Reviews - Faebound | The StoryGraph

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6.34k reviews for:

I didn’t like this book as much as other books I’ve read from this author as I was expecting high fantasy and got mostly romantasy. The plot was pretty predictable in places and the characters took way too long to figure things out that were literally staring them in the face…

That being said I really enjoyed it even though romantasy isn’t really a genre I love. The world was well written and the lore was captivating. I enjoyed the magic system with the drum fire beacuse I’ve never seen anything like that before! Also without giving massive spoilers… the animal companions were 10/10 and probably my favourite part of the book.

The book ended in a great place with the next book having great potential and I will definitely be reading the next one.

It was also very very gay and I’m totally there for queer normative magical realms

srs_bookworm's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous funny mysterious sad fast-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

aislingat's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous emotional hopeful tense 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: No

perusinghannah's review against another edition

3.5

Faebound has been on my tbr since I got it in a subscription box at the end of 2023, and between then and now I tried The Final Strife and almost immediately DNFed it. So I went into this a little nervously, especially since I'd also heard people say this was the weaker series between the two. But I actually really quite enjoyed this one!

I do love it when fantasy creatures likes elves and fae are explored through a non-Celtic lens, and that's exactly what El-Arifi did by incorporating (West?) African lore. Add in that this is very much a queernorm fantasy, and you've got the sort of world building that I personally love seeing in this genre. For me, it was by far the strongest aspect to this novel, though the plot was a very sturdy one as well.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same for much of the character work. I feel El-Arifi does just fine with her main characters and their inner lives, but there's something very dry and clumsy about the way she develops relationships between them, and especially the romantic ones felt incredibly lackluster. I don't know if it's something about her writing style that I don't fully click with, but I am very much a character-driven reader, and what I got in that department just wasn't enough for me to truly fall in love with the book as a whole.

I'm definitely not sorry I read it, but I also don't think I enjoyed it enough to feel motivated about continuing the series. I might change my mind at some point in the future, but even if I do it will most likely be a library loan.