Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Faebound

Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

amandab0514's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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anarmandameg's review

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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

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volsairine's review

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adventurous 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

4.0

Ugh. I want to love this book so badly. It would be a five star for me if somethings had been different, because I love the world building so, so, so much and I really am invested in the plot. However, the dialogue was rough and it felt veeeeery YA (which is why I was shocked by the sex lol).

Personally I feel like the author was a little too heavy handed with the plot twist breadcrumbs, so I spotted basically everything really quickly and that was a little frustrating. MAJOR SPOILER about a plot twist:

the ink thing frustrated me badly. Golan's association with the ink was mentioned like twice before the poisoning and then twice after "I'm all out of squid ink, conveniently right after it was used to murder the queens". It just being mentioned for dying his beard one time would have been sufficient and a great breadcrumb without holding the readers hand too much.

There were so many chances for the author to lead the reader away with red herrings and instead I felt like I was directly led to the twist way before I wanted to be and way before it was revealed. I found myself thinking "No! I don't want to know this!". There was probably only one plot point that genuinely shocked me (which made me excited!). I hope that in the next books she learns to trust her readers a bit more, I promise that we love and appreciate the mystery!

I am very hopeful for the next two books though because I can't wait to see where this goes, I just need the editor to reign it in a little bit pls 😭 Also there was some plot stuff that lost me. MAJOR SPOILER:

Where was the brother/Rayan's dad whenever he was killed? Was he in the fae world? Why was his obeah just chillin out there in the wild??? Also learning a language is VERY hard, especially one that is hard to learn and it felt a little too convenient that Lettle was able to pick it up so quickly.

.

All that being said, I ADOREEEED the disability + gender fluid rep. And Pila. I love Pila. Pila best character. I want Pila to be my bestie.

Additionally, there is not a single mention of sexual violence in this book which is so refreshing for fantasy. Love that. 100% safe for a survivor to read, imo (if they're cool with sex).

I should probably give this book a 3.75 but I enjoyed the world too much so it's a 4. Probably one of my favorite fantasy worlds yet.

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murderousscottishgremlin's review

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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.

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saphfics's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I think it is a perfectly fine first book of a series. Don't think it will appeal if you mostly go into it for the romance. The romances had nice moments but it is definitely not the biggest part of the story.

I have not yet read the author's previous trilogy so I can't really say how it compares with that.

The fact court was not nearly as exciting as I hoped it would be based on the blurb but the worldbuilding was really nice.

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fairyollie's review

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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

5.0

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!

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chrisb913's review against another edition

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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.

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