Sunday, June 12, 2022

Book Series Review: "Raybearer" by Jordan Ifueko


Series Title: Raybearer
Author: Jordan Ifueko
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Reading Order & Individual Ratings:
  1. Raybearer - 4.5 // 5
  2. Redemptor - 4.5 // 5
Overall Rating: 4.5 // 5 stars

This duology is so slept on and I cannot believe more people aren't talking about this! I thoroughly enjoyed it and am definitely looking forward to revisiting this world in the future.

So I hadn't heard much about Raybearer online, just a few posts here or there which is strange as it is a NYT Bestseller. But it was always on my radar to eventually pick up. When it went on sale, I snatched it up quick. A few months later, here we are. 

I binged this duology back to back and it was wonderful. I was sucked in from the beginning and binged both books in about one sitting each. I was so invested in this duology and I just had to know how things ended. The first book was such an insane conclusion and the sequel picked right up off that energy and just kept that pace up. It was an addicting story that I couldn't put down.

This world is so vibrant and fascinating. I absolutely loved the magic system, world building, and just overall writing. I especially love the focus put on family and strong relationships and how magic was used within them. The world is a lot to take in, but we're given what we need to understand it and it's easy to understand once you get it down. Additionally, we don't get more information than we need to understand the story. This just means I want to know more about the world (through additional novels, informational guides, etc) outside of this story.

I loved the main character. Her internal struggles, her growth, her love for those around her, her desire to make the world a better place...she was great. I was sucked into her journey and she was such a compelling main character. Of course, I enjoyed the side characters as well. Overall, I just think that the entire cast of characters were really well written and fun to read. 

I will say, there were a couple things I wished were a little different. The first is that I felt like the story in the second book happened incredibly quickly for how built up it was. The second, more importantly, is that I wanted the found family to be a bigger focus. 

Now, so much of the plot of the two books focuses on the found family and how our main character interacts with them. Especially in the second book, everything she does seems to be primarily to preserve those around her (specifically this found family). However, the actual page time of the found family was a lot less than I expected and wanted from everyone raving about it. I loved the found family but I wanted more. For a duology focusing so much on found family, it felt like so much of it was the main character doing her own thing. That's not a bad thing, but I was expecting more of the found family dynamic at the forefront. 

Overall, this duology was incredible. The writing was beautiful, the story was addicting, the magic was fascinating, and the characters were compelling. I am so happy to have finally read these two and see what everyone else raved about. I also cannot wait to see what this author does next! 



Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Lauren



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