A big thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was sold on the beautiful editions and the mentions of fae, but it wasn't exactly my favorite.

Faebound By Saara El-Arifi is a fantasy novel about Yeeran, who was born on the battlefield, has lived on the battlefield, and one day, she knows, she’ll die on the battlefield. As a warrior in the elven army, Yeeran has known nothing but violence her whole life. Her sister, Lettle, is trying to make a living as a diviner, seeking prophecies of a better future. When a fatal mistake leads to Yeeran’s exile from the Elven Lands, both sisters are forced into the terrifying wilderness beyond their borders. There they encounter the impossible: the fae court. The fae haven’t been seen for a millennium. But now Yeeran and Lettle are thrust into their seductive world, torn among their loyalties to each other, their elven homeland, and their hearts.

The world building was interesting, but the plot was a little lackluster. But I blame that on the predictability of it, since I've read so many fantasies in the past year. This book was overall underwhelming, but I'm glad I read an advance copy instead of one I bought myself.

𝑭𝒂𝒆𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒚: 𝑺𝒂𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝑬𝒍-𝑨𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊
𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: ⭐️3/5 🌶️2/5
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁: Dual POV, Enemies to Lovers, Unique Magic System, Elves & Fae, Magical Creatures, Drum Magic, Military Setting, Lore, Sapphic, Queer Normative, Prophesied Love, Disability Rep
𝗧𝗪𝘀: War, Death, Grief, Elaborate hunting and slaughter of an Animal

I have a lot to say about this one. There were plenty of elements that I liked in this world created by the Saara. The unique magic system and setting was definitely what carried the whole book for me. Drum magic in a military setting set in an African / middle eastern inspired location described beautifully and eloquently that it will easily demand your attention; accompanied by magical creatures that is folklore inspired.

I loved the weighty presence of the magical creatures, especially the Obeah! The bonding with them giving the ability to communicate gave us what we all love = amazing witty banter. The characters are diverse and represented excellently with no restraint in showcasing sapphic relationships and queernormativity. With that being said, the use of gender pronouns to represent that did get a bit confusing to me in the beginning mostly with the use of they/their and made me go back and reread to make sure it was referring to one person (relating to their gender identity) rather than a group of people (as in plural sense) and it took me out of focus a bit.

This book has so much potential to be an beautiful epic fantasy / romantic fantasy novel with how it was setup in the beginning but shifted full on to focusing on the romance aspect which was beautiful to see, however because of the lack of character development, fell a little short for me altogether as they were unfortunately lacked complexity. The pacing of the book was slow at times and the plot although interesting, was predictable. What was meant to be the big reveal, i had figured out soon after the foreshadowing.

The book is left open to hopefully more world building. I still enjoyed reading it and will definitely continue reading the series.

Thank you netgalley and random house publishing for this ARC.

3.5- there were many things I liked and a few I didn’t. I liked the magic system and the lore. I liked the positive representation, including LGBTQ and disability rep. I felt that it read as more YA than adult, and although the characters were supposed to be in their late 20s/30s, the internal dialogue seemed much more immature. I felt that the plot twists were heavily alluded to from the beginning which made it feel a bit dragged out and the conclusion dissatisfying. Overall, very good start to the series and I am looking forward to seeing where it will go.

Review will be posted to goodreads on 1/25/24

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this advanced reader copy.

4.5 stars!!!
What an inspiring fantasy novel! Two sisters of different beliefs, one a warrior and the other blessed in divination. One sister’s exile leads the other after her in loyalty. Leaving what they know as home amongst their reputations, the sisters find themselves in enemy territory.
During their time as captives they are forced to outgrow their ignorance and learn new accustoms to survive. Prophecies foretold by diviners are broad yet inevitable. One sister reads a prophecy that cannot be deciphered until it’ is too late and peoples perceptions have changed once again.

Please read this amazing novel with amazing writing and plenty of side characters that are lovable and relatable. Pila just so happens to be my most favored. This book also includes fae, elves, magic, sapphic romances, & nonbinary characters. It’s done so well and I thoroughly enjoyed the read. highly recommend picking up if you enjoy fantasy books!

tropes include
-enemies to lovers
-animal bonding
-training moments
-hidden truth/inheritance

I think this is fine. It's not bad, but I don't think it's doing anything unique or interesting that I really got swept up in. I could be persuaded to continue on, but it won't be a high priority because I'm not invested in the story, the world, the magic, or the characters.

The Magic:
This is a personal pet peeve, but I a teensy bit loathe prediction/fortune telling/divination type magic systems. They can never be written in stone, and are often useless to the story and only come to be relevant after the event has happened and nothing can be done anymore, or the author can only derive twists/intrigue by the characters misinterpreting a vague prediction. Which means I just plain don't care.

Animals:
I was warned beforehand that there are some animal cruelty scenes but really found it quite tame compared to what I was expecting. It's no longer part of the story after ~30-35% in, and I didn't find it overly graphic but ymmv.

The Writing:
I know that there were large chunks that were really exposition heavy. and felt like it really leaned more mid to lower YA. There was never a time that I truly felt like I was reading an Adult book or that anything was more explicit than what I've read in YA books before. Things are very simply explained to the main characters (and by extension the reader), century spanning wars are mostly boiled down to a handful of bad actors.

The Romances:
There are two relationships here, which I think will make the shippers happy! Maybe! One of them was a pairing with a juvenile character, so it seemed very young to me; and the other didn't have enough screentime and build-up for my personal investment so it was just suddenly they're super into each other now, I guess? But I'm very much not the right audience.

World-building & Cultures:
The culture clash between groups of people that have been kept completely isolated for centuries is so, so minimal and it feels like they have a single conflict (around how each culture views one of the creatures in their world) and it's over in a blink and you miss it moment. While I had the audiobook on in the car, my husband kept commenting and being baffled about how they seemed to be presenting arguments using our own legal definitions (light spoilers via context clues) [about manslaughter vs murder but in the book they're drawing definitions between killing and murder. mind you, this is an argument presented to a totally different culture that also generally speaks a different language (hide spoiler)]. And ultimately it just wasn't the rich world-building I was hoping for.

Overall:
I don't know, man. I was hoping to leave my curmudgeon era and really wanted to like this one. But I just can't muster up any feelings about it stronger than 'it was fine.'

I've been waiting for Faebound ever since I read the plot description, and I was super excited - who wouldn't be excited for elves versus fae? POC and queer representation? A magic system that utilizes a musical instrument? Awesome. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to love this book, it missed the mark for me.

The characters are dry, and very plain with simple personalities. They were all just pawns being moved around from place to place for the sake of the plot with not much depth to any of them. If more of their backgrounds were given to us from an emotional standpoint I most likely would have felt connected to them in some way. The main romantic relationship seemed to come out of nowhere as the characters' minimal interactions beforehand didn't seem conducive to one. Fully grown adults acting so awkwardly around each other the way that sheltered teenagers would just didn't make sense with what we knew about them. The entire romance was just oddly unnatural and forced.

I found it difficult to get immersed for a variety of reasons; the descriptions of everything were lacking. Characters were traveling and battling quite a lot but I felt there just weren't enough depictions of the environment, architecture, cultural clothing, physical characteristics, etc for me to get a grasp of what was going on. There was little to no emotive punctuation - when a character was angry at getting manhandled or even yelling, there were very few exclamation marks and italicized words for emphasis until the second half of the book. There were also a few emotional reactions that didn't fit the situation.

I wish the worldbuilding was fleshed out more - the potential was there. To have different factions for fae and elves with their own distinct cultures was really cool and there were tons of possibilities to make from that but in general, the story just fell flat.

It’s a Saara El-Arifi book; it’s gonna be five stars.


Thank u sm netgalley for this arc.


Non spoilers:
This was AMAZING. One of my top reads of the year already. I love Saara. I loved the magic system of this book sm. Lettle🫶🫶🫶I’m still slightly on the fence about Rayan but I like him-Yeeran grew on me a lot by the end, and Furi I’m kinda meh about, but she had two more books to grow.




Spoilers:
I fully thought it was gonna be uhh Sahar¿ it said a kings revenge he was technically king… 🤨🤨still sus tbh-the end☹️ Yeeran better not get back together with Salawa😒bitchass I feel like she’s gonna trust her again and get her to give her info and then betray her😐

I think this book is a really good start to what has the potential to be an amazing series. It has an interesting world, a unique magic system, good lore with old gods, badass main characters, some mystery, and of course… some romance. This book has great representation as well. It all fit nicely with the story and was actually detailed so it didn’t feel like it was thrown in last minute just to be there.

The lore at the beginning of the book really drew me in and set high hopes for me. It was detailed enough to introduce me to the concept but vague enough to leave me with questions and wanting to know more. I feel the same way about the magic system. We get a basic understanding of it but I definitely have questions and am excited to see it further explained in future books. It’s definitely a very unique magic system and seems really cool. I always love great characters and character dynamics and this book definitely gave me that. The sister relationship between our two main characters is layered and realistic. They have a solid bond but they definitely have their issues. I was able to connect to both characters at different moments.
Here’s where it missed for me-
It seemed like the first 5ish chapters of the book made you expect a different book than what it ended up being. So it felt like it moved pretty quickly and then lulled in the middle while transitioning into a different “vibe” of a book (if that makes any sense).
We needed a little more info about the magic system so it wouldn’t seem so out of place. The characters start to understand it but I didn’t feel like we were given enough to get to that point with them.
The romance was…. Rushed? Forced? A bit odd? Almost like the book was written without the romance but with the idea that it would eventually happen so then it was added in after the fact. With one romance we didn’t get nearly enough between the “I hate you, you must die” and the “our mouths crashed into each other with passion” parts. I can see how the romance could happen but it definitely didn’t get the explanation or time it needed to get there. And with the other romance, it seemed a little more natural at first but then we have unnecessary conflicts and childish tempers. Once it actually happens, the amount of love they have seems a bit much so soon.
There were like 4 or 5 twist / reveals in this book and I guessed most of them. They were extremely predictable, with knowledge the characters had no just us, to the point that it was frustrating and then felt like nothing when they finally figured it out. Because of that, the moments at the end that were supposed to be very suspenseful or jaw dropping, were just okay. There was a lot fit into the last 15ish % of this book so it felt rushed yet normal because I already guessed most of the stuff.

BUT I still really enjoyed this book. There were definitely chapters where I didn’t want to put it down. Everything I mentioned first was great and made this an over all great read. I think the next book (hopefully) will be more action packed and informative. I’m really excited to see where this series goes. It has the potential to be an incredible one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC. I LOVED FAEBOUND!!! It was so interesting and magical and fun. The worldbuilding and culture was so intriguing, the drum magic was so cool. Faebound is a story that follows two elven sisters who end up in the fae court. I loved both Yeeran and Lettle's perspectives, their sibling relationship was so enjoyable to read, I loved reading about both of them being annoyed with the other, it was just so cute. I also loved the creation myth story and the different folklore and tales. The enemies to lovers sapphic romance was beautiful, I loved the tension between Yeeran and Furi.

The gorgeous cover immediately caught my eye, and the description really sold me.

When Yeeran is exiled from her home, she, her sister, & a friend discover the city of the lost fae, & the answers to the Forever War that has raged between the elves.

This was fun, but definitely not what I was expecting. I was expecting a sweeping epic fantasy . And this just turned out to be a lot more romance focused than I particularly enjoy.

The characters were really interesting, and diverse. I loved the sibling relationship between Yeeran and Lettle. That difficulty of an older sibling only ever seeing the younger as they were and not as they are is something that I really understood. My biggest issue was how quickly both romances developed. We don't get nearly enough to see why Lettle falls in love with her partner, and Yeeran's romance feels flat. These are both personal issues, and something that might be addressed as this is only the beginning of a trilogy.

The world building was grand, and I loved the interesting magic systems between the three races. It rarely felt like an info dump as we learned more about the world, and when we were getting large amounts of inofrmation, it was because a character also needed to know it. The role prophecy played in both the world and the plot was interesting, and I wish it was explored more.

In the end, there's a lot of to like here, and while I did enjoy it, I know that there is an audience out there that will be way more into this than I was.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I really wanted to like this book. It started off well, I enjoyed the world building pace and the fact that it didn't overwhelm you with details and characters. The pace, however, skyrocketed and Lettle's search for her sister which in all honestly could have been a third of the book happened within a few chapters leaving it very anti climatic. From there everything was just very predictable, and the development of the characters was left wanting. The two main sisters, Lettle and Yeeran, were a disappointment and I found the supporting characters a lot more likeable. Lettle needed some softness, I love a good, strong, sassy, take not sh*t character but they can't be all thorns. Yeeran just need more, I found it very hard to connect and root for her. The dynamics of this world were still very intriguing and really has a lot of potential. There were nuggets of plot that drew me back in but then the ending was just cluttered like the author was just trying to shove them in there when a sprinkling throughout the book may have fared better. I think I may have enjoyed this more if I hadn't been excited about the potential of this book before reading, since I was, I just ended up being disappointed. Seeing the creativity of the author though I am interested reading some of her other books.

Overall rating: 4.25 stars

Read this book if you’re interested in strong FMCs, sisterly bonds, multiple POVs, mystical creatures, magical wars, and romance subplots with fun tropes (fated lovers and forced proximity, hello!).

I really enjoyed this book - the story journey was reminiscent of Priory of the Orange Tree for me, which makes sense since Samantha Shannon endorsed this book as well!

Faebound immerses readers into a world that was once inhabited by Elves, Faes, and Humans. At the start of the story, it is believed that only Elves remain, and the Elven Lands are divided into four quadrants, each with their own tribe: Waxing, Crescent, Eclipse, and Waning. The tribes are engaged in a Forever War, which is just as it sounds - a really long-lasting war.

The story follows Yeeran, the youngest colonel to ever be appointed in the Waning Army. Shortly after her promotion, Yeeran is delivered a reading from her younger sister, Lettle, who practices divination. The prophecy reads that Yeeran will seek glory in the East, so at first available opportunity, Yeeran guides her troops in that direction.

Unfortunately, following the prophecy at face value becomes a huge mistake, which leads to Yeeran being exiled. Lettle and Rayan (a dedicated friend and captain from the army) follow Yeeran into exile, where they all ultimately get captured by “once extinct” Fae, and chaos ensues.

Saara El-Arifi takes readers on a beautifully written journey with her descriptive writing style. I personally loved the personification of feelings, weather, etc. which greatly contributed to the magical world building.

There were some points that were a bit slower through the middle of the book, but I found this held my attention throughout.

This book was JUST released on 1/26/24 and will be the start of a new series. Can’t wait to read what comes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishing team at Random House for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

I had a good time reading this book. I love the MC Yeeran, who is a badass Elf that gets banished from her homeland and ends up with her sister and friend in the land of the Fae. The world building in this book is really good, with a really unique magic system that includes magic drums?! Yes please! The author does a great job describing the scenes in beautiful detail and makes it easy to believe this world is real. It kept my attention and was easy to keep reading. I loved the bipoc and lgbtqia representation of the book. I just wish it wasn't quite so predictable and I wish the characters had more depth. Overall I would recommend it to any lover of Fae, Elves, Fantasy etc.
Thank you @netgalley and @Delrey for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“And where there is value, there is power, and where there is power, violence will always brew.”

And where there is fae, elves and magical creatures, there is me. I cannot put into words how much I loved this book and how captivated I was. What made this book so digestible in my opinion, is that it was world building for myself AND the characters. Yeeran and Lettle were new to Fae lands, and their learning and understanding of it played into the reader’s ability to also develop an image of how this land and world worked. I didn’t feel lost or confused at all.
I liked how each sister had their own unique plot line as well. They intertwined perfectly and it didn’t feel like I was rereading the same information over and over.
I won’t lie, I was waiting for the drama and the big event, however it makes perfect sense after reading it as to why I had to wait so long. The ending too?? I need book two like tomorrow thank you.

5 Stars
I love love love it! Saara El-Arifi has spun a tale of all tales. There are elves and Fae, enemies to lovers, LGBTQ representation, bonded creatures called Obeah, an amazing world, and some really cool Magic. I mean what else could you want. I totally did not see any twists coming and can't wait until the next book is released.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing group for opportunity to read this book.

Faebound was an excellent start to a series and kept me interested the entire time. I was really intrigued by the world and the magic within it. There is some romance and that’s not often what I look for, but it was done well and also didn’t solely rely on it for the plot or the characters. There’s plenty other stuff going on here that it’s worth checking out even if you’re not big into romance.

Note: arc provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for honest reviews

DNF at 49%

The premise of this book was a good, but the execution was not. There were some parts of the world building that lacked logic for me which undermined the conflicts between the various groups. Since I couldn't get invested in the conflicts happening, it made it hard to care about the characters dealing with the conflicts and to root for them. Also, the actions and dialogue didn't feel like it matched the ages of the characters. In this case, they seemed younger than they actually were which was suppose to be late 20's to early 30's.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for this eARC.

My favorite fantasy authors are those who weave parallels between real and fiction—who use fantasy and magic as a way to reflect back the best (or the worst) of our own world—and, in doing so, give us the chance to examine the kind of world we're creating here on Earth.

And let me tell you: this book weaves threads between reality and fantasy like it's making a friggin’ tapestry. 🧶

Lemme illustrate just one: The elves are locked in a war. Underground, beneath the fighting, is a fuel source—one that could power everyone’s homes for decades to come. They call the fighting “the Forever War” saying: "...where there is value, there is power, and where there is power, violence will always be."

There was so much I adored about this book: the sibling love, the queernormativity, the strong, disabled MC, the (to me) gender-euphoric way humans were described [“From the seeds of the Earth, Asase created humans. Sprigs became bones and flowers sprouted smiles.”]...

If I *had* to critique anything, it would be that the romance parts weren't super convincing for me? But I also understand that (1) I'm ace and romance just doesn't hit for me the way it does for most people and (2) there are 2 whole more books in the works that I'm sure will develop those storylines further.

Even with that small critique that might just be a me-problem, though, I think the coolest thing about this book is that it's bigger than the sum of its parts.

Truly, it feels like the beginning of a love letter to what our real world could become: how we might all be able to find liberation/freedom together. I can’t wait to see how we get there in real life AND in later books in the series.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to add everything else Saara El-Arifi has ever written to my TBR.

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi was such a fantastic start to a new fantasy series and I cannot wait to see what comes next. I was hooked right from the start and every time I had to put this down, I was counting the seconds until I could return to it. It's a very well-written story with characters that feel very real. It was entertaining, romantic and left me in suspense. I cannot wait to continue to this series and see what El-Arifi has to offer in the future!

Faebound is a beautiful and electrifying ode to folk and faelore expanding on the once thought to be horrific and murderous fae. Saara El-Arifi creates a world that is stunningly magical, full of pain and love.

The contrast of war and softness is balanced beautifully within these pages. The first 25% of the book is a purposeful build to the deepness of the novel, entrancing the reader with the myths and stories to aid in the understanding of the severity of worlds uniting (especially for Yeeran and Pila, and in a completely different way for Yeeran and Furi).

I absolutely love the use and characterization of ‘obeah’ in Faebound. El-Afiri has brought a voice and soul to the magic-filled healing traditions of the Caribbean islands. The intimate, yet unique, use of an avatar-like familiar is heartwrenchingly beautiful.