Reviews with content warning for Dementia - Faebound

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Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

23 reviews

kirjakimalainen's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

matmatmatty's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is the story of two elven sisters, Yeeran and Lettle. Yeeran is a colonel in the army and Lettle is training to become a diviner (someone who can read the future). When Yeeran disobeys orders and ends up causing a huge defeat, she is exiled, leaving her sister to follow her (along with Yeeran's captain, Rayan). The three of them reunite, only to be discovered by a group of fae (who are thought to be fairytales) after committing a huge crime in the eyes of the fae.
Now they need to manage the politics of a new place, while trying to figure out a way to get home. And without getting executed ideally.

I really liked parts of this story, and others I found a bit annoying. Overall, this was an interesting fantasy with a lot of cool worldbuilding.

Things I enjoyed:

Loved the queernormative world - its really important to have good representation like this, especially in fantasy
I really enjoyed the world building - the creation myth with the three gods and the humans, fae and elves I thought was really interesting. That story created the basis for the story which I enjoyed.
I liked the struggles that the main characters faced -
Yeeran wasn't suddenly able to control her fae magic, despite literally only getting it. She had to work hard and figure it out, and it made it feel real.
The obeahs and their relationship to the fae -
I liked how well respected they were, the fact that houses are built to accommodate them was really cool. That line about only lovers touching another’s obeah also showed that there is a lot of respect for them, that they are an extension of another person whilst also being their own person. Was cool. Also big kitties.
I liked the hierarchy of the fae - how those without obeahs are treated differently. I think it was good to show that even a utopia in the eyes of some can be flawed.
I liked how our main characters are flawed - they both had a rough upbringing and that's reflected in their characters. They're both done things they're not proud of, but they did it to survive. Their characterisation is still in line with their past and present.
Loved how Lettle was not helpless - it wouldn't make sense for her to have served in the army and survived and yet still been helpless, but a lot of stories like this I've read, the little sister character is helpless and constantly needs rescuing and can't handle herself at all.
Even when Lettle was put in situations where she was in danger, she would try and fight back, and I appreciated that.

Things I didn't enjoy:

The prophecies - I think prophecies can an interesting addition to a story, but this was a bit of a let-down.
I found most of the prophecies pretty easy to understand, and it felt like i spent most of the book knowing what was going to happen with the characters not knowing, which was quite frustrating.
Because of the prophecies, twists were predictable.
I guessed that Najima had fathered one of them (though will say i thought it would be Yeeran, though glad they didn't do that), I guessed that Golan had a hand in the murder of the queens (the only poison is mentioned by him, then they're poisoned?, its too obvious), I knew it was the queens who would be murdered as soon as we met them (one gilded, one pearl was far too obvious imo) and I guessed Komi was the other chieftain as soon as that prophecy was read because it was too obvious.
Other than a general sense of wanting to be home, I don't quite get why they were so hell-bent on escaping. I get that they are trapped here, and that would add to the sense of not belonging, but I didn't really get an idea that their lives back home were all that good. Yes Yeeran was rich and a colonel, but she had been exiled - she isn't going back to that life. She wouldn't be allowed back in the army surely? Or not at her old position anyway? Lettle struggled with money (and we didn't hear much about her life other than that) so i don't get why the mad rush to escape.

Overall, I didn't hate this. I will probably read the next one, as I am a bit invested in this story.

Note on CV: talk of executions and capital punishment.

Content Warnings

flora_arns's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous fast-paced

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I needed something light, and this was an enjoyable read, albeit flawed.
Pros: Cool political dynamics, fast-paced, Black sapphic lead, and a unique magic system.
Cons: simple prose that felt immature at times, mostly predictable plot, and the romance felt rushed. characters also fell flat for me.
Will I read the sequel? Eh, I dunno. I think this just isn’t the type of book for me. I just kept hoping for more and better from it.

Content Warnings

ayeitsdaye's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

trips's review against another edition

1.5

adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Wow, this was not good. Very disappointing. Before I get into the plot, the writing is just plain bad at times. It wasn't the kind of writing I'd expect from an adult novel but more than that, I'm surprised some of this writing passed final edits.

The plot is intensely predictable to the extent where the book felt a little pointless to read. I don't think its bad to write a story where the reader knows what will inevitably happen in the plot, but the whole prophecy thing took the joy out of figuring out what will happen on my own and instead I was just waiting for plot points to fall into place.
This novel is also advertised as being a romantasy. Please do not read this book if that is what you are seeking. The romance has very little build up between MC's and love interests, they are just suddenly totally all over each other with what felt like very little relationship building. I'm all for characters having instant chemistry but it just doesn't feel very romantic to me when you do away with showing me why I should even care about the relationship.
World building seems cool at first glance but if you poke it even a little it falls apart. I am not sure why the duo MCs were elves when they had no characteristics of why being an elf set them apart from the other races except for prophecy telling, which actually made the plot actively worse, as stated previously.
Ultimately, the book is easily readable, so 2 stars it is. I wish this read had gone better for me and I honestly think you should probably read something else instead of picking this up.

Content Warnings

ellen_is_reading's review against another edition

3.5

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

Content Warnings

lucyduller's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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

Content Warnings

schavay's review against another edition

4.0

emotional slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The book starts out pretty slow. Developments later on tie more importance to earlier details. There's 2-3 characters the book follows and they each have a unique perspective and story. There's political intrigue but at a distance from the main characters who are not pulling any of the strings. There's several detailed sexually explicit scenes between enthusiastically consenting adults. Queerness is an accepted and nearly assumed facet. Strong ending for a sequel that unfortunately isn't out yet.

Content Warnings

anarmandameg's review against another edition

4.0

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

How are they all so horny in life-or-death situations??

Content Warnings

fairyollie's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective 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

it is so rare to find a book with a main character who is not just disabled, but disabled and sexy, and strong, and smart. i love the diversity of the characters and the world in Faebound, how gender, sexuality, and disability all were natural facets of life (as they should be). such a beautiful book, with stunning world-building, rich lore, and intriguing, complex characters. cannot wait for the rest in the series!

Content Warnings

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