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youngling80 's review for:

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
5.0
hopeful mysterious

 All the stars.

Jordan Ifueko delivers with her debut novel, Raybearer , a YA coming of age story steeped in fantasy and African mythology.

What I loved:
✅Setting: The exposition is lush with both vividly described places and personalities. I was immediately drawn into this world with its savannahs, mystic pools, and more mysterious characters. The world-building in this is on point.
✅African mythology - this is perhaps the best example I've seen to date of an author doing this well. It was pervasive and consistent throughout without being too difficult to follow.
✅A strong female protagonist
✅A plot line that doesn't lag - there was a lot of information that was added to this as the story progressed ... information that changed the dynamics or that upped the ante. I never felt like I had all the information until the end (and that feeling will probably change as soon as I open the next book)
✅Representation of an asexual character
✅Found family - I'm a sucker for this, and the dynamic between several of the characters is
✅The romance in this was very deliciously slow-burn. It was incredibly well written, but also what I would consider to be appropriate for the YA genre.

I honestly can't think of anything that I didn't enjoy about my reading experience. It's safe to say that Raybearer has earned a permanent place on my shelves.