Lexi Ryan

In this thrilling conclusion to These Hollow Vows--the sexy, action-packed fantasy by New York Times best-selling author Lexi Ryan that started it all--Brie finds herself caught between two princes and two destinies while the future of the fae realm hangs in the balance.

These Twisted Bonds

Mirin Kunawong

Flying and falling and not even a little afraid because I know he'll catch me. I know we'll catch each other.

"you look at her like she is the stars and the moon. Like she's rain at the end of a long summer drought.”

I’m stuck here. I’m fae. But I am not powerless, and I will never be like them. 

J. V. Balant

I am not just the girl who understands. I am the one who wants better.

None of us asks for the burdens we bear, but that doesn't make the way we handle them any less significant."

Aimee Hefferon

“…I don’t want pieces of you. I want all of you, and i won’t share.”

“I want you so much, Abriella. More than i ever thought possible. More than i should admit. But as long as you’re bonded to him, you’ll never be completely mine.”

“Pick a star," he whispers in my ear. "Make a wish." I thread my fingers through his and make the same wishes I've made every night since taking the throne. The only wishes a queen should hold so dear. I wish for peace. I wish for every faerie in my court- in the entire realm-to know and have a love like this.

"What part of I don't want to wait another day makes you doubt me?"

 His face softens. "Give a male a break, Abriella. This is hard for me." "How so?" I ask.

 I melt. "Don't make me look soft; it'll ruin my badass queen look."

 "Never." He winks at me. "You love me?" he asks.

 "I love you," I say without hesitation or reservation. "You love me?" 

"I love you," he says. "But I would love you even if you wanted to bond with me"

Christina

Abriella, every star in that sky shines for you.

“Do you want to be king, or do you want to be a great king? Sacrifice is what makes great kings. That’s what great leaders do.”

“I don’t consider you a toy, Princess, but if you’d like to play, all you have to do is ask.”

None of us asks for the burdens we bear, but that doesn’t make the way we handle them any less significant.

As we speak, two of the most powerful males in our realm are fighting over you. 

Courtney Passio

Whether you know it or not, you are a gift to that court. Stop thinking of yourself as a curse. 

Aubrey Erskine

In this thrilling conclusion to These Hollow Vows - the sexy, action-packed fantasy by New York Times best-selling author Lexi Ryan that started it all - 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.

aaah loved the ending to this book!! loved that finn and brie got to be together in the end. the plot/ twists were really good. also glad that sebastian did the right thing in the end. 

Hannah Williams

(spoilers)

aaah loved the ending to this book!! loved that finn and brie got to be together in the end. the plot/ twists were really good. also glad that sebastian did the right thing in the end. 

freya.nightwolf

Well... I looked forward to this book coming out and now, I'm not sure what I feel... and if the book deserves 3 or 4 stars... more like 3.5

First, its originality is around 2 [on a scale of 1 to 10]. Don't get me wrong, I love ACOMAF too, but being inspired by a book and making your own version of it, is a long, long way! This upset me and at some point, I was wondering "what is the point of reading it, if I can predict most of the characters' actions?!"

Second, there are too many unnecessary details, and way too many repeated details which makes the important info and the action easily skipped because of those. Not to mention that action is kind of poor and when it is, is really rushed.

Saying this, I'm getting to my third point. Having all the important stuff rushed, as a reader, made me really annoyed by the actions of the characters, and sometimes you lose that suspense that you're looking at in a plot or new revealing information.

The story looked promising and I don't think it would have been a good idea to be made a trilogy like most readers feel. I think two books are enough, but if there weren't so much info dumping or repeated ones, it would have been a great duology, even with its low originality. 

 These Twisted Bonds is not a 4 stars book, but neither a 3 stars one. So my rating will be 3.5.

Now, about the characters and the story: even if the action is kind of rushed, I liked how it ended and how every character found his/her place in the courts. Without spoiling anything, all I can say is that everybody gets what they deserve and yes, we do have deaths and mystical nature [blood and ash fans, be wear :)))] and long-lost history, so we have world-building and character development and also we have MISHA. WE LOVE MISHA! And let's not forget FINN! I DO LOVE FINN!

So we have some action, plots, crazy queens :)), complicated history, and a Brie, who sometimes still gets childish and, at one point, I really hoped she would have to sacrifice for the greater good so she could die. Yep, I literally hope she will strangle herself with the shadows. She knows damn well who she loves! Instead of those unnecessary details, I would've loved to have some chapters from Finn's point of view, and even from Ronan's point of view. I think those would've been important too.

If you're looking for an easy read or find yourself drugged by a series and want to find some similar books or stories, I recommend this series. It's a light reading and an enjoyable one, even if you can see the similarities with other books [ACOTAR, FBAA, a little Cruel Prince].

I look forward to Lexi's next fantasy books because I think she has potential and clearly, she loves fantasy books/movies [you can see a little bit of Dean Salvatore in Finn :)) yep :))].

grace richards

3.5,, i was so disappointed with the ending of this book, i genuinely feel like this duology would’ve worked so much better as a trilogy. like everything that happened to tie up the plot happened so quickly and it was all in the space of 3 chapters. idk, i guess i was just hoping for more

This book was better than the first one. To say I was shocked by every twist and turn here is an understatement. 

Diliciyah nunes 

This book was exceptional. I loved every part of it and I’m really sad that it has to end. It’s amazing, I’m going to miss reading this. 

Channa van Balen

Eliška Lhotská

Rating and review to come once the HarperCollins Union strike has ended and the Union's demands have been met.

Holly

These twisted bonds picks up right where book one ended. 

The pace of the sequal was done really well, we get action, twists and romance. I honestly enjoyed the sequal a lot more than the first one. Bries character developed a lot more during this one and even liked her a lot more. If you enjoyed the first book your going to love this one.

The only reason this didn't get a five star, was despite the book being over 400 pages the ending felt a little rushed.

I think it could been shorter and the ending not have felt rushed. Either way that didn't  ruin the book. I'm sad I've finished this series. I loved Brie and Finn so much.

Samantha King

These twisted bonds picks up right where book one ended. 

The pace of the sequal was done really well, we get action, twists and romance. I honestly enjoyed the sequal a lot more than the first one. Bries character developed a lot more during this one and even liked her a lot more. If you enjoyed the first book your going to love this one.

The only reason this didn't get a five star, was despite the book being over 400 pages the ending felt a little rushed.

I think it could been shorter and the ending not have felt rushed. Either way that didn't  ruin the book. I'm sad I've finished this series. I loved Brie and Finn so much.



In this thrilling conclusion to These Hollow Vows—the sexy, action-packed fantasy by New York Times best-selling author Lexi Ryan that started it all—Brie finds herself caught between two princes and two destinies while the future of the fae realm hangs in the balance.

These Hollow Vows #2

rhegan🧋🧋🧋

** spoiler alert **
           3.5⭐️ bc i was bored except for the parts with finn and sebastian i rly didn’t care for the plot outside of the hot men. so i was legitimately like scrolling until i got to a finn or sebastian part. i lowkey knew from the first book that she was going to end up with finn but i held out hope.. sue me but i wanted her to end up with sebastian idgaf! i do like her and finn tho they’re cute so nice ending i guess.

Marchelle

3.5/5 Rating. 

"And then you told me that I made you feel as safe as a starry night sky."

2.75, rounded up. This book continues to use very similar plot points and arcs to another very popular fae universe of books. Allusions to dub/non-con moments in first book, but view them as sexual rather than SA. Feels as if there’s no struggle with various plot lines — things happen easily and evil characters are too evil with no inherent character building. Suicide joke in passing. Writing is well done technical-wise, though.

(Bre)anne✨

Elisa Bieg

The sequel to These Hollow Vows picks up right where the first left off, literally the next scene; but aside from the good continuity, this is a pretty different book from the first installment in the duology. 
For starters, it falls much more squarely into the fantasy romance genre, with the love triangle that started in the first much more pronounced here and at the very center of the court politics the book revolves around; as part of that, you’ll also find that this book includes some sex scenes that, while flowing naturally in the story and relationship development, are a bit more detailed that we are used to seeing in YA, and perhaps warrant this being categorized as NA — or at least we can admit that it heavily coasts the line. 
That said, this book is also more exciting and better paced, and features good character development that makes even someone as on the fence about Brie as I was, warm up to her. 

A good sequel — I’m glad I didn’t give up on this duology!

A slightly rounded up 4 STARS.

Kacy Rulison

This book was the perfect conclusion to the duology. It had twists and turns and conflicted feelings. Has several tropes: enemies to lovers, second chance, friends to lovers, mates (sort of ish). I thoroughly enjoyed it and if you are thinking of reading it stop thinking and just do it!

i don't know if i have the words to describe this duology but i sure am gonna try because it was SO SO good.

the first book (see the review for that one on both here and insta) made me so god damn mad, as i was so invested in the plot and the characters and the world building and it continued on here for this book.

i hate Sebastian. he has been so selfish and ignorant up until the last minute. whether that be because his mother was just killed or that Brie was influencing him, i don't care. yes, he did the right thing but i cannot and will not forgive him for all he has done. he reminds me so much of Tamlin, like there are a few moments you do feel sorry for him but then minutes later he fucks up again, and you're like 'bitch why did i even feel an ounce of pity for you, i hate you'.

i absolutely adored Finn from the very beginning and am so so glad he got his happy ending and the same goes for Brie. 

i adored Misha as well and most of the other side characters. Lexi Ryan did a phenomenal job at creating such amazing characters and the world building was just as incredible.  

for me, this series is 5 stars in every way and i do hope more books come from this series!!

hannah :)

wow. 

i don't know if i have the words to describe this duology but i sure am gonna try because it was SO SO good.

the first book (see the review for that one on both here and insta) made me so god damn mad, as i was so invested in the plot and the characters and the world building and it continued on here for this book.

i hate Sebastian. he has been so selfish and ignorant up until the last minute. whether that be because his mother was just killed or that Brie was influencing him, i don't care. yes, he did the right thing but i cannot and will not forgive him for all he has done. he reminds me so much of Tamlin, like there are a few moments you do feel sorry for him but then minutes later he fucks up again, and you're like 'bitch why did i even feel an ounce of pity for you, i hate you'.

i absolutely adored Finn from the very beginning and am so so glad he got his happy ending and the same goes for Brie. 

i adored Misha as well and most of the other side characters. Lexi Ryan did a phenomenal job at creating such amazing characters and the world building was just as incredible.  

for me, this series is 5 stars in every way and i do hope more books come from this series!!

Another good fantasy and a great end to the series. I felt that the plot was very similar to From Blood and Ash and ACOTAR. However, I did love Finn and Brie and their relationship. I found Sebastian quite annoying and so I was never drawn to him as a character. And I did guess some of the ending. But overall a really enjoyable fantasy with a little bit of spice.

Lucy Howard

I couldn’t put this one down! One of my most anticipated reads this year. Stayed up til 3am reading multiple nights. Page-turning, fast paced, lots of action, and a very satisfying conclusion.

My main gripe was with the love triangle; it went from 0-1000 so fast. I rlly wanted more will they/won’t they to build and, for me, the move from decision-making to insta-love was too quick. Bri also got a lil annoying with the self pity and then became a bit of a MarySue character, but for the most part I was hooked.

A satisfying fantasy duology with layers, world building, fae royalty, political intrigue, battles, and action.

Jenna

I couldn’t put this one down! One of my most anticipated reads this year. Stayed up til 3am reading multiple nights. Page-turning, fast paced, lots of action, and a very satisfying conclusion.

My main gripe was with the love triangle; it went from 0-1000 so fast. I rlly wanted more will they/won’t they to build and, for me, the move from decision-making to insta-love was too quick. Bri also got a lil annoying with the self pity and then became a bit of a MarySue character, but for the most part I was hooked.

A satisfying fantasy duology with layers, world building, fae royalty, political intrigue, battles, and action.

For fans of:

• love triangles

• fae royalty

• political intrigue

Alison James

Wow this book was even better than the first.

I do think that this book could have been split into 2 with how much went on in it, but I also like how this wasnt a super drawn out series like so many others.

I think this book handled relationships and first loves very well. Brie had a rough life in the human realm and wanted someone to love and protect her. She found that in Sebastian, but she fell in love with an ideal more than a person. She fell in love with the pieces he showed her, but he hid a lot from her. Then she fell for Finn, but that love was different. She was more sure of herself and what she deserved, and he never wanted to take anything away from her. Sebastian took away her choice, and Finn gave it back. I also don't think Sebastian is a bad guy at all, he loved Brie, but it wasn't a healthy love. But I think it was a necessary experience for Brie to find herself.

Marissa Donis

I waited over a week past the release date for this book to be in stock at my store. When I saw These Twisted Bonds was finally in stock I went out right away and bought it. I came home that same day and devoured this book into the early hours of the morning.

I really enjoyed this follow up to These Hollow Vows. One thing I really enjoyed about this duology is that the names of the books are quite literally named for what happens in each book (think the hollow vow from Bash, the twisted bond from Bash and the tethering from Finn). Most books in YA and NA series don't have a lot in common with their titles anymore and I really enjoyed that this one held true to what the story was about.

I had the release of These Twisted Bonds marked in my planner for months anticipating the release and I am happy to say that this was a cute story with a redemption arc for the blonde male (think Tamlin but more YA) and a happily ever after for the other two characters.

Would I like a follow up book to this and make the series a trilogy? I personally don't think so because I believe that Lexi Ryan did a nice job of tying the story up in the end without making it seem that there is unfinished business with any of our main and side characters.

Overall, I think this duology is a great series for anyone who enjoys YA stories with 
fated/tethered mates
Love triangle
Aspects of "found" family
One horse and one bed tropes
Fae world

and you will love this quick and easy to read series that is short enough to be a wonderful little pallet cleanser for anyone needing a break from "spice" in their reads.

Jaycie Hricak 

** spoiler alert **
           3.5-4?? I loved the pacing of the two books with the amount of world building and action packed- it didn’t feel rushed. It kept me very intrigued but I do feel like the “conflict” should’ve come a little sooner. Too much emphasis on the underworld. This duology is so cute I am sad it’s ending because I feel like it just began. HOWEVER, I like how the first book was mainly focused on sisterly-love. I thought book two would be more about female rage and Brie finding herself and exploring the sisterly relationship while navigating the weird love triangle. Further, I do think it was disappointing that book 1 ended with her making a bond and book 2 ended with her making another bond: it feels like a lot of build up just…. For the bond???? I wish it was a little bit MORE???????

lindy strauss

3.5/4 I guess
it was okay, just felt confusing how there was a lot MORE info dumping. i also felt like there just wasn’t enough time or weight to these relationships. i felt like i didn’t understand why they were all so desperately in love. 

but if you’re really in the mood for amazing acotar/acomaf fanfiction, this is perfect

Elizabeth Hagenlocher

This book was leagues better than the first and completely redeemed the series for me (which I suppose is a good thing considering it’s a duology). 

Where the first book struggled to move the plot forward—and Brie only seemed to solve things when they fell into her lap—the plot and character arc of this book have purpose. It also introduced a new side character that quickly became my favorite of the series.

Plus, the ship i was rooting for set sail, so I’m feeling good about that. 

Side note: surprisingly this book got pretty spicy. Enough so that I’m questioning the validity of calling this YA. Something to be mindful of if you’re looking for spice-free fantasy romance, or are otherwise not expecting spice. (For my own sanity I pretended Brie was 20)

I looved the plot, just needee a bit more smut 😈

Catharina Aspenström

“when you came into my life, you were a bright star in an endlessly dark night”

i really enjoyed this sequel to these hollow vows, i thought it was a good way to end the duology! i feel like i can’t really put my thoughts and feelings into words, but i truly loved it 🥰

i liked learning more about the history between the unseelie and seelie courts and also about the magic system! there was a lot happening and a lot of twists, some i was expecting and others that shocked me.

abriella was trying to figure out not only her place in the faerie world but also what path she wanted to take and how she could help save the unseelie court, since the unbalance between the two courts.

it was also really great to find out more about abriella’s magic and watching her learn to use it while also being taught how to reserve her magic levels without burning out.

i think there was a lot more character development in this sequel which i really appreciated - and i will protect finn at all costs because he has my heart 🤍

i truly recommend this series to anyone, especially if you want to give fantasy a go, as it’s only a duology and not a super complex world to understand!

can’t wait to see what lexi ryan brings out next! thank you so much to hachette for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, i actually squealed when i got it 🙈

Larissa Kirchberger

BOOK REVIEW

These Twisted Bonds / Lexi Ryan

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“when you came into my life, you were a bright star in an endlessly dark night”

i really enjoyed this sequel to these hollow vows, i thought it was a good way to end the duology! i feel like i can’t really put my thoughts and feelings into words, but i truly loved it 🥰

i liked learning more about the history between the unseelie and seelie courts and also about the magic system! there was a lot happening and a lot of twists, some i was expecting and others that shocked me.

abriella was trying to figure out not only her place in the faerie world but also what path she wanted to take and how she could help save the unseelie court, since the unbalance between the two courts.

it was also really great to find out more about abriella’s magic and watching her learn to use it while also being taught how to reserve her magic levels without burning out.

i think there was a lot more character development in this sequel which i really appreciated - and i will protect finn at all costs because he has my heart 🤍

i truly recommend this series to anyone, especially if you want to give fantasy a go, as it’s only a duology and not a super complex world to understand!

can’t wait to see what lexi ryan brings out next! thank you so much to hachette for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, i actually squealed when i got it 🙈

This duology didn’t disappoint. The second book is just as well written as the first and though it’s definitely a bit closer to YA than NA, it was a fantasy romance that hit all the high notes for me. It’s not a full five stars only because I think the physical conflicts (e.g. battles) are done away with too quickly and conveniently to really provide the danger they should. But the slow burn and tension between Brie and Finn is one of my favs, even if this does mirror ACOMAF as well. Will definitely read again!

These Twisted Bonds

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