Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

35 reviews

justmys's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

4.0

“No, we don't deserve the burdens that our parents gave us, but we cant defeat monsters we won't face.” 

A really powerful book filled with a beautifully rich and vivid world populated by well fleshed out characters. 
The relationships Tarisai built felt natural and well paced. The mother was heartbreaking at times in her obsession, which was an odd experience to have. Complex "villains" are a favourite of mine and this book definitely explored all of the shades of grey for her. 
I only gave the book 4 stars as there were times I felt things happened out of convenience for the plot, but they weren't overly distracting and didn't detract too much from the overall book. I also felt that, at times, the ages of the characters were confusing to follow. This might have been my fault, perhaps I didn't hear it when listening but I felt myself reeling a little at how the characters spoke or interracted and had to keep double checking ages online.

Overall, a really great read and the narrator for the book did an amazing job bringing the music of the world alive.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Abandonment, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual content, Excrement, and Pregnancy

fleur____'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Death of parent, Misogyny, Abandonment, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Blood, Physical abuse, and Bullying

Minor: Slavery, Alcohol, Excrement, Xenophobia, Body horror, Classism, and Vomit

ginameix'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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

Moderate: Blood, Murder, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Domestic abuse

agodfrey_gardens's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful fast-paced

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

4.0

The story at first made me think of Ella Enchanted but if the mother was Mother Gothel from Rapunzel/ However, it is more than that. The story was about finding purpose and family, identity, and justice. It also tackles dark themes such as imperialism, cultural erasure, betrayal, emotional abuse and manipulation, and enslavement. I loved the prose and the deep-dive into the characters' motivations and pasts. The only thing that bothered me was the pacing of the book at times. It feels like 300 pages was not enough and the author condensed everything there. Some parts consisted of info dumps and parts that weren't smooth. However, I still enjoyed the read and would consider picking up the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting

Minor: Rape

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

• 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

2.5

Yet another book with 80%+ 4-5 star ratings that I ended up being disappointed by, so maybe the issue is really just that I'm a hater :/ Loved the ideas and themes, but the characters (especially the more minor ones, had trouble keeping track of the background council members) didn't feel fleshed-out enough, the worldbuilding is conveyed mostly in blocky exposition dumps, and the pacing in general feels... odd, with a lot of unnecessary jumps in time and awkward transitions. Lots of potential in theory, but didn't quite live up to it in execution for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Sexism, Abandonment, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Colonisation, Confinement, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Bullying, Murder, Xenophobia, and Classism

Minor: Slavery, Vomit, Incest, Rape, Sexual content, Acephobia/Arophobia, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, and Suicide

Relationship between characters with unspecified ages but presumably one around 15-17 and the other at least in his 20s. Crush/romantic undertones (no actual relationship) between characters later revealed to be related.

forgottuesday's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Abandonment, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Violence, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, Abandonment, War, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

ashlikes'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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Violence, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Grief, Blood, Toxic relationship, Death, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Confinement, Colonisation, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Stalking, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Slavery, Medical content, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Rape, and Vomit

nozycozy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

I highly recommand the audiobook. The narrator is incredible, very engaging and even thogh the world is complicated and full of names im not used to, i didnt feel lost. The story itself is unlike anything i ever read before, and i loved it. It was very interesting and felt real. Incredible worldbuilding. I would recommend it to people who would like a new taste of fantacy, rich lore and worldbuilding, found family and messy family relations, and a brave, complicated fmc.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Emotional abuse, Death, Abandonment, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Vomit, Grief, Misogyny, and Violence

Moderate: Violence

readandfindout's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

5.0

Style/writing: 5 stars
Themes: 5 stars
Characters: 5 stars
Plot: 5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Colonisation, Death, Confinement, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Murder, Genocide, Death of parent, Violence, Blood, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Rape, Suicide, and Vomit