I don't understand how this was so long but basically nothing happens. i don’t know why i was expecting this to be any different. Sooo much dialogue.

the romance was so lacking!! like where’s the angst and the pining and the jealousy??? we barely skimmed the surface of what it should be like.

I'm basically not satisfied. Then again, I didn't like the first book and this was no exception.

These Twisted Bonds is the fantastic sequel of These Hollow Vows & it not only has an absolute gorgeous cover but also a fantastic storyline! The pace & plot was easy to follow but it yet had you on the edges of your seat! The love triangle with fake dating, angst, sexual tension & politics & scheming makes you scream ,cry , makes you happy & probably on one or two occasions makes you want to throw the book across your room because you can not believe what you just have read. The expansion of world building & character development makes this book even better.
These Twisted Bonds is one of my few 5 star ratings this year so i definitely recommend it!!

I didn't realise this was the second book of the series when I requested it but it covered enough of the backstory that I didn't feel I'd missed out. Unfortunately this book didn't really work for me and I found it really long.

If you liked ACOTAR you will probably love this series. Fae politics, and a human-turned-fae girl trapped in a love triangle with two fae princes. It definitely has strong acotar vibes. And I mean that in a good way!

I really enjoyed this book, as much as I liked the first in the series. The characters and plot are really interesting, and I was totally rooting for Brie as she made Finn and Sebastian grovel after their behaviour in book one. This was a really satisfying conclusion to the duology.

The suspense, the romance, the drama were all stellar. This is YA fantasy romance at its best.

This is one of those books that proves tough to review. I enjoyed the story, the writing was good, and I never came close to DNF'ing but it just didn't have that indefinable something that fires my little reader's soul. It's similar to having cornflakes for breakfast. It will fill me and I'll enjoy it but they're a bit bland and if eggs benedict were on offer I'd much rather have them.


Positives of the story were that this cleverly dropped reminders of book 1 without rehashing too much of the plot and getting boring. There was a LOT of plot and it didn't feel overly predictable, obvious or trite. For a fair part of the book, I wasn't even sure how the Sebastian/Finn/Brie tangle would be resolved. Added into all that was the quality of writing, the prose is good, it flows smoothly and the dialogue felt natural.


Sadly though, this lacked the emotional depth I would have expected from such a long book. The pacing was just a little too fast resulting in scenes that lacked depth and showed no character growth. The author would have been better served by either cutting some of the scenes or having made it a longer series to have added extra profundity and detail to the events that happened. The overly convoluted path taken to reach the book's resolution meant a large number of events were covered but not explored in any real detail. Very much a case of "we're going to do this" followed very swiftly by "oh we've done that now". This led to a lot of telling rather than showing and problems that were far too easily solved. The "epic final battle" was a total let down whilst the foreshadowing was rather clumsy, almost resulting in a deus ex machina moment.


The characters we met at the start of the story were no different to the ones we left at the end and, if I'm being brutally honest, most of them lacked depth in this book. The book focused too much on the emotional issues between the three MCs but in a repetitive way that neither drove the plot forward nor helped the characters mature. Sebastian felt quite superfluous at times, more of a plot device and less an important character. Other than Misha the supporting characters also fell very flat with some, like Juliana, feeling more like caricatures than people.


Despite all that, I did enjoy this duet it's a very pleasant read that I would recommend, particularly if you aren't looking for a story with great depth to it. Sometimes one just wants an entertaining read that doesn't require too much thought or effort, and this fits the bill perfectly.

Brie is now the thing she once hated most, a fae. Tangled up in a web of her own making, loving two fae princes and trying to find something or someone to trust in Faerie is nearly impossible. With a civil war on the horizon in the Unseelie Court, Brie must figure out where she stands.

Thank you to @netgalleyuk for the ARC copy of These Twisted Bonds in exchange for my review. You know a book is fantastic when you’re only 60% of the way through and you’re so captivated by it that you order yourself a physical copy… somehow reading this book just once and not owning a physical copy just isn’t it. I am obsessed with Faerie, with the Unseelie Court, with the magic of it all and I honestly didn’t want this book to end. There were so many moments I gasped out loud, I even stayed up til stupid o’clock in the morning to keep reading because I couldn’t take my eyes away from this story.

This duology has easily become one of my favourites that I have ever read. If anyone finds a portal that leads to the Unseelie Court, please let me know. I want to go back.

These Twisted Bonds was a satisfying end to the duology. I really enjoyed the first book so was excited to read the sequel, and it did not disappoint - if you’re a fan of love triangles written well, great character development and a little sprinkling of spice, this is the perfect duology - especially if you’re a fae fan looking for something new to read!

Author: Lexi Ryan
Genre: Fantasy
Age Range: Young Adult
Format: E-Book (ARC)
Published: 19th July 2022
Pages: 476
Rating: 3 Stars

Goodreads Synopsis

Brie finds herself caught between two princes and two destinies while the future of the fae realm hangs in the balance.

After Abriella's sister was sold to the fae, she thought life couldn't get any worse. But when she suddenly finds herself caught in a web of lies of her own making ¬- loving two princes and trusting neither - things are not quite as clear as she once thought.

As civil war wages in the Court of Darkness, Brie finds herself unable to choose a side. How can she know where she stands when she doesn't even know herself anymore? In this darkly romantic thrill ride, the more Faerie is torn apart from the inside, the clearer it becomes that prophecies don't lie and Brie has a role to play in the fate of this magical realm - whether she likes it or not.

Review

Trigger Warnings: Violence, Blood, Gore, Murder, Loss of a loved one, and Miscarriage.

This review may contain spoilers.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley, however, this in no way influenced my opinion. Thank you to the publisher Hodder and Stoughton for providing me with a copy.

After reading These Hollow Vows last year and wanting to find out what happened next after the plot twist at the very end of the book, I requested an ARC of this second and final book in this series and was so happy that I was approved. While I did enjoy this, I actually preferred the first book which I reread before starting this and actually loved it a lot more than I did when I first read it. As I was excited to pick this up, I was gripped from the very first page wanting to know what Brie was going to do next and it definitely held my attention throughout the story as it built up to the conclusion. My main issue with this novel was that everything was building up to an action-packed finale but when it came to it the resolution was lacklustre, so I felt a little bit disappointed at how easily the issues were resolved. One aspect of this that I did enjoy was that we got a lot more worldbuilding in this novel than in the first as we learned more about the magic and world which I liked. Another thing that I liked about this novel was Brie, I feel that she had a lot of development in this instalment, which was great to see, and I enjoyed seeing her powers develop. Honestly, Sebastian got on my nerves quite a bit in this book, every time he showed up, I was rolling my eyes - he was insufferable. Whereas I loved Finn’s character a lot and again we got to learn more about his backstory which I enjoyed.

Overall, this was a decent YA Fantasy novel that held my attention however, I do feel that the ending was underwhelming.

I binged both books back to back, I was grateful that I could since book one (These Hollow Vows) left us on quite the cliff hanger! My biggest concern going into this duology was knowing it had a love triangle in it and normally I'm not a fan of that trope. At. All. But I thought it was done pretty well here, the characters had enough redeeming qualities that I didnt find the long road to the resolution as painful as I normally would. What really won me over though was the plot. It was an interesting premise and I found it absorbing. Though some might find it a tad formulaic, (its your usual run of the mill fae fantasy fare) dont let that put you off, as I lapped it up regardless! I found there were enough quirkiness and plot twists to keep me wanting more. If I could have I would have read it in one sitting! In These Twisted Bonds, we get to see the world expand and new characters introduced (Misha was a scene stealing character, loved him)adding more complexity to the story which I appreciated alot. One last thing I want to point out is that personally I'd class it more as a New Adult rather than YA read based on some of the content. So overall I enjoyed book 2 just as much as book 1 and thought it was an extremely satisfying conclusion to the duology. I can see myself rereading this when I am in the mood for a bingeable, not too complex a fantasy that is guaranteed to be a good time. I gave it 20/20 for how throughly entertained I was.

I enjoyed these Hollow Vows and so I was excited to read the sequel, however unfortunately I just didn't enjoy this as much as book 1. I found it quite hard to get into from the beginning and for some reason found the pace to be very slow. I found Brie and her choices to be quite annoying and most of the time couldn't understand where she was coming from, I think that I'm not becoming too old for some YA books! The love triangle was dragged out as well and felt the ending was a bit rushed.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this e-arc in exchange for my honest thoughts.

4.5★

betrayal, friends to lovers to enemies, love triangle, found family 🧚🏻

this book was an absolute rollercoaster, it was such a wild ride. however, i think towards the end it feels a bit rushed but still great nonetheless. i enjoyed the ending a lot, id love another book but honestly who doesnt when they finish a book!

the tension in book 1 was incredible, but the tension in this was 100x better 🥵 love love loved this! and oh wow sexy brunette fae men - we love 🫶🏻

These Twisted Bonds is a fitting conclusion to the duology, even if it had less action than the first.

It starts with Brie running from Sebastian's betrayal and finding refuge with Misha and the wild fae. That was honestly my favourite part, and the fact that she kept shoving both Finn and Sebastian out of her dreams whenever they tried to appear.

I was cheering for her to either end up alone or with Misha, and unfortunately neither happened. But don't worry, it never turns into a love square, I just saw Misha and latched on to him because he's the best male character in the series and no one can tell me otherwise.

So she does choose, AND SHE CHOOSES WRONG. I said what I said.

Well, both of them would be the wrong choice really, but I'd hate the other choice a tiny bit less. I felt like that other choice had slightly more chemistry than the final one, but that's just me.

The main focus of this book was the romance, but also how to save the Unseelie lands and people, and that could drag a bit in some parts.

It took the characters almost the whole book to get to a point where they had any idea what to do, and then it was solved rather quickly. It would've been better if the epilogue was more about the court and people recovering than the actual thing it was about.

I did like the solution overall, and the mystery of Brie's power, it was handled well. Again though, I'd love if her "final power" was explored more after, now I'm just assuming she did it once and is a master of it, easy peasy.

Finally, IF A MISHA SPINOFF ISN'T PLANNED IT SHOULD BE!!! WE NEED IT!!! I'd die to see him on a cover of his own.

*Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*

While I wasn’t loving These Hollow Vows, I was excited to read the sequel. The main reason being that Brie always felt like just a pawn in the first book, with no real will of her own and stuck in a frankly boring love triangle. But the ending left me with hope of her finally claiming her rightful place as a player to be reckoned with. And that’s what I got in These Twisted Bonds, at least at first.

It had such a promising start with Brie being really badass and the part with the Wild Fae Court was just the best thing I’ve read so far in this book. Also, Mischa is the best guy in these books. So much more charismatic than Sebastian or Finn.
The middle part of the book was a bit meh, the old love triangle showing its ugly head again. It was just so boring, and I got so tired of reading it. Like what’s the point if she’s clearly only interested in one of the guys? It was just also so underwhelming in contrast to the bigger adventure. So once the adventure was resumed and love triangling was basically put at an end, the story picked up again and I enjoyed the last part of the book.

It is better than the first book, as Brie gets more time to shine in her own right and features lots more fun adventures. There’s some parts that could have been better and definitely not to my taste. I overall had a fun time with this book.

5⭐️ 2 🌶

I loved this duology! First of all I really appreciate how much world building, character development, and plot the author fit into two books. I loved the characters and was sad when I finished but was also so grateful it wasn’t dragged out over 4+ books.

This series took me on a roller coaster of emotions. I couldn’t put it down. The sheer panic I felt when I thought the book was close to being wrapped up and the characters were hit with another curve ball. I had to triple check to make sure this wasn’t a trilogy. But all of my panic and angst was worth it. This ended perfectly, with true love and characters willing to make big sacrifices for the betterment of the realm.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 starts

This story grabbed from the start and didn’t disappoint my fantasy loving heart. Intriguing and surprising at times, I loved the world and dynamics between the main characters, plus some found family members that I won’t mention because reasons (reasons being spoilers).
Without giving too much away, the story starts right where the first book ended. I was full of theories (I was FULL of theories) and even under the weight of my own expectations, I could not have predicted the outcome. All I am going to say is: “there was only one horse” should definitely be a trope and congratulations to the author for making me obsess with this story and its characters.

Thanks to the author and Hodder & Stoughton for gifting the ARC via Netgalley. All opinions and crazy thoughts are my own

Thank you so much Hodderscape for this ARC - I absolutely loved it!

I was super excited to be approved for this book because I adored These Twisted Vows. This book picks straight up from the brutal cliffhanger of book one and Bash’s betrayal! We follow Brie on her new path of trying to right the dying court.

I love Lexi Ryan’s writing - she pulls me in so effortlessly and makes me need more and more. I love Brie!! Her character development was amazing! I really enjoyed that the love triangle was a lot more prominent in this book (favourite trope!), with both Finn and Bash bringing their different personalities to the forefront. As we get more background on both MMC’s, I found myself making an informed choice for who I wanted Brie with more. I almost felt a little sorry for Bash in this book.

Overall, a brilliant fantasy book with perfect world building, romance, magic and twists throughout! Highly recommend this duology.

PS. I want MORE from this world…. Please.

"These Twisted Bonds" is the conclusion of "These hollow vows" duology.

When I read the first book I found the story very promising, mainly because of the Fae courts and the world building, bit i didn't connect with the characters and the story was enjoyable, but not original.

Sadly, the second book didn't meet my expectations. The main problem than I had was the pacing. It was either too slow and at some points way to rushed... This combined with the lack of emotional growth of the characters, made me lose any interest in the story.

So, even though I had a nice time reading the book, I think it had some problems, regarding things that to me are essential to make me love a book.

Thank you to the publisher and the NetGalley for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

Nooo I’m so disappointed!

I loved These Hollow Vows, I read it in a day, I couldn’t put it down but These Twisted Bonds fell flat for me. For a start it felt far too long, it was very dialogue heavy and not a great deal of plot or world building. The back and forth between Bash and Finn became irritating quite quickly and Brie was quite annoying.

The pacing was off too, it was very slow until around the 80% mark and then the ending felt quite rushed.

I’ve really struggled when deciding what to rate it.. I think 2.75 stars but that may change when I’ve thought more about it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I did enjoy this conclusion to the duology, though it did feel fairly cliche and like everything was a bit rushed to all wrap up at the end. Brie is a compelling main character and the love triangle element of the plot did feel better in this book (though those faerie soul bonds have got a lot to answer for!). I didn't see the exact twist coming but knew there would be something to make Brie more connected to the faerie world. All in all, an enjoyable duology if you like slightly spicy tales of faerie!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton for this ARC.

These Twisted Bonds picks up directly after the end of These Hollow Vows with Sebastian’s betrayal.

We now find Brie coming to terms with her new reality and adapting to her dreaded situation.

Lexi Ryan continued to build a captivating world and the detail of legends and history were second to none!

Overall, I thought this was a beautiful end to the duology and left me wanting more from this world. I found it really refreshing that, compared to other books, the epilogue wasn’t set 5 or 10 years later and we got to a more realistic and satisfying ending, instead of having to guess what has happened in those years that have passed.