This is my first Saara El-Arifi book, and needless to say that I absolutely need to read MORE. I love that the characters weren't in their teens but rather of an older age, and I especially LOVED the diversity in the story. i need the sequel ASAP!!!!

Loved it! the worldbuilding and characters are great! the romance felt a bit lackluster in comparision of everything else going on with the book but overall it was a hit, very haunting and the prose is great

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book had so much potential based on its concept—a rich fantasy world inspired by African and Arabic mythology, boasting unique magic systems, LGBTQ+ rep, and disability rep—but the lackluster quality of writing was a massive letdown. The book starts off fairly strong, introducing intriguing characters in a vibrant fantasy world full of cool magic (using the sound waves from drumbeats like arrows? so dope!), but it starts going downhill after a few chapters and the momentum never picks back up again. It was Pocahontas or Avatar in a different (blander) font. The characters are all one-dimensional and have no meaningful growth from beginning to end, and some were downright unlikeable (29-year-old Lettle read like a petulant teenager and I had a hard time empathizing with her in particular). The pacing of the plot is all over the place; major events are few and far between, while interpersonal interactions are rushed and stilted. In terms of prose, there was a lot of “telling” vs. “showing,” and as a reader I felt like I was spoonfed so much information that I had no reason to remain interested in the characters or their circumstances.

This is the first book in an upcoming trilogy, but it was such a slog to get through that I don’t know if I can bring myself to continue the series. Fascinating concept, disappointing execution.

This book was just okay for me. I felt a little bit of letdown and it was not as exciting as I had hoped and seen some other people say. One of the biggest downfalls for me was the predictability of it. Most of the twists I could see coming.

The journal at the end of the book seemed to have so much more development in characters in those few pages compared to the whole rest of the book. But I did enjoy the world itself and world building, it was a very redeeming thing and I LOVE some world building. Also loved the diversity in this book- big plus for that!!

I heard so much about this title, I couldn’t wait to dive in. I absolutely loved the relationship between Yeeran and Lettle. Two sisters that would do anything to protect each other. You get to read from both of their perspectives in Faebound. This book has it all! The forever war, the conflict between elves and fae, magic, divination, murder, and of course romance… including an enemies to lovers trope. Saara El-Arifi did a great job at bringing these worlds to life on the pages, I truly felt like I was there in the middle of it all. I recommend adding this book to the top of your TBR and find out what it means to be Faebound.

I first want to thank the publishing company and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Overall with this book, I was very disappointed. I don’t know if it was the fact that I went in with extremely high expectations because I read this book after reading Iron Flame. So please take that into consideration. This book was hard for me to get into when it came to the characters as well as the romance. I will probably give it another try but this is where I am at with it right now.

Books with Fae are my passion! I couldn’t wait for this book to come out !

This book was good. Though I found it hard in some places to push through. I kept waiting for something to grab me and hold me hostage, yearning to turn the page. But I feel like it gave a good setup and solid world building for the next book. I am hopeful that I’ll get what I need from that. The writing was easy to follow and I felt I got a great understanding of everything that was happening. Character growth and reader attachment is a little slow. But I still enjoyed it. I like this different take on the Fae, humans and elves! That is what will also keep me coming back.

This one of those book series that you just have to get into and I feel like the payoff will be worth it. If it’s not i’ll just curl up in a hole and have a moment to myself.

Thank you NetGalley and Del Rey for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had a hard time deciding how to rate this book. On the one hand, I really enjoyed the world and magic system, but I wasn't very interested in the plot. I also didn't really like both of the romances in this book. It was very insta-love for one of the couples, and the other one went from enemies to lovers quite quickly. I would have liked to see some more of the transition from enemies to lovers (to possible enemies again). The ending of this book was a bit of a surprise for me and I am interested to see where the story is going.

The rest of this review will contain some spoilers for the book.

As I mentioned earlier, I really loved the the world and magic system. I feel like we don't have enough elves in books, so it was nice to see! I also loved how the magic system worked, and how it is slightly different between elves, fae, and humans. The bond the characters have with their obeah is great and I'm hoping we see more of that. It would be nice to see why Pila bonded with Yeeran in a later volume as well. Why haven't other obeah bonded with other elves? Unless Yeeran has some fae blood like Rayan, which would allow them to bond? Rayan being one of the next rulers was a bit of a shock to me, but I really liked it and am interested to see what will happen in the coming volumes! I kind of felt bad for Lettle, seeing as she is the only one of the three who hasn't bonded with another obeah, but her friendship with Golan is really heartwarming as they seem really close and I am glad they have each other.

I genuinely enjoyed this read. A very well thought out world, endearing characters, unique magic systems. My only small irk was pacing, but that often comes down to personal preferences! I'd suggest this to all of my fantasy friends.

I just don't think this author is for me. She has a long drawn out style where I find myself struggling to pay attention from early on. And her books never pick up in excitement for me.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. El-Arifi’s novel features a world rich with African-inspired fantasy that breaks heterosexual norms. While I wanted to see more, the main action is reserved for the last half of the book— and likely the later parts of this trilogy.

⇢➤ Plot: Told through two sisters POVs, Faebound unravels a world where humans and Fae have been extinct for millenia. Only the elves remain. The elves are split by war and tribe, desperate to reclaim land and mineral resources. Yeeran is an upper military commander. When a miscalculation in the war effort causes Yeeran to be exiled, her sister Lettle follows shortly after, desperate to find her. The two must face the harsh wilderness of the elven lands-- and whatever else lies outside their borders.

⇢➤ Pros: Sapphic elf woman, let me give you your roses immediately. Yeeran’s character arc was my favorite part of the book. El-Arifi takes an elven warrior, hardened by war and childhood memories of starvation, and throws her into a new world where she must reconcile her past with her future. The softer parts of her are slowly revealed as time goes on. (Listen I’m a Nesta girl. I can’t help it.)

The last half of the book is packed with twists I didn’t see coming. Side characters that appear to have little importance come back in big ways. The author does a great job tying together loose strings while keeping the reader guessing.

There is trans representation, non-binary representation, and multiple same-sex relationships. Even removed from our world, El-Arifi tackles socioeconomic issues while highlighting the absurdity of war over resources, the necessity of food as an individual right, and newfound respect towards new cultures. She handled these issues very well and I enjoyed the overall world.

Also: Pila <3

⇢➤ Cons: The slow plot and slower pacing makes the first half of this book an uphill fight. The world-building is so well done, but it takes until 70% in to see any of it pay out. I was expecting a full-scale military fantasy. Instead, this is a survival story with political intrigue, largely focused on the two experiences of the sisters and their relationship. Which isn’t necessarily bad— if the pace could keep up with the expectations of high fantasy.

And this is high fantasy. I wouldn’t categorize it as romantasy. While there is romance in it, it takes a backseat to the complex world and mythology. I found myself not caring as much about Lettle, Ryan, or Salawa. I hope future books will expand on the war and action introduced in the first couple chapters.

⇢➤ Recommended for fans of: Hannah Kaner

~thank you netgalley & publisher for the advanced reader copy~

unfortunately this one was a miss for me. I’ve tried picking this book up multiple times and I just can’t get into it. In theory this book sounded right up my alley, but the execution did not.

It all felt very flat, and I wasn’t invested. maybe it’s the writing style or the story but it was hard to get into. overall I hope others enjoy this more than I did and maybe I’ll come back to the rest of the series if I hear good things :(

This book is fine. Good, even. Not fantastic, or showshopping, but a pretty good book. Fun way to spend a couple of days, then never think about again. I wish I could provide a more in depth review, but I really don’t have much to say on this particular case. There’s an audience that will love this. I found it fine.

This was fine. The world building and the magical system was great but ultimately it was a lot of arguing and not a lot of communicating.

This book is not for plot-driven readers—say it again in the back! Not for plot readers!!

Now I’ve seen conflicting opinions about this book, and it all focuses on the plot. Did much happen in this book plot-wise? Honestly, not really. If it weren’t for my love of the characters (Lettle and Rayan = my awkward cuties & Yeeran = intrusive thought chaos) and world building, I probably wouldn’t be rating it this high. The characters are passive when it comes to the action of the book. They converse with other characters and explore, but the driving force of the plot is weak because it boils down to one thing: escape. If you’re a plot reader, I’m hesitant to recommend Faebound.

Here's a brief summary of the plot in the first 25%:

Yeeran (of the Waning tribe) is banished after ignoring orders and leading her army into a deadly battle with the Crescent tribe. Her sister Lettle follows her into the wild, followed closely by Yeeran's former captain Rayan who also feels responsible for the error in battle. All three are elves. Yeeran is hunting for an obeah (magical feline-like creature with horns) whose skin is used to cover drums to create magic called drumfire. When the three reunite, they eventually track down and kill an obeah. Immediately, the three are attacked and captured by fae (believed to be extinct along with humans) and taken underground to the fae kingdom. They do this because to kill an obeah (with black fur) is to also kill a corresponding fae due to the magical bonding of the two in their culture. Yeeran had the unfortunate circumstance to not only kill an obeah-fae pairing... But specifically the elder Crown Prince of the fae.

Now obviously, Yeeran is not executed for her crimes like the fae initially plan to do. She gets out of it by accidentally bonding with an obeah, something that should ~allegedly~ only happen between fae and obeah. The crew is forced to stay in the fae kingdom, so the main plot becomes escape. They spend the next 80% of the book learning the customs of the fae and interacting with various members of the court and society to aid their escape. Besides a death here or there, that's pretty much the gist of the plot.

I understand why people are upset with the plot, but I’ve come to realize that Saara likes to setup her series a ton in the first book. There’s a lot of slow buildup in the middle 80% of the book, but once, the end hits, she throws everything at us. When I read The Battle Drum, I got to see the fruits of her first book’s labor via setup. I’m expecting the same to happen with Faebound sequel.

Now you may be wondering why my review is so high if the plot is lacking. Well, the characters and world building were phenomenal! I'm a sucker for complicated, sassy, even annoying (at times) leads, and we certainly got a variety of personalities. Even though Rayan does not have a POV, I loved his dialogue where he voiced his concerns or thoughts to Lettle. Rayan and Yeeran are definitely solider types in their thinking, very cutesy jock-like honestly, but then, we have the divination/ intellectual Lettle to counteract their thick skulls. I'm hoping Rayan is added as a POV in the sequel because we now know his biggest secret, and Saara had to hide us from it due to the plot twist.

I loved the elf and fae interactions. Surprisingly enough I have not read that many elf stories, so it was refreshing to read about the leads because I don’t have that much experience with their species. Fae on the other hand are wildly over-consumed in my reading. I liked that I got to see them in this new depiction, but it wasn’t as a leading character. Thereby, I have this separation from them because my allegiance is to the elves. Both the elves and fae have a great culture when it comes to gender and sexuality, so I loved that while the species are very different from each other, their form of gender expression and love were one of the same.

The last thing I want to bring up is the romantic fantasy elements of the book. This is not romantasy because the romance is technically a subplot, but the romance is very apparent. There are a couple explicit scenes, but it is 2-3 scenes max. Arguably, only one scene is truly explicit in my opinion.

Lettle and Rayan are the first two pairings readers root for. I loved them from their first awkward moment together as they stumbled around to find Yeeran. I'm a big sucker for the quiet man, opinionated woman trope, and they follow that to a T! I see my own relationship in theirs a lot, so it was very easy to sway me to love them haha. Their miscommunication will definitely drive a few of you wild—definitely did for me at times—but their shared moments ultimately overpowered any annoyance I felt about that trope.

Then Yeeran... she's a bit more complicated. Readers see her first with her Waning Chieftan Salawa. They're lovers, but pretty quickly, I got this weird feeling about Salawa. She does not fight hard enough to save Yeeran from her banishment, and I heavily noticed the toxicity in their unequal power dynamics, ruler and general. Lettle immediately makes many comments to Yeeran that she's imprisoned within that relationship. Yeeran consistently thinks of Salawa throughout the course of the book because it is the foundation for why she kills the obeah after her banishment. Salawa becomes this goal of Yeeran's in her desire to escape. Thus, the power imbalance only worsens, and then, the second love interest arrives.

Oh, Furi. You had no chance of hating Yeeran because she never intended to kill your older brother. She'd never touch an obeah if she knew they were attached to a fae. Yeeran's actions were one of ignorance, and she is upfront about that. I think that's the moment where Furi's walls began to loosen. They're definitely an enemies to reluctant acquaintances to lovers trope haha. I'm REALLY excited to see where their relationship goes, especially now that Yeeran has left the kingdom to inform the world of the obeah and their link to fae. She wants to stop the war between Waning and Crescent, but we find out Furi and the fae rulers have been working alongside Crescent in a mutually beneficial relationship to try to break their curse. Honestly, I loved that complexity to their relationship because it shows both have done harm to the other in ignorant ways, but now they have decided to work together and choose one another. Salawa is the biggest question mark for me by the end because how will she react to Yeeran's return, especially since Yeeran is no longer romantically loyal to her? The manipulation via romance is gone now, so I;m curious to see what tensions go down between Salawa, Yeeran, and even Furi.

Overall, thank you to Del Rey for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First and foremost I’m so appreciative to NetGalley & Random House Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book started off strong, I’d say about the first 50% I was convinced this was going to be a 5 star for me and the sapphic fantasy of my DREAMS.
We start out in a centuries long battle between warring Elven clans & our main female character is leading her first battalion. Some choices she makes lead to tragedy, and her long time lover is the person in charge of her fate.
What really drove me to be so excited about this book, all the high stakes plot set up, seemed very easily resolved.
Eventually, the characters started to feel sort of like copies of each other. Like their personalities were so similar sometimes I’d forget who I was reading about in that moment because there was very little distinction.
This in and of itself wouldn’t have been terrible, however when there is few discernible qualities between characters their relationships sort of fall flat. And with this being a romantic fantasy, developing deep or intricate relationships is part of the draw and what makes the genre so interesting. It all felt so focused on physicality, which for this book felt a little boring.

All that said, I will likely continue the series. I do think there is a lot of potential for the story to be so incredibly exciting. I just hope our characters have a little more individuality and possibly some high stakes with follow through.
YES IF: you want your stories to give you answers clearly, you like a lot of hot headedness in your characters
NO IF: you’re wanting a lot of suspense pushing a story forward, want a deep love based relationship

The world building and intricateness of the story was great - but the dialogue was just rough for me. I really wanted to like this book and maybe *maybe* if I get it on audio someday I might be able to get into it a little more. It was good and I loved the dynamics between the sisters and the twist was fantastic. I will definitely continue the series, but I will wait to get it on audio.

DNF for now at 30%
The lore and fantasy had me invested and normally this is something that I would eat up but the characters aren't clinking with me at the moment but since I did enjoy her previous work I do plan on continuing this book when I buy it.

<I>First, a thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an eARC of this book.</I>

This is such a strange book to rate, for me. It was a solid 4 stars until the last 75% or so, and then it just… petered off.

I just felt like there were so many threads and pieces that got conveniently tied up at the end, at the expense of a smooth or believable plot. Like, several of the big twists 1) I saw coming and 2) we just got an ope! Guess what it’s all sorted now! At the end.

The world was so interesting, and I was really enthralled with the idea of casting/wielding magic with drumfire, and then we barely got to ever see that in action!

I also wasn’t particularly committed to any of the characters - they were fine, I guess, but there was no one I was really rooting for… except for maybe the magical cats. What can I say, I’m a crazy cat lady to my core.

This is such a beautiful book! There a lots of cool parts in this story: sisters with special gifts, magical tree of souls, hidden histories that the sisters are delving into.

Consider the multiple trigger warnings here before reading: child soldiers, violence, animal deaths, slavery, illness, discussions of human trafficking.