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soffi_ramirez 's review for:
Raybearer
by Jordan Ifueko
Honestly, if I could give it more than 5 stars, I would.
This is an incredible and whimsical story that every lover of the Fantasy genre should read. The characters are delightfully complex and flawed, the worldbuilding is amazing for a book under 500 pages and the way it is structured gives you exciting conclusions and unexpected plot twists in more than one stage of the life of our MC. The tropes that are explored here are done excellent and with a cleverness that took me by surprise. This is a first part of a duology, but the ending is good enough for you to feel satisfied, but engaged enough to really wait for the second book.
Long story short, everyone should give it an opportunity.
Now, I cannot express myself as I want without entering spoiler territory, so all the next is spoiler:
HOLY SHIT THIS FUCKING BOOK
This has been one of the most incredible execution of the "vengeance" trope I've ever read. Since you learn from the beginning that Tarisai is half-ehru and that commands her to fulfill The Lady's wish of killing Dayo, it took me by surprise how Jordan Ifueko did not try to make her the "unknown" daughter of The Lady, but go bluntly about it the moment she met the Emperor and his Council. And how she actually overcomed on the first part of the book the murderous wish to be able to get anointed was *chef's kiss*
That made it even worse when The Lady restored her memories and she actually stabbed Dayo. I literally screamed, no joke. And her journey to find Melu to break the wish and then the answers he gave her made this journey so, so, SO GOOD. So satisfying. It never felt like cheating or that the author was taking a shortcut. It was extremely well done and I was living for this.
The characters. THE. FUCKING. CHARACTERS. Even though there was obvious protagonism to Tarisai, Dayo, Sanjeet and Kirah, I still loved the rest of the Council, even if their appereances were scarce. But this kids and then young adults stole my fucking heart, along with Woo In. I was rooting for Tar and Jeet romance from day one (even when I'm not into romantic plots in YA stories because they all feel... meh) and when I thought they'd pair Tar with Dayo because obviously she had to be paired with the future Emperor, the way it was resolved filled my heart with asexual representation and love for this couple. AND THEN SHE STABBED DAYO AND JEET CALLED HER A DEMON AND AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH. But how they resolved their issues, not ignoring them but addressing their traumas and accepting their pasts and parents as part of their stories, but not the main storyline was *chef's kiss*
The worldbuilding was superb. I can't believe how much lore Jordan Ifueko put in this story under 500 pages. I felt sucked by this world, enthralled by it and its costumes. The political points of the story were so, so good, and the story of how the Raybearers came to be was incredible.
And then, the revelation of the two Raybearers, how they always meant to be working together and how Melu explained so easily how simple it was when humans were making it unnecessary hard. UGH. I LOVED IT. I don't know how I didn't feel the plot twist coming, but I didn't and it was SO SATISFYING. I loved it.
AND THE ENDING. THE EMPRESS REDEMPTOR. THE SONGLAND. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT BOOK.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
I love everything.
This is an incredible and whimsical story that every lover of the Fantasy genre should read. The characters are delightfully complex and flawed, the worldbuilding is amazing for a book under 500 pages and the way it is structured gives you exciting conclusions and unexpected plot twists in more than one stage of the life of our MC. The tropes that are explored here are done excellent and with a cleverness that took me by surprise. This is a first part of a duology, but the ending is good enough for you to feel satisfied, but engaged enough to really wait for the second book.
Long story short, everyone should give it an opportunity.
Now, I cannot express myself as I want without entering spoiler territory, so all the next is spoiler:
This has been one of the most incredible execution of the "vengeance" trope I've ever read. Since you learn from the beginning that Tarisai is half-ehru and that commands her to fulfill The Lady's wish of killing Dayo, it took me by surprise how Jordan Ifueko did not try to make her the "unknown" daughter of The Lady, but go bluntly about it the moment she met the Emperor and his Council. And how she actually overcomed on the first part of the book the murderous wish to be able to get anointed was *chef's kiss*
That made it even worse when The Lady restored her memories and she actually stabbed Dayo. I literally screamed, no joke. And her journey to find Melu to break the wish and then the answers he gave her made this journey so, so, SO GOOD. So satisfying. It never felt like cheating or that the author was taking a shortcut. It was extremely well done and I was living for this.
The characters. THE. FUCKING. CHARACTERS. Even though there was obvious protagonism to Tarisai, Dayo, Sanjeet and Kirah, I still loved the rest of the Council, even if their appereances were scarce. But this kids and then young adults stole my fucking heart, along with Woo In. I was rooting for Tar and Jeet romance from day one (even when I'm not into romantic plots in YA stories because they all feel... meh) and when I thought they'd pair Tar with Dayo because obviously she had to be paired with the future Emperor, the way it was resolved filled my heart with asexual representation and love for this couple. AND THEN SHE STABBED DAYO AND JEET CALLED HER A DEMON AND AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH. But how they resolved their issues, not ignoring them but addressing their traumas and accepting their pasts and parents as part of their stories, but not the main storyline was *chef's kiss*
The worldbuilding was superb. I can't believe how much lore Jordan Ifueko put in this story under 500 pages. I felt sucked by this world, enthralled by it and its costumes. The political points of the story were so, so good, and the story of how the Raybearers came to be was incredible.
And then, the revelation of the two Raybearers, how they always meant to be working together and how Melu explained so easily how simple it was when humans were making it unnecessary hard. UGH. I LOVED IT. I don't know how I didn't feel the plot twist coming, but I didn't and it was SO SATISFYING. I loved it.
AND THE ENDING. THE EMPRESS REDEMPTOR. THE SONGLAND. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT BOOK.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH
I love everything.