Status Updates From Every Longing Heart (Bonds ...

Claire just casually dropping bangers in the narrative:

"Lily hadn't killed but she was still lost to the madness...No one had taught her control or how to craft her own fetters for the urges. Her maker had been the one to control her, and now he was dead"

as a woman coming from a controlling patriarchal church background, this was the thing that hit hardest about the privilege of self-government/responsibility

yesssss marriage of "convenience" is a go!

also loving the theme of strong female friendships that continues on from book one; the women are allowed to be complex, difficult, and dangerous to navigate.

they're allowed to be wrong (and even unpleasant) while the book reminds us that they still deserve not to be assaulted, mistreated, and hurt.

we're also navigating friendships with difficult parts, betrayal, and potential to hurt, and i love that

i adore how Claire focuses on the personhood of her fmcs. we know Gen has been horribly assaulted, but we don't have our noses shoved in the horror & degradation--we hear about her moments of bravery, her comfort in a hand held; we aren't made to witness things we'd rather not see.

and we're still left with the healing, the hope, and the change that these stories demand, each bit shown as clearly as you could hope.

This man! Oh, I can't. He is so beautiful in body and soul! The way he cares for her and makes sure she has what she needs! Ahh, I need a man like this! ❤🥰

I can already tell I’m going to really like this book! The banter is already bantering!😍

Thank you to Booksriens for a free ARC of this book for my honest review.

I started reading this last night, and I already know it's going to be good.

Only the epilogue left… editing makes me so SLEEPY

I think I can finish my edits today?????

I hope everyone is excited to learn new vocabulary words

Proofreading is so humbling. What do you mean this book still has oopsies in it, I’ve read it 200x

Doing my last read through! Whew!