The Broken Bonds novel is a part of The Bonds That Tie by J. Bree. More specifically, Broken Bonds belongs to the first part of The Bonds That Tie. “Bonds” is the keyword that we find throughout the sequels, including this novel. It means the same as “mates” in werewolfverses.
Meet Oleander (a.k.a “Oli”), a 19-year-old college student who is trying to live her normal life. As a Soul Render in the Broken Bonds novel, Oli has the power to instantly kill someone by taking away the soul and creating horror in the target’s mind that drives the target to suicide.
However, Oli is scared of her powers, so, my guess is, that’s why she spends five years of her time running away from people… And more specifically, the “Bond” word.
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Oli of Broken Bonds always avoids people who have the potential to change from “Bonds” to “Bonded”. However, there are many times that she can no longer run away from guys who end up being her circle. These guys love Oli so much, and Oli doesn’t have any ill intentions toward them, too.
So, five guys are already in Oli’s circle, each with a different superpower. Which one of the guys will Oli ends up with?
- Part 1: Meet The Characters Of Broken Bonds
- Part 2: Story Of Broken Bonds
- Part 3: Meet The Author Of Broken Bonds
- Part 4: Alternative To Broken Bonds
Part 1: Meet The Characters Of Broken Bonds
Oleander (a.k.a “Oli”)
For me, Oleander sounds like a male name – had the author of Broken Bonds never refers the main character as “she”, I would probably always guess she is a male. Yet, here it goes – she has a nickname of “Oli”, which strengthen her gender identity as a female character.
Oli has lost her parents since the first introductory chapters of Broken Bonds. She may have the deadliest power among all of her circle – nonetheless, Oli is a kind-hearted, loyal, understanding, and empathetic person. She has gone through so many difficult things, yet, she doesn’t lose hope.
The Guys
The five guys of Broken Bonds are the guys that Oli meets on her journey. Each of the five guys has a different superpower, and they will go stronger as they bond closer with Oli. They are Nox and his older brother, North, Gabriel a.k.a Gabe, Atlas, and Gryphon a.k.a Gryph.
Both Nox and North have powers to control the shadows, even though they use their powers in different ways. Other guys, like Gabe, can turn into any type of predator; Atlas can use his super-strength to tear things apart without hassle, and; Gryph the soldier-minded guy can manipulate people’s minds.
Part 2: Story Of Broken Bonds
The story of Broken Bonds novel starts by telling the readers that Oli feels traumatized after she witnesses her parents die in front of her eyes. After all, Oli learns many things from her parents, including the “Bond” concept. For so long, she has held dear to the “Bond” concept that her parents taught her, and she believed bonding with people can change her destiny.
Now that Oli’s parents have died, she becomes even more afraid with the word “Bond”. She could never imagine getting close to other people would heal her trauma wounds. After all, she has deadly powers as a Soul Render – the last thing she wants would be for any guys “Bonded” with her would discover her past and her special powers.
So, Oli spends her whole time running away and preventing herself to get close to anyone. As the story of Broken Bonds continues, Oli encounters many people, including the five guys with different special powers. These guys eventually fall in love with Oli, yet, it’s still up to Oli who will she opens up.
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The guys’ superpowers will get stronger as they bond with Oli. The final bonding stage in Broken Bonds would be “Bonded”. So, who will Oli ends up with in the Broken Bonds book?
Part 3: Meet The Author Of Broken Bonds
J Bree is not only the author of Broken Bonds; she also writes the entire sequels of The Bonds That Tie. However, let us focus our attention on the first sequel, which is Broken Bonds, in the next paragraph.
Broken Bonds was first published on June 28, 2021. Today, we’re about to enter the February month of 2023, which means, this novel has already reached around 1-2 years. Considering that the sequel already consists of six different books, we can say that the Broken Bonds novel has already been completed.
Like any other introductory series of sequels, this novel introduces the main character’s family background and other supporting characters. Some of the supporting characters (hello, the five superpower guys!) would turn out to have more portions in later chapters of the novel, which increases the likelihood to level up their relationships with Oli.
Oli’s dilemma in delving deeper into intimate relationships is pictured vividly that I, as the reader, can relate to her struggles. It’s not easy for Oli to get close to any guys (and other supporting characters) in Broken Bonds, even when some of the guys clearly show kind intentions toward her.
Part 4: Alternative To Broken Bonds
I mentioned earlier in this article’s paragraph that the bonding concept in Broken Bonds novel is the same as the mating concept we know in werewolfverses. Dreame is famous for werewolf romance stories.
Yet, werewolf stories that involve one main female character versus many male characters are rare – fortunately, we have Freakn’ Shifters, and I would recommend Freakn’ Shifters as a great alternative to Broken Bonds.
Naomi, the main female character of Dreame’s Freakn’ Shifters, is a she-wolf who, through the chapters of Freakn’ Shifters, discovers that she has two mates. She is not just a werewolf, but she also has Lycan blood. As soon as she discovers her fate in having two mates, she refuses to back down… And, like in Broken Bonds novel, we’re yet to know who will Naomi ends up with.
Summary of Freakn’ Shifters:
Like Broken Bonds by J Bree, Dreame’s Freakn’ Shifters have four different parts of the story. The first part, and also the first chapter, has the title “Delicate Freakn’ Flower”. It describes Naomi, the female Lycan lead of the novel, so well, particularly regarding her nimble movements (she is a skilled lacrosse player).
Naomi met her mates (yes, you read it correctly – she has two mates, not one) when she was playing lacrosse. At first, Naomi doesn’t realize these werewolf guys are her mates, at least until the male werewolves are taking her someplace else.
The first guy is Ethan, who is a typical male werewolf character in his journey to find his mate, and the second guy is Javier, Ethan’s playboy friend.
Now that Naomi discovers that she has two mates, she only has to wait for the right moment to have them mark her. At the same time, she has to refuse in giving in and continue to fight for her life… Just like Oli’s Broken Bonds who can no longer run away, because she already has more than one guy with her.