Cover Image: These Twisted Bonds

These Twisted Bonds

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Member Reviews

This was such a perfect ending to a fantastic story. Lexi Ryan managed to fit in so much mythology that worked so seamlessly into the world and the addition of Misha in this book was just what was needed.
At times the beginning felt slightly info dumpy, but on reflection I think it was necessary with the amount of lore added with this sequel. Once I was about 20% through I couldn’t stop reading! I loved the character development for Brie throughout this book and the romance. It was super fast paced and the action never felt paused or stunted.

5/5 stars for this book and this duology in general. I really hope Lexi Ryan continues to write in this world.
Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for letting me read an early copy!

NA Fantasy/Romance

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Thank you so much to NetGalley, Hodder and Stoughton and Lexi Ryan for giving me an ARC of These Twisted Bonds in exchange for an honest review.✨

I absolutely adored the finale of this duology! Abriella was so much stronger and raw in this book which made me love her even more and even though I adored Finn in the first book, I fell so much more in love with him this time around. While this is not the most original book I've ever read and does have some parallels to other faerie novels I have read, I absolutely adored it and it was so so so fun to read! Everything about this book was just fun and exciting for me to read and I am honestly so sad that this duology is now complete.
This was one of my most anticipated releases for 2022 and it did not disappoint! I'd highly recommend everyone picks up the These Hollow Vows duology and experience the enjoyment that I know I and many others have received from this book.

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A beautifully written book. Really enjoyed reading this. Thanks to publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read

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I hate cliff hangers, so when These Hollow Vows ended I needed the second book asap. These Twisted Bonds has not disappointed at all However, anyone else feel sad it's a duology! I just want more!. Lexi Ryan has created a world so vast, characters so likeable, that I want more stories about them.
Brother against brother, friends you least expect and great sacrifices. This was a perfect read. Thank you.

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*e-arc provided by the publisher*
I consumed this book in one sitting, I could not put it down. I just had to keep on reading until I had finished it.
The tension was so so strong in parts of the book and my heart was racing the whole time. I was also giggling/smiling to myself when reading certain chapters too.

My only 'issue' with the duology is that sometimes things felt a bit rushed - but that could be because I am used to longer fantasy series.

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These Twisted Bonds by Lexi Ryan is the sequel to These Hollow Vows and it continues with the story of Brie, Finn, and the others.

The ending of the first book left me wanting more of this world and I needed to know what happens next. This initial thrill lasted only for a little bit.

The book is still heavily focused on Brie and in this one she seems a bit lost and can’t choose sides and it felt like her lies and precious actions caught up with her. That made me feel a bit lost in the story too and I just wish this would have all been more rectified.

I’m a huge fan of Finn and loved every scene he was in. His character is just the most fascinating to me and it continued to be this way.

The pacing was way too fast and so much happened, but then some pages later it slowed down a lot and then picked back up and it was really strange. I honestly would have preferred for this to be a trilogy so certain aspects and characters could be developed more and better and that was probably my main concern with this book.

Overall, These Twisted Bonds was a solid sequel, but it could have been a lot better and that made it ok for me. 3 stars.

(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

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First off I am in love with the cover it is so epic. I enjoyed the story. A plot that fits more than one genre and appealling to readers of all the genres it fits.

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This book was indeed enjoyable. I had so much fun reading it. I found These Twisted Bonds to be just as addictive as There Hollow Vows. There was drama. There was spice. The stakes were high. I got swept up in it.

The book starts exactly where we left off - picking up immediately in the aftermath of the painful revelations – with Brie running away from the Seelie prince whom she fell in love with and who betrayed her, leaving the Seelie court in chaos. Even though Brie is more careful about who to trust, she kind of ends up running right into the hands of a new exciting character, Misha. He was the best! Can we get a book about him? He is the type of a side character who is able to steal the show in a blink. I loved his incredible friendly-flirty banter with Brie and his ongoing support of her.

The plot was fine enough to keep my attention but honestly, there is nothing better than the love triangle with those two fae princes. Sometimes it made me want to pull out my hair that´s how tense I got over it all. Yeah, I guess I haven´t read this duology for the plot but for the boy drama. I squealed. I laughed. I got frustrated. My heart felt sore. I sometimes forgot to breathe. Amazing! Now I wonder what I can actually say not to spoiler anyone. Therefore let me just state that I think that fans of Finn will be happy. The interactions that he has with Brie in this book are amazing. There are steamy and also heartfelt moments that I just had to read several times to properly savor them. It’s everything I wanted. The tension throughout this book is… on fire.

Until the point where Finn reappeared and became a constant there, I had a bit of a problem fully diving into the story but when he came back I could not stop turning the pages (or in reality clicking on my e-reader screen). It still felt a bit inspired by A Court of Thorns and Roses, but not to the point where I would roll my eyes over it. I think that ACOTAR friends could truly enjoy this duology.

Even though These Twisted Bonds contains some a bit predictable things so I was not exactly shocked by the overall plot, it was still great. I especially loved that in the sequel we got to explore the history and legends of the fae realm. It explores more of the formation of the two fae courts – Seelie and Unseelie – which is crucial there as it influences the characters and what they are going through right now.

I think the ending could be prolonged, it felt quite quick. It felt too rushed. It was too smooth. I would appreciate explaining some of it more and having more space to wrap everything up. I remember reading it and thinking – maybe around 80% - that the rest is going to be rushed because there is no way to wrap the duology in such a small amount of pages left.

Overall, despite some things that could still be better, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The sequel certainly didn’t disappoint. It was a great conclusion. Now give me a Misha spin-off, pretty please.


I received an eARC from the publishers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, Hodder & Stoughton.

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These Twisted Bonds is the sequel to These Hollow Vows and follows Abriella as she deals with events of the first book. I really enjoyed the plot of this one, it's fast paced and does well in exploring the relationships and the magic while the story unfolds.

Brie was fun to follow but did annoy me at points due to the repetitiveness of 'I'm not special' even though it's clear to her and everyone else she's basically the chosen one. If the ick was a person it would be Sebastian. I loved all the other characters though, especially Finn, we learn more about his backstory which made me love him more! Overall I did really enjoy this one!

I saw someone describe this series as ACOTAR if Feyre got married and I think that describes it pretty well. I loved ACOTAR and I think anyone else who loves it will love these books too!

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These Twisted Bonds was a much better read than These Hollow Vows for me. I did enjoy the first book but i think this one was so much more enjoyable to me. The second book starts off right where book one left off. Brie is now a faerie, has been betrayed by everyone she trusted and is now trying to save the faerie courts.

These Twisted Bonds felt more well written. I loved the development of the characters, the introduction of new characters and the world building and magic system was great. The beginning of the book was a little slow to me but the book really started to pick up around the 40% mark and I loved it. yes some of the plot was predictable but who cares? I still enjoyed the story.

kinda spoiler alert????
- i loved that the characters really stayed true to themselves, especially with the whole finn/bash/brie thing that went on. I'm so glad bash wasn't turned into an evil character and the ending of the book really proved he was a good character. Everything he did wasn't absurd considering the situation he was in and i think any normal person would have reacted the same way. Brie was also a great character in this book, she really developed for the better and i love her and Finn. Also major spoiler alert, i love how the book ended, it was such a happy ending.

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I loved this book. It gripped me from the very beginning and kept me invested until the very end. I found the world and the story fascinating, thought that the introduction of one of the new characters in particular was a breath of fresh air and added a new name to my list of favorite book boyfriends.

The story picks up right after the events of the first book and follows Abriella as she struggles and learns to deal with her new circumstances, discovers quite a few pieces of interesting and shocking information and faces some difficult and, at times, heartbreaking choices, and it was all I was hoping it would be and more.

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Wow, this book really is a successful conclusion to this wonderful dilogy! I’ve loved the first book so much and therefore I had high expectations for the sequel. And fortunately I wasn't disappointed, but my expectations were even exceeded.



The author's writing style is captivating and addictive. While reading you become part of the story yourself and thanks to the pictorial representations I could find my way around wonderfully in this new fantasy world. In general, I absolutely loved the world building! Both the atmosphere and the feeling while reading were something very special here and I am very happy that I have discovered this author for myself.



Brie, the female protagonist, goes through an enormous character development within the book. Already in the first book I admired her a lot for her courage, her strength and her way of thinking, but this time my admiration for her has grown even more. She was betrayed, had to put up with a lot of disappointments and her entire life was turned upside down. And yet she shows herself to be a true fighter. I loved how she found herself more and more and discovered who and what she really is. I also loved her immensely thanks to her big and pure heart.



I also loved the love story a lot too! I actually didn't like Sebastian in the first book and gave my heart to Finn within a very short time, which is why I was very excited, especially after the end of the first book, to see how the story will continue and who the final love interest will be. I don't want to spoil here, but I can say that the author has implemented the whole thing wonderfully and authentically and I absolutely sympathized and shared my excitement while reading.

The secondary characters also helped make the book so enjoyable to me. They are all wonderful additions to the story and I grew very fond of many of them.



A highlight for me were all the unexpected twists and revelations in this book. I loved the plot and didn't see it coming. I was surprised several times, it was very exciting the whole time and I couldn't put the book down.



"These Broken Bonds" is a more than just a successful conclusion to this dilogy and an absolutely perfect mixture of suspense, humor and emotion. If you love fae, fantasy, romance and a badass female protagonist, then you’ll love this dilogy!

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These Twisted Bonds is the sequel to These Hollow Vows (2021) by Lexi Ryan,

After that shocking cliffhanger in the previous book, I couldn't get my hands on this one fast enough. I didn't expect to love the previous one, but it's light, easy to read and escape into fantasy world sucked me in and didn't let go. I was eager to see how it would all wrap up. This one delivers more of the same (and that's a good thing). Set in a rich, fantasy world with romance, action, mystery, suspense this book delivers pretty much everything you could want. I loved the character development in this one (hard to say more without spoilers). The romance and relationship between the two main characters is sweet but sexy, believable but still cheesy and fun. There is just enough spice (although I probably wouldn't recommend for very young readers). There are a few twists and turns. Overall this one met with my expectations and was a satisfying conclusion to a great first book. I'd recommend this one to fans of Sarah J Maas or Jennifer L Armentrout, or anyone who enjoys fantasy romance.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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These twisted bonds is book 2 in the duology of These hollow vows and after the way the first book ended I was dying to get my hands on this one.

It’s worth noting that a reread of the first book could be a good idea, although These hollow vows was my favourite read of last year there was a lot I needed to remind myself of and this book does pick up right where book 1 leaves off.

I love the plot of this book, there seemed to be so much to unpick and some really interesting history and back stories at play that contribute to the plot, the plot ties up beautifully in the final part of the book leaving all of your unanswered questions satisfyingly resolved.
I enjoyed that the writing leads you to believe you know how situations will be resolved but then completely removes the chance of the resolve happening in a plot twist.

Characters in this book are really great, you do get to be immersed in their feelings.
Brie has some stuff to deal with in this book in terms of trust and self worth and I felt the book tackled these well, showing it’s not as straightforward to deal with mistrust and being betrayed.
Finn is perfect book boyfriend material and Bash goes though such a journey, I’m not a usual fan of a love triangle as they always take too long to resolve but in this case, as a duology and due to the fact that the situations surrounding the 3 characters lend to a great story, I found it really enjoyable.

I want to highlight the traveling element of this book as it’s one of my favourite tropes, it helps gain a good understanding of the world, which is really rich and well thought out. Moving from place to place and building an understanding of the world and it’s magic system was really key to the plot. I particularly love the creatures of the world.

I absolutely adored this book, a fantastic duology, lovely writing and great plot!

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Oh my God! Oh my God! This book… just wow!! Book one was already a highlight of the year for me, but Book two was even better. It was exciting, action-packed, emotional and humorous. Normally, I don’t like love triangles at all, but Lexi Ryan pulled it off absolutely perfectly, so I was rooting for it the whole time. I couldn’t put the book down and I finished it in a day. The plot was well thought out, all open questions were answered and the ending was just perfect. Everything came together the way it should be.

Despite being so betrayed by both of them, Brie didn’t give up. She has become stronger as a result, she has grown with her tasks and has made her own decisions. Nevertheless, she also listens to other opinions. She didn’t just forgive both Finn and Bash and the two had to fight for her favor. The whole plot was designed so exciting that you could rarely predict anything. But it wasn’t just the main characters that had room to grow, the secondary characters didn’t miss out either and developed very well.

This book is an absolutely worthy ending to this awesome YA Fanatsy dilogy. If you like fae, fantasy and romance, you shouldn’t miss this book. However, you definitely need to start with the first book „these hollow vows“, because the second book is an continuation of this one.

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Early copy received from netgalley.
The second installment of this series was really good! I loved the way the female main character got stronger rather than the way in some fantasy series powerful women lose lots of power.
Brie struggles a lot, fighting between being selfish and doing what's best for others. I thought her relationships and her decisions between the two men was written well.
I did feel like the ending was a bit rushed and the rest of the story could have been shortened to make the end longer however it does wrap up nicely.

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We are joined by Brie, Finn and Bash as they deal with the aftermath of book one - everyone is going through it. There are new characters I found delightful, some dark magic at play, sweet one liners I can't handle and reveals that tie everything together. It really was a brilliant addition to the series and throughly enjoyable.

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After the first books ending, I was so excited to read this book. I had high expectations which were met! One of my favourite things about this book was how Brie’s character developed, as before I wasn’t sure how I felt about her. One thing I will say is that at time the writing got slightly boring, and hard to understand. However, I think it’s a great ending to a great duology, so I’d give it 4 ⭐️

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I enjoyed this book so much. I loved being back in this world and learning more of the history of it.

Brie's character developement was great. I found her a bit wishy washy in the first book but this book she really found herself. Not gonna lie i wanted to punch Bash most of the book. Like get a grip dude. His character arc was great though and i did end up feeling sorry for him.

Finn was just everything you want in a male. I already loved him in the first book but this book made me love him more.

My only issue with this book is that i felt like a lot wash squashed into the last 100 pages and things seem to sort themselves out supper quick. The ending did feel a bit rushed.

Overall i really enjoyed this series and a little bit sad that its over as the world is just great to read about and i'll miss the characters.

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These Twisted Bonds was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022. How could it not be, when These Hollow Vows ended like THAT?! The ending made me MAD. In a good and in a bad way. Like "you can't end it like this!" "Omg, I can't wait for her to get her revenge!" and "AHHH I KNEW IT, I HATE HIM SO MUCH!" There was a lot of emotions, and anyone who spoke to me about These Twisted Bonds got informed that yes, they should read it, but expect to be left steaming at the end, dying to get in to the sequel.

So obvs I had to request an arc. And then I waited in fear that, despite approving me for the first book, they'd go 'nah' and not give me this one. But I was approved, so thank you, I wish all the good things on you @ Hodder & Stoughton.

This novel picked up right where the last one left of, immediately throwing us back into the action and all of the emotion. It was fast paced as Brie ran for her life and tried to work out her feelings - betrayal, hurt, grief, pain. All emotions that she has to learn to work through and cope with throughout the course of the novel. It's not easy for her. She's got rage, she's got hurt, and part of this book is her trying to reconcile those parts of herself with who she wants to be. It was incredibly powerful to see Brie work through these feelings, she didn't wake up one day and felt fine, or forgiving. And even if sometimes her choices annoyed me (like you seriously didn't just stab Bash when you saw him again?!) I understood her confusion.

I really can't say much plot wise because of spoilers, but what I will say was that it was action packed, filled with tons of twist and turns. Some of them I had theories about so it was nice to see them be fulfilled.

There are some areas of the book that are a little weak - such as one part towards the end that felt like it had been resolved a little too easily after building up how difficult it would be for 2 novels. Also some plot difficulties felt a bit forced . . . like why did you not just do that *thing* before going off and doing that *thing*? But eh. It didn't impact my enjoyment of the book too much, it was just a shame when so much of the book felt strong.

Towards the end I did start to get nervous that it wasn't all going to be wrapped up in time, or feel rushed, but it didn't. It ended well, but I was preparing myself for "surprise! We've got a third book coming." Which, sure, I wouldn't have minded, but I think this worked well as a duology so I'm glad Ryan and the publisher decided to stick with that.

Also - this book also introduced Misha and I love Misha, so there is that.

Overall, These Twisted Bonds was an excellent conclusion to the duology.

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