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eni_iilorak'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
4.5
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Classism, and Medical content
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcohol, Rape, and Slavery
readandfindout's review
5.0
Themes: 5 stars
Characters: 5 stars
Plot: 5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4.5 stars
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
thatenbyisisreads'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
3.5
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Misogyny, Murder, Genocide, Gore, and Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual content and Rape
Minor: Suicide
emily_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? No
4.5
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
- 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
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).
Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Slavery
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, and Death of parent
Minor: Rape
kartoffel_00's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Raybearer is full of great lore. I enjoyed some parts of it but truthfully speaking the execution of the story the book was trying to conceive was fatally weak. It builds an interesting foundation but fails to follow through on it.
It tries to tell many things in one book. A civil conflict due to cultural differences between the people, a centuries long conflict with a spiritual kingdom, complicated relationships surrounding the main character, and the main character's personal struggles.
The problem is, while there are parts, one thing seldom connects to the next thing. Issues in some chapters arise suddenly without letting the reader ponder upon the details of the previous scene unless its the end of a part. A lot of things end up being the fault of the MC at the accusation of the other characters, making motive of the story weak. And at one point there is a sudden introduction of romance between two characters that came completely out of nowhere.
The things I did enjoy were the bonds of the main character with her found family but I kept wishing for better explanations for everything else as the flow didn't feel natural.
Final Rating: 2.5/5
Moderate: Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexism
Rape- It's not graphic at all but it is an event happening fairly early in the book. Child abuse - Quite present. There's children being sacrificed. But no talk of hard to swallow physical descriptions.enchantedobjects's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Rape
micaela_ru's review
2.5
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Child abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual content and Incest
taroroot'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, and Child abuse
Moderate: Death of parent, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Rape and Sexual content
genny'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
4.25
All that said, it's a worthwhile read and it proved to me that there's still space for fresh, unique stories in YA fantasy. I dove into the sequel immediately after finishing this :)
Graphic: Abandonment, Sexism, Violence, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Blood, Child abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, Death, and Death of parent
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Rape