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hazelgirl21's review
adventurous
emotional
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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and War
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
cbrodley's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I thought this novel started very strong and ended very strong, however the story plateaued for me around the halfway mark. I thought there were parts that needed to be fleshed out a bit more as things in this story tend to happen quickly with little build up. This, to me, lessens the emotional investment I had with the story and the characters. The storytelling is very matter of fact and straight to the point. The strengths of the book: the unique world, the character of fae familiar Pila, the gender fluid and queer normalizing, the divination aspect was interesting to me as well as the twists that helped tie up the story at the end. The pitfalls were the rushed plot lines, lack of explanation in some parts while over-repeating other points, the writing was simplistic and the characters had little depth and I was unable to emotionally connect to any of them. I found myself questioning the main character Yeeran a lot during the entire story as I could not understand her motives or loyalties after a blatant misunderstanding and betrayal.
Overall Iโm giving this 3 stars as I wasnโt overwhelmingly engaged with this story, however I did think it had some strengths overall and potential for more growth in sequels.
Overall Iโm giving this 3 stars as I wasnโt overwhelmingly engaged with this story, however I did think it had some strengths overall and potential for more growth in sequels.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, and Murder
brewdy_reader's review against another edition
adventurous
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
๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ด๐บ โข ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ด๐บ โข ๐๐ถ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐๐
๐๐๐ โข ๐๐ถ๐ฃ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฆ 23 ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ถ๐ข๐ณ๐บ 2024
War stories have become increasingly popular within the romantasy sub-genre. Faebound combines this and other familiar fantasy tropes with unique elements in a a fun, easily consumable package. There will be:
โจ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ (๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด)
โจ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด
โจ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค (๐ฅ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค)
โจ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด (๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ด)
โจ ๐ง๐ข๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต
โจ ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง & ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ
โจ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ
โจ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ
โจ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด
I appreciated that the book was written in a queer and disability-normative, gender-fluid, and racially-ambiguous way. Instead of riding dragons or horses, here we ride obeahs and camels. And of course, there's going to be a journey across realms and a very fancy map in the endpapers worth ogling.
What did not work as well for me in this story was the writing. It felt simplistic relative to other high fantasy (or even romantasy) adult novels. I would say this leaned YA (dialogue, descriptions, mostly fade to black, predictable storyline, complexity of magic). I would like the characters and relationships to have been developed in greater depth also.
There were some great one liners, moments of reflection, and a few surprise twists! I definitely will sign up to read volume 2.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ @๐๐ฆ๐ต๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ @๐๐ฆ๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ฆ๐ธ.
๐๐๐ โข ๐๐ถ๐ฃ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฆ 23 ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ถ๐ข๐ณ๐บ 2024
War stories have become increasingly popular within the romantasy sub-genre. Faebound combines this and other familiar fantasy tropes with unique elements in a a fun, easily consumable package. There will be:
โจ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ (๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ด)
โจ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด
โจ ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค (๐ฅ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค)
โจ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด (๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ป๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ด)
โจ ๐ง๐ข๐ฆ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต
โจ ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง & ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ
โจ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ
โจ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ
โจ ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด
I appreciated that the book was written in a queer and disability-normative, gender-fluid, and racially-ambiguous way. Instead of riding dragons or horses, here we ride obeahs and camels. And of course, there's going to be a journey across realms and a very fancy map in the endpapers worth ogling.
What did not work as well for me in this story was the writing. It felt simplistic relative to other high fantasy (or even romantasy) adult novels. I would say this leaned YA (dialogue, descriptions, mostly fade to black, predictable storyline, complexity of magic). I would like the characters and relationships to have been developed in greater depth also.
There were some great one liners, moments of reflection, and a few surprise twists! I definitely will sign up to read volume 2.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ @๐๐ฆ๐ต๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ @๐๐ฆ๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ฆ๐ธ.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, War, Animal death, Hate crime, and Classism
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
disclaimer: I donโt really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
This was an entertaining addition to the new adult, queernormative fantasy world!
I felt that this was clearly setting up the rest of the series, because the rotating third-person limited POVs of sisters Yeeran and Lettle felt quite character-driven, helping readers get to know the fae courts just as they did. The world building felt easy to follow and because of that, Iโd recommend this to someone who is new to fantasy and wants to try the genre on for size!
The buildup towards Furi and Yeeran was a lot of fun; it will assuredly be catnip for the enemies-to-lovers honeys! ๐ค The ending will have readers wondering if their love can conquer everything else going on (the Forever War, their individual quests and goals, the unrelenting betrayal going on inside the fae court walls).
I was less invested in Lettleโs POV which is so fascinating to me because I am typically not a pew-pew-pew war girly, pulled to soldiers and trained fighters like Yeeran. I *usually* prefer to get to know characters like Lettle, who want to become diviners in having visions of the future and wielding this for good! However, Lettleโs POVs and relationships left me wanting. The big reveal about Lettle and Yeeranโs father at the end though? Give me more of that! Whew!
Much of the edge-of-your-seat action happens towards the end of the book, which makes sense because El-Arifi is building up anticipation for the next book! Iโm excited to see where this series goes!
steam rating: 2/5 โ give me more face sitting, that was fun! kthxbye ๐คญ
This was an entertaining addition to the new adult, queernormative fantasy world!
I felt that this was clearly setting up the rest of the series, because the rotating third-person limited POVs of sisters Yeeran and Lettle felt quite character-driven, helping readers get to know the fae courts just as they did. The world building felt easy to follow and because of that, Iโd recommend this to someone who is new to fantasy and wants to try the genre on for size!
The buildup towards Furi and Yeeran was a lot of fun; it will assuredly be catnip for the enemies-to-lovers honeys! ๐ค The ending will have readers wondering if their love can conquer everything else going on (the Forever War, their individual quests and goals, the unrelenting betrayal going on inside the fae court walls).
I was less invested in Lettleโs POV which is so fascinating to me because I am typically not a pew-pew-pew war girly, pulled to soldiers and trained fighters like Yeeran. I *usually* prefer to get to know characters like Lettle, who want to become diviners in having visions of the future and wielding this for good! However, Lettleโs POVs and relationships left me wanting. The big reveal about Lettle and Yeeranโs father at the end though? Give me more of that! Whew!
Much of the edge-of-your-seat action happens towards the end of the book, which makes sense because El-Arifi is building up anticipation for the next book! Iโm excited to see where this series goes!
steam rating: 2/5 โ give me more face sitting, that was fun! kthxbye ๐คญ
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Murder, Grief, War, Sexual content, Death, and Violence
bex_readz's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The scars of their life had fused them together.
Wow, for being a 400ish page, it took me a long time to finish this book. My initial reaction is that I liked it AND I am not sure I am excited for the rest of the series.
Plot- 3.5/5๐
Spice- 1ish/5๐ถ๏ธ
Romance-0/5๐
Ok, so first of all, Pila is my favorite character. She is the only one who has REAL TALK. Puts people in their place. The rest of the characters felt pretty complex. I went from liking them to being annoyed pretty quickly. They are older characters which I love, but unfortunately they all act young. One in particular loves to throw tantrums, yes we are looking at you Lettle. No one is ever on the same page with each other, and it felt like all the characters were bumping off of each other the entire time, like a pin ball game. I love chemistry and banter, and I think I felt like it was missing that.
The plot is intense. There feels like a lot of details are provided, which is why I felt like this was a slower read. I really thought I had the whole story figured out but the last 20 % of the book was one plot twist after another. That was a pleasant surprise.
Lastly, I can't mentally picture drumfire without giggling. Thinking of Yeeran tippy tapping her fingers to try and kill someone is just silly. It feels like that cannot be a serious tool for war. But anyways..
This book has great representation of people with disability and LGBTQ+. I would say this book is way more fantasy than romance. In fact the "romance" in the book seemed to be just an accidental thing that happens, rather than a plot point.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this arc in exchange for an honest review!
Wow, for being a 400ish page, it took me a long time to finish this book. My initial reaction is that I liked it AND I am not sure I am excited for the rest of the series.
Plot- 3.5/5๐
Spice- 1ish/5๐ถ๏ธ
Romance-0/5๐
Ok, so first of all, Pila is my favorite character. She is the only one who has REAL TALK. Puts people in their place. The rest of the characters felt pretty complex. I went from liking them to being annoyed pretty quickly. They are older characters which I love, but unfortunately they all act young. One in particular loves to throw tantrums, yes we are looking at you Lettle. No one is ever on the same page with each other, and it felt like all the characters were bumping off of each other the entire time, like a pin ball game. I love chemistry and banter, and I think I felt like it was missing that.
The plot is intense. There feels like a lot of details are provided, which is why I felt like this was a slower read. I really thought I had the whole story figured out but the last 20 % of the book was one plot twist after another. That was a pleasant surprise.
Lastly, I can't mentally picture drumfire without giggling. Thinking of Yeeran tippy tapping her fingers to try and kill someone is just silly. It feels like that cannot be a serious tool for war. But anyways..
This book has great representation of people with disability and LGBTQ+. I would say this book is way more fantasy than romance. In fact the "romance" in the book seemed to be just an accidental thing that happens, rather than a plot point.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this arc in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Death, and War
chelsea_nailpolishlover's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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? Yes
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
5/5 โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
1.5/5 ๐ถ๏ธ
From start to finish I was enthralled. I couldnโt put this book down.
From the care shown to not only gender and sexuality, but to race, and disability. This book had it all. The struggles of political and moral discourse. The discrimination against those who are different. The devastation brought on by war. The struggles of what is right and what is just. The author did an amazing job. It was absolutely fantastic.
This book was very war focused, with a few different love stories between multiple POVโs. I really enjoyed having the multiple view points. The way they intertwined with each other between the timeline of events was beautifully done.
My favorite character was Lettle. She was treated like a child, she was put down, but she was so incredibly strong. She showed everyone what she was made of. I love her character so much.
If you loved fourth wing and the banter with the characters and their dragon familiars then youโll loveeeeee this book!
I did personally struggle with one of the TWโs, the malnutrition and starvation aspect that was brought up multiple times during the book. As someone who was starved and malnourished to the point of almost dying it brought up a lot of emotions for me, that I thought I had worked through. There was a particular moment in the book about half way through that hit me hard. I donโt know if the author has ever had to also go through a situation where they were starved and malnourished but they wrote like they knew exactly what someone whoโs been through that would say and feel. It didnโt feel mocking, it didnโt feel like it was an after thought. The emotions that were expressed while discussing those things were present. And accurate.
As hard as it was for me emotionally I hope it puts into perspective for some people who have never been through something like that, that they can imagine the difficulties and trauma it causes someone. How often that trauma pops up. And how words about food, and eating can affect the people around you without you even realizing it.
A mix of Tropes, and TWโs just to name a few -
found family, enemies to lovers, familiars, murder, death, war, starvation/malnourishment, friends to lovers, WW, MM, MW, disability representation, discrimination, gore, animal death, descriptive language of desecration of animal remains, hunting, confinement.
5/5 โญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธโญ๏ธ
1.5/5 ๐ถ๏ธ
From start to finish I was enthralled. I couldnโt put this book down.
From the care shown to not only gender and sexuality, but to race, and disability. This book had it all. The struggles of political and moral discourse. The discrimination against those who are different. The devastation brought on by war. The struggles of what is right and what is just. The author did an amazing job. It was absolutely fantastic.
This book was very war focused, with a few different love stories between multiple POVโs. I really enjoyed having the multiple view points. The way they intertwined with each other between the timeline of events was beautifully done.
My favorite character was Lettle. She was treated like a child, she was put down, but she was so incredibly strong. She showed everyone what she was made of. I love her character so much.
If you loved fourth wing and the banter with the characters and their dragon familiars then youโll loveeeeee this book!
I did personally struggle with one of the TWโs, the malnutrition and starvation aspect that was brought up multiple times during the book. As someone who was starved and malnourished to the point of almost dying it brought up a lot of emotions for me, that I thought I had worked through. There was a particular moment in the book about half way through that hit me hard. I donโt know if the author has ever had to also go through a situation where they were starved and malnourished but they wrote like they knew exactly what someone whoโs been through that would say and feel. It didnโt feel mocking, it didnโt feel like it was an after thought. The emotions that were expressed while discussing those things were present. And accurate.
As hard as it was for me emotionally I hope it puts into perspective for some people who have never been through something like that, that they can imagine the difficulties and trauma it causes someone. How often that trauma pops up. And how words about food, and eating can affect the people around you without you even realizing it.
A mix of Tropes, and TWโs just to name a few -
found family, enemies to lovers, familiars, murder, death, war, starvation/malnourishment, friends to lovers, WW, MM, MW, disability representation, discrimination, gore, animal death, descriptive language of desecration of animal remains, hunting, confinement.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Chronic illness, Violence, Child death, Alcoholism, War, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Gore, Death, Colonisation, Bullying, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Murder, Genocide, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Classism, and Animal death
cadence99's review against another edition
adventurous
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? Yes
3.0
Iโve been looking forward to this book and it delivered in many ways: incredibly fast paced, lovable characters, and an engaging storyline. While I enjoyed my overall experience I do have a few detractors: for me, the plot felt INCREDIBLY predictable. I guessed almost EVERY major plot point well before it happened, so if youโre looking to be surprised this may not be the one for you. In addition the writing felt very simple compared to the authors other work. Which I donโt think is necessarily a bad thing, and made for a very easy read, but wasnโt quite what I was expecting. There is also an enemies to lovers troupe here, as well as borderline insta love , but if thatโs something you donโt mind then read on!
For me, it was an overall enjoyable experience, and I look forward to the next installment!
For me, it was an overall enjoyable experience, and I look forward to the next installment!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Grief, Murder, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and War
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Child abuse
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