A review by jnvreads
Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad 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

4.0

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko - Rating: 4/5⭐️

When Tarisai was eleven years old, she learned of her fate. The daughter of an evil absent mother and faerie, she was bred to obey a magical wish to kill the Crown Prince. As she competes with the other children of Aritsar to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of Eleven, Tarisai must push against the weight of her destiny. 

LIKES:

👍🏾 The whole magic system. The way the gods interwove with the humans in a natural way and the hallows were my favorite.

👍🏾 I’ve never read anything inspired by West-African folklore…and apparently I need to more. It brought out this connection to the culture that made you  sense the world. 

👍🏾 The center of the entire story is a thoughtful examination of cultural imperialism and how history can influence the stories we share. A beautiful approach to the insidious power that an empire can have and how the poison it exudes can slowly eat away at its culture. 

👍🏾 A rich cast of characters that had this tender vulnerability. The yearning of belonging bleeding into fighting to save themselves to make a world worth living in. And I appreciated that they were about to hold their integrity in being complex and not easily categorized. Sanjeet quickly became my favorite. 

👍🏾 The religious aspects. Especially the stories of the underworld and parade of dead souls. 

DISLIKES:

👎🏾 The world building was a slow and confusing heavy-hitter in the beginning. 

👎🏾 The pacing. Starting with the time jump of 4 years suddenly and then continued to have these time lapses. It sometimes took me out of the story and led to less of a connection to the characters and storyline. Then with the making herself forget - it didn’t last long enough and didn’t add the angst to the story that I think her continuing to fight her impulses during that time would’ve. I also think that there was a lot that went on and non at all until the very end. 

Overall, a great read that was jam-packed with culture, magic, and world building.