Faebound is the first book in a series/trilogy and my first Saara El-Arifi book, so I was open enough about it despite booktok being meeh about it most of the time while praising her other trilogy.

I found the the story idea quite good as it's rare to find fae, elves and humans in one novel. Though, granted, the humans are all dead (or are supposed to be dead, who knows if they won't appear in the later books of the series), and the elves think that they are alone until Yeeran, the youngest colonel of the Waning Moon elven army, is being exiled and accidentally kills a fae prince, which results in her, and her sister's and her captain's, imprisonment. The two latter are "honoured guests" (aka glamourised prisoners) as they were in Yeeran's company when she killed the prince.

I liked how queer-normative the world is. All elves and fae are gender-fluid and there are several non-binary elves/fae characters. Same-sex partnerships/relationships are no issue either. Especially fae treat sex as something to enjoy and not to hide while the elves are a bit more prude in their behaviour about sex and nakedness.


Unfortunately, I have five main issues with the book that resulted in the 2 ⭐ rating:
‣  The magic system is never fully explained in a way that satisfied me.
There are three types of magic that are linked to the three races: sun magic (fae magic) which is not visible unless the inner eye is used and is often described as golden. Moon magic (elven magic) is basically just divination and silvery in appearance, and Earth magic (human magic) is linked to words/spoken language and is bronze/copper in appearance. Yet, somehow Yeeran can access fae magic as she is faebound (for some reason that is also unknown) by using her battle drum. It requires the intention to be used although the fae describe it as "half your mind has to be unfocused, the other half has to be focused" as you need to see the magic while performing it. Meanwhile, Lettle (Yeeran's younger sister) is a diviner who reads prophecies in the intestines from a magical creature and is only able to use this kind of magic. It is linked with unfocusing your mind as well, so somehow elven and fae magic are relatively close in how to use it.

‣ The magic system is linked to the flawed world-building, which falls apart if you think too much about it. There's an "Endless War" happening between two elven tribes (Waning Moon and Crescent), which happens only on one massive battlefield. Why is it only happening between two tribes? Where are the Full Moon and New Moon tribes? Why is it only happening on one battlefield that is soaked in blood by now? (And might happen since 1,000 years.) Why do the elves fight over highly coveted crystals (fraedia) that act like sunlight, so they can grow their own food and warm houses? They have a sun, so it doesn't make much sense why they need the crystals. Was there a famine? A blight on agricultural lands? Despite riding on camels, which would hint at a desert-inspired setting, the entire world takes place in a tropical setting including a lush forest/rain forest. (Though the author never bothers to make use of the rainforest with the high humidity, insects bothering the elves, and more local flora and fauna than three plants and a bunch of mentioned animals.) Overall, everything is very undescribed and underdeveloped. The author put an effort into the world-building concerning the fae but it's only marginal. (Also, the slaughtering of magical creatures for drums and divination ... I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't just magical creatures but the humans that vanished as well.)

‣  The romances are not my cup of tea because they are just instant lust in both cases. It is just 100% based on physical attraction and there's nothing in them that would make me think "Yes, they will continue to be together after the end of the series" because they share nothing with their partner aside from physical attraction/lust. I would have been okay with it if the author had the guts to call it just lust instead of love. It isn't love. If I squint, I might see a hint of love between Yeeran and her ex-lover although even there it's mostly physical attraction. Also, Lettle (Do not get me started on her name, please.) is the strong woman™ and therefore, cannot acknowledge her attraction to Rayan and has to become utterly unreasonable as soon as feelings are involved until she is having her "I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love me" moment at a crime scene. A crime scene where she is the main suspect. Her only thought is "the realisation was not timely". YOU THINK SO, YOU LITTLE DIM-WITTED ELF!? (Lettle in general drove me up a wall. I dislike her a lot.)

‣ Generally, the book is very predictable (especially the prophecies), which gives it YA vibes while it is marketed as an adult series due to the three sex scenes (that are so mild that they barely qualify for 1 🌶️). It is rather frustrating as a reader to foresee everything while the characters stumble through the plot and can't even put the tiniest pieces together. Every reveal and plot twist was very heavy-handed in their reveal, so I couldn't enjoy them enough.

‣ Aside from the predictable, the writing style is atrocious and sometimes it feels either unedited (Because the publisher thought that they didn't need to put in enough effort due to El-Afrifi's previous successful series.) or as if the author is not an English-speaking native, which would be even more reason for an editor to pay attention. It results in paragraphs/sentences like:
He held a hand over a wound in his arm. A wound he had got from trying to save her. How she loved him. The realization was not timely. or The camel sprang quickly to standing. or Yeeran couldn't imagine not wanting to stop combat.
WHO WRITES LIKE THIS!? Also, a camel cannot spring quickly to standing, they are slow when getting up and down. Also, they don't have hooves like horses (which is the implication when they were described).


TL;DR: Underdeveloped world-building and characters, clunky writing style, and instant lust-based romances make up the novel. The story idea is good but its execution is so flawed that it hurts. The only positives of the book are the queer-normative world and the magical, intelligent beings called obeah.