#delray

View of the women's basketball team for the McMillan School, Delray neighborhood. Label on back: "Macmillan basket ball team, left to right. Bessie Montgomery, Helene Fohey, Lotta Broadbridge, Grace Belisle. Bottom row. Thelma Todd, Anna Herman."

Top: Eastern Market neighborhood of Detroit, MI Bottom: Delray neighborhood of Detroit, MI

May 2025

Leicaflex SL2

GreatBlue #Heron 🪶🪶🪶 (Ardea herodias)

Wakodahatchee Wetlands

Delray Florida

photos by Steve Spanoudis from the collections at https://theotherpages.org

1958 Chevrolet Delray 4-door Sedan

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Cursebound by Saara El-Arifi | Book 3 of 2025

I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Del Rey, Random House Worlds, and Inklore for providing me with copy.

While I did enjoy this book, and will be reading the third book when it comes out, I did have a few issues with it. Some of the pacing felt quite off, particularly the intimate scenes. There were three scenes, all relatively mild to me (think mostly fade to black/some on page); but each one felt ill timed. All three came after something big and distressing had happened, or was supposed to happen. I actually found myself trying to read them as quickly as possible so I could get back to the rest of the story. I also wish that it had been a longer book. Faebound was well over 300 pages, and this sat at just under 300 (at least on the eARC). I feel like there could have been a lot more explanation to certain things or things could have just been fleshed out a bit more. All of that being said, I am curious to see where book three takes us. Now, all of that aside, I did enjoy the story!

You begin by following Yeeran back to the Waning Tribe where she hopes to deliver news that will help the fae, elves, and the Forever War. She comes across our new, slightly mysterious, character, Alder, one of the Nomads (wandering elves) who may be who they've been looking for all along. Lettle and Golan end up topside, searching for secrets that may uncover the answers to the curse. Rayan and Furi try to search out the threat that has infiltrated the royal court, as well as a deep betrayal. Mind you, all of this is going on while trying to navigate their own romantic relationships, new places in court, and their relationship with the Lightless.

I personally really enjoy the queer normativity of this world. There's even a character guide in the back providing pronouns and little blurbs about each person.