Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for allowing me early access to an unfinished digital copy of Faebound! This review is entirely my own thoughts and opinions based on an unfinished digital ARC.
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Faebound is a fantasy tale about two sisters and their world. I say "and their world" because this tale is not just about Yeeran and Lettle, it is also about their world and its hidden truths, the truths that hide in their myths and long lost legends. It's a great read, easy to get sucked into and easy to follow. A great read for both fantasy veterans and new readers alike.

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OVERALL: 4.5🌟
STORY: 4🌟
WRITING: 4🌟
CHARACTERS: 5🌟
ENJOYMENT: 10/10🌟

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STORY:
Overall, this is a fantastic story. I greatly love when authors play on the idea that there's seeds of truth within mythology, and Faebound plays into that. We think we know everything there is to know about the world of Faebound, at least through Lettle and Yeeran's eyes, but as the story progresses, we discover alongside the sisters that myths may be closer to truths than they realize. It's fantastically plotted.

While I do wish the prophecies were a little less easy to figure out, I did still enjoy how important they are to the plot of the story and how entrenched in all the character's lives they are. They are also beautifully written, especially the one about the Fae's curse.
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WRITING:
This is my first time reading Saara El-Arifi's writing and I have to say, I'm a fan. Especially in regards to ensuring this tale is one full of diversity and representation. And the way its approached is nothing short of perfection. Everything, from gender identity to sexual orientation to the color of one's skin, is completely normalized within this book. There's no room given to question. This is how it is and that's that. I love it.

The author uses a gorgeous descriptive prose that keeps the world vibrant and alive in the reader's mind. It flows incredibly well and matches the tone and overall atmosphere of the story well. They're incredibly talented and I look forward to reading more of Saara El-Arifi's works.
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CHARACTERS:
If there's anything that stands out the most to me about this book, it's the characters. They are excellently written and portrayed. Not a hair was out of character and their interactions were joys to witness. Every fight, every banter, every flirt. Loved them all.

Yeeran - All Yeeran knows is battle and war. and boy does she make that her entire personality. Even when the truth is spitting her in the face, she bitterly struggles to hold on to the one constant in her life—The Forever War. I definitely felt a love-hate relationship with her over this, but I feel that was the author's point. Yeeran developed a bit over the course of this story, but I think her full arc is going to hit hard in the next upcoming books.

Lettle - Lettle feels more like a dreamer, compared to her sister. She's a student of divination and she clings tight to that as its something she's FINALLY good at, something I can completely relate to. Without her ability to divine, she's like a ship lost at sea as she struggles with learning to allow her prophecies to come to fruition instead of constantly fighting them. Compared to her sister, Lettle definitely had a larger growth arc which led me to feeling more connected with her. Sure her argumentative nature irked me sometimes, but she's got a solid head on her shoulders and despite being a dreamer, she's very much more in tuned with reality than her sister is.

Side characters - There really wasn't a supporting character that I didn't love. Pilla (Yeeran's animal companion) is a friggen hoot. The love interests were fantastically written and complimented their respective sister incredibly well. There really wasn't any character I didn't like.
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ENJOYMENT:
I LOVE a good fantasy romance, but sometimes they start to feel really redundant. THIS ONE HOWEVER. *chef's kiss* breath of fresh air. Its a fantastic take on the romantic fantasy and I struggled to put it down. I highly highly recommend this book! (I've already texted my sister that she needs to pick this book up)

Faebound is beautifully written. The world building was fantastic, and each of the characters was complex. The relationships between the characters were well developed, and truly sucked me into the story. Yeeran and Lettle were so different, but I could feel how much they loved one another. The foreshadowing was done perfectly so you could see several different options for what might happen without it giving the whole plot away. I will be checking out Sara’s other books because if they are anything like Faebound I know I will love them!

To be a book about Fae, it is completely different than any I have read. Such a unique story. I was drawn in immediately.
The characters are unique. Many different minorities are represented, which is such a wonderful thing. The story at times was predictable, but interesting nonetheless. There were a few twists I did not see coming. This was a quick read, and I couldn't put it down. Very beautifully written. My only disappointment is that it ends without being resolved. I am guessing this means there will be another. While I would love to read more from this world, I enjoy the completion of a storyline more. Oh well, I'll be patiently waiting for more!
I had a really hard time deciding between 4 and 5 stars. We can call it 4.5

A romantasy with pov of 2 sisters, sapphic, diverse bodies, diverse genders and enemies to lovers?!
I ate this book up, I loved that the sister relationship was one that I would actually believe sisters have. They go through fights, wars, exile, uncertainty together and as a sister myself can very much identify with that.
And the romance plots were so fun, it didn’t overtake the general story which I appreciate. I love me some enemies to lovers and had never read a sapphic one.
Overall, I really liked this book and will definitely read any upcoming books in the series!

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for the ARC. 🫶🏼

The story in Faebound follows two elven sisters, Yeeran, a colonel of the Waning tribe, and Lettle, a diviner. As described in the summary, a fatal mistake causes Yeeran to be exiled from the elven lands and determined to stick with the only family she has left, Lettle follows. From there they stumble into the dangerous hands of the fae and the story’s complicated branches begin to grow.

The story covers so much ground in fantasy with prophecies, and magic systems and war politics and fae politics, ancient lore and of course, some romance. I really enjoyed the relationships in this book, even when I didn’t. I mean that I felt with the characters their emotions, Lettle’s jealousy, Yeeran’s longing for a lover that cast her out while fighting growing feelings for another, all while caring and worrying about their people they left behind and the new people that surround them…and the complicated bond of sisters who love each other fiercely but can but heads with all their differences. I also really liked the Obeah, because who wouldn’t want to be connected to a magical beast? Where can I get one of my own?

Over the course of the book I connected with Lettle and Yeeran though I struggled at first to connect with Yeeran in the beginning. The dutiful warrior is not a character type I relate to very well and I found myself much more comfortable with the grumpy and untrusting Lettle. I often found myself frustrated with Yeeran’s longing for Salawa. Every time I heard that name I wanted to smack her! But Yeeran really grew on me once her eyes began to open up to the truths around her.

I am looking forward to the next book after everything that happened in this one. I want to learn more about their world and this magic and how all the discoveries from this book are going to play out into the next. How long will I have to wait?

Beginning of this book was 4 stars, end 3 stars, so I rounded up. I really enjoyed the beginning - interesting worldbuilding and characters. I flew through the beginning. But halfway I felt like we lost some of the characters depth, especially when we went moved more towards the romantic plots. Yeeran starts as such a strong character, but by the end she just seems to revolve around her love interests. I liked Lettle's story more. Quite twisty through and enjoyed the quick moving plot. Overall I am interested in more from this author, but probably wouldn't continue the series.

Also from a medical background, the whole 'collapsed lung' scene really bugged me. (petty)

I know it’s early but I already cannot wait for the next one! Faebound was beautifully written and well thought out. The representation the book showcased was wonderfully done. The characters were fully fleshed out. Finally a fantasy where the main characters are not 17-19 years old! The world building took my breath away, Mosima sounds beautiful. I loved Pila!!! This needs to go to the top of everyone’s list, Faebound is truly a must read!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

Faebound follows two exiled elf sisters who find themselves hesitantly welcomed into the fae court, where secrets and conflict rage.

This was a really fun fantasy read! It was twisty, it was intriguing. The world was just the right amount of complicated. I particularly enjoyed the time we spent with each of the lead characters, getting to know them individually. I wasn't wholly convinced that these characters were in their thirties -- so much of the general vibe of this read felt more New Adult than staunchly adult. Even so, I found myself enjoying the ride, waiting with bated breath to find out how things would turn out in the end. I definitely am excited for the rest of the trilogy!

Another thing I loved about this book is the way that El-Arifi deals with gender and sexuality, which is to say that these characters are not treated as odd, as outcasts, or othered at all on the basis of their gender or sexuality. Instead, in this world, they just are, and it was beautiful and fun to read about them and to watch them tackle other obstacles. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how certain romances develop throughout the remainder of the trilogy as well, since this book saw so much early beginnings and not very much in terms of rich, developed, long-term relationships.

In all, this was a really solid fantasy read, and I look forward to more.

Faebound! What a gorgeous title and a very high fantasy book, i did like it i wasnt obsessed with the book, it did feel like an info dump at times but that could be something you really like, 2 povs with 2 different adventures this may be the it book for you!

2.8 stars

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. This book had so many things going for it, the magic system, the diverse cast of characters, the religion... but it fell very flat for me in terms of the actual story. Not only did I find the story unexciting, it was extremely predictable. There was only one thing in the entire book that I was even slightly surprised about, and even that didn't pique my interest. Needless to say, I think the foreshadowing could have been more subtle, so as to not make whats about to happen so blatant.

Wow. This book was something else. I read the first couple of pages and almost quit but I pushed through and I can happily say that I am glad that I did.
Everything about this book was so well done! Even though I was able to figure out most of the plot twists, they still managed to surprise me with how they came to light.
Each and every character was special in their own way and I was deeply invested in all of them. I absolutely cannot wait for the next book. Very well done.

Thank you so much, NetGalley, Saara El-Arifi, and Del Ray for accepting my request for an ARC.

This book is everything!! So rich in world building and character description and growth. I was absolutely enthralled reading this and I can officially say I am obsessed. The pace is perfection and although there isn’t a lot of spice it is fantastic spice. F/F, M/F, the different species of mythical creatures and the variety of status’ were amazing. Don’t even get me started on the twists and turns. I can’t wait for the next book. I’ll be reading this one over and over again until the next is released. This author is new to me but I’m so glad I found her and now I need to read her other works. Definitely a must read!! You won’t regret it.

When Yeeran, an elven warrior, is exiled, her sister Lettle follows her as they navigate an unfamiliar world together. I enjoyed reading about their sisterhood. The worldbuilding in this novel is amazing! You really connect with the character's settings and their motives, which is really important to me. Also, the author incorporated diversity into the story very well. We see such a diverse cast of characters, including racial, disability, and LGBTQ+ representation. I do think the romantic relationships could have been expanded a bit, but I do like the slow burn aspect. Overall, this is a very immersive story and I'm excited to read the rest of the trilogy!

Oh how I loved this book! I was already a HUGE fan of Saara from the Ending Fire trilogy. This new trilogy is going to be a favorite of mine I can already tell. I wasn't able to put it down. The characters are likeable, relatable and they have common sense! My library has already put in an order of this book for our new books! Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/Del Ray for the ARC.

I absolutely loved this book! First of all, the diversity both in race and sexuality was amazing! Not only was this a black romantasy, but a sapphic one as well! The magic system and the history of this world were enchanting. I loved the relationships between the characters! Prophesy, enemies to lovers, poison, and more are in this fabulous world!

A spellbinding tale of human, fae, and elves, of sisterhood, of lovers, and the fates that connect them all. I especially enjoyed the world building and learning about the culture of the fae presented in this book, and I can’t wait to learn more as the series progresses. Pretty solid queer representation, featuring a nice enemies-to-lovers, sapphic romance, we love to see it.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC!

It’s always been incredibly hard for me to get into books told from a 3rd person point of view. I struggled a bit in the beginning to get into this story but by the end I was hooked! The ending will live rent free in my head until the next book comes out!!!

3.7/5 I loved the magic system and how elf, fae, and humans were all gifted a different kind of magic. The descriptions of magesight and learning to use magic was beautifully written. The settings and world building was also intriguing especially the underground land of the fae.

When it comes to the characters I would have loved to have further character building both within the individuals and between the romantic connections. I loved Yeeran and Furi as romantic interests. I am a sucker for enemies to lovers, especially when it came to a sapphic princess and colonel fighting each other with their magic! I would have loved even further build up of their relationship though! I think the novel could have been lengthened to allow further development of characters, as well as drawn out the slow burn of Yerran and Furi.

There were many twists throughout the novel taking the book down roads I didn’t expect.

Overall this was an novel with beautiful magic systems, normalized queerness, disability rep, a f/f romance and a f/m romance, and beautiful settings.

Definitely will be reading the next book !!

Thank you to Penguin Random House and the author for an arc on NetGalley ♥️

MORE. I NEED MORE.
This book was too short. The characters are so beautifully written I could have easily consumed another 300 pages of their story.
I was captivated by the opening fable and was honestly upset anytime my life interrupted my finishing of this book. The lore surrounding these characters is intriguing and I hope we learn more about the gods in the next book!
I wish there would have been a little more tension built between our main love interests. The quick transition from enemies to lovers made the ending feel slightly rushed in my opinion.
However, the plot twists were impeccably placed.
4.75/5 stars

I had such high hopes for this book, I really did. But it just fell so flat; it was so disappointing. Since the description doesn’t mention it, I will: this book contains a lot of LGBTQIA relationships/people in it. If I had known that I never would have requested this book. There was a lot I had to skip over and that’s not how I want to spend my time reading a book. So if you’re not into that like me, go ahead and skip this book. The plot had a lot of potential but the author just gave too much away; I predicted everything that was going to happen long before each plot point/twist occurred. The book also feels geared towards young adult rather than adult; the characters and the writing seem much more suited for a younger audience. I wanted to like this so much, but I just did not.
This review was published to Goodreads on 1/23/24.