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ClareR (6081 KP) rated Raybearer (Raybearer #1) in Books

Sep 15, 2020 (Updated Sep 15, 2020)

Raybearer (Raybearer #1)

Jordan Ifueko | 2020 | LGBTQ+, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)

8.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

Raybearer is a fantasy set in part in West African myth (which I really wish I knew more about, by the way). Tarisai lives in a big house full of tutors and servants, all training her for one purpose. Her mother rarely visits, and Tarisai wishes she would visit more often - she longs for a mother who will care for her and touch/ hug her. The reason for this becomes very clear as the story progresses.

Tarisai learns that her education has been leading her to one end: to become part of the crowned Prince’s Council of Eleven, and to ultimately kill him. But Tarisai doesn’t want to fulfil her life’s purpose. She doesn’t want to be a murderer, and she actually really likes the Prince.

I shouldn’t be surprised, because I’ve said it often enough myself, but for those uninitiated in YA books, this actually deals with some pretty serious themes: gender roles, and the fact that girls don’t all want their sole life purpose to be that of a child bearer, and parental abuse of children (in this case, physical abuse - eg. hitting). So this isn’t a book for the faint hearted! It’s a beautifully told story though, it has a feel of the fairytale or myth about it, and I definitely think that it was time well spent. To top it off, I see that this is the first book in perhaps a duology or trilogy? I’ll be looking out for the next one, because I’m intrigued to see how this story will develop.

Many thanks to the publisher, Hot Key Books, and to NetGalley for my copy of this book.