Faebound

Got the LE signed copy by FairyLoot for 72$ which is wild but imma support my kin and cant wait to read it

Nup, I tried. I really tried. I wanted to love it because the premise sounded so good. It was just too annoying. DNF-ed somewhere around 30% and the 100th mention of Obeah and I just couldn't any more.

Dnf at 25% complete. I suppose it could get better, but somehow we already have the incredibly tired tropes of

1. Hero exiled after traffic mistake
2. Weak younger sibling who has to grow up in a hurry
3. Sturdy, dependable ex soldier who is unfazed by shrewish heroine, and falls in love
4. The inn is crowded and has only 1 bed
5. A wise animal appears and leads the hunter to wisdom

I'm honestly impressed at the density of cliche in so short a span of pages. The characters felt like they were being put through the paces of a just so story. They had no life of their own.

I really sadly did not enjoy this book. the hype for it is overblown and I wish there would have been more authentic reviews.

There is no character growth or development, they all come across 1 dimensional to the point that they are the exact same person at the end, as they were at the beginning. Lettle is written as an extremely immature and bratty side character who does nothing to push the plot along aside from give a riddle that she can't even work out. If she can't understand a 2 sentence prophecy who is a DAY ONE APPRENTICE, how is she ending as seer to the king and not just consort. She hasn't had one lesson yet instantly gets the job? 

Yeerans story line simply doesn't make any sense. why would she go home at the end of the book when there's been no reason or strong emotional tie to go back for? we are expected to believe she goes back for a love that we only got one or two pages for? 

I feel like we should have spent more time with Yeeran in the army before she was exiled. We didn't really get a chance to connect with that part of the story. Either that or it could have started on day 1 of her exile with thoughts back to what happened. Instead we get this middleground half baked setting with weird pacing. 

The first thing you get told with writing is to show not tell and this book was just a lot of telling. Pacing was jarring and caused a huge disconnect. This feels like a 2nd book, not a first. I loved the cultural aspects but they simply weren't deep enough. There is no emotion in the writing or with the characters.

Olen varovaisesti ja valikoiden kastanut varpaitani romantasiaan. Brittiläisen Saara El-Arifin ura on käynnistynyt vauhdilla: esikoisromaani The Final Strife julkaistiin 2022 ja se ehti vuoteen 2024 mennessä täydentyä jo trilogiaksi. Uuden trilogian esikoisosa Faebound ilmestyi niin ikään 2024; jatkoa on luvassa ja pari seuraavaa projektiakin on jo myyty, oletettavasti kovaan hintaan, kun esikoisestakin maksettiin jo kuusinumeroisesti Atlantin molemmin puolin. Melkoista nousukiitoa siis!    Juuriltaan sudanilainen ja ghanalainen, Arabiemiraateissa syntynyt ja Englannissa varttunut ja opiskellut El-Arifi kirjoittaa afrikkalaissävytteistä fantasiaa. Faeboundin maailmassa on ihmisiä, haltioita ja keijuja. Ihmiset ovat tosin kaiketi sukupuuttoon kuolleita ja keijutkin on häädetty jonnekin sen verran kauan sitten, että keijujen olemassaolo alkaa vaikuttaa myytiltä. On siis haltioita, jotka jakautuvat neljään heimoon, joiden välillä käydään ikuista ja veristä sotaa.    Sodassa on kyse fraediakristalleista. Niillä on voimaa kuin auringolla: niillä voi lämmittää kotinsa ja viljellä maata. Taistelukenttien alla on kristalliesiintymiä, joita kaikki haltiaheimot haluavat itselleen. Sotaa käydään paitsi perinteisin asein, myös taikakeinoin: aseina toimivat rummut, joilla toteutetaan kirjaimellisesti rumputulitusta. Maailma on tavallaan kiehtova, mutta toisaalta vähän heikonpuoleisesti kuvailtu – vaikkapa eri haltiaheimojen eroista ei saa oikein käsitystä, melko epämääräistä on myös se, miksi ikuista sotaa oikeastaan käydään.    Kirjan päähenkilöinä ovat sisarukset Yeeran ja Lettle. Yeeran on Alakuun haltiaheimon sotapäällikkö, pikkusisko Lettle taas kohtalonkatsoja, jolla on ennustusten lukemisen taito. Yeeran on vasta ylennetty, kun ensimmäinen sotaretki menee pieleen ja johtaa sotilaiden tarpeettomaan kuolemaan. Yeeran välttyy kuolemantuomiolta, mutta joutuu karkotetuksi. Lettle lähtee siskonsa perään, mukanaan Yeeranille uskollinen kapteeni Rayan.    Yeeranin suunnitelma löytää jotain tarpeeksi arvokasta lahjoakseen tiensä takaisin kotiin kohtaa esteitä, kun Lettle sekaantuu asiaan. Pian sisarukset ja Rayan löytävät itsensä vankeina keijujen salaperäisestä valtakunnasta Mosimasta. Keijut ovat kuin ovatkin totta, kuten Yeeran ja Lettle saavat omakohtaisesti kokea.    Faeboundin maailma on mielenkiintoinen. El-Arifi on onnistunut luomaan siihen mielenkiintoisia mutkia matkaan. Asioilla on merkityksiä, jotka ulottuvat pintaa syvemmälle. Haltioiden käsitys maailmasta on pahasti vajavainen. Kun romantasian puolella ollaan, mukana on tietysti intohimoa ja rakkautta. Kevyttä enemies to lovers -asetelmaa on luvassa; paritukset eivät varsinaisesti yllätyksiä tarjonneet. Ei siis mitään erityisen yllätyksellistä. Liekki polttelee kuitenkin sopivan hitaasti. Haltioiden ja keijujen maailmat ovat luontevasti queer ja sukupuoli on molemmissa varsin joustava käsite.    Suomennos on Helka Sivillin käsialaa. Siitä ei ole pahaa sanottavaa; teksti on aivan riittävän sujuvaa, eikä mikään tökkinyt lukiessa. En ole tosin erityisen herkkä ärsyyntymään – Goodreadsin puolelta löytyy ihastuttavan raivokkaita yhden tähden arvioita Faeboundista, jos kirjan puutteisiin tahtoo sukeltaa. Minulle tämä toimi viihteenä; tällaiselta romantasiakirjalta en suuremmin tolkkua odota. Tässä oli siinä määrin riittävästi mielenkiintoisia aineksia, että lukenen kyllä seuraavankin osan. 

well just another bad boring fae book where the fae are just hot humans. dear writers... PLEASE bring back WEIRD FAE!!! look them up!

the romance for everyone sucked ass.. it was just lust at first sight immediately.. then they are all talking wowwowow im in love with this person like?? no the fuck you aint you in love with his dick and her vagina stfu

the plot twists sucked ass rayan a half fae AND is king? seriously????

I had heard good things from a couple different people about this book so I expected to enjoy it, but even still I was pleasantly surprised. The first book in a new series always has to do a lot of heavy lifting to get things going and that can make them slow, but Faebound doesn’t suffer from that at all. You’re immediately dropped into the world and taken along on their adventure. The characters are complex, the magic system is unique, and you’re given just enough information about the world to keep you intrigued without being beaten over the head by exposition. Definitely looking forward to seeing where the story goes!

Really, really great concept. This was definitely one of my most anticipated releases for 2024.

Poor execution.

This ended at the perfect place. We found out just enough to solve our immediate questions, but now they all have to deal with that knowledge. There was a smidge of romance and I liked the amount that was in there. It did not overwhelm the politics and world building. The legends/ folklore of the world included at the beginning of the parts was fascinating. I kept debating on what was true and how the different groups could have interpreted these stories. The magic and the secrets of the way that it works are interesting and provided a lot of pondering for me. I can't wait to see what happens next.

Given how much I've enjoyed this author's other series - The Ending Fire - and am eagerly awaiting the final book in that series, I thought I would love this book but it was a huge disappointment for me.

There is a severe lack of world building in this book, so much that even by the mid-way point I still had no image of the world, the underground city, the Elves and the Fae, etc. I usually find that I can visualise the story even when world building is a little lacking but in this I was completely blind.

I also found the characters quite underdeveloped, at no point did I feel connected to them or have any feelings about them being in danger or their relationships growing. I was completely ambivalent to them which I think it worse than loving or hating them.

The plot was okay and was really the only thing which kept me going in the story, but it wasn't anything new in the genre and was fairly predictable.

Perhaps a personal issue for me, as I've read the author's books so closely together, is that I found a lot of the names in both series very similar, some of the side character names are nearly identical. It's just an odd choice when in a fantasy story you can literally make up anything, but perhaps I'm nitpicking.

Overall this one was a miss for me and I'm unlikely to continue in this series, but I am very excited for The Ending Fire to release later this year and will look for other books from this author.

3.5

A solid read! It was very easy to read and I found myself pretty hooked to what was reading, but ultimately the plot was a bit predictable and I wasn't surprised about how the story unfolds.
This didn't stop me from enjoying the story and would recommend if you are looking for something that feels familiar and reads fast!

A solid read! It was very easy to read and I found myself pretty hooked to what was reading, but ultimately the plot was a bit predictable and I wasn't surprised about how the story unfolds.
This didn't stop me from enjoying the story and would recommend if you are looking for something that feels familiar and reads fast!

This review is hard for me to write because I just loved the book... It wasn't perfect BUT the lore and the storytelling were all there for me. 

It is very easy to get lost in the intricacies of reading high fantasy. Forgetting lore, characters coming and going, but everything in Faebound connected so seamlessly. I had several “Ah Ha” moments, which I love to experience while reading!

Getting into the story was kind of difficult because the part where Yeeran made her “fatal mistake” felt super choppy to me. I just didn't understand why it panned out the way it did? It felt super clunky, and a plot line that was thrown in there. This didn't deter me from progressing, but I was definitely unsure I would like the rest of the story.

Also if you are going into this for the romance aspect I would lower your expectation a bit! This is not a romantasy! Yes there is romance, but it is not the focus... so that's your warning 🫡🤣

Overall, I will definitely be reading the next book! I loved all the twist and turns the story took, and how we, as the reader, are also looking for the truth!

3.5☆
I hate that I cannot rate this higher, but it has caused me to roll my eyes too much (and too much ‘spice for my personal liking) to give this book the 5☆ I want to give it after finishing

This story has the most unique world building/magic system I have ever read. The info dump doesn't bog you down. It has a little bit of everything for everyone. Sapphic romance. Slow burn. Twists and turns. HIGHLY recommend this book.