Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

104 reviews

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is a wonderful twist on the 'Fae' trope.  I am trying to read more diverse books/authors (as a white woman) and since fantasy is one of my favorite genres, this totally hit the mark for me! I'm only disappointe  that the next book isn't out until next year.

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adventurous tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The lore and the world are interesting concepts but the execution was not great for me. The writing overall felt a little sloppy and I was disappointed that the descriptions of everything felt flat. The characters were extremely unlovable to me. They either didn't have a personality or were really annoying. I also didn't feel like the love stories were organic - they felt very forced.

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adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

📱
I enjoyed this book. It kept me entertained. I liked the worldbuilding. I felt this book did more telling than showing.

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A very interesting fantasy with an easy to follow mythology, a few twists and turns, romance, spice, and excellent queer and disabled representation. Can't wait to read the next instalment!

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Overall, I thought this was a solid start to the series. I thought the world and the magic was really interesting and unique and I liked how immersive the worldbuilding was. The concept of the obeah’s being linked to the fae magic was so cool and I really liked how that was incorporated in the story. (Pila also had my entire heart she’s so sweet and I love her bond with Yeeran). 

The characters were fun, although not as developed as I would like. I liked Yeeran the most, I thought she was pretty well-written. I liked Rayan as well and I hope to see more development from him in the next book. I liked Lettle at first but as the book went on she just got more irritating to me. I thought her divination was interesting but her perspective was not my favorite. I also thought the romantic relationships were a little superficial, there wasn’t a lot of emotional build-up to them but I didn’t mind either of the main relationships in the book. I will say I did enjoy how queernormative the world was. 

As for the plot, I thought it was pretty solid but it got rather predictable at the end (especially with Lettle’s prophecies getting repeated every other chapter I figured out most of the reveals before they happened) but I am interested to see where the story goes in the next book. I am hoping we’ll get more action since this book was a lot of world-building to set up the series. The magic and the world were the strongest parts of this to me and I think it’s worth reading if you like good world-building. Even though some of the plot and character development was a little shallow I will be picking up the next book. 

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sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 49%

I was very disappointed with the lack of character depth. The two main (intended, I assume, since I didn’t finish the book) romances felt shallow and insta-lovey. Not to mention any antagonistic character had a cartoon-like villainy.
I loved the premise of this world, the magic and the animal companion aspect, but ultimately I just wasn’t enjoying it enough to continue.

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This is a great read. For a fantasy novel, the writing and storyline are really accesible while still being complicated. The magic system is expansive and fascinating. The characters are as lovable as they are diversely different. Love interests play out in an interesting way, with satisfying results. Plot twists are abundant, perhaps too fast and abundant at the very end, but despite myself I found myself gasping at them. This scratched my romantasy itch!

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I absolutely loved this book. The world building was breathtaking. The characters, weren't perfect, but definitely loveable and have plenty of room to grow. 

The insta-love, just wasn't doing much for me, on either end. And at times, the writing felt a bit underwhelming, particularly when Yeeran was speaking with Pila.

But ultimately, I truly am excited for the sequel announcement and the following announcement from fairyloot.

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