Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
Published 18th August 2020 by Hot Key Books
Star Rating - ***.5
Goodreads Challenge - 22/50
I was kindly gifted and ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis (from Goodreads)
Nothing is more important than loyalty.
But what if you’ve sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy?
Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as The Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of 11. If she’s picked, she’ll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood.
That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere. But The Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: Kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn—but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself?
But what if you’ve sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy?
Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as The Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of 11. If she’s picked, she’ll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood.
That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere. But The Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: Kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn—but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself?
My Thoughts
I was excited to be offered a review copy of this book. I haven't really read a fantasy inspired by West African folklore and I was keen to dive into this one because it sounded so good. After finishing this book I can say I enjoyed the story overall but i definitely have some mixed feelings about it.
I will be honest after about 100 pages I was considering DNFing this book. I will say now that I've finished it I'm really glad I didn't however, for the first 100-200 pages I really struggled to get into the story. The writing was fine, but I felt the pacing of the story was a bit off. There was several big time jumps in the beginning and I think this hindered the character development and the world building. There were things happening that I didn't really understand and their were aspects of the story that I didn't feel were explained well enough which was a shame as the plot itself was really interesting. The story picked up in the second half and there wasn't really any large time jumps which helped me to follow the plot better and I found myself wanting to keep reading as I was keen to see how it ended.
I loved the characters however, I really liked the idea of challenging the stereotype of this world where only men can rule and woman are seen as a lesser being in the royal circle. Our main character Tar was quite complex, it often felt like she was being pulled in many different directions and I liked how she didn't just give in to the easy option. She continued to fight for what was right even though she could hurt herself and the people around her. I thought the idea of a sacred council all linked together was really interesting. I really liked the strong found family vibes this story gave off and I liked that the romance that went along with this was very much a slow burn as it could of quite easily been quite 'instalovey' with the way the characters bonded together.
Overall a bit of a mixed one for me. I enjoyed the plot and the characters however, I felt the execution wasn't quite right for my taste. I'm not sure if this is part of a series or if there will be any more books in this world but if it is then I may look at picking up the next one from my library.
I will be honest after about 100 pages I was considering DNFing this book. I will say now that I've finished it I'm really glad I didn't however, for the first 100-200 pages I really struggled to get into the story. The writing was fine, but I felt the pacing of the story was a bit off. There was several big time jumps in the beginning and I think this hindered the character development and the world building. There were things happening that I didn't really understand and their were aspects of the story that I didn't feel were explained well enough which was a shame as the plot itself was really interesting. The story picked up in the second half and there wasn't really any large time jumps which helped me to follow the plot better and I found myself wanting to keep reading as I was keen to see how it ended.
I loved the characters however, I really liked the idea of challenging the stereotype of this world where only men can rule and woman are seen as a lesser being in the royal circle. Our main character Tar was quite complex, it often felt like she was being pulled in many different directions and I liked how she didn't just give in to the easy option. She continued to fight for what was right even though she could hurt herself and the people around her. I thought the idea of a sacred council all linked together was really interesting. I really liked the strong found family vibes this story gave off and I liked that the romance that went along with this was very much a slow burn as it could of quite easily been quite 'instalovey' with the way the characters bonded together.
Overall a bit of a mixed one for me. I enjoyed the plot and the characters however, I felt the execution wasn't quite right for my taste. I'm not sure if this is part of a series or if there will be any more books in this world but if it is then I may look at picking up the next one from my library.
Overall Rating (3.5*)
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