Reviews with content warning for Violence - Raybearer

I thought I phased out of the YA genre, since many of my recent YA reads didn't 'wow' me like the YA books of my teens and twenties. But 'Raybearer' was such an enjoyable read that I'm eager to pick up the sequel to see where Tarisai's story end. There's a lot to admire about this story. Tarisai and her complicated relationship with her mother was fascinating and in some places extremely relatable. This world is amazing and full of magic, mystery and menacing empires. And the writing was also phenomenal and lush!

I sometimes struggled to embrace the 'found family' aspect of the novel. There are so many council members and they didn't stand out from each other, outside of Kirah and Sanjeet.

I was also disappointed with Olugbade and the Lady's death near the end. I wish Olugbade appeared in the story more so there was a better understanding of how threatening he was towards Tarisai. I'm also not a fan of Woo In and Kirah's pending relationship, but that's a minor point.

I see why so many people praise this story and I can't wait to see how the next book handles the consequences from Raybearer's ending.

Content Warnings

genny's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It's a little hard for me to review this as it's been about 2 months since I finished it and I barely took down any notes...but I do know that I enjoyed it! The prose was engaging and the audiobook narrator (Joniece Abbott-Pratt) did a great job of bringing multiple characters to life. I loved the vivid settings. I went into this expecting a very popular trope to drive the story

(enemies to lovers)

but what I got was completely different - in a good way! I liked the found family aspect, though we didn't see enough of Dayo's council to make their love for each other completely believable. As Tarisai spent most of her time only with select members of the council, I often forgot just how many of them supposedly lived together and cared for each other. There also came a point when I felt that Tar had gotten too slow on picking up obvious clues...it dragged the story as you're waiting for her to figure out what you already did ages go. And the blossoming

Kirah and Woo In

romance made me uncomfortable because of the age gap, considering one of 'em is a minor. 😬

All that said, it's a worthwhile read and it proved to me that there's still space for fresh, unique stories in YA fantasy. I dove into the sequel immediately after finishing this :)

Content Warnings

_cooper_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is such an amazing adventure across the 12 realms of Ifueko’s world and a brilliant exploration of what it means to love, belong, and shape one’s own destiny. The ending wasn’t my favorite, but that doesn’t take away from how great this novel is.

Content Warnings

rhm04's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

mcz_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

mayeeta's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

🌞4th book for Blackathon 2022🌞
fulfilling prompt: read a book between 312 pages and 387 pages

hmmm
I need to think about how I feel about this some more
overall i enjoyed it and i will be picking up the sequel since this is only a duology but its not an all-time new favorite
idk i think i just expected more?

Content Warnings

lizzyc_16's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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