Raybearer and Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko [YA Review]

Summary 💬

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?

Goodreads

Review ✍🏻

Tis the season for clearing out draft reviews that have been languishing for months 🥳 Way back in March, Arwen @ The Tech Chef and I completed a buddy read of Raybearer. I read Raybearer in three days – especially speedy given my reading pace reading in 2021! I immediately sought out Redemptor. This review is based on what I could cobble together from my buddy read notes. No spoilers! But prepare for some gushing…

Buddy Read via The Story Graph

Arwen and I used The Story Graph’s buddy read feature. I don’t use The Story Graph regularly, but found this feature handy. I recommend it as a good option for book bloggers who’d like to do buddy reads with their online friends. In a nut shell, each reader can leave notes as they progress through the story, which the other reader can’t view until they’ve also read to that point. I found this let each of us read at our own pace, while still enabling ‘in the moment’ discussion and reactions. For more thoughts on using The Story Graph to facilitate a buddy read experience, check out this post from Naemi @ A Book Owl’s Corner. (Note: This post is also from April, so it’s possible The Story Graph has updated this feature since then.)

Exquisite Worldbuilding

Is ‘exquisite’ too bold a word to use?! I feel like it may imply more ornate worldbuilding than what Raybearer presents. To be precise, I mean exquisite to describe the craft of Ifueko’s worldbuilding, rather than the style. Just 30 pages in, I noted in the buddy read “I like the set up for this story. We seem to have a pretty broad view of the situation (though questions remain, of course) and I think it’s interesting how Tarisai doesn’t grasp what’s going on.” (The story begins with Tarisai as a child and follows her growth into a teenager.) The earliest pages drew me into the world, with Ifueko striking that perfect balance between revealing how the world works while leaving just enough questions for the reader to be curious enough to follow along with the protagonist.

Part of this exquisite crafting is how Ifueko draws from a variety of cultures to inspire the fantasy realms in Raybearer. We all know how easily this could be fumbled in another writer’s hands. But Ifueko presents each respectfully. The different ways each fantasy realm relates to each other keeps the worldbuilding fresh and exciting. Another concept that felt fresh and engaging is the Crown Prince’s Council, which leads me to…

Heartfelt Relationships

I loved seeing how the Crown Prince chose his council and how the kids grew together in different yet equally special ways. Across the duology we see a range of relationships form between them. I am trying to avoid spoilers here, so I will just say: I was wary of some tired tropes that I don’t enjoy appearing, but I am pleased to report that never happens.

The relationship between Tarisai and the Lady is another shining point in this novel. Such a complex, nuanced relationship; I was really kept on my toes wondering how it would play out in the end.

Engaging Plot

I guess ‘engaging’ is my keyword for this review, hey? (Although I searched and I’ve actually only used it once, so I must have scrubbed it as I went, hah.) I feel like it perfectly captures the experience of reading this duology! You get an excellent blend of worldbuilding, character/relationship, and plot. There were multiple times where something caught me off guard, shocked me, or otherwise gave a bolt of adrenaline. I was quite happily enjoying a straightforward narrative – but then some badass element would happen and I would be further sucked into the story.

Raybearer satisfactorily wraps up the main plotlines, while leaving clear direction for the second book, Redemptor. Redemptor continued to deliver on everything I loved in Raybearer. I made less notes on Redemptor for that reason. The final note I made was “ahhh what a great ending! An exquisite duology. Would love to read more two part fantasies as well-balanced as this one…” (AHA, even eight months ago, I was using the word ‘exquisite’ for these two books.)

The Bottom Line 💭

Raybearer and Redemptor shine as an exemplar fantasy duology. Highly recommended for fans of royal high fantasy stories, even if you generally avoid away YA as I do.

Further Reading 📰

🍂 Read an excerpt
🍂 Author website
🍂 Interview @ The Horn Book (recommend reading this to learn more about Ifueko’s approach to worldbuilding!)
🍂 Reviews: Cierra @ Cierra’s Cynosure, Kal @ Reader Voracious, Siavadha @ Every Book a Doorway, Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense, Sammie @ The Bookwyrm’s Den
🍂 Related: For another more entertaining YA high fantasy series, check out my post on “How Kendare Blake’s Three Dark Crowns Hooked Me“.

Do you prefer standalones, duologies, or trilogies?
Do you have any high fantasy duologies to recommend??