In this first installment of a paranormal series, the narrative unfolds in our world, where a woman's life takes a drastic turn as people begin exhibiting supernatural traits for unknown reasons. The emergence of werewolves, mages, warlocks, witches, fairies, vampires, and more accompanies her newfound witchy powers. However, the story reveals that normal humans seek to capture these supernaturals for their blood, intending to create a serum granting temporary powers.

While the book is passable, some characters come across as flat, with only two or three receiving more thorough development. The plot follows predictable lines, featuring noticeable gaps, and lacks a detailed explanation for the event triggering latent powers. The magic system lacks complexity and internal logic, and both dialogues and romantic elements fall short of expectations. Despite these shortcomings, the book maintains a brisk pace, offering entertainment through action scenes and leaving readers intrigued for potential improvements in subsequent installments.

"Mystic Bonds" by CC Solomon is a spellbinding fantasy that weaves a tapestry of magic and intrigue, transporting you to a world where bonds are tested and destinies unfold.

I really wanted to like this one. Normally I can forgive a lot in Paranormal Romances, and I don’t mind if some elements are weaker as long as others are stronger – the plot can be a bit basic, but if the characters are compelling I’m along for the ride. Unfortunately in Mystic Bonds there were more negatives than positives.

The author definitely had some good ideas, and there were points when I felt the book was really close to redeeming itself, but the truth is this needed some heavier editing – it needs more of a developmental edit and a copyedit. The second half especially is littered with errors; there’s issues with speech tags, typos, and characters names change mid paragraph. While we’re talking about characters, there’s so many. It becomes difficult to keep up with them all, and I found myself struggling to remember who was who, especially as there’s six in the ‘core’ group, who are all ‘different’ in terms of their abilities, then the extended cast.

Those abilities feel all over the place, too. Amina is a mage, but what that means in this world is…wide raging. Her brother is also a mage, who can control technology and weapons. Amina can control every living thing. Despite the fact most of the world is now inhabited by mages, weres, fairies and other fantastical creatures, her brother keeps insisting Amina is a superhero and gives her lots of cutesy nicknames.

There’s three men who are ‘after’ her in different ways – a guy who locks up paranormal creatures so he can drink their blood to gain their powers, a guy who can telepathically control people who does so to keep a town of paranormals under his control, and a werejackal who serves as a love interest. There’s an attempt at a love triangle between the last two, but it falls flat as from the moment she meets Philip he’s creepy as hell. As for the relationship between her and Erik, Erik was an interesting enough character but the romance between them felt like it happened so quick, it was a little jarring. And he eats a troll’s heart which momentarily freaks her out before he explains they get strength from this, in which case Amina finds it all absolutely fine.

The dialogue is weak, and “welcome to the supernatural apocalypse!” is repeated so often it’s frustrating. Amina comes across as naïve and a little flakily, constantly contradicting herself in her choices and internal thoughts. These are the kind of things that when handled well can be really effective, but it doesn’t hit that point here.

Some of the concepts are intriguing, and some had promise, but the characters lacked consistency and it felt like the plot was forgotten for a large chunk of the book, then rushed through. Solomon isn’t a bad writer, but the main issue here comes through with a lack of much needed editing.

An interesting take on post-apocalyptic America. The storyline is interesting, world building is deeply explored, the character building grows as the characters grow and the mysteries enough to bring us back for more. I very much enjoyed this story.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Mystic Bonds by CC Solomon is an urban fantasy novel that the author has rewritten to improve on the original version. The story revolves around Amina, who is a strong female protagonist. She has gone through the apocalypse, in which half of the human population perished. Now, Amina and her brother, who are both supernatural creatures, are on the run from humans who want to steal their magical blood.

Here is an interesting excerpt from the Prologue:

"Years of doing bartering in different towns, and this was the first time we'd encountered a village of only children. Well, they weren't all kids. The eldest were perhaps in their late teens. Not even old enough to drink. And apparently, they were kicked out of the town once they turned twenty-two. Ever since the world became a magical nightmare, us survivors were pretty low on trust. It was no surprise a pool of children, a little under one hundred of them, had decided to come together and form their own more civilized Lord of the Flies."

Overall, Mystic Bonds is an urban fantasy that doesn't live up to its intriguing premise. After reading the synopsis, I was so excited to start reading. Unfortunately, even midway through the book, the plot was still going through what was described in the synopsis. I lost interest about halfway through. Personally, I'm also not a fan of post-apocalyptic books. I'm sure many readers won't mind that though. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of fantasy books in general, you can check out this book, which is available now!

☆☆☆☆ /5
(english review below)

Un univers plutôt dense qui y mélange tous les êtres surnaturels que j’aime retrouver dans mes lectures.
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La mage Amina Langston pensait que survivre à l'apocalypse surnaturelle, qui a tué 50% de l'humanité et transformé la plupart de la population survivante en êtres paranormaux, était le plus grand défi de sa vie… Jusqu'à ce qu'elle et son frère fuient des humains non-doués qui veulent voler leur sang magique pour fabriquer un sérum puissant. Maintenant, elle est à la recherche d'un bel étranger qui continue d'apparaître dans ses rêves et d'une ville paranormale secrète pour aider à libérer ceux qui sont toujours détenus en captivité pour leur sang.
Au cours de son voyage, Amina se lie d'amitié avec plusieurs autres êtres magiques à la recherche de la ville mystérieuse, y compris un chacal-garou sexy qui la distrait de la localisation de l'homme de ses rêves proverbiaux. Cependant, lorsque le groupe trouve la ville, elle est remplie de magie dangereuse et d'une meute de garous barbares. Face à ces nouveaux problèmes, Amina éliminera-t-elle ses poursuivants humains et sauvera-t-elle les autres paranormaux qu'elle a laissés derrière ou se retrouvera-t-elle en plus grand péril ?
¤
Dans ce roman, l’autrice nous plonge dans une ville où il ne reste que majoritairement de la magie et des êtres dotés de pouvoirs après que l’humanité ait essuyé une réelle catastrophe et presque extinction. Les humains lambdas sont devenus des minorités et si au début de l’histoire, on pense que la société s’est bien reconstruit et est équitable entre ces humains et les êtres surnaturels, très rapidement l’autrice nous montre qu’il y a quelque chose qui cloche.
J’ai beaucoup aimé découvrir l’univers de ce roman qui, même si peu original, mélange tous les éléments attrayant du surnaturel. On retrouve de la magie, des garous, des mages, des complots et une quête.
Amina est un personnage qui m’a assez plu. C’est une jeune femme généreuse et dévouée envers ses amis. D’ailleurs, lorsqu’elle va se sentir coincée entre sa solidarité avec les autres êtres surnaturels et son amitié qu’elle a développé avec quelques humains, j’ai trouvé que son hésitation, ses doutes et sa confusion ont été bien écrits.
L’intrigue était entraînante, bien que prévisible à beaucoup de moments. Le style d’écriture de l’autrice est fluide et m’a captivée avec les multiples figures de style qu’elle a utilisées pour rythmer son texte.
Ce roman est un premier tome et je ne sais pas si je lirai le second. Pas parce que je n’ai pas apprécié, au contraire, j’ai bien aimé. Mais, pendant ma lecture, je n’ai pas ressenti ce wow qui mettrait la lecture de cette saga dans mes priorités. J’y repenserai à la sortie du tome 2 !

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ENGLISH REVIEW

A rather dense universe that mixes all the supernatural beings that I like to find in my readings.
¤
Mage Amina Langston thought surviving the supernatural apocalypse, which killed fifty percent of humankind and changed most of the surviving population into paranormal beings, were the biggest challenges in her life. That is, until she and her brother go on the run from non-gifted humans who want to steal their magical blood to make a power-giving serum. Now she’s in search of a handsome stranger who keeps appearing in her dreams and a secret paranormal city to help free those still held in captivity for their blood.
During her journey, Amina befriends several other magical beings also searching for the mysterious town, including a sexy were-jackal who distracts her from locating the man of her proverbial dreams. However, when the group finds the city, it’s filled with dangerous magic and a barbaric were-pack. Facing these new troubles, will Amina take down her human pursuers and save the other paranormals she left behind or end up in greater peril?
¤
In this book, the author immerses us in a city where only magic and beings endowed with powers remain after humanity has suffered a real catastrophe and almost extinction. Ordinary humans have become minorities and if at the beginning of the story, we think that society has rebuilt itself well and is fair between these humans and supernatural beings, very quickly the author shows us that there’s something wrong.
I really liked discovering the universe of this book which, even if it isn’t very original, mixes all the attractive elements of the supernatural. We find magic, weres, mages, conspiracies and a quest.
Amina’s a character that I quite liked. She’s a generous and devoted young woman towards her friends. Besides, when she felt stuck between her solidarity with other supernatural beings and her friendship that she has developed with some humans, I found that her hesitation, her doubts and her confusion were well written.
The plot was catchy, though predictable at many points. The author's writing style is fluid and captivated me with the multiple figures of speech she used to give rhythm to her text.
It’s a first book and I don’t know if I will read the second. Not because I didn't like it, on the contrary, I liked it. But, during my reading, I didn’t feel this "wow" which would put the reading of this series in my priorities. I'll think about it when book 2 comes out!

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

Post world plague thriller. Supernatural beings and wonder siblings who will try to make it to the land promised in a dream. Some will like it and others won't. It's a good read with fascinating characters and premise.

This one I struggled with, I really wanted to enjoy it more but I couldn’t and I ended up skipping and skimming through bits. just too many plot holes and no real explanation so not for me

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

DNF @30%

I told myself last night that if this book didn't grab me by the time I had to go to bed, I was done, and here we are.

The beginning has a preface which explains why the author redid this book. She wanted to correct any grammar issues, typos, and stylistic concerns. She talked about how she believes she's a better writer now and owes it to the readers and her MC. She references how Neil Gaimen redid American Gods.

Ahem

Anyways, this book is not gripping. The MC is really bland and boring. It's supposed to be a paranormal fantasy, but it reads more like a superhero story, perhaps because of how often the MCs brother calls her superhero names. There is reference to fae and vampires and werewolves, but I didn't really see any of that in the first third of the book unless you count things like "this is Jane, and she is fae." The MCs brother also has very superhero-ish powers, and the MC herself seems to have some kind of immeasurable godly powers because she is the MC and also perhaps a bit of a MS if you're picking up what I'm putting down.

Anyhoodle. It was boring. I didn't care about any of the characters. There was no growth or development in the first third of the book. The setting was barely described, or if it was, it was done in such a way that I immediately forgot it. I certainly wasn't immersed in the world. It felt grey and bland and empty. The author is trying to keep us on our toes, withholding information to keep things mysterious, trying to play it coy, but it just makes it boring because we aren't given enough information to actually GAF, there's nothing on which to gain traction, there's no rope with which to pull us in.

meh.

Having read the "first" edition, I basically skimmed this rewritten book. I enjoyed it both times. In fact, I've read the series to date.

The author's strength doesn't lie in world building as much as in creating interesting characters, particularly a well developed female MC.

There isn't much mention of the events leading to a post-apocalyptic world, where people attain or become magical. Yet the author creates a credible if not particularly original post apocalyptic society.

The book and those that follow sustained my interest. A fast but worthwhile read.

2.5
Even though this was written before covid hit I couldnt help correlate the symptoms this plague to it, only this plague gave the characters super powers like turning them into werewolves and vampires and witches along with other magical beings.

I wish I had her powers, especially being able to make old food fresh again. Talk about never having food waste ever again. And Charles ability to clean house with just a spell, please this mom could use both of those.

I felt like there was just a lot of plot holes and no real explanation as to why everyone suddenly got powers or shifted into being things like vampires and werewolves etc. I found myself skimming a lot, I just didn't really find myself following the story that well. I did like the main character and her brother but thats about as far as it went for me.

The premise seemed good, with a story set in an alternate universe hit by a super natural apocalypse, which wiped off majority of the humankind and turned the remaining into super natural beings.

The idea was intriguing but the execution turned out to be poor. I think the author could have worked a bit more on the world building. The writing style felt flat and the dynamic between the characters also felt off to me. They all seemed to lack depth and individualism. Amina is brave and resilient, but she didn't exactly stand out to me as a great protagonist.

On the other note, I liked the diversity of main characters. The story was sure entertaining and the suspense was also decent. But something lacked to draw me to this book.

I fell in love with the storyline. I was so invested in most of all the characters, I still think there is something going on with Philip; but I digress. I especially loved Charles. The world building was epic, I can’t wait to see more in book two. I do wish that I hadn’t cried towards the end. I hoped that everything was a happy ever after, but that just isn’t real life. Now I am trying to figure out who let out David. I can’t wait for the second book, because that person needs to pay. I will say there are some steamy bits, and also needs to come with trigger warnings. Such as physical abuse and attempted sexually assault.

I really really wanted to be very into this book - the plot was really interesting, and I'm always here for a post-apocalyptic paranormal romance.

That said reading this was a slog - the writing style was too simplistic and the dialogue was just off for it to be an easy fun read. The book itself falls really flat, which is a shame because I feel with a really strong editor this could be a really wonderful series. I'm crossing my fingers that it picks up for the next installment, because the premise is really great, and not something I've seen.

ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

This book takes place in a post-apocalytic world. I enjoyed reading a storyline showcasing a strong female lead character.

Interesting, paranormal apocalypse, a little sexy, cryptic prophet, page-turner.

This book is based in a post-apocalyptic world where every fairy tale and monster legend gets ripped out of hiding, including within people’s DNA, transforming “regular” humans into paranormal creatures. Oh, there’s also a zombie-like sickness that ravages non-paranormals. Fast forward 9 years and you have a supernatural sibling duo who gets captured by the dredges of humanity who drain their blood to steal their powers, like a supernatural drug ring. The story then follows the siblings as they escape and try to rescue/exact revenge and the people they find along the way.

I found this premise extremely interesting and I loved the world C.C. created, discovering all the different types of supernatural creatures and her take on them was a blast. I also fell instantly in love with the rag-tag group of 6 that forms. There was also a romantic sub-plot that turned a wee bit sexy that I really enjoyed. However, I did think the ending was a bit rushed, and the final plot device was a bit of a cliché cop-out. With that being said I went back and re-read Annie Mae’s cryptic words in Chapter 16 and now I have some theories that I hope come true. In short, I loved the world that was built, I can’t wait to get to know the rest of the Scooby-gang and I’m definitely looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Also, were-jackal??! Yes, please!


Special thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for sharing this digital copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

#NetGalley #MysticBonds

Oh my gosh! I loved this book!
After the "Event" that changed everything, regular humans dying off while others are changed.An evil steps out to wipe them clear.
Can this group of 6, stay together and fight this evil and anything it throws their way?
I love Mina and Erik!!

Loved this book - without giving away any spoilers it had me feeling tense, surprised and also emotional. I loved the different fairytale characters and the world that the earth had become, as well as references to other dimensions and types of magic still undiscovered. I would definitely recommend this to teenagers as a great example of character building in literacy and world creation. I would have liked to have known more about the main character as I didn’t feel like she had much of a personality - I didn’t get to read about any fun side to her and she seemed very serious but the plot itself kept me reading the book. Personally, I will definitely be buying the next books in the series!

I'm a little on the fence with this one, there were parts I loved and other aspects that didn't work for me. I feel engaged enough by the story to want to read future books.

I liked Mina, she really didn't have her s##t together but for me this actually made her much more realistic and eminently more likeable. I would have liked a little more depth from some of the supporting characters, particularly Erik, Charles and Phillip, at times I felt I learnt more via what others TOLD me, rather than through what I experienced.. However there was enough development for me to enjo0y the book.

The plot was fascinating and there were some interesting idea's explored. Some resolutions to conflicts felt a little oversimplified, but, given this was the author's first published book, overall I was satisfied with how the plot progressed.

At times I was totally absorbed by the story, particularly during scenes of action and scenes heavy with dialogue. Sadly there were passages where the heroine actually narrated the story to the reader, rather than allowing them to experience it for themselves. It was almost as though someone was recounting an event or memory, resulting in the story losing it's flow and pace and disconnecting me from the book.

On balance there were more positives than negatives for me and I look forward to reading more of Mina and her friends.

Unfortunately, I didn't finish this book. The premise was very interesting and at first I was excited to see where it might go, but the writing style was a little too simplistic and the the dialogue was a little too clunky for me to enjoy.