Reviews tagging 'Death'

Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko

69 reviews

fleur____'s review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful 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


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

bookishmillennial's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

I am so sad that I am done with this duology. I will miss this world and these characters so much! I need a tv or film adaptation ASAP! This would be such a wonderful series to bring to life onscreen!!!

Anyway, I thought this book tied up everything quite nicely, and I didn't feel like anything was *too* convenient for the sake of wrapping up a plot. I felt like JI thoughtfully crafted fitting and beautiful "endings" for Tarisai, Sanjeet, Zuri, Dayo, and the rest of the cast. I especially appreciated Zuri's arc, in how he acted in alignment with his goals and beliefs about bringing about revolution and liberation from the corrupt, wealthy ruling class. 

The queer representation was lovely, with our ace-spec character, and lesbian characters too! I really grew to love all of these characters even more, and I appreciated seeing their friendships and romances develop further in this book. 

Of course, Tarisai has a lot on her plate - going to the underworld, figuring out ray-things, and coming into her own while balancing respect for who she was before (and who her found family loved before!). It's hard to go through so much change and evolution, not just for you, but for those around you, and I felt that this was illustrated quite realistically. It's uncomfortable sometimes, and I could see where Tarisai's found family was coming from. However, I also just rooted for Tarisai to do what she needed to do, and to evolve into who she wanted to be! Both feelings are valid, and we can hold space for them both.

Again, I will miss this world so much, but I am so grateful for this duology. Truly one of my favorites! 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

abz's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

blueberry0531's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-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

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

tired_cicada's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny 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

4.0

I enjoyed this book aplenty. It had good and bad to it. 

For the good, Ifueko's writing style is so pretty and poetic. She writes characters who feel like real people. She handles sensitivite subjects with such grace and honor. Her takes in justice and personal accountability leave a flushed out story while also making a clear social comentary. Her use of mythology to enhance the story without turning it into a crutch is so masterful! All of her story lines get wrapped up, I don't like anything plot important was left with loose threads. Some relationships were left open ended, and not everything is "fixed" but it was a natural conclusion to the duology.

The Ace rep specifically was so dear to me! To have an emotional, loving, HUMAN character who is conically ace is so rare! Love my boy Dyao!! 

As for the not so good--
There were definitely some pacing issues with this book. The magic system, particularly the bargain aspect of it, could have used a bit more time to flush it out. 
The love triangle was entirely unnecessary, particularly when it amounted to nothing. 
It was a little predictable
WHAT?! you mean the vigilante (that has apparently been active for ages but only mentioned now) and the secondary love interest who acts a fool in public but is smart and articulate with the MC are the SAME PERSON?! WHAT? the Lady who spent the entire last book being sneaky and deceitful is STILL sneaky and deceitful in death? Shocker!!
and I wish it would have surprised me a little more. 

All in all, the good outweighed the bad, and I liked it. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

theaceofpages's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark 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

4.0

I was hesitating between 3.75 and 4 stars for this book. Raybearer set the bar incredibly high and, while still incredibly enjoyable, Redemptor wasn't quite as good. The plot was absolutely delightful and I loved seeing more of Dayo and his asexuality (yay representation!) He's such an incredble character and I am happy that we didn't lose his presence in this book (as we could so easily have as Tarisai has a whole lot of daunting tasks coming up). I also loved seeing Tarisai grow now that she is no longer trapped by her mother, although she definitely faces whole new kind of cruel and manipulative presence in this book. I also enjoyed her stress-induced spiralling. I think many people ill be able to relate to it to some degree even if they haven't experienced it to the same extent she is. I'm glad that she had people who stuck by her and looked out for her through it all.

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.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

glitterdeww's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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

Oh, did I love this book. ❤️ Redemptor shines as brightly as its predecessor, and for me those are big shoes to fill. I needed something to pull me out of a reading slump, and Ifueko's world building enveloped me completely. Her characters are fully grounded and sincere in their representation. This duology is filled with hopeful messaging and a brilliant story. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

tigger89's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0

This is the second book in the Raybearer series. This review will contain spoilers for the first book!

I loved Raybearer so much when I read it earlier this year. In some ways the sequel disappointed, as it wasn't the story I'd wanted. But, upon reflection, I don't believe the story we got was bad for being different. Whether it was the events of 2020 that derailed an original plan or if it had been planned out this way all along, while it might not be my favorite, I do believe it was a solid ending to Tarisai's story.

What I'd been hoping to find was another exploration of the council bond, teasing the limitations and maybe even digging into the potential dark side of the bond. I believed this was coming due to Tarisai's impending separation from both her original council and the new one she had yet to form, as she would have to traverse the underworld alone. Instead, we found the requirement to remain with your fellow council members largely handwaved, which I admit was disappointing to me. The drawback was part of what made the concept of the council bond so compelling. I was also disappointed that the vast majority of her original council siblings took such a backseat, especially the way Sanjeet was pushed aside for plot reasons that, frankly, felt pretty unnecessary to me.

What I hadn't been expecting from this novel was a full-on treatise about self-care and how to avoid burning out, or losing yourself in despair of not being able to immediately fix everything that's wrong. I picked up on the theme pretty quickly, and I love that it was a thing. This is something talked about a lot more over the past 2-3 years, which leaves me wondering what this book might have been like if it had been published at the same time as the first volume, written before our most recent major protest movement kicked off. I was satisfied by the finale of the story, and felt that the sequence in the underworld — fairly brief, comprising less than 20% of the page count of this volume — was very well done, in terms of atmosphere and tension.

All in all, I was satisfied with this sequel, though I liked the first volume more. There was a lot that could have been, but that's what fanfiction is for, right? If you only loved Raybearer for the family Tarisai finds this might fall flat for you, particularly if you're a massive Sanjeet fan. But if you found yourself invested in the bigger picture, I recommend finishing the duology.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

readandfindout's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional medium-paced

4.25

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 4 stars
Characters: 4.5 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Worldbuilding: 4 stars

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Jordan Ifueco is an absolutely brilliant author. I cannot fathom how this story came out of her imagination. so neatly tied every loose end in my opinion. a perfect end to this incredible duology. I love that she wasn't afraid to create the ojiji as blunt and cruel as they are. Anything else I say is un needed. love jordan ifueco. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings