A review by valefranze
Faebound by Saara El-Arifi

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

I really appreciated the world building and setting of this book, from the religious and political system to the different cultures. It's the first time I read a book where the characters are able to forge a telepathic bond with animals, I thought it was beautiful. It's also the first time I read a book that made me feel that being queer is truly OK. It was a comforting and soothing read for me. Also, I don't usually like POVs, but here it worked out pretty well!

With this being said, I do have some critiques. The characterization was weak, especially when it comes to the main character, Yeeran, which is kind of absurd. She seems very confused about her motivations and feelings throughout the whole book. I was waiting for her to develop a real and cohesive personality. Sometimes I thought her character was about to develop, but then she relapsed right away and went back to her old mental script, which isn't too clear either. Like the co-protagonist, Lettle, she keeps taking very impulsive and incoherent decisions until the very end. I understand that the author was focusing on the aesthetics and visual representation for this book, but I wish the characters didn't just have a good design, but also layers. 
For these same reasons, the love stories weren't very believable. I honestly thought that the straight lead couple had a better relationship that the lesbian main couple. And that's probably only because Rayan's intentions felt like the most genuine, which, again, doesn't make sense, since this book is marketed as a wlw romantasy. There's not much romance either. The relationship between Yeeran and
Furi
felt superficial. It's a badly written enemies-to-lovers. Their relationship shifts so suddenly and seems to be built on nothing but continuous exposure to be honest. Yeeran is obviously attracted to
Furi
, but doesn't focus much on her other qualities. Maybe because she doesn't know her yet? Maybe because not even the reader knows what
Furi's
good qualities are yet?
Furi
, on the other hand, doesn't trust Yeeran at all, but still throws herself at her for no clear reason. I want to believe they aren't supposed to be in love yet, because there's still two books left and it feels like both of them just pick and choose their lovers based off of their appearance and/or status. Usually, the main couple does not fall in love in the first book of a trilogy for a reason. 

Luckily for me, I didn't pick up this book for the romance, so I really enjoyed it in the end. I can't wait to see what happens next. I sincerely trust that the characterization will get better and that maybe the personalities will evolve, now that the author has laid down the fundations for a strong worldbuilding. 
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