Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Faebound

Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

66 reviews

distilledreads's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-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

4.0

I love the world Saara El-Arifi has created in Faebound with the dynamic of fae, elves, and (once upon a time) humans. It is a queernormative fantasy, which I am absolutely adoring at the moment. There are F/F, F/M, and M/M relationships mentioned on page as well as nonbinary characters. Again, I just loved the world El-Arifi created and the mythology of creation with the three gods each representing a different race and bestowing a “power.”

Strangely, despite falling in love with the world, I can’t pinpoint if there is a single character that I love as much. I enjoyed the characters, but I didn’t quite fall in love with any of them. Also, while I love the queer rep, none of the romantic partnerships had me in a chokehold, not even the enemies-to-lovers one. I will take a moment to appreciate El-Arifi’s depiction of siblings though. Even though our sibling protagonists are older (early-30s and late-20s), they still bicker like children. It is a dynamic I’ve seen with my own siblings at times, where we can revert back to the same arguments we had at 8 and 12, even though we are now much older.

As well, at times the foreshadowing in Faebound felt quite heavy. For every twist and turn, the groundwork has been put in place already on the page, so there were no surprise twists for me, but that didn’t make me like the book any less. Overall, the premise and world-building sunk its teeth into me with Faebound and I am eagerly anticipating the next installment.

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florecita_lectora's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious slow-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

3.25

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nina_rae_131's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Loveable characters? No

2.0

I chose this book for the "Judge a Book by its Cover" r/fantasy 2024 bingo square, and I'm afraid the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" applies to Faebound.
I found the world and magic system interesting. I wish we could have spent more time exploring those.
The characters annoyed me. Every time Lettle and Rayan interacted, I cringed. I felt like the romance between

Fury and Yeeran was unrealistic, like, girl, she murdered your brother!

I kept forgetting the characters were supposed to be in their thirties. Lettle especially felt like a teenager. It was also very predictable.

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sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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I was very disappointed with the lack of character depth. The two main (intended, I assume, since I didn’t finish the book) romances felt shallow and insta-lovey. Not to mention any antagonistic character had a cartoon-like villainy.
I loved the premise of this world, the magic and the animal companion aspect, but ultimately I just wasn’t enjoying it enough to continue.

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risaleel's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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? No

4.0

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thoughtsontomes's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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

3.0

I preferred this authors other series to this and don’t think it will stick in my mind long enough to continue when the next installment comes out.

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pointeshoebookworm's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted 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

I absolutely loved this book. The world building was breathtaking. The characters, weren't perfect, but definitely loveable and have plenty of room to grow.

The insta-love, just wasn't doing much for me, on either end. And at times, the writing felt a bit underwhelming, particularly when Yeeran was speaking with Pila.

But ultimately, I truly am excited for the sequel announcement and the following announcement from fairyloot.

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