Thank you to the author and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of Faebound. Unfortunately, I dnf this book at about 12 percent. I typically try to get to at least 20% but I was unable to. The characters were likeable and the plot seemed ok. I just struggled getting into it. Maybe in the future I will try reading it again.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi is a West African-inspired romantic epic fantasy where humans, fae, and elves used to live together in one world until the humans and fae were driven to extinction. Or, that’s what the Yeeran and Lettle, two elven sisters, think. When Yeeran is banished and Lettle chases after her with her childhood friend and secret crush, Rayan, the three find themselves among the fae and their perceptions of their world are challenged.

I’m always here for an enemies-to-lovers Sapphic romance and Yeeran and Furi are no exception. They challenge each other and their attraction is impossible to deny, leading to sparks flying in more way than one. I also really liked Lettle and Rayan’s romance, particularly the prophecy angle that keeps Lettle from pursuing a romantic relationship with him.

The drums were such an interesting part of the worldbuilding that was integrated in ways I wasn’t expecting when I started. It ties into the magic system, into the fae, and into elven culture as does the obeah whose skin are used to create those drums.

I would recommend this to fans of Sapphic romantic fantasy or Romantasy, readers looking for elves and fae interacting together in one work, and fans of West African-inspired fantasy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️

🥁Fantasy
🧝🏻‍♀️Dual POV(between sisters)
🥁Enemies to Lovers
🧝🏻‍♀️Sapphic
🥁Queernormative
🧝🏻‍♀️Fae
🥁Magical Beasts
🧝🏻‍♀️Elves
🥁Cliffhanger

This was an ARC through NetGalley, however these are my true opinions.

I absolutely loved Faebound. It was so unique. Not like anything I have read. The magic system is beautiful. I already can tell there will be a follow book. It ended on a cliffhanger.

There is a war going on between two elf tribes. The FMC Yeeran is outcast after she makes a mistake fighting in the war. She decides that her way to be accepted back is to bring the biggest Obeah, who happens to be a magical rare beast. After she successfully kills one she is taken prisoner but fae.
Yeeran learns there is more out there then she knew.

I don’t want to say more because I don’t want to spoil it. I would highly recommend this book if you are a fantasy reader.

Faebound is a sapphic fantasy romance and was one of my most anticipated releases for the year, and overall I really enjoyed it! This story is from the POV of two elf sisters Yeeran and Lettle who discover the world of the fae, who were thought to be gone centuries ago.

I loved the characters, the world building, and the queernormative society. The writing style was also very accessible and easy to get into. I especially loved the creatures called the obeah and their relationships with the fae and discovering more about them and the magic. My only complaint is it seemed to be a bit rushed in the second half and would have been better if it was longer. I enjoyed seeing the romantic relationships develop, but Yeeran's seemed a bit rushed and could have benefitted from more in between being enemies to lovers.

I can't wait to continue this series and see where it takes these characters!

Y'all, there is a reason everyone is talking about this book! I think a lot of times reviewers are so caught up on "this book reminded me of xyz" and thus rate it lower/think it's less amazing. There's a REASON we all love fantasy and a reason why some of us read the same set of books 99% of the time and that's because the plot has the perfect formula!

There were definitely some holes in the world building that I hope we see addressed in future books alongside some further character development. The Ending Fire trilogy by El-Arifi was truly phenomenal and I think that Faebound can get there as well with the appropriate progress moving forward.

You know, trying to put my thoughts together on this book is kinda tough because there's so much about it that I genuinely loved. Like, the characters were great, the setup was cool, and the whole vibe of the story was just my jam. But then there's the plot, and man, it just didn't click for me like I thought it would. I found myself sort of zoning out while I was reading, hoping that things would pick up and get as awesome as everything else I enjoyed about it. But, yeah, that never really happened.

Great book. Loved how the typical tropes for fae, elves, and humans was twisted around. Very cool take. Experiencing the push and pull between Yeeran and Furi, and between Lettle and Rayan was agonizing and just kind of great. The build up was obvious, as it should be, and well done. Really the only negative I have about the book is that it is really heavy handed in regards to the foreshadowing. Like if you didn't know what the twists at the end of the book were going to be by like the halfway point you might have been asleep. Even Komi's reveal, which was the most subtly done foreshadowing seemed pretty obvious. I wish there had been just a little more surprise waiting for me at the end. Looking forward to the next installment.

Thanks to netgalley or providing me with this ARC!

I enjoyed this book, it was a quick read with many aspects to the fantasy world and sapphic romance. It was not heavy on the romance and gave more to building a world and making sure all the pieces clicked. I didn’t hate it but it wasn’t a huge favorite either.

this is such a hard book to rate and review, because i truly loved so much of it. the characters, the set up, the setting, the messages and themes, even the writing was so perfect for me. But the plot of this? oh, friends, i was just unable to be captivated by it. i really found myself a bit bored while reading, and while waiting for these things i loved to make a plot that i equally loved, but sadly it just never happened.

this is a story about two elven sisters, one blessed with battle and one blessed with prophecy, and their journey discovering that the fae are real when they are banished from their elven homeland. we get to see the underground world of the fae, their bonded animal companions, a really cool tree of souls, and the different magic they are able to harness. And then a murder mystery plotline also comes about while these sisters are trying to survive and learn a history that has been hidden from them.

again, there was so much good in this. It truly breaks my heart to give this a three star. And i promise i will read more from this author in the future.

trigger + content warnings: battle, war, blood, children soldiers, talk of selling children / human trafficking, slavery, illness, a lot of talk of loss of a parent in past, graphic animal deaths also involving skinning, violence, gore, torture, captivity, brief hospital setting, murder, and death.

Faebound weaves an enchanting tale of self-discovery and disillusionment within a meticulously crafted fantasy world. The narrative, rich with emotion, explores the harsh realities of its universe. While the story's pace occasionally left me eagerly awaiting revelations, this anticipation added a compelling depth. Despite a slower pace compared to typical "romantasy" books, Faebound emerges as a high fantasy masterpiece, showcasing intricate plots and profound character development in a captivating dance between self-discovery and the unforgiving nature of the world.

Definitely giving this book 3.75 stars. I don’t believe a 3 provides it justice but 4 stars isn’t right either. I did enjoy this book. The action and plot twists were amazing. Yeeran and Lettle needed a moment to grown on me but the sister relationship was super sweet. I very much enjoyed the multiple romance story lines and all the action. I will say my rating is mostly on how predictable a lot of this book was. The author’s bread crumbs were not subtle and the prophecies were very straight forward. It was an easy read, but I wish we had worked for some more of the answers. My only other caveat is the flow of the book. The beginning was fast paced and pulled me, but the middle of the novel felt very world building ish and bored me very easily. I felt like some of the information could have been sprinkled around to make things more interesting. Yeeran is def a favorite character and Rayan’s growth was chef’s kiss. Definitely still recommend as a read and I need to know what happens next for sure!

Thank you for the chance of reading this. Honestly at the time I read I wasn’t feeling it. I am such a mood reader so I wasn’t enjoying it. I will surely try to read again and maybe then it will be exactly what I need.

Typically an author’s writing style doesn’t both me, but this one felt a bit amateurish and I personally could not get over that to be able to enjoy the book. It just wasn’t for me!

I felt that this book started off a little slow but it did pick up towards the end and I really enjoyed it! The magical system is different and I'm loving all of the love situations that are in this book. I am really excited to see where book 2 goes!

Faebound is my favorite read of the year so far and I can easily invision this being one of my favorite trilogies in the future. Saara El-Arfi has done a wonderful job creating complex characters with an intriguing magic system. No matter which characters POV I was following I was continuously entertained. I honestly cannot recommend this book enough.

This was sadly incredibly boring. I never cared about anything. I'm not a fan of prophecies and knowing what's going to happen, and basing your actions on trying to thwart the future that you're aware of when you know that's not even a possibility. Lettle was my favorite pov, but the prophecy influencing her decisions and leading to her sabotaging her relationship right at the start kind of ruined that for me. Yeeran I didn't like at all. Her motivations felt dumb to me. Like you are making horrible decisions. Over all, I forced myself to read this book, it was not a good time. And that is such a disappointment.

I did not enjoy this book unfortunately. The plot was boring, the characters fell flat. The romance was stale. There was no fire in the authors writing. The characters read way younger than they were. To me they seemed like teenagers. While the world was cool and the magic was neat, overall this was a massive letdown. 😩

I really enjoyed this book! I appreciated this character development of the main character, Yeeran, and the world building throughout the book. Although this was an excellent read for the fantasy enthusiast, it also had a beautiful family element to it and touched on the bonds of sisterhood. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this beautiful work!

West African lore-based fantasy with Elves and Fae? Yep sign me up.

What I ✨loved✨:

The setting, lore, and magic system were *chef’s kiss.* the prologue of this book is goosebump-inducing and sets us up for something truly epic. The tone that is set during the first quarter of this story is both haunting (in terms of war, hunger, g3nocide) and beautiful with the magic Yeeran wields. I loved the element of surprise when we find out the source of Elvish power after Yeeran’s exile.

The sapphic romance was lovely (Yeeran gets to experience TWO loves in her lifetime? How is that fair?!) and I loved almost all the characters introduced to us in the Fae world.

What kind of confused me:
The actual motivation for this ongoing war remained unclear, we kind of just accept that they’ve been fighting forever because of free will? Maybe that was the point, to highlight the grand pointlessness of war, but I’m unsure.

I understand Lettle’s character was the “younger sibling” but I didn’t understand why she was portrayed as so juvenile? Almost as if we were reading from the perspective of a 14 year old but she was definitely much older. I loved Lettle’s unique magic but hope to see more expanded on the origins of divination in the second book.

Overall I think this was a fun romantasy and I’m inclined to check out more of El-Arifi’s work!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Faebound has got to be one of the best books I’ve read in the past year. It’s the first of a trilogy of books centered around two sisters. The fantasy and lore were top-notch for me, it was so enchanting that I couldn’t put this book down. I can’t wait for the next two books and I can’t wait to see where else this story goes.