Broken Bonds

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, rape, bullying, emotional abuse, and sexual content.

Oli is the narrator and protagonist of Broken Bonds. She is an orphan since the rest of her family died in a car crash. In the novel, Oli struggles with the secret of her extremely powerful and dangerous magical Gift, which she hides from her fated mates (known as her Bonds) because she is anxious about its potential for violence. Oli also fears being hunted by the Resistance, a group that attacks, abducts, and tortures Gifted individuals in an apparent quest to disrupt Gifted society. At the novel’s climax, Oli reveals that she was previously held prisoner by the Resistance, which tried to make her into one of their agents.

The primary change that Oli undertakes in the novel is her shifting perspective on the value of interpersonal relationships, especially friendships. At the beginning of the novel, she plans to keep her distance from her Bonds and from all the other students at Draven University. However, the hostility of her Bonds and fellow students makes her increasingly value her friendship with Sage; Sage’s brother, Sawyer; and Sage’s love interest, Felix.