Scan barcode
melliedm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
“Do not ask how many people you will save. Ask, To what world will you save them? What world[…]is worth surviving in?”
An excellent anti-imperialist YA fantasy. Easily the best YA I’ve read in a long time. I had started to think maybe I no longer enjoyed YA, but it turns out I was just waiting for a book like this.
Tarisai was born for one purpose, and one purpose alone: to kill the emperor’s son, and end the imperial line. To do so, she will first have to love him and enter his trusted circle. But are our children just malleable tools for our machinations, or people capable of seeing different futures?
This book manages to avoid some of the most overdone tropes in the genre whilst using others with absolute grace. The characters are varied and well-written, each with their own ideals and desires. The plot feels intentional and the results hard-won, and not a given simply because “it’s gotta have a beginning middle and end”
My only problem with this book, and the reason for the docking of .25 stars, is the weird as heck relationship between two side characters. I won’t spoil much, but one of the characters is established to be around 20 at the beginning of the book, when the main character is around 12. The other side character is described to be about the same age as the main character. So when the main character is 16, we have a 24 year old side character developing a romance with a 16 year old side character? What? Did I misread something? Did I misunderstand the timeline? It made me extremely uncomfortable. But it’s such a small part of the book and something I could ignore with relative ease, so I don’t think this one strange aspect detracts from the rest of the book’s beauty.
An excellent anti-imperialist YA fantasy. Easily the best YA I’ve read in a long time. I had started to think maybe I no longer enjoyed YA, but it turns out I was just waiting for a book like this.
Tarisai was born for one purpose, and one purpose alone: to kill the emperor’s son, and end the imperial line. To do so, she will first have to love him and enter his trusted circle. But are our children just malleable tools for our machinations, or people capable of seeing different futures?
This book manages to avoid some of the most overdone tropes in the genre whilst using others with absolute grace. The characters are varied and well-written, each with their own ideals and desires. The plot feels intentional and the results hard-won, and not a given simply because “it’s gotta have a beginning middle and end”
My only problem with this book, and the reason for the docking of .25 stars, is the weird as heck relationship between two side characters. I won’t spoil much, but one of the characters is established to be around 20 at the beginning of the book, when the main character is around 12. The other side character is described to be about the same age as the main character. So when the main character is 16, we have a 24 year old side character developing a romance with a 16 year old side character? What? Did I misread something? Did I misunderstand the timeline? It made me extremely uncomfortable. But it’s such a small part of the book and something I could ignore with relative ease, so I don’t think this one strange aspect detracts from the rest of the book’s beauty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Colonisation, Abandonment, Xenophobia, and Sexism
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, War, Police brutality, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Confinement
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Suicidal thoughts
thecatconstellation's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-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
4.75
This book deserves way more hype. The story is original and engaging. Steeped in beautiful imagery and detailed mythology, this is a story of the drive for justice.
My only critique is that the council members are supposedly so meaningful to Tar, but only a few of them are fleshed out beyond the most basic level.
My only critique is that the council members are supposedly so meaningful to Tar, but only a few of them are fleshed out beyond the most basic level.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Child abuse, Violence, Sexism, and Misogyny
Moderate: War, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Emotional abuse, Classism, Blood, Child death, Xenophobia, Confinement, Rape, Murder, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Minor: Slavery, Alcohol, and Sexual content
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
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
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
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.
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.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
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
theaceofpages's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Oooh I loved this book. I was intrigued om the fist page. Although, full disclaimer, I do love it when fantasy books are based on different cultures. This was a massive plus for me and I kept finding myself wanting to learn more about this world.
The book mainly focusses on Tarisai's journey and I loved seeing her grow and become more confident through the pages. We meet her as a child and learn more of her world as she matures and grows up. The whole concept of the curse is fascinating and I loved seeing her struggle with it, her largely unknown family and what she wants for herself. I enjoyed seeing the subtle shifts in the writing as she grew up to reflect her own changes. While this book is marketed as YA, it is definitely just as suitable for adults. It feels a lot more fleshed out than a lot of the YA books I've recently read and doesn't rely on romance to push the plot forward. The characters feel real and I think that people of all ages can It focuses a lot less on romance than modern YA books seem to and spends more time looking at self growth and destiny and the importance of other forms of love (something I absolutely love and want to see way more of in books). While some characters were definitely more of a focus than others (especially Tarisai and Dayo), all of them felt well thought out. I very much enjoyed how deeply flawed they all were and learning about their weaknesses and fears just as much as their strengths.
There is a lot of beautiful imagery in this book and I liked how it tied back to its African folklore inspirations. The author did reuse a lot of descriptions though and often in the same scenarios. I enjoyed the unique magic system and the concept of the council. The way it works and grants power is fascinating. I don't think I've seen anything quite like it before. The world is clearly well thought out and the book does and incredible of of exploring it and just how diverse all its cultures are, while also looking at the dangers of xenophobia and attempts at cultural suppression for the sake of conformity. Although I felt some parts towards the end were a little bit expositiony, this is largely done in a natural way through the plot.
I can definitely recommend this book to fantasy lovers who would like to explore a unique world, particularly those who would like to read beyond the typical European-inspired fantasy realms (not that there is anything wrong with them of course). And to those who enjoy YA fiction but are tired of how romance and love triangle heavy the genre has gotten. I will definitely be reading the next book as this one, while it has a good end point, definitely leaves a lot of questions unanswered about the future of Tarisai's world
The book mainly focusses on Tarisai's journey and I loved seeing her grow and become more confident through the pages. We meet her as a child and learn more of her world as she matures and grows up. The whole concept of the curse is fascinating and I loved seeing her struggle with it, her largely unknown family and what she wants for herself. I enjoyed seeing the subtle shifts in the writing as she grew up to reflect her own changes. While this book is marketed as YA, it is definitely just as suitable for adults. It feels a lot more fleshed out than a lot of the YA books I've recently read and doesn't rely on romance to push the plot forward. The characters feel real and I think that people of all ages can It focuses a lot less on romance than modern YA books seem to and spends more time looking at self growth and destiny and the importance of other forms of love (something I absolutely love and want to see way more of in books). While some characters were definitely more of a focus than others (especially Tarisai and Dayo), all of them felt well thought out. I very much enjoyed how deeply flawed they all were and learning about their weaknesses and fears just as much as their strengths.
There is a lot of beautiful imagery in this book and I liked how it tied back to its African folklore inspirations. The author did reuse a lot of descriptions though and often in the same scenarios. I enjoyed the unique magic system and the concept of the council. The way it works and grants power is fascinating. I don't think I've seen anything quite like it before. The world is clearly well thought out and the book does and incredible of of exploring it and just how diverse all its cultures are, while also looking at the dangers of xenophobia and attempts at cultural suppression for the sake of conformity. Although I felt some parts towards the end were a little bit expositiony, this is largely done in a natural way through the plot.
I can definitely recommend this book to fantasy lovers who would like to explore a unique world, particularly those who would like to read beyond the typical European-inspired fantasy realms (not that there is anything wrong with them of course). And to those who enjoy YA fiction but are tired of how romance and love triangle heavy the genre has gotten. I will definitely be reading the next book as this one, while it has a good end point, definitely leaves a lot of questions unanswered about the future of Tarisai's world
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Death of parent, Colonisation, Xenophobia, and Misogyny
Moderate: Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, and Confinement
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
Themes: 5 stars
Characters: 5 stars
Plot: 5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4.5 stars
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
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Death, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, Child abuse, and Sexism
Moderate: Suicide, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Violence, Sexual content, and Blood
Minor: Pregnancy, Rape, Alcohol, Ableism, Vomit, Racism, War, Child death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Excrement, Slavery, Cannibalism, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: capital punishment Minor: self-injury, epidemic, mass death, volcano, imprisonment, floodstigger89'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
4.5
I loved the worldbuilding here, particularly the depictions of the lands we got to visit and the themes of embracing unique cultures vs assimilation. There's a darker edge to many of the systems in this world, which I also appreciated. While the protagonist was rather unquestioning of some things that should have thrown red flags(basically everything about the council), this is only the first book of a duology, so those aspects might be examined later.
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).
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).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Slavery
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, and Death of parent
Minor: Rape