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ofbooksandechos's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death
meaghanelizabook's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Child death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Minor: War
cyrinw98's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Violence
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual content
booksthatburn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
REDEMPTOR is a story of love, friendship, promises, and exploitation as Tarisai strives to end, once and for all, the cycles of poverty and violence that have heretofore been the social and economic underpinnings of the Empire.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical trauma, and Murder
Minor: Sexual content and Vomit
betweentheshelves'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
This was definitely a worthy sequel to Raybearer, which I read last year and loved. This picks up pretty much where that story leaves off, and even though I don't remember a lot about how that book ended, I remembered enough that it wasn't difficult to jump into this one.
Overall, the pace in this book was faster than the first, probably because a lot of the world building happened in the first book. Not only did this sequel expand on what we already know from the first book, but it also gives us more characters to learn to love. Tarisai's arc works so well in this book, as she learns to acknowledge her privilege and work to make things better in the future. All in all, you can tell this is a well thoughout duology that has a home in YA fantasy.
Overall, the pace in this book was faster than the first, probably because a lot of the world building happened in the first book. Not only did this sequel expand on what we already know from the first book, but it also gives us more characters to learn to love. Tarisai's arc works so well in this book, as she learns to acknowledge her privilege and work to make things better in the future. All in all, you can tell this is a well thoughout duology that has a home in YA fantasy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Blood
Minor: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
boxalligators's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.5
Rep:
Black main character
Lesbian character
Asexual character
Black main character
Lesbian character
Asexual character
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death
Minor: Ableism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
julesadventurezone's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
kylieqrada's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
Jordan Ifueko WENT. THERE.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Murder, and War
Minor: Ableism and Suicidal thoughts
stephbakerbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Let's start with the good: Tarisai is one of the best YA leads I've read in a while. Her growth and development from the first book continues into this one. She makes mistakes (frustrating from the reader's perspective haha), but she learns from them and she's not afraid of failure. The world-building continues to be beautiful and unique in this book—so vivid and compelling.
A big part of this story is that Tarisai has eleven "Council siblings" that she loves and is bonded to, and my one complaint from the first book was that we only really got to know three or four of them—the others were just kind of there. And I was hoping to get to know them better in this book. But right from the start pretty much, the council is sent away and separated across the land. They have less of a presence in this book than they did in the first book. Even the ones we got to know, Kirah and Sanjeet, are barely in this book. And then we're introduced to a whole new cast of characters, and the same thing happens—we get time with a few of them but the rest are just there for plot. There's a lot of "they are family" talk but not much of that is actually seen. It was disappointing.
I actually wish this was a trilogy instead of just a duology. The world is so fascinating, and I think the characters could have been fleshed out more if the story had more time to breathe. The ending was very anticlimactic, and the one thing I thought would be a major part of the story was resolved in about a chapter.
Anyways, I'm glad I read this series. But the first book was definitely the best.
A big part of this story is that Tarisai has eleven "Council siblings" that she loves and is bonded to, and my one complaint from the first book was that we only really got to know three or four of them—the others were just kind of there. And I was hoping to get to know them better in this book. But right from the start pretty much, the council is sent away and separated across the land. They have less of a presence in this book than they did in the first book. Even the ones we got to know, Kirah and Sanjeet, are barely in this book. And then we're introduced to a whole new cast of characters, and the same thing happens—we get time with a few of them but the rest are just there for plot. There's a lot of "they are family" talk but not much of that is actually seen. It was disappointing.
I actually wish this was a trilogy instead of just a duology. The world is so fascinating, and I think the characters could have been fleshed out more if the story had more time to breathe. The ending was very anticlimactic, and the one thing I thought would be a major part of the story was resolved in about a chapter.
Anyways, I'm glad I read this series. But the first book was definitely the best.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Blood