Stunning photo by @rebireads
Hello fairy friends!
Happy Monday and welcome to day 1 of the December Adult Book readalong of Faebound by Saara El-Arifi. I am super excited to be reading this with you all!
Before we start, how are you all doing? I hope you had a wonderful week and are ready to be swept away into this new fantasy world!
Since today is day 1, we’ll be reading from the beginning to the end of chapter 10. Get comfy and let’s get started!
When you’ve finished today’s section, catch up with me in the comments down below so we can discuss the beginning of the book. Happy reading!
Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for Faebound by Saara El-Arifi from the beginning to the end of Chapter 10. Please only read on if you have finished this section!
!SPOILERS!
First off the story about the gods and each of their children humans, fae and elves I love!
Yeeran was born on the battlefield what? That seems excessive.
I want to know more about the four different tribes and the magic system her drum is the weapon I love! Also she is the youngest Colonel we love to see it.
Surprise surprise they are fighting over mines with the magical fraedia crystals inside!
Excuse me children are fighting in this war???
We have now been introduced to Lettle, Yeeran’s little sister and I think her prophecies will actually be correct!
I do like when a main character has had some hardship eg Yeeran with poverty.
Action has started already they have been ambushed already!
Wait no Salawa is the chieftain she has to execute Yeeran?? No it is worse she has been sentenced to exile, this is breaking my heart.
We get Lettles POV aswell!! The way she showed up and protested for her sister I love it!
Lettle got a prophecy that she will kill her beloved, oh this is interesting!
Yeeran has fully been exiled and has had her ears cut to prove that she is no longer allowed in the Elven Lands unless she wants to die, that seems a little extreme.
She has just been faced with a big obeah elder, is this a good thing or a bad thing?
I also love that Yeeran’s father taught her and Lettle how to survive in the wild!
I love that Lettle has an altered bow to suit her needs, that makes so much sense for a fantasy book!
Am I sensing a romantic tension between Lettle and Rayan? I love that he is trying to take accountability for his actions.
Lettle is potentially going to be a favourite character, even though she can forgive her sister for fighting in the war but no other soilders. It seems a little hypocritical.
Ewww the skin traders seem awful, I feel sick after reading that.
I hate that Lettle has bad memories of caring for her dead father.
She just killed an obeah cub, but I don’t think they are born to be harvested. I do find the act of reading the entrails very interesting as predicting prophecies!
Did the obeah led Yeeran to the water as it seemed to know she was there the whole time?
Rayan is from another tribe? I find that so interesting that he has chosen a different one to fight for.
One room at the inn?? One bed trope yes please!!
The Crescent tribe’s old chieftain sounds awful but I have a feeling he has a bigger role to play! He will come out of hiding.
Not Rayan leaving when Lettle is in her underwear, this is not supposed to happen. He came back and spoke of his history, I want him to get his vengeance.
I want them to find Yeeran now, it has been too long without her.
They have united! Yes!!!
Yeeran is not going to get her own way with Lettle and Rayan!
This obeah is way more intelligent then they give it credit for, as I am sure it choose to die!
The 5 other hunters were fae and they ride the obeah???
The obeah was a Prince??? I am shocked
Ok, fairies – hit me with all of your thoughts! What are you thinking so far?
We have been given a lot of information but I am really enjoying the story!
Who is your favourite character so far?
Do you like this new fantasy world?
What are you thinking of Yeeran being exiled?
So excited to keep reading this one with you, fairies!
Love,
Emily
I love that it started with so much action!
My favourite character so far is Lettle, she’s so fierce and doesn’t take no for an answer. I can’t wait to see how the character develops and hopefully some romance with Rayan!
I like the fact its fae and elves! There aren’t many elf fantasy stories out there so its good to see. The stories of the gods was interesting and a bit sad as well. I do wonder if humans are also lurking around still.
I think Salawa exiled Yeeran to save her life and intends to bring her back. Unfortunately she’s got herself into more trouble!
Can’t wait for tomorrow’s chapters!
I am really liking that has elves it is a change from other fantasies! 💜
I am so excited to be a part of this read-along. It’s my first-ever read-along, and this couldn’t be a better book to start with.
I love Rayan, honestly. He’s probably my favourite character so far, and I love how mysterious he is and his not-so-elaborated background (as of yet).
My feelings are a bit mixed as of now regarding how I feel about Yeeran; I think she’s a bit too impulsive and doesn’t think things through too well before she does them!
Lettle is a pretty likeable character and I’m looking forward to seeing whether her predictions will come true, I love that she feels protective over her sister.
To start with, I found it quite difficult to picture the obeah, and I am still not 100% sure what they’re supposed to look like, which is by far my only complaint about this new fantasy world, but I love the world-building a LOT in this book.
It is refreshing to venture into a fantasy world that is set somewhere hot, sandy and diverse rather than the more classic European-esque setting, so that is super interesting.
I have a lot of very mixed feelings about Salawa in general. I don’t think she is truly who she appears to be, but I’m yet to determine whether she seems more like a villain or a tragic sub-hero. There is so much ambiguity about the characters, which I love!
I agree Rayan is such a good character as we don’t know that much yet! 💜
One Obeah is pictured in the corner of the world map! I also had a hard time and was happy when I saw it!
Thanks so much for bringing this up! This makes things so much easier <3
I am loving this so far! This is my first book by the author and her writing style is so wonderful. I’m glad Yeeran was exiled because I badly want to see all of this world 🤭 But it is good that she wasn’t executed.
I’m so for Ryann and Lettle! This should be a fun, cute storyline. He just seems so sweet!
I am super excited to see where Rayan and Lettle’s relationship ends up! 💜
So far I’m enjoying it!
I think my favorite character so far has to be Lettle. I love the dynamic between her and Rayan (dare I say a bit of grumpy sunshine happening there?).
I had a feeling there was something fishy going on with that obeah. I can’t wait to see where the rest of the story leads. I like that we’ve jumped right into the action, but still get the chance to get to know the characters.
So far the story and the world seems very unique, and that excites me!
(I also appreciate that our main characters are a little “older”. AKA not nineteen.)
I agree that there might be a grumpy x sunshine trope happening! 💜
Who is your favourite character so far?
I think my favourite character is Lettle. She’s very headstrong!
Do you like this new fantasy world?
There has been a lot of information so far. It’s definitely intriguing. But, I feel like there is still so much more that we need to learn. Like, why did the humans and fae disappear? Or rather disappear so much that they are uncommon? Our characters feel kind of sheltered.
What are you thinking of Yeeran being exiled?
I’m not sure how I feel about Salawa. I’m sure she’ll make an appearance again. Why would you exile your lover for a mistake? A grave mistake, but still. And then she was concerned about the people revolting against her. Which is why she didn’t kill Yeeran. But is exile much better? Is exile going to prevent a revolution?
We have so much to learn and I can’t wait to learn it all! 💜
My first read-along and what a book to start with!
Im loving the book so far, the world is intriguing and the drum magic is sooo interesting.
Loving the tension between Lettle and Rayan already.. can’t wait to see how it plays out.
I won’t be able to keep up with the next few days due to other commitments but super excited to see how the story unfolds 🥰
I hope you enjoy the story! 💜
I’m really enjoying it so far!I love that we started with a little bit of background on the gods. We got a lot of information in the first chapters, but not so much that it was overwhelming. I definitely think Lettle and Rayan are going to end up together. I love the worldbuilding! That was quite the ending to chapter 10 and I’m really excited for tomorrow’s chapters.
I hope we get to see more of Salawa’s character – it seems like she’s a very complex character and I was disappointed we didn’t see as much of her in the beginning. I’d love to know more of her background. I am glad she exiled Yeeran and slipped her the drum instead of executing her.
Hi there 😊,
The fact that Yeeran chose to defy the orders after waiting her entire career to be Colonel, in my opinion, is really weird. Like obviously, fate is at work
And then don’t wonder why you don’t have enough solider if you kick them out after one transgression
There appears to be secrets involved as well as tension between Yeeran and her sister. Why hasn’t Lettle informed Yeeran about their “dad”‘s illness? That weird.. sisters would like to know if their dad was sick??
I have a bad feeling about Rayan… He talks of wanting revange but chasing after Yerran won’t provide it to him. That was exactly the opposite of his objective; in my perspective, he seem eager to leave, but it’s clear that his motivation was not love for Yeeran based on the way he acts around Lettle. He left for the sole purpose of redemption? It seems like he lost a significant lot to me, and during their conversation by the fire, he said something to Yeeran about how it was already finished and he couldn’t go back. That it was too late.
I really like Lettle and I’m eager to read more !!!
The FAE !!!! Omg !!!.Is Lettle going to save them from the fae? 🧚
My first readalong! I really like it so far. Everything happened so fast at the beginning. I’m very curious to see what happens with the fae. I knew Yeeran shouldn’t have killed that obeah.
It’s my first read along as well and I am a bit late. But I agree with you. The Obeah was way to nice to be killed off and I was so sad about it.
This is also the first Readalong I’m joining in here, although I always tried to follow the schedule.
I´m really liking the story so far, it´s different from what I´ve read lately and the ending of this section made me all the more curious!
It’s the first read-a-long I joined but have been receiving Fairyloot books for over a year now. And that prologue got me hooked straight away 😍. My goal for 2024 is to join them all!
I hope you can join them all for 2024! 💜
I liked how the story started with the story about the Gods and their creations. The drumfire magic is also interesting. I like Lettle (although I keep reading it as little 😅).
Can’t wait to read on.
I find the Gods story super interesting! 💜
I’m so excited to be doing this readalong, one of my goals for this year is to participate in more of these!
My favorite character so far is Lettle. Her history and work to be a diviner (I can’t believe that the ability to create prophecies isn’t more appreciated by a war-torn culture, like every advantage matters right?!) Especially when it’s such a struggle is something I really admire.
I am a big fan of this world, but not gonna lie am impatiently waiting for more information. We got some information about the Gods and some myths about the fae and humans but I’m wondering what the real story is, cause obviously there is way more to it. Also Rayan is feeling iffy to me. He gave this whole story about his past and his reason for being is to get revenge against the Crescent ex-chieftain but him deciding to just follow Yeeran and stick with Lettle is suspicious, like there is way more to his story. I want to know what his real motives are.
The exile thing feels like there is more to it, especially since she oh so conveniently managed to stop Yeeran from talking to Lettle and Rayan before she was exiled. I wonder is Salawa’s character had some other motives there. Also, the whole practice of selling kids to the army because you are in such need of soldiers, but then you are starving child soldiers is not okay. Like everything about that is icky and horrifying. But then killing soldiers for defying an order when you are in desperate need of soldiers seems backwards. There are a lot of things that aren’t right going on in this society.
Starting a bit late, but I’m really enjoying this so far. It’s so different from The Final Strife, yet Saara’s writing definitely pulls you in.
Yeeran is a type of character I love, and Lettle is definitely interesting. Can’t wait to see what happens next!
1. Who is your favourite character so far?
I’m enamoured by the sisters and Rayan is very likable as well with his loyalty to Yeeran! I think I like Lettle the most at the moment, because her strength surprised me quite a lot.
2. Do you like this new fantasy world?
I do! I find the lore very interesting and love the fact that elves are at the foreground instead of Fae!
3. What are you thinking of Yeeran being exiled?
It was expected since it was in the synopsis. At the same time, I do believe that to be worse than death to her, so it somehow seems even more cruel a punishment. Especially thinking it is her lover that did so
I really like Little as well. Especially cause she just seems so real and wholesome. She isn’t perfect but seems to have a big heart.
I really enjoy this world so far. I always love to get information about the creation and love the little hints about the history popping up in between.
Hey, I am Leila
I finally managed to pick up my book and am so excited to hear everyones thoughts. I am a bit late to the party but hope to catch up for the final discussion.
I really enjoy the little bits of history lessons in between and can’t wait to learn more about how their world became what it is now. I was pretty sure we will see the fea and humans again and was positively surprised to have them appear so soon. Excited for them to be an active part of the story.
The obeah have so much potential and I am curious about them. I was feeling so sick about her trying to hunt it down. Because I had the feeling it was trying to guide her through the forest. Give her water etc. Her killing it really made me put down the book for a second.
I love the sisterly bond and how the sisters interact. Just so real.
And I already love the critical reflection of what war means and why people might be inclined to join.
What do you think about these aspects?
I started the book early, but I’m still behind on both the readings and commenting here. Hopefully I get to at least Day 4 by Day 5! 😂
Anyway, the intro was interesting, but I’m not yet hook-hooked, but that had also been true of The Final Strife, so we’ll see!
If I had to pick one, probably Rayan, but no one has grabbed me yet.
It’s an interesting world, and I’m intrigued to see where it goes/what it becomes!
I think Salawa knew what she was doing, and that perhaps Salawa isn’t really who Yeeran is meant for. Too much of their interactions felt too heavily on Yeeran’s side in terms of “carrying” the relationship.
I think, as soon as I heard exile was an option and that exile would possibly be to the east that that was her true prophecy, and I was excited for her to leave and start her true journey!
I’m loving it so far! The way my jaw dropped when her partner was the chief OMG. Also I lowkey thought that Yeeran should befriend the Obeah and learn to ride it or something and bring it back alive as her proof of worth but sadly I was wrong 🙁 I am so excited to keep reading!
What are you thinking so far?
I am so intrigued by the wars and the overall magic system. It has been touched on some but I would love to learn more soon
Who is your favourite character so far?
I really like Leetle. For a while I was reading her as far younger than she is but I think that was because the book started with Yeeran’s pov who treats her very young!
Do you like this new fantasy world?
What are you thinking of Yeeran being exiled?
I am enjoying this new fantasy world. It is very different than other books I have read. I think her being exiled was crappy and I think the “love” was fake however, I think her being exiled will actually be better for her. However, I don’t think it will be for her people in the near future. Down the road I believe it will be but their military really doesn’t seem strong and empowered.
So excited to read this book! Elfs and fae in the same setting is so promising , and as someone mentioned above, the fact that is not set in the traditional European forest is really refreshing and intriguing.
The story started really strong with the exile. Honestly this seems like a very harsh way to rule, the focus on the war seems excessive and as of right now, I don’t like Salawa very much. Maybe that will change in the future.
Love Lettle and Rayan, so cute together.
So the obeah was a fae prince… I think this is related to Lettles prophecy of finding glory in the east. Honestly the obeah was guiding and helping her, but I have no idea why.
Can’t wait to keep reading.
I am liking Rayan and I am hoping that he doesn’t get written off in this story. Yeeran is also pretty fierce. I like that it is focusing on the Elves and Fae but I have a feeling the humans may yet make a return (maybe not this book but later on?)
I think exile was the best punishment because Salawa was not going to let her die. She knew Yeeran would be capable of surviving. I do find the ear marking to be an interesting aspect, but will she yet return?
Ooh this book is very interesting. The first few chapters I was not sure about this book but then it took a turn and it was hard to stop reading. And of course this section ended in a very shocking cliffhanger so I’ll continue reading immediately.
Even though we don’t yet know much about him my favourite character right now is Rayan. He seems very sweet. Oh, and he can cook!
I do like this new fantasy world. I had an inkling that the obeah may actually be people and I was correct! I was sad though to read about the killing of obeahs for their magic. It’s cool to read something where elves are present, it seems that most of fantasy books include fae but never elven so that’s nice for a change.
I think that exiling Yeeran may have been a bit extreme but all the rules seem very strict among the warriors and it was still better than death. But if a person makes one mistake should the punishment be immediately death? They should’ve taken into account the strange kind of magic which the arrows didn’t penetrate etc. But at the same time we get to explore the world more and in the end it will definitely be a better choice for her I believe.
Also Yeeran’s plan of killing a obeah and hoping to get a pardon sounded idiotic to me because why would they… it sounded that exile is pretty much irreversible so even if she caught the obeah I doubt she’d have ever got any pardon at all. I do understand that this wasn’t the life she wanted (exile) but still this didn’t seem realistic, especially considering her age. And then Lettle and Rayan just thinking of getting her back to their region – they wouldn’t have even let her in so that also seemed a bit stupid. But I’m very interesting where the story takes them all next.