First, thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book to me.

I really enjoyed this book! The magic system was awesome, the politics of the world were engaging, and the mythology of the world felt fresh. It was really cool to see elves, fae, and humans in a non-European setting that broke from the mythos created by authors like Tolkien or Sarah J. Maas. The characters were extremely diverse and featured a wide range of gender and sexual identities, as well as differently-abled characters. The mysteries posed by the story were also very intriguing and satisfying to learn more about.

I will say that sometimes the plot twists felt obvious. Partially this was because of the divination element of the book. One of the twists I predicted about 40-50% of the way through the book, and it was frustrating waiting for the characters to connect the dots. This is ultimately a small gripe, however, and did not detract from my enjoyment of the story.

This book is wonderful, and I am excitedly awaiting the sequel! I guess I'll just have to read Saara El-Arifi's other books in the meantime. :)

The best part of this book to me was the lore and setting! When I say I ate it up, I ATE! Outside of the lore however, the story didn't grasp me in the way I expected. While this book was still enjoyable, I am unsure if I loved it because I loved the author or the story itself. Some parts felt bland and I craved more detail. I will say, this is unlike any other book I have read and that gives it just a little extra pizzazz from me. 3.5 stars rounded down to 3.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the opportunity to read and review early!

Do I need another fantasy series to follow? Probably not... but also I really enjoyed Book 1 of this one! It has a bit of everything you'd want: world building, adorable and likeable side characters (who sometimes steal the show), not one but TWO love stories, representative and intriguing characters, and a great foundation for subsequent books. There is also great sapphic representation and commentary on classism and racism in an interesting way I have yet to see in a book like this.

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Thank you so much, NetGalley, for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. I wanted to love this book so much! The premise was intriguing, the characters sounded exciting, and the overall themes were typically all things that I love. However, I kept finding myself disappointed. I wanted to get more world building because the ideas behind the magic system were awesome, but I feel like every time we were getting to something good, it would switch directions to develop characters more. I also found it to be a tad predictable. The prophecies were fairly straightforward and easy to guess, so I never really got a huge "plot twist" surprise. Now, that being said, if you love character centered books, this would be perfect for you! Character development and relationships seem to be the main focus. Yareen was strong and never let life keep her down for long! Lettle had me laughing and loving her with her sass, attitude, and absolute loyalty. I do wish each of their relationships had a more realistic feel. They seemed a bit rushed, and therefore, we missed some of the bonding that I love to see.

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi, who you may know from her novel "The Final Strife," is like diving headfirst into a fantasy whirlwind of gods, magic, and romance set in a queer normative world, with a dash of smut, familiars and mystical creatures, rounded up with the intricacy of relationships from family dynamics, to found family and political plotting.

"In the beginning, there were three gods." The story (and each of the three parts), begins with The Story of The Wheat, The Bat, and The Water - each associated to a god, with their own elements: the earth, the sun and the moon. These gods created children to their image: the elves, the humans and the faes, who all lived together 1,000 years ago.

Set in a world where now only the elves lives, the story revolves around two sisters, Yeeran, a Colonel in the army, and Lettle, a Diviner, as they navigate a world filled with war, exile, quests, and political intrigue.

What makes Faebound particularly appealing is its accessibility to both beginner fantasy readers and those seeking depth and complexity in world-building. The lore and culture embedded within the three races—humans, elves, and faes—are meticulously crafted, offering a fascinating exploration for enthusiasts of these topics. The magic system, unique and threefold, further enriches the narrative, with each race possessing its own distinct forms of power.

The novel embraces various tropes, including Enemies to Lovers and Fated Mates, and features both straight and sapphic main romances. And while the inclusion of smut is light, the author doesn't shy away from a couple of very fun scenes, especially within the fae, who just love love ;)

However, Faebound is not without its flaws. I found that the prophecies were a bit underwhelming and easily solved, leading to predictability within the plot. The ending, while gripping, felt a bit rushed, with what I would call a "resolution dump". The pacing raises my curiosity about the trajectory of the subsequent books in the series.

Despite these issues, my personal enjoyment of the book remained unwavering - I couldn't put it down! The story and characters were compelling me to eagerly anticipate the unfolding events, wanting to read Saara's creative navigation of the narrative.

Thank you Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC! And thank you Saara for such a great first Romantasy read of the year!

I was very excited to read a book by this author. I would give the book 3.8 out of 5 stars. There were parts that were very slow and seemed almost irrelevant to me. I absolutely loved the disparity that was displayed between humans, fae, and elf. I always think it's neat to see social hierarchy even amongst fantasy worlds. However, I wish there was more to it. The storyline kept me craving more information. Additionally, I felt the world building was lacking initially. The reader is kind of thrown into the story in a time where something very significant happens to Yeeran. It was unjust and I wish there was more of a description of the details of what happened as well as more details about the characters initially. I wanted to know more about Rayan and Lettle and I don't like that I had to wait so long to learn more about them. Lettle made the storyline so great and I felt like her character was very relatable.
The story does pickup significantly about 25% into the book. I couldn't put it down at that point. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends and followers.

Thank you to NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for honest feedback!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for a digital ARC in exchange for honest feedback!

I was so excited to get approved for an ARC for this book because it has been so long since I felt the urge to dive into what was definitely going to be a deep and magical world with a lot to learn. Saara's writing style is exactly what I needed - the world felt alive and interesting while not too obtuse or complicated to follow, and the characters took turns keeping me engaged without feeling like threads were being cut off for the sake of switching POVs. The lore of the world felt intriguing while simple enough to start putting together pieces of the puzzle. I was pleasantly surprised a couple times by things I thought I had figured out, only to find that I was slightly off the mark - it was a nice balance between feeling validated that I was understanding the logic of the world and magic system, while still being kept on my toes!

A smaller aspect that I loved was the fluidity of gender and sexuality that's explored in the book, and the short and sweet explanations of those cultural notes. You're left feeling like they do not need to be justified, they just are, and it works so well.

The longer I sit with my feelings about Yeeran the more I believe it's just eldest sister on eldest sister violence, but I started to dislike her towards the end of the book. I do feel that it's due to good writing - I disagree with her choices and priorities, but that's my personal dynamic with Yeeran at play rather than a fault of Saara's writing. Lettle, Rayan, and Golan all have my heart. Something I appreciated so much about Faebound was that Lettle was not used to further Yeeran's development - they are sisters, but they have separate lives. It felt realistic and relatable that they come together in moments of hardship or fear, and would do anything to save each other, but can function independently with separate goals in life.

Overall I loved Faebound. It wasn't a book that I was inhaling and desperate to finish ASAP, but it was my favorite end-of-day escapism book for a while, and I can't wait to see where the story goes!

(I posted one tiktok about receiving this ARC, I will also be adding it to a roundup at the end of the month with my rating and a much shorter breakdown of the above. I have linked the account in the link section.)

Sounded interesting but contained things I was uncomfortable reading about. Sad, because I was excited about Fey and Elves.,

Faebound stuns with worldbuilding! The worldbuilding is descriptive and perfect for a fantasy. It leans a little more YA for me. I also love the LGBTQ representation in this! I love seeing this in books, especially romantasy books with strong female leads.
I will say, this was a little hard to get into and left a few things to be desired. I wanted to know more about the magic system and exactly how it worked. The pacing was a little weird for me, I enjoy a steady paced book instead of sporadic action-packed portions.
This is a great read for those who are into fantasy and looking for a great fantasy read!

I genuinely enjoyed ever single page in Faebound. I was entranced from beginning to end! I loved the politics and magic of it all, how beautifully every scene was described. I could picture the entire world and felt as though I were watching it on a screen!
There were times the dialogue felt a bit strained, but it made the tension in those conversations even more real. Such a phenomenal read and I am looking forward to more in the future!

I was really looking forward to this book since I heard so many good reviews. Unfortunately while i liked the book it wouldn't be something I would highly suggest. At times there would a lack of story building which made it harder to fall into the storyline.
Thank You NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

Sadly this book was a DNF for me. I don’t read LGBTQ books. Thank you for allowing me to have an arc copy. Wishing you all the best on your book!

ARC Review: Publish Date 1/24/2024
Thank you Net Galley for letting me read more books!

This is a highly anticipated upcoming release that has some serious buzz so I was very excited to receive the ARC.

3.5 stars

What I liked:
The animal companions, the Sapphic spicy romance, the queer representation!, the magic system, the premise, the Afro-Indian inspired world and lore, the rivals to lovers romance, the war and political drama.

What I didn't like:
The magic system was never fully explained and left me with questions on how everything worked. The magic of divination / prophesy is one of the main magical components, but all the prophesies were fairly straightforward and easy to "solve", but our mains didn't figure out any of them until they happened so it was frustrating to read, knowing what was coming, and waiting for them to to catch up. I felt like I was screaming at the characters to get it! I didn't feel super connected to the characters unfortunately, especially Lettle, there just wasn't a lot of depth to them. Lettle's romance felt forced and weird, with insta-love, but not a lot of chemistry and hardly any real interaction. There wasn't a ton of depth to the characters and the story felt romance first, plot second. Also the pacing was very slow for most of the story and the writing sometimes was repetitive. And the war / political drama that I thought I was going to be heavily involved in based on the first several chapters, very quickly drops away and takes a back burner.

Overall, this was a pretty good romantasy. I think maybe my expectations were very high, and that made me feel more let down than I typically would. The setup and ending of book one, makes me want to continue into book two because it ends on a "what's going to happen next", and I like the world and characters enough to stay with them. I would recommend this to romantasy readers, especially for the representation and rich world. Definitely has the potential to grow into an amazing series.

All I can say is wow!! Faebound did not disappoint and definitely will rival others for best fantasy of 2024! Yeeran banished from her tribe, travels to the east, along with her sister Lettle, to find a way to end her exile. However, they instead discover something or someone’s thought to no longer exist. This is a the story of two sisters and their journey to navigate the fates and a world thought to be that of folklore.

To say I enjoyed this book would be an understatement because I loved this book so much! I could not stop gasping every time I finished a chapter. There were twists and turns throughout this book and I throughly enjoyed the ride! The prologue was pure perfection and I fell into the story immediately, learning about the different gods and their parts in the creation of the humans, the fae, and the elves. Our cast of characters were so dynamic and diverse! I loved the queer normative representation. The enemies to lovers was everything I love about the trope without being redundant or exhausting.

The writing made it easy to digest the story without losing the power to enchant and capture its reader. The world building was intricate and done so beautifully, you could really picture every scene written by our author. I also really enjoyed the magic system, it wasn’t overcomplicated and completely different from anything that I’ve read before! All in all this was a 4/5⭐️ and I highly recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the early arc!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Faebound by Saara El-Arifi stands out among fantasy romance genre. It combines so many classic elements of fantasy, like prophecy and secret societies, in new and interesting ways. This book has a diverse cast, including queer relationships as well as gender identities and expressions. If you like complex relationships with a large side of betrayal, then this is your book!
I thought I was so slick figuring out one of the prophecies then proceeded to have my mind blown the rest of the book. My main critiques are that pacing felt off at times and for some of the relationships it felt like I was being told rather than shown how they were coming together. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to what’s coming next in this series.

My goodness! This was fantastic. A battle between the worlds of far and elves bound by the fates. Yeeran and Lettle are absolutely fabulous characters. I don’t wanna give away anything but I hope many of you read this tale of love, fate, war and those who are held prisoner to the weight of it! Saara El- Arifi is now an automatic buy author for me.

I give it a solid 3 stars, which to me means I had fun, but it’s not a book that I’ll be raving about for the foreseeable future. I absolutely LOVED the world building and the unique magic system, as well as the complicated relationships between Yeeran and Lettle. Where the story fell flat for me was how rushed some of the storylines were, particularly the romance plots. They seemed to come out of nowhere and had no basis, and I wish I was walked through those feelings a little bit more.

I got about halfway through this novel and came to the conclusion it probably wasn’t for me. I’m trying to set books aside if they aren’t catching my interest at the half way point! The further I read, the more I lost interest.

While this amazing book had great representation and the world of fae and elves was so creative, the dialogue and romance was lack luster for me. I had no emotional response to the charters or plot at all! Which normally is not the case. I can attach any emotion to any inanimate object, ask my husband.

I did feel like instead of the writing connecting me to the characters that represented minorities or those with disabilities, it felt more like a checklist the author was going through. I didn’t feel any passion or connection to said characters & their reps. The writing was a little choppy and the dialogue didn’t do anything for me. Such a shame, I was so so excited for this!

I will not be sharing my thoughts on social media, but will post this review to goodreads about two weeks after its Pub date as to give other readers a chance to form their own opinions! Thank you so much for the advanced copy!!

I was completely hooked and enamored with Faebound by Saara El-Arifi pretty much from the very beginning. I found both the world-building and the magic system to be so creative that I could not put it down.

Normally when I'm reading a new fantasy, I struggle with the first hundred or so pages as I learn the new world and characters. I didn't have that problem with Faebound at all. In fact, I read that first hundred pages in one sitting!

This is a really well-paced, exciting, and wonderfully diverse fantasy. The characters are complicated and likeable and every relationship had me hooked. The loyalty of the two sisters is beautiful and I love both of their romantic relationships too.

Faebound a fantastic setup for a new series and I can not wait for book two! This is an early contender for my Best of 2024 list!

Faebound is a set up for an epic series, though I'm not 100% sure if this will have a sequel. I sure hope it does! This book was fantastic and a bit of spice included.