The Bonding Games: Part 1

by Loa B. Hunt

Genres: Why Choose, Romance, Dystopia

667 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 27, 2026

Reviews

[Cate 📖🥀]

⭐ A completely unique and addictive read! ⭐

The Bonding Games by Loa B Hunt was unlike anything I’ve read before. The concept itself felt so fresh and different, and I was immediately drawn into the unique world the author created. The world-building was one of my favourite parts—it felt original and intriguing, with so much to discover as the story unfolded.

But what really made this book for me was the characters. The FMC is strong, resilient, and impossible not to root for. A complete WARRIOR!! I loved that, despite everything happening around her and the troubles she had with her dad, she held her own and had a strength that made her such a compelling character to follow.

And then there are the MMCs… 👀 Each of them has such a distinct personality, which made every relationship and interaction feel different. I especially loved how they each had their own unique level of obsession, protectiveness, and adoration for the FMC. Watching those dynamics develop and seeing how differently each MMC connected with her was honestly one of the most addictive parts of the book.

If you're looking for something that feels different from the usual, with unforgettable character dynamics and plenty of obsession and adoration, I highly recommend adding this one to your TBR! 📚✨

Have you read The Bonding Games yet?

#TheBondingGames #LoaBHunt #GoodreadsReview #Romantasy #BookRecommendation #TBR

[kat]

Ok I’m sorry the plot/idea of this book could be SO GOOD but holy crap I have never been so annoyed and cringed out by mmcs. Like why are they all so annoying?!??? I genuinely could not get over how they talk and think, especially Tate, tiger, and alby omg he was the worstttttt. I don’t know if I’m just insensitive but they actually were awful I hated them so much but UGH this book had so so much potential like the games are so interesting and the social classes but wow it flopped. I am interested in the second just to find out what happens to the only tolerable ones in the whole book: Ezla, Scotty, and cooper. Her dad is actually so sick I can’t even imagine and I hope she gets the best revenge ever

Also I can’t believe this was literally 700 pages and they never even finished the games


2 stars strictly only because I liked the plot and FMC

[Ninja Cupcake]

Made it to 64% and DNF. The glossary at the beginning was wild...almost a book itself. I really liked how the book starts and the first game scene but I feel like the plot began to get lost. And let me tell you what, I was TIRED of Tate and his unhinged sexual comments to/about Ezla. Like, shut the fuck up, bro. They felt ESPECIALLY yucky after reading what she's experiencing from her own father (that sick bastard). The constant verbal diarrhea of his is what made me put the book down. Tiger is also very annoying. I thought Alby was sweet, but eventually he started to annoy as well. Giving it two stars because I like the idea and wish it could have been better. Scotty and Cooper were the only ones who didn't PMO.

[Samantha]

The concept is absolutely awesome. I wish I could read more, but I just can’t do it to myself.

Writing stories is an art form. To make good art, you need to be able to grab people’s attention and hole it.
You can’t catch peoples attention with long descriptive glossaries, excessive info dumps, and un developed characters. It just doesn’t work.

[Cat the RH Safekeeper]

🟢 This is a reverse harem 🟢

[Lauren]

The Bonding Games is the first instalment in the why-choose dystopian series by Loa B. Hunt.

I was so excited to see how the premise of this book would play out, because I thought it was an exciting take on dystopian romance. Sadly, it didn't pan out the way I thought it would.

All of the MMCs are insufferable and I don't think I like any of them, especially Tate. The way he speaks to and acts around Ezla was bordering on sexual harassment for me and I just couldn't look past it.

I think the idea of the bonding games was great, but there wasn't really much build-up to it and it felt like we were thrown into the deep end. 700 pages long and I still had no idea what was going on. I don't really have a desire to continue with this series, but I do hope that Ezla's dad is dealt with and the revenge is sweet.

[⋆˚⊹ᰔ Via⋆˚✿˖°]

La idea del libro me pareció muy interesante. Los juegos y todo el concepto me dieron MUCHÍSIMAS vibes de Tron Legacy y The Hunger Games 👀

Okaaaay, al comienzo estaba súper confundida porque pensé que Abby era la FMC JAJAJAJ. Te lo juro que apenas me vine a dar cuenta en el capítulo 7 cuando dicen “Abby es un buen hombre” y yo como WTF??? 🫪😭 Y eso me molestó muchísimo porque, cómo me dices que el comienzo de la historia lo estamos narrando desde otra perspectiva y hasta el capítulo 17 venimos a conocer realmente a la protagonista????😡🫠

Siento que me hicieron falta MUCHÍSIMOS más capítulos de Ezla. Ella siendo la FMC merecía muchísimo más protagonismo y más POVs. Los pocos que tuvo eran súper cortos y, además, casi siempre se mostraba su trauma una y otra vez. Entiendo perfectamente su trasfondo, su actitud y por qué es como es, pero siento que durante más del 70% del libro ella seguía pasando por esa situación tan horrenda una y otra y otra vez, y eso de verdad me revolvía el estómago 🤢. No es necesario repetir una y otra vez algo que ya quedó claro.

Los MMCs eran un tanto lelos JAJAJA Entiendo que esa era la vibe que querían darles, pero es que eran TAN bobos. Se la pasaban llorando y me generaron muchísimo cringe 😭( seré la más insensible?)Tate, qué carajo, bro? Sus comentarios cada vez que veía a la FMC rayaban en el acoso y más teniendo en cuenta por todo lo que ella estaba pasando. Sinceramente, ninguno de los MMCs tenía una personalidad agradable. NINGUNO💀

Tampoco sentí una conexión real entre ella y ninguno de ellos, de hecho, siento que ellos tenían más conexión entre ellos que con la propia FMC 🫪, la única razón por la que continué leyendo fue Ezla y, para rematar, tenía poquísimos capítulos. ( no supero eso)💀💀💀💀

Y EL PAPÁ. Triple malparido desgraciado 😭😭😭😭. Qué asco ese enfermo 🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢. Siento que esa parte en específico y, sobre todo, la manera en que reaccionan los personajes masculinos ante lo que le pasa an ella, termina siendo muy anticlimática e incómoda.

En general, tenía una idea que me parecía MUY interesante, pero la ejecución me dejó bastante frustrada, especialmente porque la FMC era lo que más me interesaba y sentí que tuvimos demasiado poco de ella.

[Chloe Woodley]

Thank you to Loa B. Hunt for sending me an early copy and giving me the chance to read this amazing book. Can’t wait to read part two!!😆🫶

I love this book. The found family in this is phenomenal. The MMCs are amazing and now hold a special place in my heart. The FMC was a little harder to love right away for me, but it was for a reason. Once I read more about her I loved her character. The MMCs made laugh so much, but Some moments in the book made me sad. Especially when we learn the FMCs past and present. Also please read the trigger warnings there are a lot of sensitive topics in this book.

Tropes:
Futuristic Sci-Fi setting
Strong FMC
Reverse Harem
MFMMMM
No MM
MMCs fall first
Found Family
Villainous FMC
Deadly Games
They’re from opposite sides of society
Jealousy & possessiveness
Feminine Rage

Some things about the characters. There are some spoilers so don’t read if you don’t want to know the characters and a little bit about them.
Alby is the quiet keep to himself type with anxiety, he is bullied and has no friends until he meets tiger and Scot and they become his first real friends. Tiger and Scotty are brothers, tiger is the younger brother and he has ADHD and he is so talkative and bright. Scotty is the older brother and he is very protective of tiger and now alby. Tate is very morally grey, crazy and has been obsessed with FMC for 5 years. He is also very protective of her(in his own way). Cooper is the guy that seems unapproachable because when he is in a bad mood instead of holding it in he lets it out. He hates violence because his older brother used to abuse him and he is also a secret softy. Ezla is a very strong independent woman and hates the fact that 5 men are bonded to her(she wants to kill them). She also cares for them in her own way. She has been abused in every way by her father her whole life.

[Maria]

Rating : 5
Spicy : ?
Darkness: 🖤
Range of emotions : 🤨🥱
Ending : 24%
POV : 👫 (Multiplo)
.
Nao me pegou.

Me deu mto ruim q passa o pov de TODOS caras antes do dela.

E ai seila eles nao combinam. Ai seila oq mas ta no comeco... ent mas o comeco é pra dar o empurrão pra querer ler tudo.

Oq me dá curiosidade é como vai ser os jogos ne cada fase.. mas seila.. é tao... sem sal.

E o tate é TAO problemático. Como passa pano pra esse doido?? E o Tiger nao da pra nao imaginar um pre adolescente lendo ele sabe?

Ai seila.. da ruim.. construcao péssima. E a capa do livro podia ser melhor

Aa e o glossário KILOMETRICO no começo.... mano mais me deu preguiça e me deixou confusa... acho mais interessante explicar as coisas conforme aparecem na historia e deixar um glossário de guia no final sabe

Oq era útil antes de começar era o guia de ersonagens principais.

Ai pior.. o livro começa com o pov do cara mais patético do grupo.. tipo.. n da nem pra sentir dó... tipo ele é so um excluído... fodase.

Livro é bom pra ler gnt daora nao gente real.. se nao eu tava vendo tv e nao lendo livro de fantasia

[Veronika]

It’s so devastating how much I wanted to like this and yet I wanted to DNF it multiple times…. In the beginning I couldn’t shake the Hunger Games, Divergent and Tron vibes, but then I kind of got okay with that because of 2 things:
1, I enjoyed that the majority of the book was written from the guys POVs which is unique
and 2, the male characters were easy to like and distinguish from one another.

However!! The ongoing abuse aspect felt awful as I read the book. It was detailed and difficult to stomach.

I also just wasn’t vibing with the world and the plot unfortunately. Sad.

[Cheyenne Barnes]

I DNFed at 18% I really wanted to like this book the idea behind it. I could go on about how it’s not inspired by hunger games but actually just a sci-fi rip off of hunger games…but the reason I DNFed it was Tate he’s a terrible character and I can’t get behind grown adults being attracted to children(he mentions being in love with her at 18 when she would have been 15 and he even specifically mentions how it’s morally wrong but it’s okay because he “wouldn’t have done anything with her” like that makes it better?)

[Bekah]

Really enjoyed this! The FMC is great, I love a badass female and she really is but still has a soft side that I loved seeing. It was really interesting getting more of the MMCs POV over the FMC, I actually really enjoyed that. All the MMCs have different personalities so they don’t all just get lost in each other which can sometimes happen in RH.
Cliffhanger was a killer, look forward to the next book!

[LaneyDay]

Really inventive!

I loved this!
Great characters, and super interesting world building. Can't wait to read book 2.
Hope it comes out soon!

[Lexi]

I need book two now!! This is probably one of the best books I've read in a while. I loveeee the characters and the cliffhanger at the end makes me want to get my hands on book two as fast as possible.

[Ewelina]

3.5⭐️

I ate it up. The idea was great, the first part started amazing - showing MMCs from the more vulnerable side. It was fun to read, humorous, the story was very engaging.

I would’ve loved it more if characters leaned less into insta lust and there were more slow burn to emotional side of relationship. The chemistry was there but it felt rushed.

Also there should be additional TW [spoiler] incest

[Little Reaper]

4.0 ⭐️
I enjoyed this book. I liked the differences between all the MMC's and the strong female lead. And I did not expect Cooper to be my favorite one.

The glossar at the beginning kind of overwhelmed me. I thought I will never understand anything, but it was ok.

Game 1 and the chapters after were really nice. It is sad that the games kind of lost their importance further on tho. It wasn't that detailed. And I was expecting more of a Squid Game, Panem vibe.

[✨ Lauren ✨]

3.75 ⭐️ 667 pages, 10 hours and 48 minutes.

This book is interesting because I would say it doesn’t have a true main character? It’s not one main POV and the side LI POVs. It actually takes a bit to even get to the FMCs POV. And it’s not the most frequent.

Hunger games vibes but different. I will read the next ones when they come out. I won’t reread of its not too far away.


Edit- it is out now but it shows as 1 of 1. Click on that and it will bring the part two one.