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theaceofpages'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
I was, however, a little disappointed by all the new characters. There are A LOT of them and I feel like less care is given to them than those in the first book. And yet a good portion of the pages is dedicated to this. It means that other important plot points probably aren't given as much space and time as they should have. I really think this book could have benefitted from more pages to accomplish all the many things it as trying to do. Maybe even a whole other book, but I suspect that that would have just resulted in the story dragging so just expanding this (although already not short) would have been a noticeable improvement. Like I would have loved to have seen more of the Underworld as the author clearly put so much effort into making it. (And of course it's also what the duology has been building up to for hundreds of pages) as well as the resolution.
While this book might not quite have lived up to Raybearer for me, I did still enjoy it and would still recommend it. It provides a good conclusion to all the conflict and the story that were started in the previous book. And of course it is always nice to read about a unique fantasy world that is so unlike the more typical western-centric ones that one comes across so often. I hope that the author writes more about the world in the future. It is definitely one I would love to spend more time exploring.
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Mental illness, and Classism
Minor: Child abuse, Genocide, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Pregnancy
There are also some mentions of the events of the previous bookemily_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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Classism
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment
Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: capital punishment, loss of a loved one, neglect, volcano, Minor: flood, earthquake, mass deathaharper'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? No
4.5
Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide
queer_bookwyrm'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
"You don't get to choose why people love you. But what you do with the love you receive... that's a choice you make everyday."
Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko is the second book in the Raybearer duology. I fucking loved this book so so much. Yes, it was good enough for me to swear about it lol 😂. I just love love the way Ifueko weaves a story and suspense and the way she explores characters flaws without magically getting rid of those flaws.
We pick up where we left off with Tarasai after she dissolves the treaty with the Underworld and becomes a the last Redemptor, freeing Songlander and Arit children from being sacrificed. We follow Tar as she attempts to get the Vassal rulers of Aritsar to love her enough to be anointed with the Ray to her own council.
Surprisingly, the majority of the book doesn't take place in the Underworld. Instead we learn more about each of the Vassal rulers as Tar tries to get them to love her, even using her memory Hallow to share all of her memories to aid the process. She soon finds out that you can't hide the parts of yourself you don't like and expect people to love you. How can they love you if they don't have the full picture, warts and all?
We see Tarasai become consumed with the need to do something about the Redemptor children who died in the Underworld, to the point where she is now seeing visions of them, ojiji, who act as a metaphor for anxiety, imposter syndrome, burnout, and intrusive thoughts. The thing that ultimately helps Tar through this--like in the previous book--is love (and not romantic love). We see more themes on intimacy being more than just sexual or romantic, but a basic need.
As always I love our wise cinnamon bun, Dayo, always there to be helpful and hopeful, usually at the wrong time. Dayo learns he can have a nonsexual relationship and have it be just as fulfilling. We also get Tarasai not wanting to have children! The last female character I read that was up front and honest about that was Katsa in Graceling by Kristin Cashore. We also get some disability rep in this book with a character who is an amputee and a character with PTSD and a stutter.
As much as I loved this duology, I'm sad it's over! I can't wait to see what's next for Ifueko!
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Murder
booksthatburn'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
4.0
In the first half, because Tarisai needs to get her own council it felt like she was doing again something we already saw the first time around. Much of the early book is figuring out what she needs to do, accepting that it's really the same thing that happened in book one and then doing it, which made it the pacing drag for me. Also by adding a second council of equal number to the first, it made the character list feel enormous and meant I had trouble feeling like I got to know more than a handful. I'm not new to large casts in fantasy, but normally there's more stratification in how important they are to the main character(s). In this, there was text telling me how important they all were, but not enough room to show scenes of all of them being very important in a way that showed that connection rather than just telling.
The second half is where it really shines, with answers to what was plaguing her in the first half, events moving more quickly, and a really fantastic ending to the duology. It proposes to answer immensely complicated questions in a very small space and finds a resolution to them which fits this context and characters. In a world where the Ray exists, it's a good answer.
The Underworld is interesting and well-described, the worldbuilding really shines there even though it's a relatively short section. The rest of the worldbuilding is very robust, with special care given to the descriptions of clothing from various parts of the Empire. It feels like a lived-in world, even in the small part of it that the story has time to cover directly.
This wraps up a very major thing left hanging from RAYBEARER. It has a storyline which starts here and wasn't present before, with several major things that are both introduced and resolved in this volume. It is the last book of the duology and it wraps up pretty much everything left hanging while also giving a vision of what the basic trajectory is for these characters after the book is over. It feels finished, which is good since there aren't any more planned in the series. The main character is the same as before, Tarisai, and her voice is consistent in this book. This wouldn't make a lot of sense if someone started here without reading RAYBEARER. This is book two of a two-part series, so please start with RAYBEARER. There's enough explanation that someone could probably get settled enough to enjoy the ride after the first 20%, but really it needs the first book to be whole.
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical trauma, and Murder
Minor: Sexual content and Vomit
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
4.5
Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail