I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting to like Cursebound. I absolutely love El-Arifi's The Ending Fire Trilogy, but I thought Faebound was entertaining and just okay. This was a great follow-up and seemed more in line with the writing style I loved so much from The Final Strife! If you were on the fence about continuing the series, I think it is worth giving Cursebound a try. I really enjoyed it!

We still follow Yeeran and Lettle, but get additional POVs as well. El-Arifi is great at adding in extra characters that I didn't think I needed or would enjoy, but then end up being my favorite chapters to read! This is a pretty fast paced story, but more internal politics with enemies that are hard to hate than action packed. The world is beautifully fleshed out and I really felt like I was there with the characters. I think it flowed well and I'm very excited to read the conclusion to the series when it is finished! There was no middle book syndrome felt from me! I'm someone who appreciates romance in fantasy, but I tend to dislike pure romantasy, and this was a perfect mix of both elements.

Thank you, NetGalley and Del Rey, for an early copy in exchange for this honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review this ARC

While I think I would love this story more but I just couldn't. The issues I had in the first book carried over into this book.

The world is very interesting and the character development is well done. That is where my praise ends.

My issue is the flow of writing. It is very choppy and feels immature. The story is easy to follow and very predictable.

With the understanding that this is Adult it makes sense but then we have romance which isn't matching the feeling of the writing in this book. The writing feels so much like a middle school or young adult book. If this is adult then the author has to do more than just adding spice.

I really wanted to like this series more and gave the second book a chance because I hoped for a little better but unfortunately I was a little let down.

The second book in a trilogy is always hard to write, but I must commend Saara for doing such a great job with Cursebound. In my opinion, it was even better than Faebound. It expanded on the things I really enjoyed from Faebound and made better the few things I didn’t like as much in Faebound.

The world, lore, and history is one of the best parts of this trilogy so far. As such, it was so easy to dive back in to this series even though I read book one about a year ago. Usually I struggle to continue a series if it’s been awhile since I read the first book because I hate not remembering everything, but the Saara starts the book off with a wonderful synopsis that was very helpful. Additionally, this world just really hooks you back in so easily. It’s so vividly described that I remembered it so well. Cursebound does an excellent job of expanding on the lore and history which made it a very exciting read for me. So many things I wanted to learn more about, I got out of this book.

I also think the characters had some growth that I really appreciated. I remember in Faebound, there were a few times I got annoyed with certain characters. A lot of those annoyances were gone with this book. One example would be Lettle’s deciphering of prophecies, I felt like she did a lot better this time. But that’s not to say there is no character drama, cause there is a lot since these characters can’t seem to communicate that well with each other. But even still the character interactions are so interesting. There are so many different relationships to consider. Like we have the couples obviously, but we also have Yeeran-Lettle sister relationship, Yeeran-Rayan comrade/military relationship, Lettle-Furi kind of hating each other but not fully cause they love the same people. It makes for interesting interactions for sure that were fun to read about.

There were more twists and turns in my opinion in this book. I usually guessed them before they were revealed but sometimes that was literally just a page or two ahead of time. But it was fun to see some things Saara foreshadowed that I didn’t catch when it was first shown.

The book also left off at a really fun point (okay fun is probably the wrong word choice here but I just mean that there is so much potential for book 3 and I’m very excited for it). I am really so curious how everything is going to shake out in the end. That last revelation has me so excited though.

Overall, I’m so thankful to the author and publishers for the ARC I received. It’s been so cool to get to ARC this series and I can’t wait for the finale of the trilogy. I think overall, I would give this book a 4.5/5. A lot of really awesome stuff that hooked me and made it so enjoyable to read.

Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I felt pretty meh about most of the book (common for 2nd books in trilogy), but the ending completely changed that! I cannot wait for the third book and the culmination of everything!

If you find yourself struggling a bit in the middle I believe that the ending makes up for it and I am really excited for book number 3.

4.25 Stars

WOW. I liked book one in this trilogy, but I think this book was better. I loved the way this cast of characters developed throughout the course of this book and I really enjoyed the addition of Alder. I had a little bit of a hard time getting into this book, but that final 25% was phenomenal and I devoured it. There is something about Saara's writing that just pulls me in and makes her stories devour able.

The relationships in this book still frustrated me. I am not a huge fan of these couples, but that's ok because I feel like this series is more fantasy than romance. I really enjoyed where this storyline went and I am excited for third and final book in this trilogy now.

"Love can be enough, as long as the other person chooses it too."

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy.

Cursebound is the second book in Saara El-Arifi’s ‘Fabound’ series. In this story, there is more magic, more danger and more conflict than ever before.

I still think that my favourite aspect of this series and of El-Arifi’s writing is the world-building. The strange and wonderful world of the Fae has so much lore that can be explored. Like in The Cruel Prince and Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries, this is not a gentle fairytale world. There is strife, political conflicts and plenty of danger. But the added element of mythology and magic makes the world much more intriguing. This fantastical place allows the author to examine important, real-world issues in a strange setting. I’m glad that she decided to expand on political topics like rebellion and discrimination more in this second book and I think that she’s setting up some really interesting issues for her third and final book.

Once again, I loved reading about the relationships in this book. I appreciate the focus on sisterhood and queer love in this series, relationships that are often neglected or relegated to the side in most fantasy books.

Of course, as with most second books in a series you do get the sense that the author is setting up plot points for later on. I think that the pace of this book was good, and there were plenty of dilemmas to keep you reading, but it wasn’t as fresh as the first book and probably won’t be as thrilling as the third. Nonetheless, this is a great series and definitely worth reading! Just be warned that you’ll have to wait a while for the last book.

Review coming. Need to leave a publisher note. I am such an idiot and I've been waiting for the first book from the library and I accidentally took my kindle out of airplane mode so the book returned. I'll consider buying the first one so I can leave a proper review and not wait 16 weeks for the book to get to me again. I'm so sorry. This was entirely my fault. I usually give my reviews in a timely manner.

I want to thank NetGalley/Random House Publishing Group for an eARC version of this book.

I am usually wary of the second book in a trilogy- it usually feels like a bridge between the start and end of the story without being a story on its own. Honestly, usually they are boring and warrant a lot of eye rolling BUT Saara El-Arifi was able to overcome! I enjoyed this more than the first book!

The first book set up the world (and did a great job) and continued with expansion of the world and continued the story without missing a beat. I appreciate the diversity and the age of these characters - it is not very common to have different races, variety physical abilities and sexual preferences portrayed in such a way that flows with the story (without being added to 'check a box').

Discussing plot would lead to spoilers, and I can say I was able to spot any 'twist' about a mile away, however, it did not hinder the enjoyment I had from picking up this book. Round of applause for Saara El-Arifi, I look forward to book number 3 to see how the story ends!

Characters: I enjoyed the development of the characters as well as learning more about their struggles. There are some pretty big revelations in the course of the story and I think that those gave the characters more depth.

Plot: I loved this book just as much as the first one! There’s something about the author’s writing that is truly magical and unique, in a way that sweeps you into the world she created. The pacing was well-done and left me wanting more.

Romance: This book is much more plot-focused than romance-heavy. And, you know, in the world of Romantasy, I am okay with that. But the romance that is present is representative of the LGBTQIAP+ community which is so important and needed.

*continuation of world/lore expansion
*new characters introduced and new POV’s
*political
*quick paced
*romance
*plot twist

This starts right where Faebound ends and I was so excited to see what would happen in this second title - I really enjoyed the further world building and representation. The world building and lore helped make this as enjoyable as it was.

Many of my issues with Faebound hold true for Cursebound - predictability, there’s more telling than showing, the romances felt flat to me, and the potential is still so obvious - I finished this one still feeling like it had just missed out on being excellent.

Recommended, regardless (with the same caveats).



Thank you to Del Rey and NetGalley for the DRC

4.5 stars

Thank you Random House and Netgalley for providing me with an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was SUCH a great sequel. Even better than the first and I am so excited to see what happens in the third and final book after the events of this one.

The continuation of our main characters stories had me gripped. The threat against Lettle’s life and uncovering who was behind the plot to kill her was absolutely fascinating. I managed to work out who was behind it a while before the reveal but that’s never something that lets me down when reading.

The ongoing political tension with the fae but also with the elves continued to ramp up during this one and I really do love politics and war in fantasy stories.

But the thing that really elevated this one was the addition of Alder. He was just so utterly loveable and wholesome. And his relationship with Golan caught me entirely by surprise and they’ve ended up my favourite ship in this series. They were just so dang precious.

Alder and all the secrets his plot uncovers was incredibly exciting and I can’t wait to see where it all leads.

I was so happy to read this sequel! I think Faebound was the first book I read here on Net Galley.

I love how this book starts with a quick recap of what happened in the first book—which I deeply appreciated because I didn’t remember much of what happened in the first book. But it was easy to jump back in!

First like two chapters were a bit slow but the pace quickly picked up! This books was even almost too short! Wanted to keep reading to see what happened next. This had a lot of twists and turns.

I was also so happy to meet new characters and spend more time with the obeahs (gorgeous feline magical creatures with horns) and the lovely mythology of the three races. Moreover, the inclusivity of the genders was delightful. How else can you make fantastical characters of races that aren’t human???

Some big deaths happened. Shook me to my core and the last three chapters!!!!! SUCH CLIFFHANGERS SHOULD BE A CRIME!!

Thank you NetGalley & Del Rey for the ARC.

I was lukewarm about Faebound for the most part but the reveal near the end hooked me back in because I love that I didn't see it coming. Suffice to say, this is STILL my experience with its sequel Cursebound. It's rare for me to be interested about the worldbuilding and lore much more than the characters themselves; it's always the other way around. But I found myself more and more apathetic about the secrets and grievances that almost all the main players have against one another.

Speaking of grievances, I can't help but be annoyed at Furi and Lettle's constant berating of Yeeran for daring to leave them temporarily, when all the latter wanted to do was attempt diplomacy, warn her former tribe of an impeding danger and educate them to reject their longstanding tradition of obeah-killing. Was her mission rather naive and foolhardy? Sure, but god forbid Yeeran wanted to think of something bigger than herself. It's valid to be upset that a loved one is leaving, but it's ridiculous to be so grudgeful for that long over what is essentially an altruistic motivation.

And on that note of Yeeran, her romance with Furi continues to be so immensely tumultuous and exhausting. Congrats, Saara El-Arifi has me not giving a fuck if a main sapphic couple stay together or not. At least the narrative has some self-awareness in which they acknowledge how rocky their relationship is. The other main romance of Lettle & Rayan continues to be bland, because Rayan is still bland, though Lettle does get an interesting character growth in empathizing with the marginalized fae community known as the Lightless. Saara El-Arifi's third attempt at introducing a new couple in the form of Golan & (new character) Alder proved much more successful than Yeeran/Furi & Lettle/Rayan. Golan/Alder has better chemistry and a more believable amount of bonding, that when the sex scene comes, it feels earned.

Sure, I wasn't technically bored enough to DNF, but I felt my indifference growing. I even thought how I probably won't pick up the third book because I just didn't CARE that much ... But at literally the last chapter right before the epilogue, there's an unexpected reveal that made me go FINE, you got me again, Ms. Saara. I have to know how the next one plays out.

3.5 stars

Cursebound picks up right where Faebound left off. I didn't feel like I needed to re-read Faebound because I was able to remember most of the book from my first read. There is a little summary in the format of Lettle's Journal that helps if you forget what's happened in the previous book.

I found this book a little less interesting than Faebound. I didn't like the conflict between Yeeran and Furi and Yeeran and Lettle. Yeeran left to warn her old tribe of the dangers they were facing and to try and stop the obeah-hunting. I didn't see it as the betrayal that Furi and Lettle did. The grudge that both characters held for Yeeran really felt unnecessary.

I liked the addition of the new character, Alder. He's very interesting. Lettle was not my favorite character in book one, and in book two, I found her more annoying. The rocky relationship between Yeeran and Furi was also a bit frustrating to read. Alder was a breath of fresh air when I got to his chapters.

The big twist at the end was not something I saw coming and I really enjoyed that. What I love most about these books is the worldbuilding. I love learning more about the races and their cultures. Honestly, I care more about the world and setting than I do about the main characters. I am invested to see how everything plays out but I'm not really invested in any of the relationships.

I look forward to seeing what book three has in store for us. I like the little twist at the end and I'm really excited to see how El-Arifi expands on it.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Cursebound picks up right where Faebound ends. There are more political machinations at play in this book: the Lightless are upset that a non-fae (Lettle) is in a position of authority while they continue to live as second class citizens, and a secret society of them are looking for a radical change in government. That reaction to institutionalized discrimination and the introduction of a new race into fae society was the strength of the book for me. There are so many layers of race and power that could be explored there. I don't think they WERE fully explored in this book, but perhaps in the sequel with Lettle's government initiative.

I always love how Saara summarizes events from previous books at the beginning of the sequels. No need to reread Faebound before diving into Cursebound.

My favorite character remains Golan, who I imagine as a bedazzled version of Lenny Kravitz as Cinna from The Hunger Games movies. We also get a new POV character in this book, Alder, who introduces a new mystery plotline, and his burgeoning relationship with Golan is easily my favorite romance in the series.

Lettle must be the worst seer in elf and fae history. How can she not understand her prophecies? They continue to be so blatantly obvious that I'm genuinely worried for her. She and Yeeran and their love interests still felt flat to me in this book; there remains a lot of telling instead of showing, and I'm still cringing at some of their immature reactions and poor decisions. I agree with the Lightless - none of them should be in positions of power.

The same issues I had in Faebound with comma splices, lack of commas, and sentence fragments abound here. When I read a novel, I try to imagine everything so clearly that there's a little movie playing in my head. I've been really struggling to do that with this series. The punctuation pricks at me constantly and the prose doesn't flow. I'm just reading words and not feeling them. My little mind movie rarely plays. I copied some of the sentences into my note-taking app and even the app wanted to correct the grammar.

There's so much potential in this world. The storytelling just feels a little unpolished.

I love Saara El-Arifi writing., even though there are multiple characters P.O.Vs the story flows very well and I cannot wait for the next book. I'm excited to see what ill happen between Lettle and Rayan as they're my favourite part of this series.

I normally am very cautious when it comes to a second book in a series only because it usually doesn’t stand up to the first book, but holy cow! This book was amazing! I flew through this book and loved every minute of it. I honestly cannot wait for the third book to come out, and this one isn’t even out yet! The plot of this book was fast-paced and very compelling, adding to the already phenomenal story the first one gave us. I loved all of these characters, and the revelation that Lettle has at the end absolutely blew my mind! I highly recommend this sequel!

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing me with an E-ARC to read and review.

I think my fundamental issue with this series is that it is written like, and feels like a YA series, dressed up to be adult. The writing style, the simplicity of the plot and the sheer amount of exposition feel way too young (in my opinion) to be an adult book. I genuinely think if the spice had been omitted, this would have been way more successful as a YA series.

As my above comment suggests I have mixed thoughts about Faebound and Cursebound. I really enjoyed the first half of Faebound but felt like it lost its way in the second half. However that being said, I didn't dislike it and wanted to pick up the second book to see if it improved. Unfortunately it didn't for me. There were things I enjoyed such as the introduction of Alder - I really loved his POV and his developing relationship with Golan. I do also love the world: i will always be a sucker for fae and elves and i think the author has created a really cool magic system within the story.

Overall I think my opinion is quite subjective because I don't think Cursebound is a bad book, I just think it reads too young for my personal tastes and would have been far more successful as YA (with no spice obvs).

Thank you to net galley for this arc!!

3.75⭐️
i loved Faebound so much i was very happy to get an arc for the 2nd book. I loved the recap because honestly i remembered not one thing from Faebound at first, so when those came up it jogged my memory. I love the world this is a classic fantasy at its core but the characters make it better. The queer representation is amazing i love the romance. it’s definitely fast paced the plot is amazing and kept me intrigued the whole way through. New characters were kind of hard to get into at first but i still enjoyed every second they were definitely important to the plot.

Although i loved it i do wish the conflict wasn’t resolved so fast. Some of the plot point that i think should’ve been important were just brushed over. I did guess the plot twist :(. It didn’t take anything away from the story because I still wanted to see how it unfolded but I do wish it was not so easy to figure out.

Over all i still enjoyed it and will definitely be checking out the 3rd book because this left in. MAJORRRR cliff hanger.

4.5 stars 🌟

I was so excited to be given the opportunity to receive an e-arc of this book as Faebound was one of my top reads last year!

Second books are notoriously challenging, and unfortunately this didn’t quite match Faebound for me, but I still enjoyed every second of it. The writing is enticing, the world building is fantastic and the characters are wonderful. A very solid book, with interesting twists and a fantastic magic system. I cannot wait for the third book!