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amandaelle's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, and Animal death
Moderate: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Minor: Suicide
deedireads's review
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
All my reviews live at https://deedireads.com/.
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
volsairine's review
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.
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:
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:
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, and War
Moderate: Animal death and Death of parent
Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, and Classism
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
levesc17's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
5.0
Amazing book! I’m new to this author and thrilled to have some other books to dive into while I wait for the second one in this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Moderate: Death of parent and Death
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
lagaialettrice's review
adventurous
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? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Murder, and Death of parent
barda's review
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
saphfics's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, War, and Death of parent
Minor: Xenophobia
salma_175's review
adventurous
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
Really enjoyed this. Picked this up one day and love it fiercely. There were times the character development felt too rushed but the story is beautiful and the world building is gorgeous
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Death of parent and Animal death
Minor: Bullying