The Buried and the Bound is a wonderful novel about Aziza, a capable witch who will go to great lengths to protect her town. Leo, a boy with gaps in his memory and a desperation to get answers about the person he has forgotten, and Tristan a necromancer whose life fell apart after he made a deal with the wrong person. “The Buried and the Bound” left me spellbound while reading and even after. It went inches from becoming my newest hyper fixation. When I realized that it would be months until the next book came out I was devastated (the second book is out but it’s a trilogy). I loved the point of view of all three characters and the story that unfolded. It has a wonderful setting, character, and great world-building. The story left me ready for the next read before it was even out.
There is what seemed to me to be rather lovely queer rep. Leo is bi and Tristan is gay, their sexualities are talked about without the genre becoming contemporary romance and losing any feeling that it is first and foremost a read in the folk/fantasy category. Speaking of that, it can't go unmentioned that the fantasy is wonderful. Aziza is a hedge witch, magically chosen to protect her town. She has a lot to deal with and she’s used to dealing with everything alone. Many mentions of all sorts of fey are in this book (and even more in the next book?). All of it is wonderful, all sorts of mythical creatures are here and I'm here for it. Without going into spoiler territory I can also say that I loved the dynamic between Aziza and Leo. It's really the sweetest thing when someone is so used to being alone then they get someone on their team and they make a connection.
I should disclose that I have heard critiques of the third main character of the novel but I loved him. Tristan is lovely if flawed and he is incredibly determined. Overall I can’t really easily articulate the wonder of this book but I tried my best to convince people to read it so they can see the wonder in action. I would absolutely recommend people read it or listen to it at least once. This book might get me to read my first paper book in years because the sequel doesn’t have an audiobook yet.