3.5/5 stars
-----------

Helplessly entwined in the world of Fae, two elf sisters face danger their quest to return home in this thrilling novel by Saara El-Arifi.

Phew. What a ride. I enjoyed this book quite a bit, though it fell short of my hopes.

The concept of this book is really good. Three Gods, three types of children they create. Power struggles, politic strife, family dynamics. But the execution of this concept left something lacking for me.

The writing of this one was clunky to me, the pacing really slow and drawn out. This book throws out a lot of information all at once, leaving the world building to be overwhelming quickly. As you read, it smooths out and clicks together, but it info dumps a little in my opinion. The redeeming factor was the short inserts about the Gods to fill in the gaps left over. There are still gaps in the plot of the book that get filled in, but in such a casual way that it’s disappointing when you find them out. As for the plot, the twists felt predictable and boring.

The characters of this book feel a little flat. As narrators, Yearn and Lettle shared a voice to me. It was hard to distinguish their voices as the narration shifted between them. Their relationship felt childish for their supposed ages. I wanted more from them and the side characters. Overall, the characters lacked fleshing out that I hope is resolved in book two. For a romantasy, the relationships felt very instalove and shallow. It felt more romance set in a fantasy world. Rayan and Lettle fall together quickly and unconvincingly. Yeeran and Furi also share an unconvincingly quick relationship for the strife they experience in the beginning. The representation of POC and queer characters was stunning, but in general, I wanted more from the characters.

This book had so much potential for me, but it fell flat. I would still read book two in curiosity of how the plot lays out into a trilogy, but I’m not in a rush to finish the series.

"Forever the war will rage, until united, the three shall die. Humans made low, then fae made lower, Then elves in ignorance, gone is their power, Cursed to endure, cursed to survive. All shall perish lest all three thrive."

➳ 4.5✶

TW: animal death, blood, child abuse, classism, death, death of a loved one, dementia, emotional abuse, grief, injury/injury detail, medical content, mental illness, murder, physical abuse, sexual content, torture, toxic relationship, violence, war, xenophobia.

Both a delight and a triumph, Faebound is proof that Saara El-Arifi is a master of the fantasy genre.

From the easy-to-grasp worldbuilding and magic systems, to the complex sibling relationship and the flawless distinction of every character, this book was just as amazing as I had hoped for it to be. If you're someone that's easily intimidated by adult fantasy, afraid it is too dense or difficult to comprehend, this is a fantastic place to start. Not only was it fast-paced, but it was also impossible to put-down.

Even the basic elements of the story are brought to life in a vivid, reimagined way that gives the book the unique feeling of being at once familiar and incredibly unique.

My only complaint is actually about the romance(s) and the fact that I had a really hard time connecting with either of them, which is a bit rough when the story is meant to be fantasy-romance. I can't exactly expand on the individual reasons why due to risking spoilers, but I will say that they both felt oddly rushed and inauthentic to me.
I mention it only because I want to say that even though I didn't connect with the romantic elements, this was still a fantastic story and a perfect beginning to a new series.

I'm incredibly grateful that I was approved for an ARC and forever willing to read anything and everything Saara El-Arifi writes from now until the end of time. I really do recommend this to anyone looking for an inclusive, easy-to-read yet still incredibly well-constructed fantasy.

Even just for the animal companion element alone. That should be convincing enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for this ARC e-copy of Faebound by Saara El-Arifi.

This was my most anticipated read of 2024, so to have been approved for this ARC was extremely exciting!

Yeeran and Lettle, two elven sisters, along with war captain Rayan, are drawn by desperate circumstances into the world of the Fae, who they thought all but extinct. Within the faery court, the sisters, who are as different as night and day, become ensared in all of its magical intrigue…

Perfect for fans of Samantha Shannon’s Roots of Chaos series, as well as A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, Faebound is a “faerytale” full of magic, twists and turns, betrayal, and passion. I was instantly pulled into this new, carefully crafted world from the fable on the first page and all the way through to the end.

To say that I enjoyed Faebound—that I was hooked—would be an understatement.

Long story short, it’s so good. I’m addicted. I need to know what happens next.


☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ - EXCELLENT

CW: death, mild gore

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group -Ballantine for giving me early access to this book! All opinions are my own.

I absolutely love that adult romantasy is becoming more and more of a thing; I am most definitely here for it! However, I think this would more classify as New Adult? While it did have some explicit scenes, the writing style was more in line with a New Adult book than an Adult book. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! I think New Adult is another trend that is phenomenal, but I just wish this book was being marketed as that instead of as an Adult book. The prophecies are easy to decipher, and most of the story was fairly easy to guess. But, it was still such a fun and unique read, that I would definitely recommend it! Just go into it thinking it’s a New Adult Romantasy, and I think the experience will be better.

TLDR: if you’re into New Adult Romantasy, with enemy to lovers, fae, magic, and diversity, then this book is for you!

2.5 Stars rounded down to 2

This book is one word: disappointing. The premise of it is exactly a book I should like, but from the robotic prose to the poorly established worldbuilding, this story wasn’t executed to my liking.

Yeeran and Lettle are our two POV characters, adopted Elven sisters growing up in a war torn society. Yeeran has just been promoted up to colonel within her tribe's military. Lettle is a diviner – a dying art for a dying religion. When Lettle comes to her sister to let her know of a fortune she read, – “your glory lies in the east” – Yeeran makes a serious military mistake by defying her original orders and heading east on a patrol. This leads to her group being ambushed and three hundred of her soldiers dying. She is disgraced and banished from their tribe, forcing her out into the wilderness as no other societies exist outside of the warring Elf tribes. Or so they think – when they come across the Fae, a species thought long dead, everything they’ve ever known about the world is turned on its head.

This seems like an interesting premise, but the prose is so incredibly dry. I love flowery prose, this is true, but I don’t need it in a book. I am totally okay with books that are far more to the point. Faebound is so to the point it's robotic. XYZ character does this. XYZ character says this. Rinse and repeat. It’s not the worst thing you can do in a book, but it definitely drives me crazy. This style of writing is just not for me.

When it comes to worldbuilding, it’s a bit nonsensical. I think the culture with Elves is extremely fresh and unique (especially seeing as most Elven things are European based), but it just isn’t strong with what we are given. Elves only live for 120 years – this length of time isn’t that much longer than a human’s in the grand scheme of things. I could see a more ancient people fighting a continuous thousand year long war for resources, but not a society where people don’t live much longer than us. Sure, humans have fought long wars, but there's a difference; these wars are off and on conflicts that escalate and de-escalate over time. The Waning Moon Tribe is said to be extremely impoverished, and are struggling to the point that they are recruiting child soldiers. How on earth are they still participating in a war at this point? How do they justify the amount of resources they’ve sunk over a thousand years compared to….magical crystals that will only warm homes for a year? At the beginning fighting over these mines would make sense, but a thousand years of lost resources vs a single year of a warm home for every citizen seems like a pretty steep difference.

This is all before we get into the battles seemingly being contained to one area. Or even before we touch upon the magical creatures called obeah. Obeah are established as the only existing magical creature in this world who have been hunted to near extinction. Well, get ready for obeah to pop up left and right in some form from chapter one onwards! Yeeran’s lover gives her a magical drum made from obeah skin in chapter one; in chapter two it’s revealed that diviners have to use obeah entrails to divine and Yeeran’s colonel coat is lined with obeah fur. Lettle randomly shoots an arrow into some bushes in the forest while hunting for game and kills an obeah cub. You would think this creature is plentiful in this world with how many times it shows up in one form or another, and how seemingly easy they are to find. Doing this undermines a major plot within this story.

Honestly, the worldbuilding is poor from the beginning seeing as the entire prologue is the origin story of the gods and the species they created (Elves, Fae, and humans). Something like this opening up the book is almost always totally unnecessary as the author should naturally interweave this history into the story itself (probably through Lettle and her character arc). Maybe El-Arifi had a reason for doing this, but this is something of a writing sin to me – much like a character looking at themself in the mirror and describing their features. Which, yes, this does happen too.

I really feel like the setup of this story and world could have been so amazing, but as it stands this book was incredibly boring, a bit cliche, and unbelievable at points.

When I saw I got an advanced copy of this I about jumped around my classroom(teacher). It is worth all the hype and I am not even that far in yet. Not only will I finish reading this but I am ordering my own copy!!! The cover is beautiful! The concept I love! I would not be surprised if this book doesn't make all the fantasy lists of the year!

Faebound was a beautiful fantasy set in a war-torn world ravaged by a battle that never ends.

This is not a romantasy- this is a fantasy with a bit of romance. The relationships are very important in this book, but the plot is strong enough that it is supported well throughout the book. The spice in this book was brief but fully unnecessary. It didn't do anything for the plot and while I love spice, it just felt out of place. I do wish authors would stop including steamy scenes just to do it, and would either make them move the book forward or take them out.

With that being said, this book starts out with some world-building like all fantasy books- I would say the first 10-15% is very slow, and it really picks up around 30%. Some twists and turns, a couple of mysteries that a focused reader will be able to figure out- overall, very enjoyable.

I would recommend this book, but go into it knowing that it isn't a romance, there is a lot of war-talk (especially in the beginning), and it is a bit slow in the beginning.

✨ARC REVIEW✨
Soooo happy to receive this advance copy!! I have been looking forward to this so much!

DIVIDED BY BLOOD.
IMPRISONED BY FATE.
BOUND BY DESIRE.

This is a gorgeously complex fantasy- there is lore, politics and magic systems that bring immense depth to this story (without being confusing or overwhelming- not an easy task). With evident inspiration from many cultures and a diverse cast of characters, Faebound enraptures readers from the very start. The romance is so angsty and slow burning you can’t put it down! Speaking of- there is fabulous pacing and elegant flow; not once was I bored.
This is An Ember in the Ashes meets Avatar meets LOTR I really enjoyed this!

The hype is real. When I say this was a top 5 anticipated read of 2024 for me, I am not exaggerating. I spent months pining over this book and then FINALLY got approved for the arc. Thank you @randomhouse and @delreybooks and @netgalley for the arc for my honest review! This did not disappoint. I absolutely loved the story and felt like it was very original and the magic system was so different than I have encountered before. If you're like me and you're looking to read more BIPOC and SAPHIC reads this year. This checks both! We also have gender fluidity as well as a disability representation. It's got it all! And Saara did it so well to where it doesn't feel forced. This was my first book by her and I am so intrigued with her writing. It's so inviting and flows beautifully. The ending really set up for a great sequel and I cannot wait to read it!

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Holy wow. This book was absolutely fantastic this was my first book by Saara El-Arifi and I immediately purchased her other series. This was right up my alley in every way.

Characters- Faebound really did its shining in the character portion. We have a vast cast of characters, but I truly feel like we got time to sit with all of them and develop feelings about each of them. Each of the main cast went through character development throughout the story (some for the better, some not so much) and I really enjoyed getting to watch their stories unfold. The sister bond between Yeeran and Lettle was done perfectly and I genuinely felt their pain as they struggled to come to terms with mistakes from their past. I'm looking forward to what future books bring for these characters (I am also a little scared 😳)

Story- This story was beautiful. That's all there is to it. While this isn't Saara El-Arifi's first novel, she is still a relatively new author, but it doesn't feel like that at all. Faebound was everything I want AND need in a fantasy story. Complex characters, immersive writing, intense world building, fantasy creatures (because duh), and a plot that delivers. While predictable at times, I never felt like the story was dragging, which is great because I finished this is one night (🫣).

Romance- boy oh boy. If you're going into this with the expectation that it will be a romantasy, please change that idea. It isn't. There's a little bit of spice (it's good spice too), but this book is all plot with a lil romance thrown in there. What's there is well done, but I don't think it's meant to be the focal point of the story.

Writing- again, I think this book shines in this category too. The writing flowed so well and was lyrical in delivery. I wasn't bored for a moment.

Overally, I loved this book. I think it has potential to be a top book of the year if it gets traction (please get traction). This is the book that should go viral.

Thank You to Random House Publishing; Ballantine; Del Ray and NetGalley for providing me an advanced copy of Faebound in exchange for an honest review.

*contains mild spoilers*

In my opinion, this will be one of the top fantasy reads of 2024! This unique world is an amazing mix of elves, humans (briefly) and fae brought together through a series of circumstances brought about by a seemingly forever war.

Yeeran, Lettle, and Rayan drive this story as they enter new worlds, meet new creatures and companions, fall in love, and try to figure out a way to return to their land after being exiled. They are well woven into this unique world and magic system that is wonderous! How the world was described was amazing and beautiful. I loved the uniqueness of it, even if the descriptions of how they accomplished said magic left me a little confused. The addition of a divination element also made this a unique story! I loved it!

I also loved the gender fluidity and exploration of sexuality throughout the story. It was well woven into the love stories and conflicts that each character experienced.

Overall, this is my first 5 star read for 2024! Thank you for allowing me to review! I would 100% recommend!

Not really a love story. At all. It’s a historical mystery detective novel themed around classism, racism and hatred all mixed into a mess from which rise our plucky protags. Thanks for the arc

I received this as an ARC from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I loved this. I’m honestly devastated that this is an ARC because I want to know what happens next. Reminiscent of Throne of Glass to me, which is my favorite series.

The plot is a bit predictable in some ways. We follow Yeeran, Lettle, and Rayan until they’re captured by the fae (who are thought to be human eating monsters) for killing an Obeah. We discover fae are bonded to their Obeah, so in killing this one, Yeeran has killed the prince. There’s a lot of humbling and learning of fae culture before there’s a better understanding between the important characters. I saw the prophecies coming together as soon as the author gave clues, so none of that surprised me. They’re a bit rudimentary, but I also thrive on puzzling out things like that. It still entertained me, nonetheless. I’m curious to see Lettle’s prophecies fulfilled in the next book. And oh man, the plot twist. I knew Rayan was special, but I wasn’t expecting that at all. I know who Kimo was from the start as well, but again, made for a good story. I enjoyed every twist and turn, even if I knew the direction they were taking me.

The characters are fleshed out pretty well, we get a good sense of our narrative characters and Pila. As the plot develops, we learn more of Rayan and Furi and Golan and the rest of the minor characters. Judging by the epilogue, the next book will likely have Rayan join the narrative squad, and I can’t wait to become more acquainted with him. I’m hoping we also get more of Furi and, truthfully, I’m fascinated by Hosta too. They’ve got to come back into the story; it was too open ended to not see more of Hosta. I also appreciated the development of each character, although they are not where they will end up by the end of the series. It’s a slow build, and I can’t wait to continue it.

The writing is adult but not difficult. It flows as I think most fantasy novels should. The language is well thought out and constructed. I enjoyed every bit of it.


The diversity is fantastic. Different skin color, differently abled people, different species, lgbt+, polyamory… there’s a little bit of everything here and I was living for it. People are persecuted for several things in this book and I think by the end of the series, that will no longer be the case.

All in all, I am psyched to continue this series. Really fantastic book, and easy to read. I’m extremely curious about the next book, but I ✨love✨ that the author didn’t leave us on a massive life or death cliffhanger. Very well done! I think this may be my favorite fantasy novel of the year, although it’s obviously too early to tell. (I knew my favorite book of the year last year as soon as I read it though, so who knows.)

This synopsis was interesting. The cover is unique. I've heard great things about it. But as I started to read, I could tell it just wasn't for me.

I have heard SO many great things about this book, and I was shocked when I saw that I was approved to read an ARC for Faebound.

Premise:
Yeeran 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.

-

That first line, “ Yeeran was born on the battlefield, has lived on the battlefield, and one day, she knows, she’ll die on the battlefield.” absolutely slaps. I was hooked and ready to hear about an amazing military strategist in a world of intrigue and scheming. Unfortunately, the world building was incredibly flat, and our FMC felt less strategic and more impulsive/immature to me.

I think if we had been given a richer explanation at the start about this world, how magic worked, and the political environment, I would have been feral over this book.

Faebound also does a lot of telling vs showing, which is a pet peeve of mine. I want to make my own assumptions about characters motivations and relationships and I want you to prove to me what their priorities and flaws are. Being told “this is what this is” about everything makes for a lackluster read.

Also, why was everyone horny all the time?

I would recommend this book for someone just starting their foray into reading fantasy, and is still underexposed to classic fantasy tropes (the ones in Faebound felt like the author was checking off a list of crowd-pleasers without building up the relationships needed to make them hard hitting)

I won’t be keeping up with this series, but I appreciate the opportunity from Netgalley and the publisher to take a crack at Faebound in exchange for an honest review.

5/5✨

I have to start my review stating that I received an advanced reader copy through NetGalley.

I literally dropped everything I was reading/planned to read once this book was sent to me.

The authors storytelling is top notch. The writing style is like music. I was captivated immediately.

As I read this book I feel as though I’m getting hints into avatar, it’s thouorulghy interesting!!

The little Easter eggs littered through the book are great, but very easy for prediction to an immersive reader.

There was however a twist I did not see coming and I am so glad for it.

Truly, I enjoyed this book so much and I am so glad to have had the opportunity to read it ahead of release!

Well written fantasy with good world building, but not really for me. It is very "Battle" driven so a bit violent for me. All was right with the story just not for me. But it I read through it easily and I did enjoy it. The writing is well done and understandable story and details. Well done.

“Let me bleed to death. For I have reached nirvana.”

Ohmygodthiswasexcellent. 6/5 I’m genuinely so obsessed with all of this. The worldbuilding, the characters, the romance. Like not going do we get the sapphic “knight to her queen“ trope, but the novel then turns it on it’s head about the power differential, and <i>then</i> we get sapphic enemies to lovers, and it’s so fucking cute?

All the characters were fantastically fleshed out and I enjoyed spending time with all of them. While I cared less for the cishet romance that was nothing to do with it being bad, and more to do with me reading this for the sapphics. And even then I didn’t care too much because I loved both of the characters in the cishet romance.

While the magic system was confusing, it was confusing in a loose magic system sort of way that worked very well, especially once the story finally explained how people could use what magic. Which brings me to the worldbuilding. Because oh my god, Saara El-Arifi is that girl! Her worldbuilding was so fun and flawlessly done. This was a fantastic palette cleanser of a book after the last disaster I read, and I’m sobbing that I have to wait a year to read the next book after that cliffhanger.

Saara El-Arifi immediately place herself on my auto-buy list with her debut, and this new world she’s created just confirms why I love her storytelling.

The book starts with a myth telling of the three gods: Asase, the Wheat, god of the earth and creator of humans; Ewia, the two-headed Bat, god of the sun and creator of fae: and Bosome, the Water, god of the moon and creator of the elves. As far as anyone is aware, all that remains in the world are the elves, as the humans were killed off by the fae and the last human, Afa, cursed the fae to a life of isolation, leading them to be forgotten. Yeeran has just been promoted to colonel and wants to do what she can for the Waning tribe by defeating the Crescent elves, but when she goes east after a prophecy from her sister, Lettle, and with the encouragement of her general, Rayan, she sees the Crescent have some kind of magic that she’s never seen before and isn’t able to retreat quickly enough, leading to the slaughter of her contingent. Rather than execution, though, her chieftain (who is also her lover), sends Yeeran into exile. Lettle is determined to bring her home because that is her sister and even if they have a sometimes contentious bond, she won’t let her sister be lost. Rayan was asked by Yeeran to keep Lettle safe, but also he is grappling with guilt over encouraging Yeeran to try finding Crescent elves to battle. When Yeeran is exiled she comes across an obeah, a beast of magic, older than any she’s come across before and believes if she can kill the obeah and bring it back to Salawa, her exile will be reversed. Unfortunately, when she successfully hunts the obeah, she learns the fae are still around and by killing the obeah, she killed the prince of the fae, leading to her capture. At this point Rayan and Lettle have reunited with Yeeran, and all three are taken to Mosima, the prison-kingdom of the fae.

This book was intense from the beginning, and I absolutely could recognize El-Arifi’s storytelling from Ending Fire trilogy. There is so much fantastic world building, from the lore to the different dynamics between communities. One of the things that stood out was Yeeran curses and is informed the etymology of the phrase vilifies the fae and it makes her wonder how much language has lent itself to that vilification and the erasure of fae history.

I also really loved the divination that is so important to Lettle and the prophecies kept me on the edge of my seat, needing to know how things would play out. There are still so many questions and possibilities, but the way things played out was just, oof, so amazing and enthralling.

The last ~20% had me absolutely on the edge of my seat with reveal after reveal and so many emotional arcs playing out. I cannot wait to see what’s next for Yeeran, Lettle, Rayan, and Furi because there are so many politics at play and the war is only going to get more intense with the truths Yeeran and Lettle have learned.

I highly recommend picking this book up if you like fantasy with complicated family dynamics, messy romance, and fate playing out with these closely tied figures.

Okay, I got this one today and began reading it today (1/5/24) if I want to hope to finish it by its pub date. Also, I’ve never read this author before, so had zero expectations / hopes going in. (Finished reading 1/7/24)

Pros -
I was pulled in almost immediately with Faebound - the author’s writing is transportive and visual - I could see all of this as a movie (and that’s a movie I’d watch).

This one worked well on a lot of levels -
*worldbuilding was very enjoyable; I hope to see more growth in the future books
*characters have growth potential
*dual POV, dual romance

Cons -
*too shallow, due to the predictability
*not much of a slow-burn, which is what I personally tend to look for and appreciate in the romantasy I read.
*the spice level is next to nil.
*did I mention predictable? It was near painful in parts.
*there are well known and relied on tropes, and then there’s formula. I personally found this to read very formulaic, and it unfortunately detracts from the story, which has amazing potential.
* I felt like too much (in some ways) was resolved by the end of this

You know that feeling when you start a book and it’s so almost right there, but as the book concludes, it leaves you feeling flatly disappointed. This story has so much potential. I do look forward to the next title, to hopefully see it embrace that potential. The best way I can describe it is like when you think of your favorite ex and in spite of the fond feelings you have they’re still your ex for a reason.

Recommended, with a caveat emptor attached.



Thank you to Del Ray and NetGalley for the DRC