Broken Bonds

Sage is Oli’s best friend. The two initially bond over their mutual unpopularity at Draven University; while Oli is a pariah for rejecting her Bonds (apparently for no reason), Sage has been rejected by the other Draven students because her Bond, Riley, has chosen his Bonded, Giovanna, over Sage. Giovanna has, in return, used her social influence to turn others against Sage. Oli feels protective of Sage for this reason and is often angry with Giovanna and Riley.

Sage, as her name indicates, is a capable student and often serves as a tutor to Oli, who did not finish high school while she was on the run. The two friends frequently study together, and their small study group eventually expands to include Sawyer; Felix, a Healer who is romantically interested in Sage despite not being one of her Bonds; and Gabe and Atlas. Sage is reluctant to enter a romance with Felix, fearing that he will one day find his own Bonds and reject her.

Sage’s Gift lets her wield fire, a skill that is correlated to her bravery and fortitude: Sage remains strong even when facing Resistance fighters, a quality of which Oli approves.

Gabe is one of Oli’s Bonds. Though they do not enter a romantic relationship in this installment, he becomes one of her love interests in the series. In Broken Bonds, Gabe and Oli progress from being at odds to being friends. 

Gabe is the Bond with whom Oli spends the most time in the novel. At Draven University, they have all the same classes, and he eventually becomes her Tactical Training class trainer. Gabe and Oli’s relationship undergoes several ups and downs. Though Gabe’s animosity fades somewhat as he gets to know Oli, he also expresses frustration that she considers herself a victim. Conversely, Oli struggles to reconcile her growing friendship with Gabe with his longstanding friendship with (and therefore loyalty to) the Dravens, whom Oli fears and dislikes. However, the two connect over their mutual grief over the loss of their parents, as Gabe’s father died at the hands of the Resistance.

Even when he is angry with her, Gabe is protective of Oli. Gabe is the first of Oli’s Bonds to see what her Gift can do, as she in turn uses her powers to rescue him from the Resistance. At the end of the novel, their friendship is firmly established through this mutual defense.

The significance of Gabe’s name is less obvious than that of some of the other characters but may refer to Gabe’s physical strength as a Shifter: In Judeo-Christian mythology, Gabriel is the mightiest archangel who announces God’s will to mankind.

Though North becomes one of Oli’s love interests in the series, in Broken Bonds, he functions as an antagonist. As a prominent Council member, North is the most politically influential of Oli’s Bonds; it is North’s prominence that leads to TacTeams being deployed to recapture her after she flees her Bonds.

Oli’s relationship with North is one of constant hostility. North is determined to control and restrict Oli’s movements: He orders a GPS chip installed in her neck, gives her a strict curfew, defines a physical boundary outside of which she cannot travel, and breaks into Atlas’s apartment to remove her to his home when she crosses that boundary. While North exercises some control over his brother, Nox, who is far more combative with Oli, North largely does little to protect Oli from his brother’s cruelties.

Though the relationship between North’s name and his personality is less evident than that of other characters, his name might refer to his cold attitude toward Oli or the fact that his Gift seems connected to darkness (though his full Gift is not specified in this installment)—qualities commonly associated with the north wind in literary allusion. In John Milton’s Paradise Lost, the north also represents jealousy, which correlates with North’s possessiveness.

Nox is one of Oli’s Bonds. Though he ultimately becomes a romantic interest in the series, he is an antagonist in the novel and the Bond with whom Oli has the most oppositional relationship. His name, which is the Latin word for “night,” foreshadows his Gift, revealed at the novel’s climax: Nox can conjure and control violent shadow creatures, which he uses to do his bidding, including killing Resistance members.

Nox is the most purposefully combative of Oli’s Bonds. He regularly brings his sexual partners to Bond group dinners, something that he knows will irritate Oli’s internal bond. He encourages these partners to mock and torment Oli. As her professor in the Gifted 101 course, he gives her poor grades just to be cruel until North takes over grading Oli’s papers.

In Chapter 22, Nox grabs Oli in the hallway of his home and performs manual sex on her—the scene that readers find most controversial in the novel. Atlas and Gabe insist that since Nox used the mystical bond connection between them against Oli, he committed rape. However, Oli and Nox do not consider what happened to be sexual assault. This incident, which remains unresolved, causes friction in the group. 

Although Nox helps Gryphon rescue Oli at the end of the novel, it is not apparent that this is due to any affection for her.

Gryphon is one of Oli’s Bonds. Though he eventually becomes a love interest in the series, he and Oli do not have a romantic relationship in Broken Bonds. Instead, he and Oli have a neutral connection; though he does not become a friend like Gabe or Atlas, Oli also does not despise Gryphon the way she does North and Nox.

Gryphon’s name comes from the mythological creature (more commonly spelled “griffin” in US English) that represents strength, bravery, and truth. The first two of these qualities correlate to Gryphon’s profession as the leader of an elite TacTeam—Gifted fighters who combat the Resistance. The last quality correlates to Gryphon’s Gift, which is implied to let him be able to sense truth and lies. He also has the ability to ease Oli’s intense menstrual symptoms, which connects to the gryphon’s magical healing powers in some traditions.

Gryphon often serves as an instructor to Oli in the text. She recognizes early in their acquaintance that she desires to impress him, something that Gryphon uses to further train her in self-defense. However, Gryphon’s protectiveness does not extend into kindness; he stands by when Nox and (to a lesser extent) North are cruel to her.