All her life Yeeran has known bloodshed. Raised to inherit a war responsible for countless deaths, Yeeran now ranks as Colonel. In opposition is her sister Lettle, who spends her days divining the future and a way out of their troubles. After a routine patrol ends in the deaths of hundreds of soldiers, Yeeran is exiled from the elven lands and left to wander the wilderness beyond for the remainder of her days. Intent on rejoining her sister, Lettle ventures into the harsh landscape, and when the two finally reunite it is in a death that puts them face to face with the fae, beings that have been believed dead for centuries. Taken into their hidden world against their will, Yeeran, and Lettle shoulder the harsh reception of the fae court as Yeeran is put on trial for the murder of their prince. Instead, Yeeran awakens a legacy that has long awaited her as a half-fae, an individual who can bond to beings of immense power, and harness their abilities as Faebound. With her origins still a mystery, and many who want her and her sister dead, Yeeran and Lettle will have to gather their allies and discover a truth that will fracture an already unstable world.
Curses, prophecies, and magic intersect with devastating romance in this sensational sophomore series debut from author Saara El-Arifi. Faebound is everything I’ve been yearning for from fae-centered fantasy – rooted in compelling quests for truth, an end to generational traumas, and the altering of history and its power over entire civilizations. Bonus for its intricately developed relationships between women, romantic and familial. Saara El-Arifi is quickly becoming a fantasy author to watch, as she debuts a brand new trilogy here and is wrapping up her Ending Fire Trilogy this coming summer.
In Faebound, El-Arifi sketches a brutal landscape divided by war and two sisters on separate paths that must converge. Each must meet their destiny, Yeeran with her rough edges tested by her fate as a Faebound and her newfound abilities, and Lettle, a dreamer who must harness her innate power to divine. This is first and foremost a story of sisterhood and the power of that bond. Through Yeeran and Lettle, El-Arifi focuses on a younger generation growing up in a time of immense strife and the intergenerational consequences of war and colonization. These two have been dealt a lot of pain, but their bond underpins everything else and is a constant source of strength. Though there is more of a direct focus on Yeeran as she takes up the mantle of Faebound and comes to terms with her origins, it is Lettle who truly was my favorite to read from. Lettle is the outer perspective – the one who remains behind, the sister trying to hold it together when her loved ones have gone to war or passed on, and someone trying to make sense of her place in the world. Lettle seeks to read a world determined to sideline her. The themes of prophecy and divination are intrinsically tied into her arc of commanding divination and harnessing her own destiny. Separately, Yeeran is bonded to a snarky but loveable animal companion and set against a commander seeking vengeance for the death of her prince. There’s a bit of an enemies-to-lovers arc that evolved out of this and tied in very nicely with the focus on truth and the power of close bonds. Bringing in drum magic, legacies cast off and undertaken, and numerous twists it shall come as no surprise that this is a new favorite. This is a fast-paced, outstanding series debut and one I’ll be singing praises to for months to come. Faebound is a dark, glorious fae story empowered by love, sisterhood, truth, and an end to war.
Thank you to Del Rey for providing a physical arc to review.
Trigger warnings: death, blood, violence, murder, war, grief
Literaryrobin 