Reviews tagging 'Death'

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

107 reviews

genny's review against another edition

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 :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, Sexual content, and Death of parent

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Rape

lisa_m's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This book was phenomenal! I truly did not expect to like it as much as I did. I loved the different culture and the unique premise. The characters were all so loveable and unique and the main character was flawed and not perfect though trying her best.

It deals with sexism in such an interesting way and it was truly empowering to read it. This is definitely a book that will stick with me for a long time. I might even reread it one day but for now I just really want to read the sequel. I'm happy that it's a Duology since I don't really have time to read something longer right now. I also liked that the ending was closed even though the story itself obviously isn't.

I thought that the review by Nic which is on the blurb sums up the center of the story pretty well. This book is about "our most basic of human desires: to belong, to be loved, and to walk a path of one's own choosing".

I'm excited to dive back into this world again very soon. I would recommend this book to any lover of Fantasy and especially people who like a bit of social commentary and well thought out plots in their books ;)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death

rueys's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

i wanna bake a cake out of this books world building, put it in my mouth, and eat it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Emotional abuse

_cooper_'s review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Rape and Sexual content

rhm04's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Vomit, and Medical content

Minor: Kidnapping

maregred's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Misogyny, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Vomit, and Classism

halfbloodprincess_hogwarts's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

This was an ok audio. I did like the story but it did not live up to the expectation I envisioned it would. 

The characters were perfect, but the pace felt pretty dull and I daydreamed way too much. My attention was not captivated while listening to Raybearer and it lacked adventure.

I wish more magic was incorporated in this world versus it sporadically mentioned and done. This is a title I could not see myself rereading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

mayeeta's review against another edition

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?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Grief, Abandonment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child death