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?
For transparency purposes, I received a free audiobook copy of Mystic Bonds.
That being said, I wanted to like this book. It had everything that I normally like. Dystopian, magical powers, love triangles. Sadly, it didn't quite deliver. The premise was great, but the further I got into it, it felt like a cheap knock off of Alexandra Bracken's The Darkest Minds. This book was supposed to be in the New Adult genre, but it felt very YA.
Also, I'm not much of an audiobook person. I find it hard to focus on the story at times, but I really gave this one a good try. I don't think the issue is the audiobook, I think it's the writing. Honestly, if you've read The Darkest Minds, this one truly feels like a knock off, and I hate feeling that way because this is an indie author.
Firstly, this story is almost all tell. I don't ever get to the point where I feel the characters' emotions or get fully wrapped into the story. There are very few descriptions of places, so I quite often felt like they were in a black box.
Secondly, this definitely falls into the YA trope of reluctant chosen one. While I don't hate the trope, I definitely expected to see a new twist on it, but I didn't get it. The main character has all of these powers, but we know very little of them. They seem to be randomly given to the character. One power is mind control, another is shooting fire. I just didn't understand how the magic system worked at all.
Because of my low rating, I won't be posting this review on goodreads out of respect for the author, but if you're looking for a dystopian story with magical elements: read The Darkest Minds. Alex Bracken is one of my favorite authors.
Sadly, I cannot recommend this story.
★
Thanks for reading, Abbie
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