A review by 30something_reads
Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • 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

This is one of those instances where I went into this book with the full expectation that I would LOVE it and that unfortunately just did not happen. There were parts that I really enjoyed though. Below is a list (and it does contain spoilers so proceed with caution.)
 
Things that I liked: 
  • Queer norm AND disability norm world - Honestly, one of the things I was most excited about with this book. I loved that one of our main characters is sapphic and how standard queer relationships were within the world. And I enjoyed how there were multiple characters with varying physical disabilities, including our other main POV character.
  • The magic system - VERY cool. I don't think I have ever read about a magic system incorporating drums like this. And the obeah?? LOVED them. It was reminiscent of the daemons in His Dark Materials. 
  • The lore and the worldbuilding - LOVED the premise behind the three species and how they came to be. 
  • Sister POVs (rather than love interest POVs) - I thought this was a really refreshing change of pace, especially for a Romantasy. I loved the focus on the relationship between the two sisters
  • Rayan’s storyline - to be fair, at first I did not really care for Rayan and he felt a little bland BUT I did love where the author went with his character ARC (and it actually turned out to be the most interesting character arc for me.)

So all of these things were great! But unfortunately, there were quite a few things that I really did not like as well. 

Things that I didn’t like: 
  • Lettle- I liked her less and less as the story progressed (which is unfortunate considering she is a main POV character) and by the last couple chapters?? She comes off as very selfish and hypocritical. Especially pertaining to Yeeran's decisions at the end. Hopefully that is intentional and addressed later? Idk though. 
  • All of the heavy-handed reminders of prophesies made the majority of the plot very predictable. - This was especially frustrating as this is an adult fantasy book. The constant references back to earlier prophecies kept feeling like the author didn't trust the reader to remember. 
  • Also all of the Darth Father situations with some of these characters and their “secret” identities. - Truly... it just felt like more instances where I'm not sure if we were supposed to pick up on them immediately... because, I did. 
  • The romantic relationships - didn’t really feel authentic or like they had enough time to develop. This was the situation with BOTH couples as they progress. The initial set up for Yeeran and Furi was amazing - a perfect enemies to lovers arc - but then it was "I hate you" to one meaningful conversation to "we're both insanely attracted to one another" to "I think I'm in love"?? And the same really goes for Lettle and Rayan. They had a great start, barely communicated throughout the entire middle, and then Lettle somehow thinks "Yeah I'm in love with him".... so I just didn't buy the chemistry in either romance. 
  • The spice kind of felt unnecessary - Usually you will never catch me saying this because I love a spicy scene but I think this goes hand in hand with the fact that I did not feel committed to the romance. For me, the spice is always an added bonus after tons of tension and build up. And unfortunately I did not feel either in these relationships. 

And where does this leave me? Honestly, idk. I see where the series is progressing. But I'm not sure if I'm committed enough to these characters to continue. 

*The audiobook was good though! And shout out to PRH Audio Influencer Program for providing a free listener copy. *


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