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I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free.

A debut from a promising new writer, The Collarbound explores magic, identity, and belonging.

I really enjoyed The Collarbound! It's a book that is a little slow to start - I went in expecting something a little different - yet I couldn't put it down. I loved the world Zahabi created, from the windswept Nest that houses and educates mages to the incredibly cool mind-link magic and mindbrawls, to the Kher - the humanoid race that is treated as second class citizens. In fact, the exploration of the Kher community and ways of life were the best bits of The Collarbound. My favourite chapters were when our characters were in the Kher quarter of the city and saw first hand how they are treated by humans - these chapters and their revelations were incredibly powerful.

Zahabi takes a lot of care with building her characters and it is those characters that really shine in this book. Our POV characters are Tatters, a collarbound mage who has escaped his master, and Isha, the human novice mage with a Kher tattoo. Both of these characters were great and well-written (especially Isha, who truly embodies the sense of not-belonging that is pervasive through the book), but I have a real soft spot for Arushi, the Kher guard that befriends Tatters, and her family.

I expected The Collarbound to be an action-packed adventure and was pleasantly surprised to find it was not. It is a quiet, character-driven, slow burn of a book. Zahabi creates a world that feels fresh and unique and I couldn't help but fall in love with it. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!

CW: racism, slavery