The Gifts that Bind Us by Caroline O'Donoghue

Liz

Nov 15

2nd book in the All Our Hidden Gifts series

Maeve and her friends have revealed their powers and banded together as a coven: Roe can pick locks, Lily sends sparks flying, Maeve can read minds and Fiona can heal any injury.

And even better than their newfound talents? Roe and Maeve are officially an item.

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...

CW: Self-harm, homophobia, transphobia, religious bigotry, death, deadnaming, sexual assault

Rating

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Review

This second instalment was precisely what I needed when I read it: a quick and captivating story.

As it's a second book, we see more of the characters' personalities. It's not that they are similar or complicated to decipher, but I liked to see how they evolved and accepted their power, a new part of them. Their reactions are so different from each other. Some don't want to explore it or at least cautiously do it, and you have others who love to experiment with it. Those two ways are okay, and seeing how they see each other it's like discovering a new part of the other person, and you feel that the relationship changes with it. This discovery of their new selves shows their weakness, and I feel like the power they now have doesn't change them but makes them accept those weaknesses.

I still think Maeve is the stereotypical teenager with many problems; everyone is against me, and I need to be the centre of attention. She sometimes fed me up, and her power, when she didn't know how to use it, didn't help as it was not something you could see. At the end of the book, I was more indifferent toward her. However, I think she will continue to evolve in the last book. The character that I liked to discover was Lily. I like how she is one with her power and her audacity.

Like in most YA, I didn't care about the romance. I think Maeve's lack of maturity is the cause of it. This relationship feels too grown up for her sometimes.
The book was so predictable that I didn't know if I needed to laugh or cry. However, I was rolling my eyes a ton about how they acted and how it was clear who was the villain.

I hope to read the last instalment soon, at least before the end of the year.