Broken Bonds

“So you’re going to lock me up here then? You’re putting bars on the windows and I’m going to be kept as a fucking pet? It doesn’t matter who my Bonds are, facing me to complete the bond is rape and I won’t just bend over for them.”

Oli’s anger at being forced to go back to her Bonds establishes the stakes of Oli’s kidnapping and introduces the theme of Autonomy Within the Fated Mates Trope. Oli rightfully contends that completing her bonds via sex without her consent is rape. Noakes’s choice to abduct her anyway shows that the novel’s world values the magical powers of influential men more than an individual woman’s bodily autonomy. This is one of the most significant points of conflict in the text.

“She ducks her head, obviously uncomfortable with what her superiors have done, but not quite enough to help me.”

Employees of the Council respect organizational hierarchy more than morality. Though this woman thinks that Oli is being mistreated, she is unwilling to risk her position to do what she feels is right. The novel thus shows how fear allows corruption to infect and spread inside institutions, a dynamic explored further when Oli attends Draven University.

“I mean, I am the villain in this story right now. Even if they were to find out about what the last five years have been like for me…even then, I’d probably be the bad guy. Not that they will ever find out. If they do, they’ll be dead. It’ll be right when the Resistance comes here and murders us all. Not me though, nope, they’d keep me. I’m too fucking valuable to die an honest death.”

Oli’s internal monologue foreshadows the reveal that she was once imprisoned by the Resistance, a group that seeks to infiltrate and destroy Gifted society. Her fear that the Resistance will capture her and keep her alive—which she sees as a fate worse than death—hints at why she ran away from her Bonds without undercutting the mystery. Oli’s framing of herself as “the villain” also alludes to The Subjectivity of Truth, as Oli knows that her intentions are not as cruel as her Bonds believe them to be.

“I could cry, just fucking sob at my phone at this tiny scrap of kindness, but that might just break the damn inside me and at this point, I’m a freaking expert at compartmentalizing my own trauma.”

Oli’s extreme reaction to Atlas’s basic kindness shows the consequences of her Bonds’ cruelty and hints as the torture she suffered at the hands of the Resistance. She notes, however, that kindness feels more dangerous to her than cruelty, as she has become accustomed to the latter. Kindness, she fears, will break her resolve to stay away from her Bonds.

“I’m jealous, honestly, of how great they all look, while I’m over here looking like a sack of potatoes in the oversized uniform. I’ve always cared about my appearance but being here, surrounded by the whispers and judgmental stares of everyone, I’m suddenly hyper-aware of every last one of my flaws.”

Oli’s preoccupation with her appearance illustrates that, though she faces extreme danger and violence, she also has concerns common to 19-year-old women. Her fear of the judgment of her peers here plays into the genre conventions of the college romance, in which conflict with classmates is often a major obstacle for the protagonist.

“Even after years of being on the run and doing everything I could to survive, there’s some deep and dark part of me who hears the call of messy vehicular death on the asphalt and desperately craves it.”

The novel makes numerous references to Oli’s suicidal ideation, though it is not generally clear if she is really considering death by suicide as a result of her trauma or using hyperbolic language consistent with her dramatic style of narration. Here, Oli alludes to her parents’ death, as discussed in the Prologue, so her “craving” for “the call of […] death” seems like a poetic way to depict lasting grief over losing her parents so suddenly, as well as a desire to be with them once more.

“I remember one of the girls saying I was going to be a whore like my mom and that she’d seen guys coming in and out of our house all the time. My mom was the Central Bond, and I had three dads. I can’t remember why we lived amongst humans.”

Oli’s recollection of being bullied as a child via language that denigrates sex workers indicates the sharp separation between Gifted and Ungifted people, or humans, in the novel’s society. Her classmate’s comment suggests that outside of Gifted society, Bond relationships look like polyamory and are frowned upon. Moreover, the classmate seems ignorant of the culture in which this form of romantic partnership is common, while Oli knows it is unusual for Gifted to live “amongst humans,” highlighting the sharp separation of these two groups.

“[Sage] never comments on the pathetic lack of stuff I have or how horribly uncomfortable the bed is, she just acts like this situation is completely normal. It’s vital to my survival.”

Oli here reflects on The Value of Friendship by noting how important it is that Sage treats her as though she is “normal.” As Oli’s backstory is revealed, the readers learn that Sage may be the first friend that Oli has ever had, as she was mistreated by human peers as a child and then seen as a valuable possession by the Resistance. Oli’s “pathetic lack of stuff” represents her sense of not fitting in, at least in part due to socioeconomic difference.

“Maybe you should stop being so goddamn in love with the victim narrative you have going on in your head and think about this like a rational human being for a second. The Council aren’t all friends. It’s not some boys club that North is in that’s trying to ruin your life. They’re the leaders of our community and the staple of our society…and half of them think that North should force you to bond with him because you shouldn’t have the right to say no to him. Half of them think rape is the appropriate course of action here.”

Gabe caustically criticizes Oli for adopting a “victim narrative.” However, he also warns her about the danger of the Council and discusses his disgust with Council members who think that rape is acceptable. The monologue shows that Oli’s Bonds—however contentious her relationships with them—are suitable romantic partners, capable of making amends for their cruel behavior. For Gabe, this means being the lesser of two evils—something that, for Oli, is sufficient to make them allies.

“Dark blue jeans, a white tee that’s stretched out over his wide chest, and his football jacket slung over his broad shoulders, he looks like every college girl’s wet dream.”

Oli’s appreciation for Gabe’s attire illustrates how the college romance is an extension of high school romance. His preppy style is a cliché, contrasting the equally cliché “bad boy” look first made popular by actor James Dean in the movie Rebel Without a Cause (1955). The addition of the football jacket frames Gabe as a member of a socially accepted in-group, while the college setting gives Oli’s narration the freedom to include sexually explicit commentary.

“‘I was already planning on throwing myself off a bridge, I’ll just move it up.’

He gives me a hard look […] ‘I’m a mandatory reporter for students in crisis, don’t say that shit around me because I’d rather not have to fill out all the paperwork, kid.’”

Oli’s conversation with Vivian, her favorite teacher, lampshades the novel’s repeatedly flippant references to death by suicide and suicidal ideation. This self-referential moment acknowledges that such off-handed treatment might be harmful or offensive. However, Vivian’s comment about being a mandatory reporter ends irreverently, with a joke about being less concerned about Oli than paperwork. This shows the novel’s inconsistent treatment of mental health concerns. While Oli’s trauma is treated as serious, the novel never investigates whether its effects could lead to maladaptive, self-destructive, or self-harmful coping behaviors.

“I force myself to think about Sage and Felix, to wonder whether Felix will be able to find some way to convince Sage to give him a chance. It’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about since her birthday because there was no mistaking the adoration in his eyes every time he looked at her. Sometimes Bonds aren’t a blessing and they just make things more complicated, and those two are a classic example of that.”

Early in the novel, Oli treats the animosity between her and her Bonds as an aberration caused by her mysterious, extraordinary Gift and her flight from the Resistance. Felix and Sage’s relationship, however, illustrates that mundane obstacles might also affect Bonds; Felix and Sage’s affection for one another despite Sage’s Bond with Riley casts them as star-crossed lovers.

“What in the Harry Potter bullshit is this?!”

Oli’s allusion to J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is presented as an element of comic relief that illustrates Oli’s exasperation when the walls of the TT maze begin moving. Seeing this reminds Oli of staircases that shift in Rowling’s Hogwarts. Bree’s world building frequently includes popular culture from the real world; here, Oli laughs because Harry Potter’s magic is much more potent than what the Gifted can accomplish. This frames Bree’s magical world as less expansive and more rule bound than Rowling’s.

“Thirty years in a TacTeam taught me that what your Gift is doesn’t mean shit about who you are…it’s what you’re going to do with it. Look at Gryphon, with his career trajectory you’d be thinking he was a Shifter or some other physical Gift, but he proves every day that you don’t need it. If you’ve got nothing but your backbone, kid, you’re going to be fine out there.”

Vivian reassures Oli, whom he believes to be Ungifted (or the offspring of Gifted parents who lacks magical powers), that a person’s Gift is less important than their personal qualities. To Oli, however, who has an extremely volatile Gift, this reassurance takes on another resonance: She doesn’t have to be powerless to her Gift and its dangerous potential.

“Boyfriend, not Bond. It’s a small word choice, but a clear distinction in our world that makes all of the difference. Whoever Sawyer is fated to be with, he hasn’t found them yet, and he’s not waiting around for them.”

Sawyer’s relationship with Gray develops the novel’s theme of autonomy within the “fated mates” trope. Sawyer’s choice to date someone he cares about before he finds his Bonds is framed as transgressive and daring. The language of “waiting” alludes to real-world cultural and religious traditions that prescribe waiting until marriage to have sex and links Bonds with arranged marriage customs. Because Sawyer and Gray are the only LGTBQ+ couple in the novel (and because Gabe refers to Oli and Sage’s friendship using language that disparages lesbians), this sense of societal transgression is implied to also relate to their sexuality.

“I spend the rest of the day messing around on my phone and trying not to lose my goddamn mind over being trapped here with all of these people I’m starting to…need. Fuck, I need them all. I need their friendships like nothing ever before and I’m completely screwed.”

One of the novel’s major tensions is Oli’s conflict between enjoying that her friends make her life worthwhile and worrying that those friends are liabilities as she tries to stay out of the Resistance’s grasp. Both are true: Oli lets herself be recaptured to protect Sage, but her Bonds come to rescue her, showing that these relationships have benefits, as well.

“Personal shit aside, you’re still his Bond, and Gryphon Shore is not someone you just decide to piss off on a whim.”

When Gryphon stands up for Oli against Zoey, the bullying classmate from her TT course, he shows the importance of even flawed Bond relationships. While Gryphon is less antagonistic toward Oli than the Draven brothers, he and Oli are not on good terms. Nevertheless, he frames defending her as a manner of honor due to their “fated mates” status.

“That might be your truth, but it’s not mine.”

Gryphon has a Gift that determines truth from lies, which makes his comment about the subjectivity of truth particularly salient. He recognizes that Oli believes that what she is saying is true but also knows that her truth is not the only possible truth. As they grow and develop, the novel’s characters must learn to see events from each other’s perspectives, an important step in the love interests’ gradual redemption arcs.

“We’ll figure out our bond when we’re ready, you don’t owe me a goddamn thing. Oli, I need you to understand that I don’t give a fuck what they think. I care about our bond. I care about getting to know you and us making decisions together.”

Atlas’s respect for Oli’s desires makes him her biggest ally among her Bonds. His willingness to treat her as an equal highlights the extent to which the others fail to show her the same courtesy. Atlas’s attitude toward Oli influences Gabe, who gradually approaches Oli with greater respect.

“I’ve gone from a shitty, but solitary room, to something that’s probably over the top in its luxury but full of the men who hate me.”

After North forces Oli to move into the Draven manor, Oli notices the relative merits of privacy and splendor, which are mutually exclusive in her different living situations. While she lamented everything that her dorm room lacked, she now sees that its main advantage was the ability to retreat. Now, despite being surrounded by material comforts, Oli is disturbed to see that solitude is no longer an option for her.

“Poison. Of course [Nox would] be the person to link my name up with the terrible position that I’ve inadvertently put us all in. I’m the poison that’s been spread into his family.”

Nox’s cruel nickname leads Oli to reflect on the aptness of her name, Oleander, a poisonous flower. In the novel, most character names signify something about personality, powers, or future actions, providing hints to savvy readers through allusions.

“She didn’t say no. Not once. She came on my hand so no, brother, I didn’t rape her.”

Nox here perpetuates several common misconceptions about sexual violence and rape. First, he contends that verbally refusing sex is the only thing that indicates lack of consent. This is in opposition to the contemporary understanding of consent as something that needs to be affirmatively confirmed. Second, he incorrectly posits that rape cannot lead to physical gratification in the person being assaulted. This precludes the legal understanding of rape by deception, a crime in many Western countries. It is unclear the extent to which the novel agrees with Nox; Oli insists that she was not assaulted, which the novel privileges, given Oli’s status as the narrator and Nox’s target. Atlas, however, condemns Nox. Since Atlas is the Bond with the most moral authority, his condemnation holds weight, allowing the novel to have the scene both ways.

“She doesn’t look evil but I’ve already learned that even the sweetest and kindest looking people can be monsters.”

Oli observes that appearances can be deceiving when she encounters the Resistance again. In the text, this applies both to Oli and to her enemies; the novel’s climax reveals that Oli, an apparently weak and Ungifted girl, actually has a dangerously strong Gift that can kill people in an instant.