The Gifts That Bind Us

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I appreciated that the author went with a 3 book series, I can't imagine squishing all of this content into a duology. The end of this book got me really excited for book 3 so the setup was certainly there. There are certainly enough reveals in this second book that I don't feel it was too stretched out. Wow, I really enjoyed this book, like I ended up really getting into it, even more than the first book. We see Roe discovering their sexuality and gender identity in such a kind and educational way, Maeve struggle with self esteem/identify and anxiety regarding the future, as well as important discussions regarding mental health and support through Fiona’s storyline. The focus of this book really was the friendship between Maeve, Fiona, and Lily (less so Roe, who spent a lot of the book at university and/or forgetting). That friendship was often thorny, namely between Maeve and Lily, but I loved the directions it took and the understandings that the characters came to with one another. That was another refreshing aspect of the book.

I loved the first book in the series, but I LOVED "The Gifts That Bind Us". This book definitely doesn't fall into the "second book = total disappointment" category at all. This spellbinding sequel to All Our Hidden Gifts is a riveting return to the lives of Maeve, Roe, Fiona, and Lily as they navigate their relationships as well as their newfound powers.The book was certainly enjoyable and I loved watching the teenagers practice using their new skills, although many a time they went too far such as Fiona purposely cutting herself so she could heal herself again. The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life. A book filled with hope and again the overarching message of self acceptance & the freedom to be yourself, while immersing you in a world full of witchcraft and spells. In general, I think it was a more introspective book than the first, less about doing something and more about the feelings that everything in book one had dredged up. Yes, they still had to fight bad guys, but that felt less of a focus for the most part. And that was great, to me. Books that look at consequences of saving x, y and z are the most interesting of books, and that was the case here.

With the same deft narrative style that made the previous book shine, O’Donoghue now offers an introspective take on what privileges and responsibilities come with magic, and a more nuanced exploration of the ways in which the characters are bound, involuntarily and by choice, to one another. . . . Fans of paranormal reads will be on the edge of their seats. I will admit to being a little sceptical about whether All Our Hidden Gifts really needed a sequel but The Gifts That Bind Us definitely sold me on it. There weren’t that many loose ends from the first book, I thought, but I really liked how this one took those and ran with them. Now I liked Maeve don't get me wrong, she's kinda relatable but I was just so much more interested in everyone else. Lily was actually my favourite character, she was relearning to be human and her emotions weren't quite the same as they once were, she doesn't understand that there are things she shouldn't do. She electrocuted a magpie and didn't understand why it was wrong. She was unafraid of others because why should she, if she can just electrocute anyone she wants. She had the Children of Brigid shaking. I did enjoy them having a sort of morally grey/gray friend in their group but it was also nice her warming up to Maeve and expressing more human emotions. Trigger warnings (TW) & content warnings (CW): Bullying, hate crime, homophobia, suicide, self harmI suppose I'll always remember this as the summer that Roe learned to drive and I learned to read minds I play the notes, push the keys, roll my finers, the same tune repeating again and again. In this house that is mine, as long as I'm alive to keep it The Gifts That Bind Us" is beautifully written, characters aren't walking stereotypes and important feminist topics (criticising institutionalised queerphobia and slutshaming for example) are discussed frequently. There's a character with a hearing aid and there are several trans and non-binary characters as well.

But with strange things happening at school, and old enemies appearing in new places, it soon becomes clear their powers are attracting all the wrong attention. It’s not long before Maeve’s gift start to wane, drained by someone – or something – that’s hiding even from her second sight... This is one of my favourite series because it combines my love for urban fantasy (especially witchy novels), intersectional feminism and queer characters. Don't worry, this is a spoiler free review.A brilliant follow-up to the first book and it was enjoyable following the friends on their new journeys, especially the self-discoveries they all had. THE MAGIC IS HYPED UP JUST TO THEN…DISAPPEAR – When I finished the first novel, I was really excited to know that going into the rest of the series, we would start seeing some bigger magical moments. Maeve could read minds, Roe had telekinesis, Lily had electricity, and Fiona had healing powers. It was super cool! And it was fun to explore that in the beginning of the second novel. But then, it all just disappears. We’re given some explanation about the well being drained, but for me, the magic had been a sign that bigger more fantastical elements of the storyline would develop. Instead, it all just disappeared, which continued the slow underwhelming tone of the book. Magic gained, magic gone. Decided to read this one because I wanted something to pull me in and the first book had no problem doing that. Despite this one mostly focusing on the Children of Brigid slowly taking over the town, I found it was not as tough a read as I was expecting. Yes there are scenes of homophobia, gender policing, and slut shaming, but there is also a big problem the characters are trying to solve while they try to avoid the "scary" cultists. There are scenes where they have to interact with the cultists, but the reader is not subjected to unnecessary awful descriptions just for the sake of it.

Where the first book centers around Maeve learning her way around tarot cards and her sensitivity (moreso a contemporary coming of age than fantasy), the second book fully embraces the extents of the group's magic. Review: Another fast paced, plot filled book that I’ll be recommending until the end of time. The Gifts That Binds Us enriches the story of the first book and provides a much deeper exploration of the friendship group and the struggles they individually face.

all our hidden gifts was one of my favorite young adult novels of last year and i somehow managed to love the gifts that bind us even more. it's a masterclass in sequel writing that suffered none of the failings i was worried it might. it took everything i loved from the first book and made it deeper, richer, and even more compelling than it already was. to say i'm excited for the third book is a massive understatement. The first and the last sentence is just so amazing, I never would've guessed I would love this book so much. This book in my opinion was WAY better than the first one. Maybe this is just better suited to my tastes as I liked that it was "more magical" since they had their gifts. I wasn't expecting so much and I am definitely here for it. I loved seeing the transitions from enemies to working together, seeing Maeve and Roe's relationship develop (the good AND the bad) and learning more about how the magic works here. There were new characters introduced in this book that constantly kept me wondering who I could trust who I couldn't and then when I believed I had it all figured it out, BOOM! All of those thoughts are down the toilet. This book in the series is very "dark forest" where our characters are not okay after the events from the first book and are trying to piece themselves together. Note that there is mention and descriptions of self harm.