This book is not for plot-driven readers—say it again in the back! Not for plot readers!!

Now I’ve seen conflicting opinions about this book, and it all focuses on the plot. Did much happen in this book plot-wise? Honestly, not really. If it weren’t for my love of the characters (Lettle and Rayan = my awkward cuties & Yeeran = intrusive thought chaos) and world building, I probably wouldn’t be rating it this high. The characters are passive when it comes to the action of the book. They converse with other characters and explore, but the driving force of the plot is weak because it boils down to one thing: escape. If you’re a plot reader, I’m hesitant to recommend Faebound.

Here's a brief summary of the plot in the first 25%:

Yeeran (of the Waning tribe) is banished after ignoring orders and leading her army into a deadly battle with the Crescent tribe. Her sister Lettle follows her into the wild, followed closely by Yeeran's former captain Rayan who also feels responsible for the error in battle. All three are elves. Yeeran is hunting for an obeah (magical feline-like creature with horns) whose skin is used to cover drums to create magic called drumfire. When the three reunite, they eventually track down and kill an obeah. Immediately, the three are attacked and captured by fae (believed to be extinct along with humans) and taken underground to the fae kingdom. They do this because to kill an obeah (with black fur) is to also kill a corresponding fae due to the magical bonding of the two in their culture. Yeeran had the unfortunate circumstance to not only kill an obeah-fae pairing... But specifically the elder Crown Prince of the fae.

Now obviously, Yeeran is not executed for her crimes like the fae initially plan to do. She gets out of it by accidentally bonding with an obeah, something that should ~allegedly~ only happen between fae and obeah. The crew is forced to stay in the fae kingdom, so the main plot becomes escape. They spend the next 80% of the book learning the customs of the fae and interacting with various members of the court and society to aid their escape. Besides a death here or there, that's pretty much the gist of the plot.

I understand why people are upset with the plot, but I’ve come to realize that Saara likes to setup her series a ton in the first book. There’s a lot of slow buildup in the middle 80% of the book, but once, the end hits, she throws everything at us. When I read The Battle Drum, I got to see the fruits of her first book’s labor via setup. I’m expecting the same to happen with Faebound sequel.

Now you may be wondering why my review is so high if the plot is lacking. Well, the characters and world building were phenomenal! I'm a sucker for complicated, sassy, even annoying (at times) leads, and we certainly got a variety of personalities. Even though Rayan does not have a POV, I loved his dialogue where he voiced his concerns or thoughts to Lettle. Rayan and Yeeran are definitely solider types in their thinking, very cutesy jock-like honestly, but then, we have the divination/ intellectual Lettle to counteract their thick skulls. I'm hoping Rayan is added as a POV in the sequel because we now know his biggest secret, and Saara had to hide us from it due to the plot twist.

I loved the elf and fae interactions. Surprisingly enough I have not read that many elf stories, so it was refreshing to read about the leads because I don’t have that much experience with their species. Fae on the other hand are wildly over-consumed in my reading. I liked that I got to see them in this new depiction, but it wasn’t as a leading character. Thereby, I have this separation from them because my allegiance is to the elves. Both the elves and fae have a great culture when it comes to gender and sexuality, so I loved that while the species are very different from each other, their form of gender expression and love were one of the same.

The last thing I want to bring up is the romantic fantasy elements of the book. This is not romantasy because the romance is technically a subplot, but the romance is very apparent. There are a couple explicit scenes, but it is 2-3 scenes max. Arguably, only one scene is truly explicit in my opinion.

Lettle and Rayan are the first two pairings readers root for. I loved them from their first awkward moment together as they stumbled around to find Yeeran. I'm a big sucker for the quiet man, opinionated woman trope, and they follow that to a T! I see my own relationship in theirs a lot, so it was very easy to sway me to love them haha. Their miscommunication will definitely drive a few of you wild—definitely did for me at times—but their shared moments ultimately overpowered any annoyance I felt about that trope.

Then Yeeran... she's a bit more complicated. Readers see her first with her Waning Chieftan Salawa. They're lovers, but pretty quickly, I got this weird feeling about Salawa. She does not fight hard enough to save Yeeran from her bainshment, and I heavily noticed the toxicity in their unequal power dynamics, ruler and general. Lettle immediately makes many comments to Teeran that she's imprisoned within that relationship. Yeeran consistently thinks of Salawa throughout the course of the book because it is the foundation for why she kills the obeah after her banishment. Salawa becomes this goal of Yeeran's in her desire to escape. Thus, the power imbalance only worsens, and then, the second love interest arrives.

This spoiler section involves the second love interest![Oh, Furi. You had no chance of hating Yeeran because she never intended to kill your older brother. She'd never touch an obeah if she knew they were attached to a fae. Yeeran's actions were one of ignorance, and she is upfront about that. I think that's the moment where Furi's walls began to loosen. They're definitely an enemies to reluctant acquaintances to lovers trope haha. I'm REALLY excited to see where their relationship goes, especially now that Yeeran has left the kingdom to inform the world of the obeah and their link to fae. She wants to stop the war between Waning and Crescent, but we find out Furi and the fae rulers have been working alongside Crescent in a mutually beneficial relationship to try to break their curse. Honestly, I loved that complexity to their relationship because it shows both have done harm to the other in ignorant ways, but now they have decided to work together and choose one another. Salawa is the biggest question mark for me by the end because how will she react to Yeeran's return, especially since Yeeran is no longer romantically loyal to her? The manipulation via romance is gone now, so I;m curious to see what tensions go down between Salawa, Yeeran, and even Furi

Thank you to Del Rey for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.