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A review by prettyflyforascienceguy
Faebound by Saara El-Arifi
3.0
There was a lot of good in this book. The magic system in this book is unique. I loved the queernormative world. The F/F relationship in this book is filled with tension and is really well done, and I appreciated the small hints of “spice” we were given. The premise of the story is so intriguing. I loved Pila as a character, and all of the obeah as magical creatures. I really loved when El-Arifi described the setting, I craved more description of the world.
However, there were too many things in this book that stopped me from fully enjoying it, and it mostly came down to writing style. El-Arifi does a lot of “telling” rather than “showing”. There were several instances in the book where she explicitly states word for word the “twist,” as if we couldn’t figure it out for ourselves (spoiler: we could). The dialogue felt modern and anachronistic. The clunky pacing took me out of the story more than once. One of my biggest issues with the book is how blatantly the ending sets us up for a sequel. In the last 20 pages there are literally 3 twists (that we are told, and not shown). It feels way different than the rest of the book and not authentic at all. I do not think I will read the sequel.
However, there were too many things in this book that stopped me from fully enjoying it, and it mostly came down to writing style. El-Arifi does a lot of “telling” rather than “showing”. There were several instances in the book where she explicitly states word for word the “twist,” as if we couldn’t figure it out for ourselves (spoiler: we could). The dialogue felt modern and anachronistic. The clunky pacing took me out of the story more than once. One of my biggest issues with the book is how blatantly the ending sets us up for a sequel. In the last 20 pages there are literally 3 twists (that we are told, and not shown). It feels way different than the rest of the book and not authentic at all. I do not think I will read the sequel.