Faebound was an entertaining read and one that I was glad to do. It is an easy read, everything is explained in a way that is easy to digest and is able to keep your attention for the duration of the book. I will say that this story is easily predictable and I would have liked to see more development within the romantic angles this story possesses. The reader is thrust into these relationships and did not show true growth which is something I love while reading. Overall, I am looking forward for the next book to come out.

I was hugely excited to begin my NetGalley ARC journey with Faebound by Saara El-Arifi. After a strictly holiday romance December, I was itching and ready to hop back into a romantasy. Faebound did not disappoint. Faebound has all of the hallmarks of what I love about romantasy -- incredible world building, magic, beautiful relationships, and some spice. It was a perfect Romantasy to start the year where my TBR is brimming with them! 

Faebound is the first book in a trilogy series that follows the intersection of a world where fae, elves, and humans are the children of three gods. When the series starts, we meet Yeeran and Lettle -- two elven sisters in the midst of a Forever War between Elven armies. When Yeeran is exiled from the Wanning Lands, the sisters stumble upon the truth and start to unravel a puzzle they thought were only true in Faerytales. 

Overall, this book was a 3.75 stars for me. I was struck by El-Arifi's beautiful world building, descriptions of magic, and queernormativity. But, the pace and action is less intense than other popular romatasies on the market right now, and in some ways -- that can make it feel like Book 1 is all a set up for what is to come. I struggled a bit with what felt like lack of intensity or build to an all out, action-packed finish but that by no means should be equated with a lack of action, intrigue, or heart! In a lot of ways the pace really gave enough space for world building, understanding the history of the tension that Yeeran and Lettle were living in, and enough space to unravel the puzzle of the prophecies. However, it also led me to be able to put the book down more than I want to. 

What really stuck out to me was Saara El-Arifi's queernormativity throughout the novel. While many of the characters engage in relationships outside of herteronormative partnerships, these queer love stories aren't called out as different. It was beautiful to read intense, complicated love between two female characters -- and for gender expression and partnership to exist without comment throughout the novel and in this world. 
Overall, I loved falling in love with this world and these characters. I'm excited for Faebound to be out in the world and to hear what others think about it. I definitely will be continuing on in this series. 

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group for this Advanced Reader Copy  via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and freely given.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.

I love fantasy and I am afraid I have a high standard now for this genre. I found this book to be very predictable and at times I felt like it was a story I have read before. Saara was able to create is super fun world with a lot of potential but the story fell flat at times.

let me start by saying 2023 was the year of romantasy for me, and coming off of some other fae/dragon/magic-adjacent books set the bar high. that being said, i loved the idea of this much more than the execution. let me hit the good before the not-so-good first, though.

this is a queer romantasy. the story is filled with gender fluid characters and societies, lgbtq+ relationships, and they/them pronouns used in a way that doesn’t feel cringey and forced (iykyk). there is also really great disability representation with one of the main characters, lettle, which i loved. also i enjoy the animal and fae/human/etc bonds in books, which this has aplenty.

BUT (and here comes the not-so-good), the story felt really clunky at times. certain parts of the magic and world building were fully fleshed out and detailed while others were still half-baked, which left me wanting more from the details that make romantasy books such fun reads. i also could not connect with a single character and thought they were all rather unlikeable. the twists were pretty predictable and my goooooodness the sex scenes were cringe. long story short, i found myself wanting to hurry through this one just to check it off my list.

for those that like more fantasy than romance, maybe this will be your cup of tea. i think i still prefer my romantasies to be a bit raunchier (lol).

thanks to @harpercollins and the author for the ARC in exchange for my review.

This is one of those times when judging a book by its cover pays off! Faebound is definitely going to be one of the most talked about Fantasy reads of 2024 and I’m excited for the well-deserved hype.

Following sisters Yeeran and Lettle, elves in a world ravaged by civil war, we embark on a journey in exile that brings the sisters to places they believed only existed in storybooks. Most notably, they encounter creatures of the past that they believed were extinct (fae and humans) and find a path to world peace along the way.

Now I’m not a fantasy girl, but I can say it was not hard to get drawn into this book. The world building is immaculate and the author provides plenty of twists and easter eggs to keep readers talking for days. The writing was so immersive and descriptive I often found myself dreaming about the worlds, characters, and stories after a late night reading session.

This book is definitely going to compete with the fantasy heavy hitters that have taken over our TikTok and Instagram feeds and I, for one, am excited to see a fantasy novel featuring a diverse cast of characters enter the scene.

Faebound was written so beautifully. It is such a magical story and unlike anything I have ever read. I was blown away with every character and I loved how everything unfolded. I can’t wait to continue their journey.

My rating:⭐️⭐️

Spice level: 1.5 🌶️

Read if you like:
▫️dual POV
▫️fae and elves
▫️magic
▫️sisterly devotion

Thanks to NetGalley, Del Rey, and Saara El-Arifi for this ARC.

I was really excited to read this book because it was really hyped and I’ve seen it everywhere. And…everything about it was disappointing.

It started off strong with engaging characters, good world building, and an action-driven plot. The idea of drum warfare using magic was a new idea that I was excited to explore. Divining using animal entrails and magic was an interesting concept. The best part of the book was the obeah.

However, the writing was stilted, clunky, and strange. It made the story a bit boring and difficult to engage with. The action and the characters felt too removed from the reader. There was no chemistry between the characters and they were all suddenly deeply in love without any buildup and it felt jarring. The romance was cringey at best. The love scenes felt forced and wholly unnecessary.

The plot twists and big reveals were laughably obvious. I mean, the evil warlord’s name is Akomido and he’s been missing for 10 years, and they meet a man who has been a prisoner for 10 years and his name is Komi and they don’t immediately figure out that they are the same person? Secondly, Golan is the only person who is mentioned using squid ink and harps on how it’s poisonous if ingested, and then the queens are poisoned by squid ink…obviously he had a part in it.

This book had a great idea, and was poorly executed. I had high hopes, but I won’t be continuing the series.

I have a feeling this has potential to gain Fourth Wing popularity. It's a very easy chill romantasy read, but the world building is actually really really good (a rarity in a lot of romance/fantasy novels). I do feel like the actual romance portions of it went from 0-100 REAL fast, and I'm not sure that it's actually love and not just lust. It gets pretty spicy so if you're not into that be aware. The majority of the plot happens in the last 15% of the books, and I feel like the pacing of that could be a little better.

Overall, it was a quick, fun read but I don't know that I'd recommend it for anyone not interested in getting into fantasy via the romance genre. The way that all the major plot points were contingent on the romantic interests/characters is what makes me say that.

I didn’t love the writing style here. Felt like the first couple chapters were really going for shock value rather than world building

I adore Saara El-Arifi's writing! This is another fantastic book and I'm so excited to see where it goes next. Loved the worldbuilding, in particular!

For this review, I should be clear that I only read this 50% of the way through before deciding to put it down. I can definitely see other people enjoying this book, but for me, the plot was too predictable and I didn’t believe or feel any connects between the characters. We follow two sisters - one a colonel who was exiled after disobeying an order, and one a diviner whose prediction had a part in her sister’s insubordination. Without going into spoilers, we soon learn that everything they thought they knew about the world was wrong and that fairytales are actually real. From the beginning I felt that I was one or two steps ahead of the plot and that when each new character was introduced, it was easy to see what their role would be. I would still recommend that lovers of fantasy give this book a try, but we were 50% of the way through and our protagonist was getting literal history lessons (my least favorite way to world build in a story!) so I decided this simply wasn’t my style. Perhaps one day I will try again but for the first book in a series, I wasn’t hooked. Thanks for the opportunity!

4.25 stars!!

This book has everything: a sister dynamic that is full of love AND resentment, bonds with magical creatures that can speak in your head, some really sick magic systems, honestly an incredible amount of diversity in the characters, not just one love story (including true true enemies to lovers), and so many prophecies you better hope you keep up!!

I knew that I was in on this book from the first page, with the first breakdown of the lore of the world Saara El-Arifi has created in the story of the wheat, the bat, and the water. And then I knew I was in again almost immediately after, when we learned that our elven main characters can control magic THROUGH DRUMS. I could tell you so many times I knew I was in on this book, but the >100 highlights/notes I left as I was reading could tell a story on its own about how invested I was in these characters, their journeys, and trying to make sense of what will be coming throughout this whole trilogy!!

In this book, we get POVs of two elven sisters, Colonel Yeeran and Diviner Lettle, who have to leave their lands and find themselves unexpectedly taken into the world of the supposedly died-off fae. Through political intrigue, prophecies, and a lot of fighting, the sisters uncover truths about the world they think they know and the world they are coming to know as they start making plans for their own futures. I cannot WAIT to see what comes next in this series, and with some foreshadowing I may have picked up on, I think I may have a few ideas!!!

Thank you so much to Saara El-Arifi, Random House, and NetGalley for a chance to read this in exchange for an honest review. Look out for Faebound when it comes out on January 23rd- this is going to be a great series, I can already tell!!

3.5
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House publishing for giving me an ARC of this to read. I really enjoyed the innovative world building, magic system and deeply complex characters in this story. This is a very unique fantasy world unlike many others I’ve experienced. Where this book faltered a bit was the pacing and propulsion of the plot. At times I felt like not much was happening and the characters weren’t really working towards anything. I will most likely read the next book and overall think it’s a solid read!

4.25⭐️

This book was a breath of fresh air! I was immediately captivated by the unique world and eager to discover more about it alongside Yeeran and Lettle. What especially stood out to me was the diversity in this book, something that the fantasy genre as a whole is lacking, yet Saara El-Arifi tackled with ease. I found the writing captivating and the world enchanting yet mysterious. I loved the characters in this book, especially some of the side characters, but I would have loved to see more growth in those relationships between them.

Overall, this was such a beautiful book and I will be pushing it on everyone I know because it’s THAT GOOD. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Del Rey for the digital arc! All opinions held in this review are my own.

Fae bound gives reads everything and more. Enemies to Lovers? Check. Sapphic and queer characters and storylines? Check. Romance? Check. And most importantly a theme that draw me in was Black characters put into a fantasy world. The only drawbacks of the story is pacing and wording. But, I am looking forward to the sequel.

First, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! Overall, I really enjoyed this story, but it was too predictable. The world building was done well and was not overwhelming while reading. The different lands were described beautifully and really drew you in. The different characters were well thought out and truly played off each other’s strengths (and weaknesses). I also really loved the multiple POVs and the diversity that was incorporated into the story. It did not feel like the author was throwing in diverse characters to check off a box. We need more BIPOC and sapphic fantasy!! However, it is hard to imagine that important military leaders were unable to interpret Lettle’s readings. If you can solve a riddle, you were able to catch almost every twist, which took a lot of fun out of reading. In addition, so many events unfolded in the last few chapters that some of the events felt like they lost their shock value. I really enjoyed this story, and it was very nice that it was completed in less than 400 pages. I would change the level of predictability but I am excited for the rest of the series! I am hoping for some more court politics in future releases.

I had very high anticipations for this book. I have had my eye on it for months and was very excited when I received the arc.

I did unfortunately have to DNF this one, I contemplated on continuing but I struggled too much.

The story felt flat to me, I didn't feel any connections to the characters or storyline. I've not read this author before but I do own a few of her books.

This one just didn't hit the mark for me.

I really believe there is something for everyone in this book. From the very beginning, I was intrigued by the characters and the magic system. The author built such an intricate and complex world, right down to the languages that the characters were speaking, but did so in a way that felt digestible and easy to follow. And the diversity!!! This is by far one of the most diverse fantasies I have read, and all of the representation was beautifully done.

The plot unfolded organically, the pacing was great, and I loved the little clues and reveals that the author dropped throughout that kept me turning the pages. I do feel this aspect may make this one predictable for some, but if you are like me and just go *along for the ride* when you read, I feel this will be a twisty, can't-put-down read for you! I was entertained throughout the entire book, and I also loved the strong animal/character relationships - I’m a sucker for prominent animal side characters.

All that said, I do feel something was missing for me in terms of the overall character development and emotion I felt while reading. I enjoyed the characters, but I never felt overly attached to them. I also felt that towards the end, some of the major plot points felt a little anticlimactic or glossed over. I needed a little more action, which also may have added to the overall lack of strong emotion I felt while reading. These reasons were ultimately why this is 4 star read versus a 5 star read for me.

This is absolutely still worth the read to me, and I cannot wait to see where the series goes with the next book!

Wow wow wow this book will definitely be in my top 10 reads of 2024 and we aren’t even one month in✨

LGBTQ+ Rep, disability Rep, POC main characters✨

The map is stunning✨

I was hooked from the prologue and was crying by chapter 1✨

Pila is my whole heart and I’m so glad they didn’t separate at the end of the book ✨

The double enemy’s to lovers in this was outstanding✨

First time reading about drum magic, such a unique magic system✨

Definitely should have been paying closer attention to the prophecy’s that little mentioned at the beginning 😂✨

ONE BED AT THE INN✨💖

Amazing spice and the tension made I so much better✨

This book had a really interesting world that the author has created. It is very different from other books about fae, but some of the magic system and powers did not seem as creative as the world they were in. I had a hard time getting into this book at times because the character development was lacking. They weren’t very likeable to me and even by the end, I found their decisions at times to be very immature. I do think that the second book has a good setup to continue the story, but I hope there is more character development to understand their motives better as their stories continue.

An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.