I'm so torn on this one. It was a pretty high-ranking anticipated read for the year for me and I'm left feeling somewhat underwhelmed. Plot wise, we start out pretty strong and the potential to just absolutely rock out a killer storyline with powerful characters, drama, and big emotion was right there.

I think what fell flat for me was the characters and their growth. Reactions to some pretty big and key moments were glossed over, the complacency at times. It made it difficult to really embrace and care for the characters when it came across that they themselves didn't care about their own happenings. Coming from war and a tense climate was left forgotten as the transition to a new world of comfort and safety. Where was the resolution or drive to literally do anything to fight?

The fantasy, the lore, the representation in this are all amazing bones for this and I did love so much of it. There's such promise and I'll be following along for more in hopes that the fleshing of the plot deepens and the characters win me over in the future.

I both enjoyed this book and the fantasy escape it gave me, but also had a lot that I didn't enjoy about it and kept finding myself wanting to think critically towards. The romance was.... not my favorite unfortunately, I didn't connect with either characters and had no interest in where the romance would go or if it even did go. The world building and the lore and storyline was very interesting and kept me reading!

Thank you, Netgalley for allowing me this ARC in exchange for my honest review!
I knew about 5 chapters in this was going to be epic, and I was right. I loved everything about this book. It has a great pace and information is given to you in bits rather than a dump. The characters are well rounded and all have a purpose to the story. I also enjoy stories with prophecies because they mean nothing at first and then slowly you start to put pieces together, or you end up being totally wrong haha.

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi promises an intoxicating world where elves, fae, and humans collide, but I was not pulled under this story’s spell. I liked the premise overall, and think that some cool, hard-earned reveals could have made this story pack a punch, but the execution was lacking. The story’s biggest weakness is that it likes to overshare, and it sucked out all the magic of the interesting and colorful world.

Yeeran dons her new colonel uniform and prepares for another day on the Bleeding Field. Her regiment belongs to the Waning tribe and is one of many elvish clans fighting over a piece of land harboring a priceless power resource. But before Yeeran begins her daily mission, her little sister and diviner in training imparts an optimistic prophecy suggesting Yeeran will find success in the East. But this peaceful and happy moment together will be one of their last as fate begins to twist Yeeran’s and Lettle’s path. The sisters will stumble into the fae who have not been seen for centuries. Now prisoners in an unknown world, the sisters’ beliefs will unravel as they encounter hard truths about the world and their role in it.

One thing that becomes immediately clear in Faebound is that every character’s emotions are sitting at the surface. Their thoughts and feelings are constantly bubbling over and being revealed. It’s crystal clear who hates who, who has fallen head over heels in love, and who we should be wary of immediately. While this overt expression supports the fast-moving plot, it did take away from my experience with the story. The relationships between characters felt shallow because there was no room to explore complicated situations or develop a connection with anyone when everything was said upfront and in the open. It felt incongruous to have such simple, easily accessible emotions in an intense plot with difficult, intense situations. The text treats the reader like a child going through a picture book of emotions.

This oversharing spills over into the worldbuilding as well. Yeeran and Lettle are in a precarious situation living among enemies. The majority of the fae are delighted in their imprisonment and even more are plotting the elf sisters’ swift deaths. Yet every question that Yeeran and Lettle ask about the fae and their world is answered with almost no hesitation. It’s like this was the only way to divulge information and build up the world around Yeeran and Lettle. The fae language is hard to learn and the sisters are isolated and scorned, so there’s no other way to fill in the gaps and move the story along. Like the characters’ emotions, the fae’s secrets are spilled so easily that the knowledge doesn’t feel earned or important.

I would not say romance is THE element of Faebound, but it’s prevalent for both sisters and their unfolding love story with their desired person was awkward. I first want to say that the book opens with Yeeran in a long-term relationship that is interesting. I liked the dynamic between Yeeran and Salawa, and the quick view I got of the pair gave me hope for the story’s romantic thread. Yet, that all falls apart rather quickly once Yeeran’s exile occurs, and that goes for Lettle’s romantic dalliance, too. Because emotions are ever present, the progression and regression between characters happen quickly which makes the romance clunky and unrealistic.

An interesting world, characters, and plot are gracing the pages of Faebound by Saara El-Arifi, but the way the story develops is not to my taste. I got too tripped up on the emotional bursts and awkward dialogue to fully enjoy it, but hey, the story has a fast-moving plot that could probably keep a reader entertained if they’re really curious.

Rating: Faebound - 4.5/10

3.5 maybe, rounded down. the representation, inclusivity and diversity in this book is unparalleled to any other fantasy book i’ve read! sapphic enemies to lovers was a nice surprise, however felt like that particular storyline didn’t “build” as much as I would’ve hoped. I struggled a bit with the believability of the characters ages in this, as they are supposed to be in their 30’s but their communication felt a bit like teenagers. Overall, this is a great fantasy book from a representation standpoint, but fell a bit flat for me in terms of actual world building and pacing. I am curious to see where this series goes overall, this just didn’t spectacularly ‘wow’ me as a whole! Thank you Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the advanced copy!

Sapphic romatasy fae goodness! This story follows two elven sisters whom I was so rooting for throughout the twists and turns. An amazing start yo a new adult trilogy from an amazing author.

I'm underwhelmed...and lowkey a bit insulted.

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy, and I wished I could add any positive anecdotes.

I'm just, at a lost because I wanted this to be a win, especially for Black authors to enter the White dominant space of romantasy but I'm just gonna not say anything more...

Maybe I read it at the wrong time. Maybe it'll be better through audio, because I was not having a good time.

This is probably a go-to read for people who love true fantasy. I am not a big true fantasy reader. I made it about halfway through this one before I couldn't do it, There was a LOT going on and if I loved this type of fantasy more it would have been so good. It was too heavy on the fantasy for me. I did like the variety of perspectives that this book was told from though. I enjoy when there are multiple points of view in a book so I did enjoy that. I wanted to really love this one, I have learned I am just not a big fantasy epic reader.

I loved the premise of this book, I thought it was so original and love the representation throughout! I do feel like for me personally the writing style just wasn’t my favorite, while beautiful, I think it was very heavy and a bit clunky in terms of descriptors and did make it feel like a chore to read a bit even though I was so interested in the plot itself.

3.5/5 stars

Yeeran is a decorated general in a war that has consumed the Elven lands for generations. She and Lettle, her younger sister and aspiring diviner, have lived through the horrors the war has ravaged their people from a very young age. When Yeeran makes a critical mistake and is exiled, Lettle and Rayan, her trusted commander, follow her. Together they become entangled in the Fae court. The only thing is that the Fae were thought to have died ages ago with humans. With this discovery, the future of both Elves and Fae is at stake.

While I enjoyed reading this book, I was expecting a lot more and I have had trouble making a review that properly reflects that. Given that Yeeran is a decorated general, I expected her to be more strategic and decisive, but she was often distracted and made mistakes. She was also very naive about the war she was very active in despite her insight, experiences, and warnings from others. With Lettle being an apprentice to the top diviner, I hoped she would be more active in interpreting prophecies. Instead, I found the prophecies predictable and was left underwhelmed when the characters were shocked during the reveal. I also wished for more development within the platonic and romantic relationships between the characters. I especially felt that I was told more than I was shown their feelings.

The history of the world, the cultures of Elves and Fae, and African and Arab influences were fascinating in this book. The world-building is done throughout the book, and I found it had a nice balance of providing information without being overbearing or removing all the story's mystery. Nonetheless, it ended with a lot of unanswered questions that I expect us to learn more about as the series moves forward. All that being said I do plan to continue with this series and am interested in how the story unfolds with the next installments.

Thank you so much to Del Rey, PRH Audio, and Netgalley for providing advanced copies of this book! All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

I was extremely excited for this fae fantasy! I've heard great things about this author and was really looking forward to a more diverse take on a predominantly white subgenere.

Sadly I just didn't feel much of anything about this book...

I think there were some fantastic discussions and themes in this book about war, family, lineage, history, and the way history repeats itself.

This follows 2 sisters who are vastly different but fiercely loyal, as they have to navigate the unknown world beyond the Elvish boarder. They become entrapped with the Fae they thought long dead, and begin to unravel the truth to history long lost.

In concept, I loved this story. But in execution, I was extremely bored...

I didn't find any of the characters particularly easy to become invested in any of the characters. Not only are they not particularly dynamic characters, but their limited characteristics include some intense and frustrating character flaws that made them hard to care of root for.

I just didn't feel like enough time was spent developing the characters. And most of their actions felt like they were to purely propel the plot rather than authentic choices.

Overall I was just left feeling nothing about this story. It had some fun lore and reveals, but the length and lack of character development left me feeling so detached from the story. So sadly this won't be one I'm continuing on with.

I loved this book. Queer, Fae, and full of twists! There were many parts that seemed predictable or that kinda came out of nowhere but i am in love with all of the characters. I love the use of pronouns and the head nod to NB people. The endpapers were amazing! This was a very fun read and I can't wait to get my hands on the next one!

Let’s start with the good:

Saara has done a good job of creating a world in which LGBTQ+ themes are completely normalized (that is, these characters aren’t having to fight the system to be accepted, they just are), and I think more books, especially fantasy, should have that!
I also loved the non-Euro-centric take on elves and fae!


Now, the not-so-good:

This book felt rushed. Everything was happening at breakneck speed, especially relationships. There was little to no groundwork to make the readers FEEL the need for these characters to get together, we were simply told.
The plot for the first 80% of the book felt lackluster. The last 20% has mayyyybe convinced me to read the next book, but here’s hoping that book 2 doesn’t wait until 80% through to get good!

I was given this as an ARC from net galley. This is my first ever real fantasy book and I truly loved every minute of it. The story was fascinating and I loved the characters. The only thing that was really lacking for me what the rhythm of the plot. It felt slow at the start and rushed at the end. Overall I truly enjoyed it.

While this book is marketed for adult readers, it might be more appropriate for an older YA audience looking for LGBTQ romance in their fantasy novels. More than once I had to check the tags on this book because I was getting such strong YA vibes.

I liked the characters of the book and the overall world of the elves and the fae. The obeah creatures and the magic drums as weapons I felt were unique and brought interest to the story.

The plot was simple and easy to understand with most of the plot twists easily guessed. The romances were built up very much in an all or nothing kind of way, where the characters are either avoiding each other completely or can't get enough of each other. It made for some awkward pacing in terms of building the romances. If you are looking for a fantasy romance book with enemies to lovers/forced proximity tropes, with LGBTQ main characters then this is the book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advance digital copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley & Del Rey for this arc.

This felt like a very unique concept and outside the typical Fae fantasy and the twists were very surprising. The relationships did not feel fully formed and hot/cold depending on the moment. Reconciliation happened at light speed without much backing. I'll be interested to see where this goes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair review. I was extremely excited to read this on that is was descirbed to me as a stroy of two sisters, a terrible war, finding the last of the fey and and beautiful african inspired world building. As as much as all of these things were found in this story, I didn't love it. Nothing to be me stood out in this story and i often felt lost in the world building. It was a fine book but i feel no need or urge to pick up the other half of this story.

I was very excited to receive an arc of this as I had heard a lot of chatter around it. I enjoyed the characters and the romance, but just wish there was a bit more dedication to world building. That might have been on me, as I came in expecting more of a high fantasy than romantasy. Still, enjoyed the book and will probably pick up the next one.

DNF @ 50% — I didn’t HATE it, but it got harder and harder to pick up. I hear the second half/the end are great, but I just can’t hold out. It’s so predictable and as others have said, lots of “telling” vs “showing,” which reads very YA to me.

I enjoyed the world building and magic system introduced in this book and I loved the queer representation, but this book unfortunately just didn’t quite catch my interest. The distinction and dynamics between the fae, elves, and humans felt original to me and intrigued me in the beginning, but I think the character and relationship development ultimately fell a little flat for me. I didn’t really find myself rooting for anyone in the novel and found Rayan especially lackluster, both as a main character and as a love interest. While this book was only okay for me, I would still be interested in checking out the author’s future works!