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maresuju's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Animal death, and Violence
Moderate: Xenophobia, Sexual content, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, and Grief
maregred's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
3.5
Faebound was ultimately very disappointing to me. I’ve heard such good things about the author’s first trilogy (which is still on my TBR!) but Faebound didn’t work for me. I think it was originally advertised as an epic fantasy, but it is romantasy. That is no hate to romantasy, I was just expecting something different.
As a romantasy, it does the job. The romance for both couples was very insta-love, including the “enemies to lovers” one. For those playing the trope game though, there is a queer “who did this to you?” Which is quite excellent.
I found the pacing uneven; the first 50% was a slog and the last 50% jammed packed. I also felt the writing read more YA than adult, which the book is advertised as. The characters also act very young, though they are all late 20s and early 30s (there is some in story explanation for this but it was hard for me to translate still).
However, the world was so interesting! El-Arifi really said “why choose?” And wrote a whole world with Elves, Humans, AND Fae. I liked the mythology behind the races as well. I also really liked how she showed the dark realities of war and what that means for how people are raised during a neverending one.
I also loved the sheer amount of diverse characters. A+ no notes.
I received this copy through NetGalley for an honest review.
I received this copy through NetGalley for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Animal death, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Death of parent, Grief, and Pregnancy
brianneh's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Faebound by Saara El-Arifi is an excellent start to what I think will be an incredible series! This is a fantasy story told in dual points of view between two sisters- Yeeran, a colonel in the Elven army who can wield drum battle magic and Lettle, a diviner who uses the deaths of magical creatures called obeah to tell the future.
Yeeran is exiled from the Elven lands after disobeying orders and getting soldiers killed. Yeeran asks a loyal captain of hers, Rayan, to watch out for her sister as she is exiled but Lettle instead follows her sister into exile with Rayan tagging along to protect her.
As they try to hunt a huge obeah so that Yeeran may return with honor to the Elven lands, the group is captured by the fae. The fae were previously thought to be extinct and the group is thrust into their mysterious world.
I really enjoyed this book! The amount of diverse, queer representation is phenomenal! I thought the world building was also excellent- really immersive, but not overwhelming. Of the two sisters, I definitely enjoyed Yeeran’s chapters more, but I liked having the switch of points of view as it really allows the reader to see what’s happening from different perspectives. I will definitely be reading the sequel when it comes out!
I received this book from NetGalley as an ARC. All opinions are my own.
Yeeran is exiled from the Elven lands after disobeying orders and getting soldiers killed. Yeeran asks a loyal captain of hers, Rayan, to watch out for her sister as she is exiled but Lettle instead follows her sister into exile with Rayan tagging along to protect her.
As they try to hunt a huge obeah so that Yeeran may return with honor to the Elven lands, the group is captured by the fae. The fae were previously thought to be extinct and the group is thrust into their mysterious world.
I really enjoyed this book! The amount of diverse, queer representation is phenomenal! I thought the world building was also excellent- really immersive, but not overwhelming. Of the two sisters, I definitely enjoyed Yeeran’s chapters more, but I liked having the switch of points of view as it really allows the reader to see what’s happening from different perspectives. I will definitely be reading the sequel when it comes out!
I received this book from NetGalley as an ARC. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, War, and Xenophobia
gussurireads's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.0
I was really looking forward to Faebound's release; picked it up as soon as it arrived at my local bookstore. So it pained me to realize, as I was reading it, that Faebound had failed to meet my expectations. I should know by now that expectations are dangerous.
There's nothing particularly wrong with Faebound. Saara El-Arifi's prose is simple, but effective. Reminds me a lot of C.L. Clark's The Unbroken. The world she created is quite imaginative and the twists and turns revealed in the third act made me want to read more, so I will be picking up the sequel.
However, everything else feels quite unremarkable. The two main characters whose POV were are privy to read younger than they are, making the book read like a YA fiction when it's marketed as adult. I expected more tension between Yeeran and her love interest, their relationship barely having any time to develop properly, rendering the enemies-to-lovers trope quite irrelevant, in my opinion. Besides, Yeeran spends almost the entirety of her time in exile mourning this woman who's portrayed to us an ambiguous chieftain, who's both ruthless and caring at the same time. But we barely get to know her, so the constant allusions to Yeeran and her love for her became irritating. From the glimpse we have of Salawa and her actions towards Yeeran and their people, she sounds nothing more than a corrupt politician lavishing in riches while her people starve.
And on a more personal note and this is truly a quirk of mine and not at all a real issue with the book, but Yeeran's obeah (this panther/deer fae creature that she's bound to) being named Pila diminished the enjoyment of the book for me. I just couldn't take it seriously after THAT. (Context: Pila means "dick" in my native language, Portuguese.)
Unfortunately I didn't get what I wanted out of Faebound but I can see it being a favorite for some, especially if you're into romantasy and lighter fantasy reads.
There's nothing particularly wrong with Faebound. Saara El-Arifi's prose is simple, but effective. Reminds me a lot of C.L. Clark's The Unbroken. The world she created is quite imaginative and the twists and turns revealed in the third act made me want to read more, so I will be picking up the sequel.
However, everything else feels quite unremarkable. The two main characters whose POV were are privy to read younger than they are, making the book read like a YA fiction when it's marketed as adult. I expected more tension between Yeeran and her love interest, their relationship barely having any time to develop properly, rendering the enemies-to-lovers trope quite irrelevant, in my opinion. Besides, Yeeran spends almost the entirety of her time in exile mourning this woman who's portrayed to us an ambiguous chieftain, who's both ruthless and caring at the same time. But we barely get to know her, so the constant allusions to Yeeran and her love for her became irritating. From the glimpse we have of Salawa and her actions towards Yeeran and their people, she sounds nothing more than a corrupt politician lavishing in riches while her people starve.
And on a more personal note and this is truly a quirk of mine and not at all a real issue with the book, but Yeeran's obeah (this panther/deer fae creature that she's bound to) being named Pila diminished the enjoyment of the book for me. I just couldn't take it seriously after THAT. (Context: Pila means "dick" in my native language, Portuguese.)
Unfortunately I didn't get what I wanted out of Faebound but I can see it being a favorite for some, especially if you're into romantasy and lighter fantasy reads.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia, War, and Sexual content
Minor: Animal death, Murder, Violence, Genocide, and Alcoholism
alyssarenee's review against another edition
fast-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
2.75
The good:
- I really appreciated the diverse cast of characters (race, gender, sexuality, disabilities) and how normalized much of this is in society.
- Loved the concept of the world and magic, though the worldbuilding could have been better. I hope that future books will dive into the elven culture more and we get a more rational explanation of the war.
The not so great:
- Not an actual criticism, but, wow I hate the elves' magic system and their obsession with killing obeah (and with war). This was a bold way to open the book.
- I'm not one for military fantasy, luckily this becomes less of a focus later in the book.
- The author really hits you over the head with repetitive foreshadowing and prophecies. As a result, the plot is predictable, yet none of the characters seem able to put 2 and 2 together. The last "reveal" is especially egregious. A lot of the lore is explained straight off the bat when it might have served the story better to have a little more mystery.
- All of the characters are super hot and we're reminded of this every few pages because everyone is so thirsty despite being in a brutal war, or held captive and supposedly terrified for their lives
- Romantasy readers might enjoy this more. I am not a fan of extraneous romance or spice in my fantasy. All the romance felt rushed, underdeveloped, and honestly a bit weird in some of the contexts.
- None of the characters really hit for me. They felt pretty surface level, and all seemed to act much younger than their age. Yeeran is especially unlikeable and unsympathetic. She's bloodthirsty, prejudiced, and very naive/ignorant when it comes to the elven war. She gets only mildly more tolerable throughout the story. Maybe she will have a bit more growth in the next installment when she returns to the elven lands with a fresh perspective .
- The writing just wasn't good. Clunky and awkward, and could have used some more thorough editing.
Giving this a 2.75 rounded up, there were some big flaws that could not be ignored and took me out of the story. I'm not sure if I'll continue the series or not. I imagine Booktok romantasy readers will enjoy this one.
Thank you to the publishers for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
- I really appreciated the diverse cast of characters (race, gender, sexuality, disabilities) and how normalized much of this is in society.
- Loved the concept of the world and magic, though the worldbuilding could have been better. I hope that future books will dive into the elven culture more and we get a more rational explanation of the war.
The not so great:
- Not an actual criticism, but, wow I hate the elves' magic system and their obsession with killing obeah (and with war). This was a bold way to open the book.
- I'm not one for military fantasy, luckily this becomes less of a focus later in the book.
- The author really hits you over the head with repetitive foreshadowing and prophecies. As a result, the plot is predictable, yet none of the characters seem able to put 2 and 2 together. The last "reveal" is especially egregious. A lot of the lore is explained straight off the bat when it might have served the story better to have a little more mystery.
- All of the characters are super hot and we're reminded of this every few pages because everyone is so thirsty despite being in a brutal war,
- Romantasy readers might enjoy this more. I am not a fan of extraneous romance or spice in my fantasy. All the romance felt rushed, underdeveloped, and honestly a bit weird in some of the contexts.
- None of the characters really hit for me. They felt pretty surface level, and all seemed to act much younger than their age. Yeeran is especially unlikeable and unsympathetic. She's bloodthirsty, prejudiced, and very naive/ignorant when it comes to the elven war. She gets only mildly more tolerable throughout the story. Maybe she will have a bit more growth in the next installment when
- The writing just wasn't good. Clunky and awkward, and could have used some more thorough editing.
Giving this a 2.75 rounded up, there were some big flaws that could not be ignored and took me out of the story. I'm not sure if I'll continue the series or not. I imagine Booktok romantasy readers will enjoy this one.
Thank you to the publishers for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Sexual content, Animal death, and Xenophobia
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