Day: February 24, 2023

The Buried and the Bound by Rochelle Hassan (Book Review)

Kat Impossible4 Comments

Cover for the Buried and the Bound

PublisherA button to add a book to the platform "The Storygraph"A button that says "Add book to Goodreads": Roaring Brook Press
Page Count: 384
Release Date: January 24, 2023

CW: death, emotional and physical abuse, suicidal thoughts, homophobia, mentions of blood

I was intrigued by The Buried and the Bound because 1. I’m making this the year of reading more Fantasy again and this even has fae in it and 2. because of this absolutely spellbinding cover art. You really can trick me that easily; I’m a sucker for pretty covers that much. (But, it also turned out that me being fascinated with the cover helped me deduce some stuff in the story later on and that was neat.)

Told from three different POVs – those of Aziza, Leo and Tristan – I will admit that it took me a moment to get into the book. It’s something I regularly struggle with when it comes to multiple POVs, simply because it takes more chapters/pages to get to know the characters and thus invested in their fates. But wow, once I’ve crossed that hurdle, I did not want to stop reading. 

Each character is presented with plenty of flaws and equal lovable quirks. It soon became clear to me how certain plotlines were going to be interwoven and I was ridiculously proud of myself for guessing several “plot twists” early on. Regardless, the story never felt predictable, but instead you wanted to know how the trio would face what would inevitably be thrown their way. There wasn’t a single one I wasn’t rooting for.

I don’t want to give away too much, so I’m keeping this short, but I loved this approach to magic and the fae realm. I also LOVED that the book set up several storylines that could be explored in future installments of this new series, but didn’t leave you hanging on any sort of cliffhanger. You somehow felt satisfied and sated, but wanted more at the same time! That’s honestly the best way a book can leave you and I will gladly be seated for more books by Rochelle Hassan.

Lastly, I have to give a shoutout to Kal @Reader Voracious, because it was due to her tweet that I found out about the book and immediately got a copy. You can find her review here.

Fazit: 4.25/5 stars! Great start to a new YA fantasy series!

Have you heard about this new book series? Do you plan on reading it? Let’s chat!