Broken Bonds

In the beginning of Broken Bonds, Oli is abducted by a paramilitary TacTeam and forcibly returned to her Bonds, the five people that a blood test for magical compatibility has determined are her fated romantic and sexual matches. This part of the novel’s world building relies on the “fated mates” trope—a common feature of paranormal, science fiction, and fantasy romances. As a narrative device, it brings unlikely characters into close proximity with one another and encourages them to become involved, something they are unlikely to have done without magical interference. Bree is interested in the intersection of this trope and individual agency, asking how characters can shape their own destinies when they are fated to be with those whom they did not choose for themselves.

Broken Bonds presents a society that debates whether Bonds should be allowed autonomy. As Noakes, one of Oli’s captors, observes in Chapter 1, there are no laws that explicitly forbid Bonds from staying away from each other, but doing so transgresses the unspoken assumption that Bonds will complete their union—an action implied to increase the power of the group’s magical Gifts—by having sex with their Bonds. Oli is horrified to learn that many prominent leaders on the Council believe that she should be forced to sexually merge with her Bonds, which would constitute rape.