Book Review | The Gifts That Bind Us by Caroline O’Donoghue

While The Gifts That Bind Us is definitely book two in a series, I found it pretty easy to read and to catch up on what I missed, without feeling like the author was plugging all of book one back in there! That might also be because I hadn’t read book 1!

The ending makes it fairly clear that we’ll also have a part 3. I loved the main character Maeve, who in addition to her abilities, is struggling with her friends and trying to figure out the future. The thought of being left behind is terrifying, and then you have Aaron and Heather thrown into the mix as well. It’s a very real coming of age story if you don’t include the magic!

This is absolutely her song for the entirety of this book!

I loved that Heather was able to use Maeve’s fears about her friends and future to get in with her. The use of the creepy tea bags were also really interesting. I loved how different each character was, and I liked that we could see what they were really struggling with.

Magic-sensitive Maeve and her friends face off against an insidious threat to their school and their city in this spellbinding sequel to All Our Hidden Gifts.

It’s senior year, and Maeve and her friends are practicing and strengthening their mystical powers, while Maeve’s new relationship with Roe is exhilarating. But as Roe’s rock star dreams start to take shape, and Fiona and Lily make plans for faraway colleges, Maeve, who struggles in school, worries about life without them—will she be selling incense here in Kilbeg, Ireland, until she’s fifty? Alarm bells sound for the coven when the Children of Brigid, a right-wing religious organization, quickly gains influence throughout the city—and when its charismatic front man starts visiting Maeve in her dreams. When Maeve’s power starts to wane, the friends realize that all the local magic is being drained—or rather, stolen. With lines increasingly blurred between friend and foe, the supernatural and the psychological, Maeve and the others must band together to protect the place, and the people, they love. A thrilling sequel to All Our Hidden Gifts.