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emily_mh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Gaslighting
Minor: Ableism, Child death, Confinement, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: capital punishment Minor: self-injury, epidemic, mass death, volcano, imprisonment, floodstigger89's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
The central conflict is, of course, Tarisai's struggle to break free of her mother's command. I initially got some Ella Enchanted vibes from this setup, but the resolution wound up being so much more. It wasn't enough for her to merely want to disobey, or even to desire to protect the prince with her whole heart; to break a curse of this magnitude, it would take much more than that. I also appreciated how her mother was handled in the narrative. She wasn't purely evil, but she wasn't misunderstood either; she was a complicated, wounded character who committed great harms.
Overall, I enjoyed this a lot more than I'd expected to. It helped that the romance was firmly a subplot, and there was no love triangle. I'll say that again for those in the back: this YA title has no love triangle! It was so refreshing to see a depiction of platonic love develop between two characters. There was even a prominent character who was explicitly asexual. As mentioned, this is the first book in a duology, and I intend to pick up the sequel, Redemptor, whenever I manage to find a gap in my TBR(lol).
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, and Death of parent
Minor: Rape
1navn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Colonisation
a_libra_library's review against another edition
- 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
The plot twist and "info dumping" were built into the story so seamlessly.
I cannot wait to continued in Redemptor!
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
matchai's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: War
maregred's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death
mayeeta's review against another edition
- 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
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?
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child death
ember_eyes_are_for_tigers's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The characters were so wonderfully written, although I wish we had know more of Tarisai’s found family, you could tell the love and respect she has for them.
Raybearer’s first part is rather slow compared to the remainder of the book, where the pace begins speeding up and doesn’t seem to stop, but, I didn’t find myself minding.
It was such a phenomenal read and I can’t wait to read the sequel to the book.
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Violence, and Colonisation
Moderate: Misogyny, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Suicide, Torture, Vomit, and War
julesadventurezone's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Moderate: Child death, Rape, Police brutality, Stalking, and Murder
Minor: Excrement and Alcohol