Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Faebound

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Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

10 reviews

linnybear's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

If someone told me it’s a debut I’d believe them 💀 Completely subjectively speaking, it’s not a well written book, in any possible way. The author definitely fell into a trap of excessive tropification of romantasy and in my opinion it negatively affected the story making it incredibly cliché and predictable. You DO NOT give the reader ‘one bedroom trope’ in chapter 9 while barely establishing any kind of romantic relationship between characters, you DO NOT introduce the new enemy to make the mc swoon over the curves of their body a minute later making the reader go ‘ah so we have enemy to lovers’ (despite said mc apparently still loving her ex partner!). These can be your favorite tropes and I’m not here to judge that but the tropes also exist for a reason and they have their own place and time. This is something that over time made me irritated and yet it doesn’t get better as you progress through the story.

Talking about the storyline, it is so predictable almost from the start and the clues are constantly given away by the author in a form of prophecies. No matter the situation the stakes felt very low making it unengaging and instead we are forced to focus on characters’ internal struggles and romantic affairs, yet… This book has possibly the worst developed (or rather undeveloped) relationships I’ve ever encountered which is somewhat connected to incredibly flat, almost robotic characters. There is no logic in their actions, there is no thought (given their ages and previous positions in the elven society it’s absolutely bizarre), there is no depth, or growth, or complexity. Instead we are left with lots of angst, lust and cringy dialogue. Possibly the biggest red flag in all of this was the normalization of dishonesty, infidelity and abuse making some, if not all, relationships (including those between family members) really toxic as these issues are never properly addressed and resolved.

The only positive aspect of this series so far would be the world building. Don’t get me wrong, it is still severely lacking but I found some of the ideas (like the existence of three races made by three different gods or the fae curse) really interesting and worth expanding. I wish it was enough for me to read the book two once it’s out but I don’t think it’s truly worth my time.

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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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tetrootz's review against another edition

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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

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sherri_berri's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

3.0

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barda's review

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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

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the_lesbrarian's review

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Faebound follows the complex bond between two sisters: a devoted war general and a haunted seer. When one is exiled from their tribe trying to fulfill a prophecy, both find themselves trapped in the realm of fae that the world lost to fable. Within, they find themselves questioning the truths of the homeland they have been fighting for.

The diversity of the characters is well-written and normalized. Most characters are black, as the setting is West-African inspired. Several of the main and major characters are queer, one of the major characters is trans, and many characters throughout the novel have disabilities.

This novel has the elements of a sapphic “romantasy,” and spends a lot more time with the romance than most other sapphic books in this sphere. If you’re looking for a Sarah J. Maas level split of fantasy and romance, but much more diverse and sapphic, this is the closest you will get from major publishing houses right now.

While this book suffered from some minor pacing issues— the middle third dragged a bit and a lot happened in the last quarter that I wish had been given more pages to be explored— those problems are easy to overlook for all of the beauty that the rest of the novel had to offer. A unique magic system, true diversity of characters, and an adult sapphic romance make Faebound a fun new read this winter.

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emrosenq's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-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

4.75

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gondorgirl's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

I listened to the audio on 2x speed and it sounded like the main character was being called "Urine". If you listed sped up you may want to stick to the physical book for this one.

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bookboxbabe's review

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adventurous emotional tense medium-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

5.0

*thank you netgalley and the publisher for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I AM NOT WELL. like i am frothing at the mouth right now.

this is one of the best fantasy books i have read lately. it has everything i want when i dive into a fantasy world: action, magic, political intrigue, found family, romance, and of course, magical races

i genuinely gasped at every single twist and reveal that this book had. these characters gripped my heart and to see them be betrayed and thrown through the ringer hurt my fragile heart. in the best way.

the romance in the book is so swoons too. like i wanted these characters to just get together before they even touched hands. the pining was too much!!

lastly, this world is so thoughtfully fleshed out and you can actually feel the world come alive on the pages. i felt like i was in mosima with these characters. it’s so rare that i find a book with such a well thought out and structured fantasy world. it takes great skill to do that, which this author very clearly has.

thank you for writing this. also, i need the next book now.

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