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!

I kinda feel the author was more worried about making social commentary on America that writing a book judging by the multiple story lines that just kinda dropped off
But hey, if you like reading that. Go to down.

This was a solid second entry to the Faebound series. I continue to appreciate that there as a wide array of representation in this world and that it tackles tough topics like segregation, and class systems in addition to the wider war between creatures. I very much appreciated the recap of book one that was cleverly disguised as a journal entry during the first chapter! I felt that the plot could've moved forward a bit more quickly, though this is the curse of second books. I liked that there was more fantasy and less romance when compared to the first book. I look forward to seeing how the trilogy will end.

Thank you to Del Rey for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel via NetGalley.

I had hoped going into this book that it would show growth from El-Arifi as a writer and be an improvement on the first book. Sadly, this book did not make me. any more. willing to read the third book in this series. I believe this is where El-Arifi and I. part ways. I will. not be requesting an ARC of book 3, nor willI purchase it myself.

I LOVE THIS WORLD!!!!
No second book in a trilogy issues to be seen here 👀

It’s hard to review second books without dropping spoilers so I’ll keep this brief but allude to what to expect if you were on the fence about continuing.

Cursebound opens up in the same lush and vivid way as faebound did - the world is one of my favourites and we get more of it, new areas, more lore and more magic. This also meant the introduction of some new POV’s.

The new POV’s added more depth to the story and a new romance between characters *squeals* (I love them your honor). And some really enjoyable characters, too! I did not feel bogged down by the extra POV’s.

Cursebound also moved into some more political topics such as segregation, class systems and rebellions. As with all things, what is reflected internally is also reflected externally and we really get to see how fear can create resistance.

This moves quickly and was paced well. I’ve never read a fantasy faster in my life and I attribute that to El-Arifi’s ability to write concisely and in such vivid detail. The only downside to this fast moving story is that I struggled to stay emotionally connected to the characters during harder times and crisis. I don’t believe this would be an issue for anyone who prefers plot driven stories though.

ADORED. Can’t wait for more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Faebound was one of my favorite reads for 2024. I was worried book 2 wouldn’t live up to my expectations, but I think I loved this book even more than the first. I did not see the ending coming and can’t wait for more.

Let me start with the peeves first. This is entirely a personal preference and is not a reflection on the story or the writing, but I, personally, have never been a fan of throwback/recaps through the chapters to earlier books. So I found that it took me a while to properly get into the story, it also didn’t help the fact that it wasn’t that long ago I read book 1 so the story line was pretty fresh in my head. When I did manage to get past the re-caps, I found myself falling into the story. It was a fast paced read with something always happening and found myself getting really involved with the characters. I did ruin it for myself by finding out there was a big twist in the story, so naturally I went in trying to figure it out, which I managed quite early on. But this did not take anything from the story at all, I was loving it all and I loved seeing the plot unfold.

Will I be getting book 3? Absolutely! Have I already Pre-ordered a physical special edition copy of this book? Without a doubt!

Thank you Saara El-Arifi, NetGalley, and Random House Publishing Group for provided me with an e-ARC. I'm extremely grateful.

I cannot tell you how much I love this book. Like I have no compliants other than I'm really sad I didn't get a redemption arc that I wanted (not going to even put a spoiler because I don't want to ruin it for anyone!). It's so hard to believe it's only 270 pages. There's just so much going on but it was perfectly written. I did not want to adult while reading it but I had to. This is now one of my top 3 series.