, but I still feel like this could have been 50-100 pages longer.

I'm hoping to keep this spoiler free, but there are two main reasons I've rated this four stars instead of five:

1. The ending was a bit rushed, I would have liked more time with the main characters after the immediate 'threat'.

2. I'm not entirely satisfied with the ~ahem~ aftermath of the twist at the end of book one. I feel like the author missed a great opportunity to expedite some of the relationship development points in book two based on how our main character reacted.

In saying that, I still adored this! Some of the new characters (looking @ u misha) were a hugely welcome addition I wasn't expecting, and even though some of the plot points might be considered predictable and unoriginal - I DON'T CARE. It's fun and engaging, exactly what I want from a NA fantasy book (I disagree with this being categorised as YA - same as book 1).

First of all, thank you so, so much to Netgalley for an eArc of These Twisted Bonds, which was one of my most anticipated reads of this year!

After such high standards from These Hollow Vows, the sequel certainly didn’t disappoint. The book was very fast paced and full of adventure from the very beginning, leading right on from the painful ending of These Hollow Vows. Throughout, the action packed pace continued and I ended up reading the book in less than 48 hours because I was so engrossed and invested in the plot!

There were many twists and turns, and the betrayal from one of the characters was a total shock that I didn't at all see coming. I also did not expect the ending to end how it did! I’m so, so happy that Brie ended up with who she did- I was rooting for them from the very beginning and I think they just make the perfect couple.

If you enjoyed These Hollow Vows, you should definitely read These Twisted Bonds and if you haven’t, I highly recommend reading These Hollow Vows!

Firstly I want to thank Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the e-arc, you’ve made my year!! 😍❤️

Where do I even begin with the absolutely perfectly incredible book?! It’s everything
wanted, needed and so much more.

These Twisted Bonds starts exactly where These Hollow Vows finishes. Brie rushes out of the Golden Court after being betrayed by Sebastian and is unsure of where to go and that’s where her adventure begins. We learn that there’s something wrong with The Shadow Court and that Brie, Finn and the Unseelie must journey to save it. I want to keep this spoiler free so I won’t go on too much. I just loved every second of it.

Brie is brilliant in this book. I love her friendship with Misha, he’s my new favourite and they’re relationship is the best ❤️🥰

I know everyone that’s read These Hollow Vows has a preference to which prince they want Brie to be with so I’m not saying anything about either of them on here, sorry!! 😅😅

These Hollow Vows was my favourite read of 2021 so this book was my most anticipated read of 2022 and it did not disappoint!! I am obsessed with it!! 😍😍 I put it down and wanted to pick it straight back up again (I read the epilogue 3 times). If I could I’d give it 10 stars, I really really loved it ❤️❤️

After reading These Hollow Vows, I was so excited to read its sequel, These Twisted Bonds and it totally lived up to my expectations!

I loved the first book and the second one was the perfect ending to this series. I loved that the author hasn’t dragged the series on and it leaves you feeling fulfilled. I didn’t get bored once during this book and literally demolished it in less than a day!

The plot and world building are equally beautiful in this fae fantasy series and I love the character development from book one to book two.

If you loved A Court of Thorns and Roses or The Cruel Prince… you’ll love this series!

This book is incredible. I think this may be one of my favourite duologies, if not my absolute favourite. It books up Brie's story from where we left off in these hollow vows, and the story just keeps GIVING. The tension throughout this book is elite and I can not wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this book. I have been waiting a year since I read the first one (which i completed in 24 hours) and this one did not let me down. There were times where i was holding my breathe, where I was so angry and scared that the out come I wanted wouldn't happen. I really felt the emotions of the characters and routed so hard for them. I can not recommend this enough. I absolutely adore this book and will be a firm favourite going forward. I just LOVED it.

•I’ve received this ARC from NetGalley. In this review all thoughts and opinions are my own. •



- plot, setting and writing -

If last week you heard someone screaming in distance it was probably me when I’ve received an email with this ARC. I’ve been waiting and waiting for months and I was so excited to read it.
After reading the first book “These Hollow Vows” I’ve had some expectations, which weren’t neither high nor low, so I was actually left satisfied by the conclusion of this duology, but I feel like we could have got so much more.
We didn’t get much, there’s nothing really epic a part for probably one scene which is resolved in probably two pages? I was expecting more action, when the book was more about having thousands of questions and getting answers like nothing happened.
I was pleased with how the author worked with the characters.
If I was confused by the setting and the history behind it in the first book I can now say that everything becomes clearer in “these twisted bonds”.
The writing can still improve, but it’s not bad either.


- characters -

My favorite character in the first book was Finn and he remains on the same spot, no one stole the spotlight from him. And I loved how much space it was given to him.
Then there’s Sebastian/Ronan, which I hated deeply, but throughout the book I started to sympathize more for him and I was happy with his finale.
The protagonist still feels a little flat to me, but we can see her growth from the first book.
One character I really appreciated was Misha.


- final thoughts -

Is it a good ending for a duology? Yes and no.
Yes because - as a reader - I got everything I wanted, my favorite ship became endgame, all the questions I had were answered, but that’s it.
The ending was too rushed, nothing is fixed and it was a little approximate.
There have been tons of chapters where nothing happened and a few were everything happened. On a brighter side I can say that it didn’t bother me that much, I was still very curious to see how the author would end the story, or I wouldn’t have stayed up until 4 in the morning to finish this book.
All in all good, but it could have given us so much more.


3.85 stars

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Hodder and Stoughton and Lexi Ryan for an advanced copy of These Twisted Bonds in exchange for my honest review.

I was a huge fan of These Hollow Vows when I recieved an ARC last year, and was highly anticipating the sequel. As soon as it landed on my Netgalley shelf I knew I had to stop reading everything else to make room. I was not disappointed at all. I absolutely loved the way the story flowed from the previous book, and the character development throughout just kept me enthralled. Although there were less plot twists in this book than the previous, I didn't anticipate any of them this time around.

I loved watching Brie grow, but more so I think I enjoyed getting to know Finn even more. Bash was a surprise towards the end, I was not a fan of him based on These Hollow Vows and so I think it took me a longer time to appreciate his growth, but overall I was a big fan of watching the main characters, and side characters, develop as the story continued.

Some novels really ham it up with their epilogues, but I really liked the fact that Lexi Ryan did not have hers sets 10 years into the future. What we get is just a little glimpse, seeing how the events from the rest of the book have played out and I really enjoyed that.

This book made me cry in places, laugh in others and I know I will be thinking about Brie and Bash and Finn for a long time to come.

This has been one of my most anticipated releases this year, I've wanted to read this since I closed the first book after finishing it.
This was a great conclusion, the romance was great and I'm not a romance reader, the sexy scenes where actually sexy, It was like Lizzie and Darcy but sexy. The character development was amazing and the amount of politics, history and world building in this one was such a great conclusion to the duology.
I inhaled this book, every page gripped me and I would read every fantasy book by Lexi Ryan going forward if she continues to write in this genre.

5/5

When I read These Hollow Vows I was drawn in right from the start, and These Twisted Bonds was no different! This was such an addictive read.

The sequel starts right where These Hollow Vows finished, with Brie finding herself a situation she had dreaded and not knowing who to trust.

I really enjoyed learning more about the characters, seeing Brie come into her powers, and the new side characters we were introduced to.

The world building captivated me more in this book - learning about the history and legends. The plot was well developed, and we had some mild spice thrown in too!

This book beautifully rounded off the story, but I really wish there were more books in this series because I need more!

If you enjoy books with fae, mystery, slow burn, romance with mild spice, then I could not recommend this sequel more!

Couldn't fault this sequel at all. It feels like I've been waiting to find out what happened after that twist of an ending last time and Lexi Ryan has certainly delivered.
This is a spoiler free review so I won't say too much but the characters remain ones that we have already come to love (and hate) and the world building remains strong. I love the style of writing and the effort that goes into making something like this come to life for us readers.
Definitely worth reading if you've enjoyed the first book.
Full review to be uploaded on my blog soon.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers for the early copy of this book!

I absolutely loved These Hollow Vows and devoured it in a day last year. And I just had to know what happened after the ending of the first book, immediately! I made it until this March, with much pining.

This book picks up right where the previous one left off - with Brie running away, desperate to be alone after Bash’s betrayal.

I’m glad I picked the right team in Book 1, I adore Finn, and was so glad to see a bit more of him and his personality in this book. Misha runs a close second!

From the very first moment they mentioned Mab’s line, and how ‘the golden court killed all of her descendants off, did they not?’, it was very easy to guess that Brie is of her line. It kind of ruined the story a bit, as it left little to the imagination, but I still loved the book.

The predictableness of the storyline and the sudden character change in Sebastian is the only reason it’s 4 stars - it wasn’t exactly believable that after being so stubborn and childish, he would suddenly become selfless.

Can’t wait for my beautiful finished copies to arrive!

<i>I received this ARC thanks to the Publisher and NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.</i>

I have to admit, the first book was a very nice, fast paced guilty pleasure. Not the most brilliant, never seen before plot, but obviously an entertaining one.

Here? With every next page I kinda suffered more n more, coming to a point where last hundred pages felt like walking up mount everest in flip-flops. I want to keep this review completely spoiler free, so even ones that didn't read first book could hear my word, so I won't be talking much about the actual plot. Rather write down, what just felt wrong for me:

--Pacing - as I've mentioned, book one of this duology felt fun-fast paced, so you wouldn't even notice any flaws, as you'd be more focused to slurp down the story all at once. Here, the pacing was weird to say the least. Sometimes we saw MC do nothing for good part of the book, than it was action packed, than it again slowed down, and the actual ending and <i>final confrontation</i> felt like written down in minutes just to fit the book within 500 pages. I don't want to judge this just on the fact, that I couldn't read it as fast as it's not the point, but I hope you can understand what I'm trying to name in my statement above. It was just... strange.

--being YA - I know we all count first ACOTAR trilogy as YA even thou we shouldn't as much, glad it was later rebranded, but here I wouldn't call it just "sexy" for marketing purposes. It felt simply as too much description as for YA book. I don't want to sound like an old lady, as I'm 22 yo myself, but sometimes it's just so wrong for Abriella to focus on... getting closer with the <i>males</i> rather than keeping her mind on her aims. With first book plot seemed to be mostly centered around the actual story (and solving Abriella's problems that brought her to Fae realm). These twisted bonds was more like a tasteless competition of who's better at... you know what.

--cliché threads and solutions - I wouldn't say that I'm too old now for some ways the usual YA fantasy are written, but I could summarise this book as A Court of Mist and Fury combined with A Crown of gilded bones and you'd literally know everything about this book. I wasn't within ones comparing These hollow vows to other YA books, as the story felt refreshing then, but it sadly took a wrong turn in the sequel and made it just another YA fantasy series with same ending as all the others.

I may've sounded boring, constantly comparing this installment to the first one, but that's exactly what hurts me the most. That somehow story that I've really enjoyed at first could turn out to something so... unnecessary. I'm glad it wasn't stretched out to a trilogy, as it wouldn't be the righ solution to fix the pacing, it should rather be edited more efficiently, to gain more screentime for stuff that was rushed, and less suffering for the reader with the parts that felt simply boring.

Having my hopes high, and being met with such a disappointment, even if I did have fun at some parts I'm sorry to say that I can't give this conclusion any more than a 3 star rating. I do want to read more from Lexi Ryan in the future, so all I can do is keep fingers crossed that she'll make better choices with whatever will come.

I was so happy to receive an arc of this book and I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. It is well written with a compelling plot and well developed characters, all wrapped up in excellent world building. Full of vivid descriptions and rich imagery I felt like I could be on the pages with the characters and honestly I wish I had been. I found some elements of the plot to be predictable, but I didnt care I was invested and I was loving it.

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for an E-Arc.
So I sort of have a love hate relationship with these books. I am not a fan of love triangles but really enjoyed book 1 and I also really disliked Brie as well. Now, These Twisted Bonds picks up straight after the end of book 1. I really don't like a big gap in time between books! Unfortunately for me, Brie continues to annoy me for the majority of this book. She does have some redeeming qualities though, she is very selfless and is always thinking of others. We meet a new character who I really like and I enjoyed the relationship between them and Brie. Sebastian really bugged me in this book to, but then there was that weird part of me that liked the "possessive, I found you first you're mine" trait that he has. Finn, is just perfection though, that male is everything, there is no comparison!!!!!
The story kept me wanting more, I liked the plot and all the little pieces falling into place, there was plenty going on to keep me turning those page and I really liked the ending!
Overall, even though I wasn't a massive fan of the main character I still really enjoyed these books.