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ofbooksandechos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-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? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Murder, and War
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Medical content, Classism, and Blood
Minor: Police brutality, Grief, and Toxic relationship
Other CWs: Fictional racism, death of a family member, fictional confinement, starvation, poverty, references to Kwarshiorkor in children, mention of child soldiersasahome's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
TL;DR: A woman discovers a new path forward when she can no longer serve in her nation’s army. Her sister and friend join her in exile to bring her back when they are captured by a group thought to be fairy tales.
I love how they handled the relationships. The way they respected the established relationship at the beginning and the new relationships were respectful and realistic. The relationships weren't one size fits all either. While the main characters didn't necessarily indulge in multiple partners, there was no judgement on those who did. The society built was accepting of all relationships including the ones around gender. "Like many elves, Motogo's gender was as flexible as the weather..."
There were a couple things I guessed before they happened, but it’s better that way in my opinion so it doesn’t feel like it’s coming out of nowhere. There were one or two things that surprised me as well.
The way the book handled war was also powerful. It put the politicians at the center and I respect that. People forget why wars are fought and this was a stark reminder. It didn’t shy away from classism either. All in all, I thought it was a fantastic book.
I love how they handled the relationships. The way they respected the established relationship at the beginning and the new relationships were respectful and realistic. The relationships weren't one size fits all either. While the main characters didn't necessarily indulge in multiple partners, there was no judgement on those who did. The society built was accepting of all relationships including the ones around gender. "Like many elves, Motogo's gender was as flexible as the weather..."
There were a couple things I guessed before they happened, but it’s better that way in my opinion so it doesn’t feel like it’s coming out of nowhere. There were one or two things that surprised me as well.
The way the book handled war was also powerful. It put the politicians at the center and I respect that. People forget why wars are fought and this was a stark reminder. It didn’t shy away from classism either. All in all, I thought it was a fantastic book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Murder, Violence, Abandonment, Classism, Grief, Animal death, and War
Moderate: Child abuse, Genocide, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Racial slurs, Child death, and Death of parent
Minor: Kidnapping, Slavery, and Trafficking
Racial Slurs: the fae referred to those unbound as "lightless" as a condition Slavery/Kidnapping/Trafficking: refers to child soldiers that could be found or sold into service by family members Classism: refers to the way the fae treat those unboundmaresuju'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
steen19's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Yeeran makes a deadly mistake on her first day as a colonel in the elven army, getting herself exiled. Lettle (her sister) and Rayan (her friend from the army) go into the woods after her. The three of them encounter a group of fae, thought to be extinct, and get captured.
It’s dual POV, switching between the two sisters. It’s firmly fantasy, with a teeny tiny romance subplot for both sisters, towards the end.
This took a minute to get going. The first 10% is Yeeran’s mistake and exile, followed by another 10% of Lettle and Rayan walking through the woods to find Yeeran. Overall, it didn't really get going until about 40% in. There’s a lot of lore being established early on.
As prophesies begin to come together, the story gets interesting. I stayed up for hours reading once I reached the second half. I’m super interested to see what happens in book 2.
Thank you to the author, publisher, & NetGalley for my advanced digital copy!
It’s dual POV, switching between the two sisters. It’s firmly fantasy, with a teeny tiny romance subplot for both sisters, towards the end.
This took a minute to get going. The first 10% is Yeeran’s mistake and exile, followed by another 10% of Lettle and Rayan walking through the woods to find Yeeran. Overall, it didn't really get going until about 40% in. There’s a lot of lore being established early on.
As prophesies begin to come together, the story gets interesting. I stayed up for hours reading once I reached the second half. I’m super interested to see what happens in book 2.
Thank you to the author, publisher, & NetGalley for my advanced digital copy!
Content Warnings
Moderate: War and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Kidnapping
writerres27's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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
First 5-star read of 2024! Fantastic book. I found the story to be fast paced and engaging, the characters were interesting and well juxtaposed, and the ending certainly has me anticipating a second book. Overall, I found the writing beautiful, the plot fascinating, and the growth of El-Arifi rewarding. This will be a spoiler-free review! Details below.
Plot:
The storyline begins the second the writing does. You're following the story of Yeeran and Lettle, two sister elves exploring an unknown land as Yeeran enters exile. The action is near constant with new events occurring almost every chapter. I found it hard to put the book down, constantly wanting to know what was going to happen next and telling myself "just one more" long after my bedtime. Perhaps the most impressive feat of the plotline is the double plot-twist occurring at the climax of the book. While I had my suspicions about one, I was truly surprised (and went "AHHHHH!!!") at the other one. I was excited by the constant rise and fall of hope presented in the plot as new challenges continued to arise and were overcome, some more than others. It's been a while since I was gripped by a book from the very beginning, thus earning Faebound and El-Arifi my first 5-star rating of the year.
Characters:
Character development in this story was well done for a first book. While all of the main characters experienced a broadening of their knowledge and understanding of the world, some took to it better than others. With characters who are all starkly different, often grating against each other regardless of how much love they share, the reader gets to experience multiple perspectives on the events of the plot as the story goes on. You find yourself sympathetic for, and irritated with, all of the characters for different reasons, which in turn allows you to understand their actions or the reactions of others. While many first books in a series struggle to demonstrate substantial character development before the second book, El-Arifi does a great job of making the characters flexible from the beginning, though their core characteristics are firm and consistent the whole way.
World building, setting, and magic system:
I found the world of Faebound quite fascinating. Not so different from our own, but different enough to keep the reader curious, Faebound explores different roles within a society, as well as different peoples within a greater world, and the conflicts that arise amongst them. The descriptions are beautiful and vivid, allowing the reader to envision the characters' experiences with clarity. The magic system was also incredibly interesting, with details and explanations emerging progressively throughout the book. This allowed readers to learn alongside the main characters, but never left the reader wondering how it all fit together or whether they were missing something. I was extremely satisfied by the explanations and depictions of the world's magic, which remedies the only complaints I had about The Final Strife, another first book in an El-Arifi fantasy series. You can see the growth in El-Arifi as an author, and it is quite pleasing to witness in real time.
Plot:
The storyline begins the second the writing does. You're following the story of Yeeran and Lettle, two sister elves exploring an unknown land as Yeeran enters exile. The action is near constant with new events occurring almost every chapter. I found it hard to put the book down, constantly wanting to know what was going to happen next and telling myself "just one more" long after my bedtime. Perhaps the most impressive feat of the plotline is the double plot-twist occurring at the climax of the book. While I had my suspicions about one, I was truly surprised (and went "AHHHHH!!!") at the other one. I was excited by the constant rise and fall of hope presented in the plot as new challenges continued to arise and were overcome, some more than others. It's been a while since I was gripped by a book from the very beginning, thus earning Faebound and El-Arifi my first 5-star rating of the year.
Characters:
Character development in this story was well done for a first book. While all of the main characters experienced a broadening of their knowledge and understanding of the world, some took to it better than others. With characters who are all starkly different, often grating against each other regardless of how much love they share, the reader gets to experience multiple perspectives on the events of the plot as the story goes on. You find yourself sympathetic for, and irritated with, all of the characters for different reasons, which in turn allows you to understand their actions or the reactions of others. While many first books in a series struggle to demonstrate substantial character development before the second book, El-Arifi does a great job of making the characters flexible from the beginning, though their core characteristics are firm and consistent the whole way.
World building, setting, and magic system:
I found the world of Faebound quite fascinating. Not so different from our own, but different enough to keep the reader curious, Faebound explores different roles within a society, as well as different peoples within a greater world, and the conflicts that arise amongst them. The descriptions are beautiful and vivid, allowing the reader to envision the characters' experiences with clarity. The magic system was also incredibly interesting, with details and explanations emerging progressively throughout the book. This allowed readers to learn alongside the main characters, but never left the reader wondering how it all fit together or whether they were missing something. I was extremely satisfied by the explanations and depictions of the world's magic, which remedies the only complaints I had about The Final Strife, another first book in an El-Arifi fantasy series. You can see the growth in El-Arifi as an author, and it is quite pleasing to witness in real time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Bullying, Animal death, Hate crime, Medical content, Child abuse, Murder, and Abandonment
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
tardisbookcat's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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
4.0
I loved the potential of the world building but wasn’t aware this was more romantasy. I hope that the next book has less spice and more lore, more on par with Battle Drum.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent, War, Death, Genocide, and Violence
Minor: Confinement and Colonisation
Started a bit slowly but after the first few chapters I wasn’t able to put it down.caprivoyant's review
My favorite fantasy authors are those who weave parallels between real and fiction—who use fantasy and magic as a way to reflect back the best (or the worst) of our own world—and, in doing so, give us the chance to examine the kind of world we're creating here on Earth.
And let me tell you: this book weaves threads between reality and fantasy like it's making a friggin’ tapestry. 🧶
Lemme illustrate just one: The elves are locked in a war. Underground, beneath the fighting, is a fuel source—one that could power everyone’s homes for decades to come. They call the fighting “the Forever War” saying: "...where there is value, there is power, and where there is power, violence will always be."
There was so much I adored about this book: the sibling love, the queer-normativity, the strong, disabled MC, the (to me) gender-euphoric way humans were described [“From the seeds of the Earth, Asase created humans. Sprigs became bones and flowers sprouted smiles.”]...
If I *had* to critique anything, it would be that the romance parts weren't super convincing for me? But I also understand that (1) I'm ace and romance storylines often just don't hit for me the way it does for most people and (2) there are 2 whole more books in the works that I'm sure will develop those storylines further.
Even with that small critique that might just be a me-problem, though, I think the coolest thing about this book is that it's bigger than the sum of its parts.
Truly, it feels like the beginning of a love letter to what our real world could become: how we might all be able to find liberation/freedom together. I can’t wait to see how we get there in real life AND in later books in the series.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to add everything else Saara El-Arifi has ever written to my TBR.
And let me tell you: this book weaves threads between reality and fantasy like it's making a friggin’ tapestry. 🧶
Lemme illustrate just one: The elves are locked in a war. Underground, beneath the fighting, is a fuel source—one that could power everyone’s homes for decades to come. They call the fighting “the Forever War” saying: "...where there is value, there is power, and where there is power, violence will always be."
There was so much I adored about this book: the sibling love, the queer-normativity, the strong, disabled MC, the (to me) gender-euphoric way humans were described [“From the seeds of the Earth, Asase created humans. Sprigs became bones and flowers sprouted smiles.”]...
If I *had* to critique anything, it would be that the romance parts weren't super convincing for me? But I also understand that (1) I'm ace and romance storylines often just don't hit for me the way it does for most people and (2) there are 2 whole more books in the works that I'm sure will develop those storylines further.
Even with that small critique that might just be a me-problem, though, I think the coolest thing about this book is that it's bigger than the sum of its parts.
Truly, it feels like the beginning of a love letter to what our real world could become: how we might all be able to find liberation/freedom together. I can’t wait to see how we get there in real life AND in later books in the series.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to add everything else Saara El-Arifi has ever written to my TBR.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death, Grief, Death of parent, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
pjwhyman's review
adventurous
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Grief, Violence, War, Confinement, Death, Terminal illness, Animal death, and Child abuse
Minor: Genocide and Chronic illness
jamieleepilk's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, War, and Grief