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A review by gnatsnotes
Faebound by Saara El-Arifi
adventurous
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
1.75
i was so excited for this book, but all it did throughout its entirety was let me down.
the writing was incompetent, the worldbuilding was lazy, the thematic messages were unskillful and witless - all items on my list of criticisms of faebound, which is yet longer still.
the worldbuilding of this story was incredibly crude. the majority of details about the setting were communicated between conversations with the main characters and more knowledgeable, benevolent strangers throughout the book. it felt less like el-arifi was trying to create a convincing environment, but instead simply ensure that the reader understood all of the details of her worldbuilding. a more competent story would have the reader and characters immersed in the world and pick up details as the story progresses, rather than having characters answer lists of questions over and over. additionally, every detail was overemphasized - i noticed certain points that were reiterated upwards of four times. it felt insulting, quite honestly; it's like el-arifi doesn't think her readers are intelligent enough to remember what's going on in the book they're reading. even further, though, the lore was often inconsistent, with small details often being forgotten by the author. regularly, there were incongruencies between what the characters should know and what they say in their inner monologues.
the plot was thoughtless. the suspense/mystery elements were rudimentary; i guessed them all extremely quickly, and spent hundreds of pages waiting for the characters to catch up. and yet my biggest criticism for this book comes from its execution of it's environmentalist/anti-overconsumption message, which is completely wasted bytying the lives of the obeah and fae together. in doing this, the author tried to convey the horrors of the destruction of nature perpetuated by the elves killing the obeah for their own self-serving ends. however, this completely dilutes the impact of the idea of environmental stewardship the author is trying to promote. the text - or, at least, the characters - treat their mass animal slaughter as horrific only after they realize that in the process they are also killing the anthropoid fae. this creates the implication that environmental destruction should only be cared about when it's comprehensible through the suffering of human-like creatures - when in fact the opposite is true. by equating human and animal death, el-arifi acts as though environmental protectionism is only valuable because it has a direct effect on an anthropomorphic being a human can relate to - which is not why environmental stewardship as a practice is important. this made the author's commentary here extremely shallow in my view, and further displayed a carelessness which is present throughout the entire text.
the writing was uncompelling. scene descriptions were underdeveloped, often making what should be important scenes confusing and disorienting. common words and phrases are often misused, to the point that i'm actually surprised the book was published in this state. additionally, i thought the development ofrayan and lettle's relationship was unrefined and clumsy, almost unbelievable in its pacing. the only thing i will say in the writing's favour was that it was quick to read (which ultimately meant i finished the book faster).
ultimately, i'm left asking: who is this for? as the mature content suggests, adults - and yet, the execution is so poor, the messaging so lacking in complexity that i'm perplexed by the apparent success of faebound with adult readers. this book was incredibly disappointing; unfortunately, i just don't think el-arifi's storytelling capabilities are mature enough to tell a story like this. 1.75 stars.
the writing was incompetent, the worldbuilding was lazy, the thematic messages were unskillful and witless - all items on my list of criticisms of faebound, which is yet longer still.
the worldbuilding of this story was incredibly crude. the majority of details about the setting were communicated between conversations with the main characters and more knowledgeable, benevolent strangers throughout the book. it felt less like el-arifi was trying to create a convincing environment, but instead simply ensure that the reader understood all of the details of her worldbuilding. a more competent story would have the reader and characters immersed in the world and pick up details as the story progresses, rather than having characters answer lists of questions over and over. additionally, every detail was overemphasized - i noticed certain points that were reiterated upwards of four times. it felt insulting, quite honestly; it's like el-arifi doesn't think her readers are intelligent enough to remember what's going on in the book they're reading. even further, though, the lore was often inconsistent, with small details often being forgotten by the author. regularly, there were incongruencies between what the characters should know and what they say in their inner monologues.
the plot was thoughtless. the suspense/mystery elements were rudimentary; i guessed them all extremely quickly, and spent hundreds of pages waiting for the characters to catch up. and yet my biggest criticism for this book comes from its execution of it's environmentalist/anti-overconsumption message, which is completely wasted by
the writing was uncompelling. scene descriptions were underdeveloped, often making what should be important scenes confusing and disorienting. common words and phrases are often misused, to the point that i'm actually surprised the book was published in this state. additionally, i thought the development of
ultimately, i'm left asking: who is this for? as the mature content suggests, adults - and yet, the execution is so poor, the messaging so lacking in complexity that i'm perplexed by the apparent success of faebound with adult readers. this book was incredibly disappointing; unfortunately, i just don't think el-arifi's storytelling capabilities are mature enough to tell a story like this. 1.75 stars.