A review by queenmackenzie
Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

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? Yes

3.75

Faebound tells of the Folk like I’ve never encountered them. This was my first Saara El-Arifi book, and I greatly enjoyed her storytelling skills; the way the story is framed by mythology, the landscape rendered harsh by war, the relationships that make and break the characters, the build up of tension and mystery… it’s all blended together to make for a very compelling read! As the blurb says, the story begins in one of the elven tribes, with the warrior Yeeran being the youngest Colonel in the army of the Waning tribe and ready to win a victory for her chieftain and lover Salawa. Her sister Lettle, meanwhile, despises the war and is a diviner hoping to rise in their ranks, but she drops everything when an error on the battlefield leads to Yeeran’s exile. Following the sisters is also Rayan, who served as Captain under Yeeran and feels responsible for her fate. 

Yeeran is sure that if she can only bring back the skin of an obeah large enough, that Salawa will forgive her and bring her back into the fold, and this is her quest when she inadvertently stumbles upon a group of Fae, believed to have been lost for centuries. The obeah are a fascinating element to the story, as they are creatures of magic and so when their skin is used to fashion a drum, the wielder of that drum can create magic and the elves use these as weapons on the battlefield. However, this has lead to the over-hunting of the obeah, and Yeeran and her friends soon discover that the animals are precious to the Fae. As a warning: the early chapters have quite a few mentions and descriptions of the hunting and killing of obeah, so if you don’t like animal deaths this may not be for you. 

Enraged by Yeeran’s killing of a great obeah, the fae drag her, Lettle, and Rayan to Mosima, their city beneath the earth to await punishment, because Yeeran has unknowingly killed a prince of the fae who was linked to the obeah and his sister, Furi, is the one to capture the elves. Thus begins the main story, as the three elves explore Mosima and become dangerously close to this race of people thought for centuries to have been lost. And the fae are indeed lost to the world, trapped beneath the earth by a curse uttered by the last of the humans, able only to leave for a little at a time, and only when one of the royal family is present. This confinement has led to differing views and strategies within the fae court, and the elves’ arrival only fans the fire as more people start dying and mysteries come to a head. In the midst of all this, there is a tension of a different kind: the growing attraction between Lettle and Rayan, who she believes she is fated to kill, and between Yeeran and Furi, who both despise and gravitate towards each other. 

This book definitely falls in the ‘romantasy’ camp, so if a few more explicit scenes and a focus on romantic tension is not your ideal, then this one might not be for you. I enjoyed this element of the story, especially Lettle and Rayan’s scenes, but I couldn’t quite get on board with Furi and Yeeran; I love the enemies-to-lovers trope as much as the next gal, but I thought that ‘I accidentally killed your brother and now you hate me’-to-lovers was a bit of a stretch. Furi is a magnificent character, and I think my main problem is that I didn’t find Yeeran very likeable and so I don’t think she deserves the fae’s love! All she can think of for most of the book is the elves’ war and getting back to it, never really questioning their endless fighting or listening to her sister’s comments about the Chieftain Salawa. I suspect that she has more character development to undertake…

Overall, though, this was well plotted and well paced, and I enjoyed that all the little hints and mysteries that I noticed along the way come back towards the end in a satisfying way. I’m not sure if I’m interested enough to pick up the next book when it comes out, but I did race through this one and I’m glad I got the chance to read it.

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