Name: samantha lias's review of Manacled by SenLinYu
Item: Manacled
Rating: 5
Author: samantha lias

SenLinYu

Harry Potter is dead. In the aftermath of the war, in order to strengthen the might of the magical world, Voldemort enacts a repopulation effort. Hermione Granger has an Order secret, lost but hidden in her mind, so she is sent as an enslaved surrogate to the High Reeve until her mind can be cracked.

Illustrated by Avendell.

Manacled

i v e t t e 

“Scars are hard…” Hermione said, and her voice faded away as it tightened in her throat. “Anything that changes how we see ourselves is hard. You can be sad about it. You’re allowed to grieve for yourself. You don’t need to pretend it’s okay.” “I know,”

He leaned toward her until she thought he was going to kiss her. “You are always so pragmatic.” She felt the words brush against her lips. Then he released her chin abruptly and stepped away. His eyes were glinting as he noted her confusion. “Don’t die, Granger. I might miss you,” Draco said, smirking, before he vanished with a crack.

“Self-taught, then?”  “I had a book,” she said stiffly. He gave a barking laugh. “Of course.”

Not much value or glory for healers—not like fighters.

 "You can't bear being alone. You don't know how to function. You need someone to love; you'll do anything for the people that let you love them. That was what the war was for you, wasn't it? You wanted to fight, but you were smart enough to know another foolhardy, seventeen-year-old duelist wasn't going to change the outcome of the war—not the way a healer could. I don't imagine any of your friends ever appreciated that, did they? That the choice was a sacrifice for you."

She had never felt so unmotivated. Existing seemed like such a unfair demand.

“Perhaps you can start by seducing me,” he advised drolly, leaning back in his chair and looking her up and down. “Steal my heart with your wit and charms.” Hermione rolled her eyes.

“I find your mere existence within my manor offensive.” “The feeling is decidedly mutual,” She said with a dry voice. 

it’s within the details. somebody sedate me, quickly. 

His cold, pale eyes slid over her as though he were taking note of every detail about her. Something flickered in them when he noticed her hands spasming. It vanished quickly into unwavering, attentive coldness.

Having a sense of time once again was vaguely unsettling. The steady ticking of the clock constantly caught her attention. A continuous grating sound. If she let herself listen to it for long, it made her fingers begin to spasm with each click of the gears.

Hannah Williams

“You always said you couldn't choose me over everyone else. I'm chained to a sinking ship. You cannot expect me to take you with me.”

“In a few years, you may get that world you wanted. That—I can try to give you.”

samantha lias

Me siento sumamente conflictuada con el plot de este libro, sin embargo es notorio cuanto le apasiona a la autora lo que está escribiendo. Me parece una continuación y narración mucho más factible respecto a la guerra y devastación que está causa teniendo en cuenta y utilizando todos los elementos del mundo mágico, no voy a decir que la historia de nuestros protagonistas no me conmovió, pero siempre estoy en duda de si no había otro camino porque de vez en vez las descripciones sobran, pero siempre es evidente en la narración que existen con intención reprobatoria a lo que describen.

Lo leí porque me dio fiebre de HP otra vez (not endorsing rowlings beliefs tho) y el nuevo material oficial está medio malón la verdad, y en realidad sí encontré en este libro una historia que vale la pena leer.

Y honestamente, me dio la chilladora con la “foto” del epílogo.

dani ocean.

Me siento sumamente conflictuada con el plot de este libro, sin embargo es notorio cuanto le apasiona a la autora lo que está escribiendo. Me parece una continuación y narración mucho más factible respecto a la guerra y devastación que está causa teniendo en cuenta y utilizando todos los elementos del mundo mágico, no voy a decir que la historia de nuestros protagonistas no me conmovió, pero siempre estoy en duda de si no había otro camino porque de vez en vez las descripciones sobran, pero siempre es evidente en la narración que existen con intención reprobatoria a lo que describen.

Lo leí porque me dio fiebre de HP otra vez (not endorsing rowlings beliefs tho) y el nuevo material oficial está medio malón la verdad, y en realidad sí encontré en este libro una historia que vale la pena leer.

Y honestamente, me dio la chilladora con la “foto” del epílogo.

IT WAS SO GOOD! I feel empty inside now, this book is such a good one!

Fer Azura

I won’t go too much into detail because I might start bursting into tears for the 4th time this week. 

And as you can see, there might be 10000 highlights underneath this. 

this was such a well developed story with flawless writing. I never in a million years thought I’d be reading about Draco and Hermione but here we are. 

Their journey is so tragic but so 3rd dimensional and well developed. I now understand what Yu meant about implicating Frankenstein themes into this story. 

there’s something so heart gutting about a hopeless chance at doomed love. Gosh someone run me over please, I’m crying again.  

I won’t go too much into detail because I might start bursting into tears for the 4th time this week. 

And as you can see, there might be 10000 highlights underneath this. 

I cannot believe I read this for free. 

this was such a well developed story with flawless writing. I never in a million years thought I’d be reading about Draco and Hermione but here we are. 

Their journey is so tragic but so 3rd dimensional and well developed. I now understand what Yu meant about implicating Frankenstein themes into this story. 

there’s something so heart gutting about a hopeless chance at doomed love. Gosh someone run me over please, I’m crying again.  

I really dont even have words to describe how much I loved and enjoyed this story AND the writing! 

Abigail Marie

Maya 

I have no words. I feel like I’ll never fully recover after this book. I used to love Harry Potter when I was younger but I was never obsessed with the movies or books. I’ll be honest I always had a small hope that Hermione and Draco would end up together in the movies. So when I found this I work of art you could say I was excited. But this just exceeded all of my expectations. I can’t even begin to explain how much I adore this. Not only did it make me throw up and cry multiple times out of grief but also made me smile with tears streaming down my face out of happiness. I really wish people would give more recognition to this book because it was phenomenal. Also having the beautiful artwork sprinkled in just made the experience even more enjoyable. I don’t know what to do now that I’m done :((

Hope Gamble

Victoria 

** spoiler alert **
            "Love isn't always as pretty or pure as people like to think. There's a darkness in it sometimes. Draco and I go hand-in-hand. I made him who he is. If he's a monster, then I'm his creator".  

⭐⭐⭐⭐


I finished Manacled last night and after reflecting on it I have a few things to say that I think are important.... For starters Manacled is not just a romance fanfic, I don't like it at all when just for the sake of getting two characters together you write a fanfic full of romantic or/and erotic scenes and that's the whole narrative. Manacled is much more. It's romance, it's fantasy, action, war, horror, mystery... All in one. Its value as a novel is remarkable. One of my favourite chapters was the one about Lucius and Narcissa, I really thought I was going to read the book without crying until I got to that moment and somehow I couldn't stop.


Things I love about Manacled:

-She's not afraid to hurt or kill her characters when necessary. 

-The slow burn romance of course. 

-Draco's dark grey personality. And how well evolves while being realistic. 

-The subtext hatred towards Gryffindors.

-Hermione's patronus.

-Idealism doesn't win wars. Doing what needs to be done wins wars. That's not everyone's cup of tea but it's the truth.

-Narcissa Malfoy and the whole history about the Malfoys as a family, so intriguing, mysterious and interesting.

-Topsy. 

-Hermione's strength and conviction.

-Severus and his part in history. 

-Draco killing Sprout and Hermione being like "you shouldn't but I love it" is just a perfect scene in my opinion. 


Things I didn't like so much about Manacled: 

-The arguments between Harry and Hermione - would I change it? No. I think it makes sense in the story and for the characters but I still don't like to see them arguing. And I don't like the fact that Harry died having that relationship with Hermione... I mean it was right for the book, but I just sobbed. 

-Ron. I don't like Ron. Never have. Period.

-I'm going to pretend forever that Draco and Hermione's daughter is named Narcissa Malfoy. Aurore Rose? What in hell is that? No. I completely refuse.

-The moment when Aurore says she's a Gryffindor too? I think I might vomit.

-Ginny calling Harry's son James, let's see.... I get it. But I've always hated James and it seems to me that as opposed to how little Draco is understood to be a bully because of his parents' upbringing, James is forgiven a lot without even mentioning anything. I just don't like James and that's it, I know the kid is not to blame but for me that moment was like.... Uff no. 

-Overall the epilogue didn't convince me. I feel like the whole book has been perfect and coming to the epilogue as I was reading I was disappointed. I appreciate that some details included in the epilogue are important, the resolution of the war, Ginny killing Voldemort was good, although also a bit bare bones, seeing Narcissa Malfoy (Aurora) as a child and teenager.... I mean, I get it. I would have liked it much better if it ended with Hermione reading the news in the newspaper: 

"Draco Malfoy killed by father in shocking murder-suicide case at Malfoy Manor" It worked Draco, you're free. 

We all would have understood that things have turned out well (as far as it goes) and it would have been nice to have a little epilogue in which some important things were stated, such as the aforementioned: Voldemort's death, the birth of his daughter, Ginny's return to Britain to help surrogates... In conclusion, I enjoyed some parts of the epilogue, like Draco's prostate hand, seeing him and Hermione go on even if it's challenging and difficult to operate without the war and I actually thought it was very appropriate to talk about Draco's difficulty in connecting with his daughter at the beginning, it makes sense for his character. but overall I was disappointed by it. I think the ending of the book itself is more powerful and even tho some of those things in the epilogue were nice... In my opinion it was a step back emotionally.

Overall it's the best fanfic I've ever read and certainly much better as a novel than a lot of books I've read. The author has done a great job adapting all these characters to a new story, the characters are true to themselves and don't stand out from the characters you already know but somehow their depth is greater and nothing is out of context. I read this book in 3 days, from the time I got up to the time I went to sleep I did nothing else and it was well worth it. 

Thank you SenLinYu for creating this terrible and masterful work of art.

"Let's love each other forever, Draco." She felt him kiss the top of her head. "Alright."

Sarah

qu’est ce que je suis censée faire maintenant que j’ai terminé????

First ever fan fic & honestly it was very very well written and beautiful and tragic my. My hardest part was the repetitive bits - I could have done without a few of the repeating phrases and moments but overall what a crazy perspective on a classic ! 

Brianna Hickey 

This was my

First ever fan fic & honestly it was very very well written and beautiful and tragic my. My hardest part was the repetitive bits - I could have done without a few of the repeating phrases and moments but overall what a crazy perspective on a classic ! 

Didn't think it would hurt that much finishing it. 

I believe the concept was really interesting, (I’ve never watched “The Handmaiden”) and I liked the portraits of the characters and how complex their relationship was. Sadly, at some point I found it repetitive and even though I like slow paced stories this one became tedious, also the ending was a letdown for me, it was like the author tried to tie many loose ends but bc of everything that happened it was just that, a lose end.

i’m sorry i really wanted to like it :( 

Daizo 

I believe the concept was really interesting, (I’ve never watched “The Handmaiden”) and I liked the portraits of the characters and how complex their relationship was. Sadly, at some point I found it repetitive and even though I like slow paced stories this one became tedious, also the ending was a letdown for me, it was like the author tried to tie many loose ends but bc of everything that happened it was just that, a lose end.

i’m sorry i really wanted to like it :( 

Amanda Jones

oh my god. I don’t have the words to describe what i’m feeling other than thinking of all the times I cried. this novel is so beautiful and so dark but so good. the world building is insane and goes beyond detail from the harry potter series. I will have more words when I recover from this but I don’t think I will. what a masterpiece to read for the first time, truly a life altering experience right here

If I could give this book more stars I would. This book is so well written, it’s honestly better than the series. They stayed so true to the characters through the entire storyline and they didn’t make anyone a “hero” just to be a hero, and I loved it. Lots of trigger warnings though, like a lot. So be careful before you read this and make sure you are up to it. One of the best books I have ever read though.

Tiana holt

my brain chemistry has been permanently altered

Danyella Barajas

Asra

Maeson Grace

i honestly didn’t know what i was getting into when i started this and i don’t think i would’ve been prepared even if i had known. it’s been awhile since something i’m reading made me so anxious i thought i was going to throw up. 

I feel broken and emotionally drained... I'd read it again. 

Jovana Gjekanovikj 

All hail my newest and probably most controversial review of all time--- Manacled, the most read Dramione fanfiction to date. Don't really know why.

The writing is very, very good. I can't lie and say it's badly written because it isn't-- the descriptions are gruesome and horrifying and honest and bleak, all while maintaining strange beauty. Many lines were hauntingly poetic. The writing is the best thing.

The story suffers. I think what drags it down are two things:

The flashback as well is so so vitally important to the story that it feels like it shouldn't be just a flashback. The whole book could have been about Hermione and Draco falling in love through the war with Draco as a spy. The plot would have been 10x as inviting and still probably a fan favourite. 

Having 50%+ of the book be a flashback was such a bad move. The book starts with this questionable storyline from The Handmaid's Tale and then it abruptly jumps to the flashback sequence. I know why the flashback is necessary-- we're not supposed to immediately pick up on the parallels and the easter eggs from the previous chapters. But it just made the read so disjointed and weird. Then when it cut back to present day, I'd stopped caring about the manacle-repopulation plotline. It didn't help that Hermione and Draco seemed to argue 80% of the time...

2) The plot. The flashback is a book on its own and therefore we don't need a strained plotline about rape and repopulating the magical community. It makes absolutely no sense for it to be a plotline--it barely holds as an ideology to repopulate the magical wizarding line throughout the flashbacks. It's a less abrasive way of saying that the Dark Cause are just raping female resistance members because they won and can. There's no substance or reason why this plotline should exist. It could have been Draco as High Reeve extracting hidden memories from Hermione but secretly aiding her freedom or whatever. I just think the constant reminder of this relationship being rape didn't allow me to feel the romance. At all. Like nobody read Handmaid's Tale and felt romance between the women and the commanders--should this really be any different?

On top of this, the relationship between Hermione and Draco is so slow and strained that at no point did I feel like they actually won or that it was really shown that they loved one another. All they did was withdraw and argue-- makes sense for the plot but my point here I guess is that the romance just fell flat.

This book does amazingly at painting the horrors of the war following Harry's death. The depictions of torture here are mesmerisingly awful. It's just a shame that everything else seems to fall apart. This isn't anything like other Dramione fics, and most of the book is about Hermione and not even their relationship. If the author wanted to write a book about the war, they could have done so easily without adding Dramione and doing so little with it.

The ending is the happiest we see Dramione---literally their "happy ending" comes in an epilogue, and even then, it doesn't feel like they're free. The 3 days it took me to read this fanfiction felt like had led to nothing of personal satisfaction, and it's a shame to say because the writing is lovely and the author is clearly talented.

The appeal is lost on me and I just can't agree that this is "the" bible of Dramione fanfics. I've read better (and worse).

Holly

All hail my newest and probably most controversial review of all time--- Manacled, the most read Dramione fanfiction to date. Don't really know why.

The writing is very, very good. I can't lie and say it's badly written because it isn't-- the descriptions are gruesome and horrifying and honest and bleak, all while maintaining strange beauty. Many lines were hauntingly poetic. The writing is the best thing.

The story suffers. I think what drags it down are two things:

1) Half of this story is a flashback.

The flashback as well is so so vitally important to the story that it feels like it shouldn't be just a flashback. The whole book could have been about Hermione and Draco falling in love through the war with Draco as a spy. The plot would have been 10x as inviting and still probably a fan favourite. 

Having 50%+ of the book be a flashback was such a bad move. The book starts with this questionable storyline from The Handmaid's Tale and then it abruptly jumps to the flashback sequence. I know why the flashback is necessary-- we're not supposed to immediately pick up on the parallels and the easter eggs from the previous chapters. But it just made the read so disjointed and weird. Then when it cut back to present day, I'd stopped caring about the manacle-repopulation plotline. It didn't help that Hermione and Draco seemed to argue 80% of the time...

2) The plot. The flashback is a book on its own and therefore we don't need a strained plotline about rape and repopulating the magical community. It makes absolutely no sense for it to be a plotline--it barely holds as an ideology to repopulate the magical wizarding line throughout the flashbacks. It's a less abrasive way of saying that the Dark Cause are just raping female resistance members because they won and can. There's no substance or reason why this plotline should exist. It could have been Draco as High Reeve extracting hidden memories from Hermione but secretly aiding her freedom or whatever. I just think the constant reminder of this relationship being rape didn't allow me to feel the romance. At all. Like nobody read Handmaid's Tale and felt romance between the women and the commanders--should this really be any different?

On top of this, the relationship between Hermione and Draco is so slow and strained that at no point did I feel like they actually won or that it was really shown that they loved one another. All they did was withdraw and argue-- makes sense for the plot but my point here I guess is that the romance just fell flat.

This book does amazingly at painting the horrors of the war following Harry's death. The depictions of torture here are mesmerisingly awful. It's just a shame that everything else seems to fall apart. This isn't anything like other Dramione fics, and most of the book is about Hermione and not even their relationship. If the author wanted to write a book about the war, they could have done so easily without adding Dramione and doing so little with it.

The ending is the happiest we see Dramione---literally their "happy ending" comes in an epilogue, and even then, it doesn't feel like they're free. The 3 days it took me to read this fanfiction felt like had led to nothing of personal satisfaction, and it's a shame to say because the writing is lovely and the author is clearly talented.

The appeal is lost on me and I just can't agree that this is "the" bible of Dramione fanfics. I've read better (and worse).

“She was a non-active member of the Order of the Phoenix and did not fight.” I didn’t cry reading the whole thing but this sentence hit me like a truck. It’s such a heavy way of writing the ending. I bawled for a good while, I couldn’t stop thinking about it throughout the day. 

Im heartbroken. My soul and heart feel so empty now that I finished it.

Gabriela Kondratyuk

“She was a non-active member of the Order of the Phoenix and did not fight.” I didn’t cry reading the whole thing but this sentence hit me like a truck. It’s such a heavy way of writing the ending. I bawled for a good while, I couldn’t stop thinking about it throughout the day. 

Im heartbroken. My soul and heart feel so empty now that I finished it.

Holy hell this was some of the most depressing, darkest sh*t that I’ve ever read. That being said, it had me in a chokehold. 

Always curious to what if Voldemort won but damn this book has just about every trigger warning known to exist so definitely not for the feint of heart. Heavy handmaid tale influences in the first 3rd of the book before you dive into the flash backs but it is definitely very thorough in its plot line in getting you to how we got there. Technically a happy ending, if you would consider the horrifying effects that kind of trauma can have on you? It’s definitely a LOT but I could not put it down. 900 pages in like 3 days. I’m anticipating a HEAVY book hangover after this.

Laura Wilson

Holy hell this was some of the most depressing, darkest sh*t that I’ve ever read. That being said, it had me in a chokehold. 

Always curious to what if Voldemort won but damn this book has just about every trigger warning known to exist so definitely not for the feint of heart. Heavy handmaid tale influences in the first 3rd of the book before you dive into the flash backs but it is definitely very thorough in its plot line in getting you to how we got there. Technically a happy ending, if you would consider the horrifying effects that kind of trauma can have on you? It’s definitely a LOT but I could not put it down. 900 pages in like 3 days. I’m anticipating a HEAVY book hangover after this.

Gem Koeman

First 5* of the year(discounting the graphic novel) goes to this one. It was like a gut-punch from start to finish. I don't really know what to say about this, I'm still reeling.

Joana da Silva

So I just learned it's possible to include my Wattpad reads here. Way to go, grandma! Now go and read Manacled because it's supeeeerrrrb.

samantha lias &
Manacled by SenLinYu

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

samantha lias &Manacled by SenLinYu

Reviews

Highlights

Join the club

samantha lias &
Manacled by SenLinYu