Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

6 reviews

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

adventurous reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Bullying, Physical abuse, Self harm, Slavery, Torture, Excrement, Vomit, and Alcohol

Minor: Ableism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Stalking, Pregnancy, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

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

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

emily_mh's review

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-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

4.5

The world-building present within this book is truly incredible. It was so original and detailed, and thus refreshing and captivating to read about. Even though there were 12 kingdoms within the empire, each felt defined and the map helped a lot in keeping track of things (although I do wish cities had been marked, too!). I liked that there were four religious sects that all had a different perspective on theology - this added a very realistic touch! As the reader I could tell that so much thought had been put into the historical context, and even smaller specifics like religious rituals, treaty ceremonies, how lessons were conducted in the Children’s Palace, or the library system. Also, the songs that were included and the way drum language was woven into these, were great. These details and many, many more assisted the bigger world-building and made the place in which Tarisai lived truly fleshed-out. Yet none of this information was ever presented in an info-dumpy way. Within the narrative, there were fantastic parallels drawn between Aristar’s “unifying” actions and colonisation; I’m really keen to see where Ifueko takes this theme in the next book. My absolute favourite part of Tarisai’s world was the magic system, though. The concept of Hallows, and how much variation there was within these, was amazing. Kirah’s songhealer Hallow was my favourite as it was so interesting to me, in that singing different songs translated to different types of healing. For example, singing about weaving baskets translated to healing flesh and skin. But generally how the magic system incorporates the Ray, the Councils, and even the Peace Treaty, was so original. 

The plot was truly engrossing. It was odd because I didn’t know where it was going, but it was going somewhere and FAST. This was almost entirely to the book’s benefit. Otherwise, the elements of political intrigue kept me hooked. There were enough plot threads for a nuanced story, but not too many that it didn’t all come together; for example, the treaty between Aristar and Songland concerning child sacrifices to the Underworld, who the Lady is and why she commands Tarisai to kill the Crown Prince, and the relationships within and between the Council and the Council Apparent. 

Tarisai was a fantastic MC. She was kind and clever and I loved that she sought out the most fair and right solutions to the problems she and others faced. I loved how much she loved those around her, and her sense of responsibility for her actions. I liked the exploration of her relationship with the Lady. The narrative didn’t try to provide easy answers, and showed the confusion Tarisai felt over the Lady herself and how this impacted how Tarisai saw herself. 

The side characters were also great. Ifueko is able to quickly communicate their motivations, dreams, and concerns, so that you get a feel for them early on. This is especially true for Dayo, Kirah, and Sanjeet. I loved how they all had arcs set up as separate from Tarisai’s. 

There were two quotes that really pulled at me from this book. The first was “A caravan mustn’t travel faster than its slowest camel.” The second was “What story will you live for? What story do you live for?”
 

Safe to say, I loved reading this book! However, there was one part I didn’t like and two more I felt unsure of, hence the half-star dock. The part that I didn’t like was the numerous time jumps throughout the book. While this did propel the plot forward, it also made the narrative feel a little disjointed. The first thing that I was unsure of was that it didn’t live up to the found family reputation it has. I was expecting this trope to incorporate the whole Council, but it ended up only being shared between Tarisai, Dayo, Kirah, and Sanjeet. Even then, I would have liked to see more group moments between them described on page, rather than being told that they had happened. It’s the small moments that bring the found family trope to life. The other thing I was unsure of was Kirah and Woo Inn’s relationship. I think Woo In is a minimum of eleven years older than Tarisai, and Kirah is described as being close in age to Tarisai. So I interpreted Kirah’s age towards the end of the book, where the romance begins with Woo Inn, as being probably around 18-20. And because Tarisai is 17, the youngest I thought Woo Inn could be was 28. This just seemed like a really weird age gap to me. But as I’m not actually sure of the ages involved and thus of the age gap, I tried not to let this part affect my rating. 

All in all, I am super excited to pick up Redemptor! 

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Content Warnings

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, floods

bookishbette's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

Genuinely one of the most interesting and imaginitive worlds I've ever come across. Truly a top tier story, and a guidepost for anyone who wants to write or read intersectional, original stories. The only issue I have with any of it is a relationship between a girl around 16/17 and a man about ten years older tha  her, but I absolutely could have misinterpreted their ages and it's barely covered in this anyway. Other than that, I absolutely adored it. I checked it out from my library to read, and you can bet it'll be on my shelf as soon as I get a chance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Death

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, and Pregnancy

julesadventurezone's review against another edition

adventurous informative mysterious 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

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