28 September, 2020

#BookReview - Raybearer (Raybearer #1) by Jordan Ifueko - @librofm #YoungAdult #Fantasy

 

Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
Check out the Book on Amazon

I actually I picked the audiobook review copy up from libro.fm on a whim. The cover and the blurb attracted me in a way where was more interested in the world setting than anything else. I am glad that I did! I loved the audiobook so much that I ended up pre-ordering the paperback copy for my own collection.

The protagonist Tarisai is brought up in a huge mansion by a number of staff, tutors and absentee mother, who is known as The Lady. She longs for a loving family yet it seems just out of her reach. Whenever her mother visits, she seems warm and loving yet holding back something. As Tarisai turns 11, her mother shows her a picture of a boy of her age and tells her that Tarisai must kill the boy once they love each other. Then she sends her off to the kingdom's capital with 2 guardians to compete to be chosen as one of the 11 council members of the crown prince. The chosen 11 and the Prince are connected to each other by a 'Ray' that creates a bond between them all. A bond that makes them almost like a family - something that Tarisai has always wanted. The problem is, that photo her mother showed her? The boy she is supposed to kill? Well, that's the crown prince!

This book was refreshing for two reasons - First - diversity!! I loved the diversity that this brought into my reading experience. The second the world setting and the magical system is also something that I enjoyed discovering along the way.  The characters are amazing. I loved Tarisai, Dayo - the prince, Kirha - the healer and Sanjeet - the prince's bear. We see them as children first - when they are 11 years old and then again when they are grown up. the development was well done. I also loved the concept of the council - the idea of a family who live for you and will die for you without a second thought. The friendship between Tarisai and Kirha is also wonderful. They certainly have raised the standards for my own girlfriends. I just wish that the author didn't put Tarisai & and Sanjeet together for a side angle of a romance. I understood why they bonded - yet did not feel the romance or chemistry enough. It wasn't required for the plot - everything they did for each other - they would have done it anyway even as a part of the council.

The book ended in a way that satisfactorily wrapped up the plot line of the book and at the same time gave the readers something to look forward to for the next book. The narrator Joniece Abbott-Pratt brought each and every character alive for me with her narration.



Audiobook Review Copy received from Libro.fm





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