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JustJJ's Reviews > Faebound

Faebound by Saara El-Arifi
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it was ok
bookshelves: 2024-2-or-1-star

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Rating: 2 stars

Cover: 🌟🌟🌟
This design nicely captures the fantasy genre of the story and aspects of the world, but it portrays little else about the story and I do not find it captivating.

Writing: 🌟🌟
Even with a considerable amount of world-building information and several interesting concepts, the fantasy world seemed underdeveloped and shallow. I also struggled with the awkward writing style that told more than it showed and dragged down the narrative with information dumps about the world and characters.

“We must let the wind of change ease our flight, not hinder it.�

Storyline: 🌟🌟
The slow, character-driven storyline is centred on the thin internal struggles and romantic angst of the main characters. Besides, despite some dire situations, the stakes always felt low and the events were predictable, making the storyline very simple and unengaging.

Main character(s): 🌟🌟
I found the sisters Yeeran and Lettle painfully one-dimensional, as they only had one or two defining traits and no character arc. Their words and actions also made them seem very immature, despite all we told to portray them as kind and fierce leads.

“our ignorance made victims of us�

Secondary characters: 🌟🌟
Like Yeeran and Lettle, the few secondary characters seemed one-dimensional and unremarkable. Apart from their contributions to the storyline, none experienced any growth or complexity, so they all failed to make a strong impression on me.

Romance: 🌟
The two romantic connections relied on so many tropes that they seemed forced and lacked convincing chemistry. There was also little depth to these connections, and I constantly cringed at the strong feelings that developed from nothing but lust.

“Love and hate are oil and water, separate but similar, and sometimes they swirl together, making it difficult to tell one from the other.�

Narration & Audio: 🌟🌟🌟
While I enjoyed the narration by Bahni Turpin, her performance only made the characters seem even more childish and annoying. The little vocal variety and some weird inflexions also made this audiobook less engaging.

In the end, I cannot believe that this book was written by the same author who wrote one of my favourite reads from last year - The Final Strife. The simple storyline, flat characters and forced romance left me feeling bored and uninvested throughout. Those who liked this may also enjoy Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman, which is a similar romantasy read.
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Reading Progress

October 7, 2023 – Shelved
October 7, 2023 – Shelved as: to-read
February 12, 2024 – Started Reading
February 16, 2024 – Shelved as: 2024-2-or-1-star
February 16, 2024 – Finished Reading

Comments Showing 1-24 of 24 (24 new)

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➦Paulette & Her Sexy Alphas❥ Best of luck to you, darling


JustJJ � Paulette & Her Sexy Alphas� wrote: "Best of luck to you, darling"

Thanks Paulette! 🤞🏾


Southern Lady Reads Hope you love this! I've heard good things!


➦Paulette & Her Sexy Alphas❥ JustJJ wrote: "� Paulette & Her Sexy Alphas� wrote: "Best of luck to you, darling"

Thanks Paulette! 🤞🏾"


My absolute pleasure, L💕ve �


message 5: by Brightness (new) - added it

Brightness I dnf'd this recently because I just couldn't get into it. I thought it was because of the narrator and wanted to try again on print. Interested to read your full review.


JustJJ Southern Lady Reads wrote: "Hope you love this! I've heard good things!"

Thanks! I didn't find it very interesting though 🙈🙈


message 7: by Brightness (new) - added it

Brightness Same.


message 8: by bruna (new)

bruna oh no! sorry this was a two star read 🥲


JustJJ Brightness wrote: "I dnf'd this recently because I just couldn't get into it. I thought it was because of the narrator and wanted to try again on print. Interested to read your full review."

I don't blame you for dnf'ing this Brightness!! 🙈🙈 Thanks!


JustJJ bruna wrote: "oh no! sorry this was a two star read 🥲"

Thanks bruna! I was really excited about it but was so disappointed 🥲


message 11: by Charles (new)

Charles So sorry about this one, it seems like the cover may have been the best part. Hopefully your next read will put this book to shame.


message 12: by JustJJ (last edited Feb 21, 2024 08:43AM) (new) - rated it 2 stars

JustJJ Charles wrote: "So sorry about this one, it seems like the cover may have been the best part. Hopefully your next read will put this book to shame."

Thanks Charles! 🩵🥰 It really is!


sherbereads ✧.* ᰔᩚ🍉 🔛Fable! Hope the next read is better for you♥️ At least it wasn’t a DNF ig lol 🥲😭


message 14: by Queen of Shelves (new)

Queen of Shelves hope your next read is a banger 💕


message 15: by Connie (new) - added it

Connie I'm so sorry this was such a disappointing read! I've been seeing some mixed reviews for this one. Thank you for the honest review, JJ! I hope your next read is a winner!


message 16: by bruna (new)

bruna oh no! i'm so sorry this was a miss for you :( great review nonetheless, JJ 💗 hopefully your next read will be better.


JustJJ sherbereads �.* ᰔᩚ wrote: "Hope the next read is better for you♥️ At least it wasn’t a DNF ig lol 🥲😭"

Thanks! 💙 I probably should have DNF'ed 🙈


JustJJ Queen of Shelves wrote: "hope your next read is a banger 💕"

Thanks! 💙😊


JustJJ Coco (Semi-Hiatus) wrote: "I'm so sorry this was such a disappointing read! I've been seeing some mixed reviews for this one. Thank you for the honest review, JJ! I hope your next read is a winner!"

Thanks so much Coco! 💙 I can understand the mixed reviews, but this just wasn't for me 🙈


JustJJ bruna wrote: "oh no! i'm so sorry this was a miss for you :( great review nonetheless, JJ 💗 hopefully your next read will be better."

Thanks bruna! 💙🤞🏾


Margaret M - (having a challenging time and on GR as much as I can) Fabulous review JJ 💖


JustJJ Margaret M - months of wrote: "Fabulous review JJ 💖"

Thanks Margaret! 💙🥰


wangxianshipcaptain Exactly my feelings. I was incredibly disappointed. I saw someone praising the plot twists and I just 😶
I’m sorry, what? The “plot twists� that were so obvious I started to get upset because the characters would have to be willfully ignorant to not see them? Those “plot twists�???
I am still trying to understand how this got so much hype from people I can normally trust.


JustJJ MagicalMysMalin wrote: "Exactly my feelings. I was incredibly disappointed. I saw someone praising the plot twists and I just 😶
I’m sorry, what?..."


I don't understand the hype either! It's moments like this that make me question whether we all read the same book!


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