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deedireads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
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Faebound is the first book in a new fantasy trilogy set in a world where the elves — locked in a neverending war between factions over limited magical resources — are the only race left after the fae and humans vanished long ago. (Or did they?) At the heart of the story are two sisters: Yeeran, the eldest and a seasoned soldier; and Lettle, a dreamer and a skilled seer.
I had a very good time with this book. The world-building is well done, super creative and never info-dumpy. The sisterhood between Yeeran and Lettle is beautiful but also complicated. And I’m always going to be here for a sapphic rivals-to-lovers storyline!!
Also, the audiobook was very well done and easy to follow once the world was established (as with all fantasy audiobooks). I thought Bahni Turpin brought Lettle’s character to life particularly well.
This may be personal preference, but my only complaint was that the book was TOO fast-paced. There’s a lot of worldbuilding, backstory, and mystery here to fit into only 400 pages. I wanted El-Arifi to slow down, give us more time, let the mystery simmer before it boils, and maybe most of all, give the secondary characters more than one or two dimensions. I know a lot of people felt the pacing made it feel unputdownable, but to me it made the story feel somewhat surface-level.
Still, like I said, I had a good time here and will definitely be picking up the second book when it comes out!
Faebound is the first book in a new fantasy trilogy set in a world where the elves — locked in a neverending war between factions over limited magical resources — are the only race left after the fae and humans vanished long ago. (Or did they?) At the heart of the story are two sisters: Yeeran, the eldest and a seasoned soldier; and Lettle, a dreamer and a skilled seer.
I had a very good time with this book. The world-building is well done, super creative and never info-dumpy. The sisterhood between Yeeran and Lettle is beautiful but also complicated. And I’m always going to be here for a sapphic rivals-to-lovers storyline!!
Also, the audiobook was very well done and easy to follow once the world was established (as with all fantasy audiobooks). I thought Bahni Turpin brought Lettle’s character to life particularly well.
This may be personal preference, but my only complaint was that the book was TOO fast-paced. There’s a lot of worldbuilding, backstory, and mystery here to fit into only 400 pages. I wanted El-Arifi to slow down, give us more time, let the mystery simmer before it boils, and maybe most of all, give the secondary characters more than one or two dimensions. I know a lot of people felt the pacing made it feel unputdownable, but to me it made the story feel somewhat surface-level.
Still, like I said, I had a good time here and will definitely be picking up the second book when it comes out!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Sexual content, Animal death, and Death of parent
karly_ackley's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Confinement, and War
tetrootz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Violence, Suicide, Blood, War, Body horror, Animal death, Stalking, Medical trauma, Gore, Death of parent, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Murder, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Cursing, Confinement, Torture, Slavery, Death, and Alcohol
murderousscottishgremlin's review against another edition
adventurous
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? It's complicated
4.0
The worldbuilding and political aspects of this book were really interesting, but I found the romance clunky. I don’t think this book should’ve been a fantasy romance. Also, the existence of leggings in this fantasy world really irked me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, and Animal death
Moderate: Xenophobia
cozyscones's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Sexual content, Violence, Animal death, and Confinement
Moderate: Death and Murder
sleepygym's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Sexual content and War
barda's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, and Sexual content
Moderate: War, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Animal death, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol and Gore
chrisb913's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-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
4.75
The story plot was phenomenal. The world building and character progression were fantastic. The magic system was unique and very well thought out. And they have animal companions. Who doesn't want animal companions!!!!
All in all, the only "complaint" I have with the book is that it wasn't long enough. I feel like the first 75% was going at a smooth pace. We were learning about the world and these character and their love interests in the story. Some will they/won't they going on. And then we get to the last, maybe 25%, and everything goes 0 to 100. Not sure what the reasoning for the brisk paced ending was but I'd have gladly devoured another 50-100 pages.
While I am hoping for a longer book in the sequel (cause I just want to know more about this world), between Faebound and The Ending Fire Trilogy, Saara El-Arifi will be on my insta-buy list.
All in all, the only "complaint" I have with the book is that it wasn't long enough. I feel like the first 75% was going at a smooth pace. We were learning about the world and these character and their love interests in the story. Some will they/won't they going on. And then we get to the last, maybe 25%, and everything goes 0 to 100. Not sure what the reasoning for the brisk paced ending was but I'd have gladly devoured another 50-100 pages.
While I am hoping for a longer book in the sequel (cause I just want to know more about this world), between Faebound and The Ending Fire Trilogy, Saara El-Arifi will be on my insta-buy list.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Animal death, and Sexual content
Moderate: Xenophobia and War
alliekc1010's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.75
now THAT is how you write enemies to lovers!!!!!
i’m excited to see where this series goes!
i’m excited to see where this series goes!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Animal death, Blood, Sexual content, and Xenophobia
Moderate: War
Minor: Murder
mitzee's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I love the connection between creatures and people, something I really enjoyed about The Drowning Empire. Although magic was talked about in this book I felt like it wasn’t heavily featured, I wonder if it will be come more prominent in the rest of the series.
Summary for myself:
Yeeran and Little are sisters who share the same father. Yeeran was a general in the Queen’s Army and Rian is a solder under her command. Yeeran ends up being exiled and sent out of the kingdom, Lettle and Rian go after her. In the wild Yeeran kills an obia (oh-bee-yah - a beast that sounds like a bear+deer, it has both antlers and claws, potentially even sharp teeth but I think they only eat veg) for food or something and that’s when they realize that these animals are bound to a Fae. The Fae and Humans are said to have died off long ago and only elves are left but it seems that Fae were just cursed to live in a secret world (underground?)
While Yeeran, Lettle, and Rian are taken prisoner because Yeeran killed the obia bound to the prince -which then also killed the prince - they end up becoming part of the fae world. Yeeran and Rian find out they have fae blood (they don’t know their parents well) and not only random fae blood but dynastic fae blood. Yeeran fell in love with the queen. Lettle and Rian fell in love with each other. Yeeran wants to leave and only royalty can let them go. Lettle begs her to stay/ not abandon her again for WAR and she basically does not. It’s fucked. Book ends with Yeeran leaving while Rian is king or prince and Lettle is a Seer (like a diviner) and they both stay.
Summary for myself:
While Yeeran, Lettle, and Rian are taken prisoner because Yeeran killed the obia bound to the prince -which then also killed the prince - they end up becoming part of the fae world. Yeeran and Rian find out they have fae blood (they don’t know their parents well) and not only random fae blood but dynastic fae blood. Yeeran fell in love with the queen. Lettle and Rian fell in love with each other. Yeeran wants to leave and only royalty can let them go. Lettle begs her to stay/ not abandon her again for WAR and she basically does not. It’s fucked. Book ends with Yeeran leaving while Rian is king or prince and Lettle is a Seer (like a diviner) and they both stay.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Murder