This is one of the best fantasy stories I've listened to in a long time. Seriously! what a ride! this isn't a standard review but I'm still in awe of this book and really don't know how to put it all into.
World building 10/10
Character and plot 10/10
This book sucked me in from page 1. I highly recommend. Perfect done! Thank you, Harry N. Abrams & netgalley for this review copy.

Raybearer came as a ray of surprise amidst a streak of disappointing reads last month and completely bowled me over. I wasn’t aware of this book’s existence till I saw it’s ALC on offer and picked it up on a whim. I am happy to say it paid off, big time!
Tarisai has been brought up in isolation by the mysterious Lady and is being trained to get chosen as one of the 11 council members for the Crown Prince of Aritsar. As soon as she is accepted she is bound by a wish to obey the Lady’s command and murder the prince. Will Tarisai be forced to obey the Lady’s command or will she be able to assert her own will? Read to find out 😉
I have to commend the narrator, Joniece Abbott-Pratt becuase her narration was what got me hooked to the story from the very first chapter. Tarisai came alive from the very first line and burrowed herself in a corner of my heart from the very beginning. After getting introduced to Ekundayo and Sanjeet, there was no turning back, I was completely invested!!!
I loved how the author, brings Aritsar and the multiple realms including the underworld, their customs and culture to life using songs and the folklores. I would highly recommend listening to the audiobook just for these songs!!! I kept humming them to myself for days after finishing the book. The world building is so lush and vibrant that I was completely transported. The magic system was also unique. How the Ray connects the members of the council and the scope of the relationship dynamics it provides has me very excited for the future instalments in this series.
But the biggest highlight and what I loved most about this book are the characters, their friendships and the found family trope! They kept surprising me because just as I think it’s going to get tropey with a love triangle or moving towards a predictable plot, it turns around and astounds me with a fresh new take. Tarisai and Sanjeet and Dayo have my whole heart!!! The Lady was another intriguing character who’s story I wouldn’t mind getting to read as a seperate book.
Overall this is the debut of the year for me and
I highly highly recommend investing in this series.
Rating: 5 stars

What a fun debut story, with multi-dimensional & flawed characters. The magical system was done well. Overall the concept of the story was really well done.

Thank you Black Stone Publishing and Black Stone Audiobooks for this review copy of Raybearer. Please note I had to wait for the book to be released as the audiobook on NetGalley echoed and I was not able to read or listen.

I absolutely loved this book! What a unique premise! When reading the description you are like "okay wow looks like another girl set to kill the prince who falls in love and blah blah blah blah" but that is such a vague idea of this beautifully woven story.

The story started out very character-driven for me, which is not something I am complaining about. The characters are fleshed out and are complicated and unique. It is one of those stories where each character helps the other grow, but I don't believe that one character was placed just for growth of another; they all have a reason to be there. Then about half way through the book the plot shows its face and your mind is just... blown. I honestly don't know what else to say about that without spoiling what happens.

We have Dayo, who is the prince and has a secret all of his own and is just all smiles. Kirah who is the mothering friend (probably because of her hollow [Hollows are special gifts they are born with]) and is just a strong, female character to love. Then there is Sanjeet who is hard on the outside and soft and warm on the inside (honestly my favorite kind of character). I believe all of the characters, or at least most, were black in this book too which is what the world needs right now : #ownvoice black characters written by black authors!

And the world is rich with history and culture and magic! You get some backstories, you learn more about the magic system including the Raybearer's magic. I never once felt overwhelmed with information because the author reminds you of the history or the culture when it is important and you go "OH YEAH THAT WOW" and it's like a light-bulb went on lol.

Seriously loved this book. I cannot wait to see the journey of the next book. Didn't leave you an exact cliffhanger, but you know the next book is going to be epic as heck! Gah, I'm going to go think on this book for the rest of my life now... it's just so pure...

This is a solid start to a promising series. Tarisai has been raised by her mother, the Lady, in isolation. People have not allowed to touch her because of her hallow, a special power that she was born with. Tar's hallow is that she can see people's memories.

Then, without explanation, Tarisai is sent to the capital to try to become one of the Crown Prince's council of eleven. The catch? She has to love him and be anointed in order to be on the council. And she does love him. The next catch? Her mother has commanded her through a wish she cannot ignore to kill the prince.

This is atmospheric. It is epic. It is the first in a series that will, I'm sure, be as wondrous and imaginative as this.

So this is my favorite African based fantasy that I have read so far. I loved this book right from the beginning. There were a couple of times that I started to feel "ok, let's move this along" but it would very quickly change direction - and sometimes in a way I hadn't predicted. Overall - great and I'll be recommending it!

Audibook part - this was a GOOD audiobook. Narrator was great - different character voices were unique and the accents were good. It could have been a tad faster I will say - for a book not that long, the audiobook was quite long. I ended up speeding it up - not much just 1.25 but that's my one note.

*spoiler alert* I really enjoyed how there was not a) a love triangle that would have been very obvious and b) that the characters (hardly) ever doubt Tarisai's loyalty and how the prince really listened and trusted Tarisai the entire time.

"Monsters were nothing. The true terrors were people like me—the ones who saw suffering, who heard the screams of a hundred generations echoing for miles around them—and still did nothing."

To be honest, I have no idea what this is about when I requested an audiobook from NetGalley to go along with a Kindle preorder I received from a generous friend.

Fast forward to now that I am in awe after devouring this refreshing debut. Abridged synopsis for the book says this is about a child raised to serve on a council, advise the crowned prince, and assassinate him. With that, I immediately boarded up the Raybearer ship and started the journey.

What I liked:

Worldbuilding
The establishment of Aritsar as this peaceful and united land ruled by one emperor, the Raybearer, was just the surface of the creatively woven world in this book. The way Jordan Ifueko successfully written a convincing setting with internal history of conflict and impending war against the Abikus (monsters from the underworld) paired with mysterious territories in the name of Songland all fitted to form the magical place that contributed largely to the storyline.

Starting with Tarisai's caged days at the Bhekina House where she was groomed until the right age came for her to enter the test in which future council of Aritsar will be selected to join the crowned prince, Ekundayo Kunleo - until the carefree times with the anointed Council at the Children's Palace and Yorua Keep to finally unveiling the bigger picture when the council had to visit the eleven areas of Aritsar, and Songland - all this places were vividly painted with words and the image my mind created was native and picturesque.

The tropes
New found family only works if the story of the main characters is penned as the casted out one or the Chosen one and this complemented Tarisai's story right from the start. I really enjoyed the selection of council and how the history was interlaced with the introduction of each Anointed Ones.

Squad story is also a huge bait for me. I love reading stories focusing on a band of misfits, or selected team and the Anointed Ones fascinated me and I can't wait to read more of their adventures especially in the next books.

The Chosen Ones may be a cliché when it comes to fantasy but the story of Tarisai is a refreshing take on this trope. I didn't get bored with her story because the plot just keeps on giving.

The characters
Oh my god, how do I start?
Tarisai easily secured a spot as one of my favorite fictional characters. The way Jordan Ifueko created her as an MC that is groomed to be an assassin who will end the rulers' lineage with an innocent personality and ending up discovering her own purpose by balancing both her roles as The Lady's child and the hope of Aritsar and Songland. Tarisai is not the perfect badass character but her showing her own doubts and vulnerabilities only made her character more relatable.

Dayo is an amazing support character for Tarisai. He not only managed to win the hearts of his anointed council but he also stood up for what is right for his constituents. Though it's never not obvious that Dayo and Tar were pitted as romantic interests, I love how understanding and more of an old soul his character is and I'm looking forward to seeing how the crowned prince will grow, especially with the unveiling of his orientation and preference.

Sanjeet - AHHHHHHHHHHH! if I'll be given a chance to hug one character from this book - that'll be him. I just love his character so much and the way he cared for our Empress Tarisai is on a different level of affection. Petition to not change his character and let him be Tar's constant.

Honorable mentions are Kirah, Woo In, Kathleen, Melu, and of course, the one who gave me questions and let me cloud my judgment - The Lady.

The plot
Do not start this book if you're not in the mood to read a fantasy book because I'm sure you'll either get overwhelmed or you won't enjoy the storyline.
I read the first part earlier when I still have no audiobook but I wasn't that committed so I put it off first and decided to read it again during this long weekend and alas, my mood reader self devoured this amazing debut. In my opinion, this book gives off vibe from ATLA, The Lion King, and COBAB with a refreshing take on colonialism, diversity, marginalized people (and discrimination), how we should always be hope for our future generation.

RATING: 5stars

Dynamic voice actor who shows incredible range of dynamism with each character. Well executed story with visual embellishments making themselves clear throughout the tale.

Amazing! Full of adventure, emotion, relationships, and self-discovery. Seeing little of her mother throughout her childhood, Tarisai was raised by tutors to compete for a place on the crown prince’s council. If she succeeds, she will be joined with the prince and the other council members by the magical bond of the Ray. Before she leaves for the capitol, her mother commands her to kill the crown prince once she is anointed. Tarisai is determined to find another way.

The narration was just wonderful!

My love letter to Raybearer and Jordan Ifueko:
First I want to say thank you for writing a book that throws tropes on their side; even when a trope is present, it is not the standard, Jordan takes it and makes it her own. Each time I thought I knew what was going to happen (because it *always* happens this way in YA books) I sat there dumbfounded because it didn't! Oh god I loved this; I loved being completely surprised by what happened in this beautiful book.

I listened to the audio read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher, and I am still hearing their voice in my head. I still hear inflections, accents, pain, joy, and every emotion you can imagine.

Raybearer is a beautiful book that everyone should read, listen to, and just immerse themself into.

One of my fav fantasy books I’ve read of this year for sure!!

The whole world, the characters, the magic system was something so fresh and new (which I love to see as sometimes it can get repetitive In fantasy books.) I loved how fast paced it was and I couldn’t stop flying through it I just couldn’t stop!!

I’m very excited for the sequel and can’t wait where this story will go

From the very first page, Raybearer proved to be a unique and engrossing story. Narrator Joniece Abbott-Pratt added a whole new level to the magic with her interpretation of the songs and chants throughout the story.

Young Taisari was created to destroy the crown prince of the empire, but as she grew closer to him and his other Council members, Taisari fought to find her own voice and purpose. Ifueko's storytelling was compelling and the story itself was smart. Raybearer is a character-driven novel with very little action, but all of the characters will burrow themselves into the reader's heart. I'm excited to see how this series develops.

As a frequent reader of YA literature, I can honestly say I have not read a book with a world as complete as this one in a long time. The author wove the elements of excellent storytelling and myth together with vivid descriptions of the characters and setting and slowly fed Tarisai's world to me. I felt like I was there!

Raybearer provides plenty to discuss and learn from. The story is influenced heavily by African folklore and includes topics like patriarchy, caste, race, and in one instance a violent attempt to erase the history of all the other country's within the empire.

The story begins with Tarisai being raised in a touch-less, affection-less world until the day her mother, The Lady, comes and says she is ready. Tarisai has had tutors to help with her studies throughout her early years, but her mother was frequently absent from her life and even when she returned there was little affection. The ,day Tarisai was told she was ready, her mother showed her a picture of a smiling boy and ordered her to kill him when he anoints her as part of his council. There was no explanation as to who the boy was or why her mother was telling her to kill him. This starts the adventure with a full cast of characters and the desire for a purpose other than the one her mother laid out for her.

One caveat though, the book ends, not on a cliffhanger per se, but clearly leaves it open for the next installment of the story.

The narrator of the audiobook I was fortunate enough to listen to did a fabulous job of changing voices and clearly defining who was who in the story. She definitely knew how to pronounce all the words I would have stumbled over! I recommend his book to everyone! There was no foul language, just a thought provoking, conversation invoking story that leaves you wanting more!

This was a really unique sci-fi book for YA. I am interested to read more by this author and more in the series in the future.

Raybearer is a new own voices high-fantasy novel by Jordan Ifueko, audiobook narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt, with cover art by Charles Chaisson. Published by Amulet Books with audio publication by Blackstone Publishing. Tarisai lives a very sheltered life in her home of Swana, one of Aritsar’s 12 realms. Growing up with an absent mother known only as The Lady, Tarisai spends her childhood in training to become a member of Crowned Prince Ekundayo’s (Dayo) anointed Council and then, kill him.

From the moment Raybearer begins, it is a gorgeous, fully-realized world full of magic, politics, and mythical beings. The people of Raybearer‘s world have the potential to be born with Hollows, magical abilities such as Tarisai’s power to see people and objects’ memories, or temporarily take them away. The king and prince of Aritsar are also born with a Hollow passed down through their lineage. Their Hollow, the Ray, allows them to anoint 11 others to his council, one from each of Aritsar’s realms. Anointment means sharing a lifelong bond through which each of the 11 and the royal share their emotions, can communicate telepathically, and, in order to stave off Council Sickness, must remain in close physical proximity to at least one other council member at all times.

The member of the royal lineage is born with an immunity to one of the 12 types of death and, for each council member he anoints, he gains one more immunity. Eventually, only old age and betrayal from a council member can kill the royal. To anoint somebody though, that person must love the prince. It is through this shared love among the council and prince that all of Aritsar is ruled and all of Raybearer‘s deep, powerful themes bear fruit.

Raybearer illustrates over and over throughout the book that love can take any number of forms. In fact, the typical sexual/romantic love one would expect between a young adult novel’s two main characters is rendered null early in the story in a scene not completely unproblematic in the language employed. Nonetheless, Tarisai and Dayo’s relationship is much more akin to that of siblings in a found family-esque scenario. Their relationship is rich and the circumstances that bring them together, and threaten to tear them apart, amplify the relationship by full orders of magnitude.

Tarisai and her other council siblings exhibit romantic relationships, best friendships, and other kinds of love just as well. They never feel forced or overly tropey. Many of the relationships, romantic or otherwise, enjoy excellent slow-burn, will they/won’t they natures. Ifueko does well balancing the motivations for the growth of the story’s relationships. Whether growth is egged on by the follies of teenagedom, the allure of power, or Raybearer‘s plot developments, none ever outweighs the others to the point of cliché.

It would be unfair to give away too much detail about Raybearer‘s plot, but know that it is the best I have read so far in 2020. While some aspects may be predictable early on, there is always a slight twist to a thread’s resolution that is simultaneously going to make you say “wow, I totally knew it,” and “oh my god YES!”

Besides excellent characters, relationships, plot, and motivations, the world Raybearer builds is wonderfully alive. Each of Aritsar’s realms and the lands of other peoples beyond the kingdom is distinct and full of life. While not every realm gets a full treatment of imagery and exploration, they nearly all receive personality. Based mostly on West-African and Central and South Asian cultures and locales, Raybearer stands apart from so many of its monolithic fantasy brethren.

I especially love how music and drums are essential to Artisar’s culture. The entirety of Raybearer is laden with myths, religion, and culture, but the music stands out to me the most. It is perhaps thanks to audiobook narrator Joniece Abbott-Pratt, but every song and drum beat she sings fills the story with more life.

Culture, religion, and myths also play a central role in Raybearer as the novel addresses themes including imperialism, patriarchy, and finding one’s purpose. The way the book addresses these themes through Tarisai’s first-person view as she comes to grips with them herself makes the reader especially empathetic, even if the world beyond her rose-colored view is more clearly tainted to us from the onset.

Raybearer is an amazing new story in a unique, vibrant world. It is filled with excellent characters whose relationships and types of love break the typical YA mold enough to be quite fresh while still coloring within the lines of what YA readers are looking for. While addressing imperialism, patriarchy, and other themes intimate to author Jordan Ifueko’s personal and cultural experience, the novel weaves together an entirely well-imagined world full of myth, culture, religion, and magic.

*I received an audio ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

All I can say is WOW! This book takes you on a true journey as you watch Tarisai grow up and learn the ways of her world and I loved every minute of it. It has been so long since I've given out a five star and I'm so glad it was to this book.

As I received an audiobook for review, some notes on the audiobook. I really enjoyed the process of listening to it. It's narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt who I think did a very good job of bringing the characters to life. I was able to differentiate between the characters through her use of different voices and accents, and there were a few songs included in the story which were actually sung through which was nice.

Raybearer takes so many of the complexities of life and explores them through this wonderfully crafted fantasy world.

Characters: Watching Tarisai grow up was truly fascinating. Because this book takes place over such a long period of time you really get to watch her grow and become her own person. I thought the romance was really cute and believable. It's not quite what you expect going into the book and I appreciated that. You also fall in love with Tarisai's friends, Dayo, Sanjeet, and Kirah. I feel like we really got to know them both through their relationship with Tarisai and how they are outside of her.

This book also does a good job of humanizing the villain, The Lady, it does a good job of showing how she became who she did while not excusing her actions in my opinion. This also leads to the theme of coming to terms with having an abusive parent and the complicated feelings that come when you're the child in that situation. You love your parents because they are what you know, but you know that they haven't treated you properly and it's hard to realize that.

Plot: Speaking of themes, this book has a lot of them. This book also discusses general trauma, systemic oppression, and the trouble with assimilation. A passage that sticks out to me where Tarisai figures out why certain groups do worse on testing was such a brilliant and casual way to point out how systemic oppression works and I love that for YA readers. I keep mentioning that this book brings you on a journey because it really does, the plot has just enough twists and turns to keep you on your toes. You're constantly wanting to know how what will happen next.

World and writing: This world was very large and expansive, with various culturally distinct realms which were generally well described and I thought the writing was good at showing that. The descriptions really made you feel as if you were there. The magic system of the world, especially the use of the Ray was very interesting, unique, and well explained. We get some history lessons on the history of the world and those also seemed well thought out and were very interesting to me.

My only disappointment doesn't even have anything to do with this book or it's storytelling specifically. It's just that I went into this expecting a standalone book, and didn't realize it probably wasn't until the very end, so I'm a bit sad that it's not. I obviously can't judge the next book before it even has a public title, and having loved this book so much I'm cautiously excited, but as a person who's really on the lookout for standalone fantasies I was little disappointed by the cliffhanger.

Overall I really loved this book, if you're looking for an intricate high fantasy with an all Black cast this is the book for you.

DID NOT FINISH, stopped at 29%

I was given an advanced audiobook copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

This story sounded super interesting and I was excited for it, however, I could not get into this story at all. The main character was essentially birthday of a rape (by her mother, yes, men can be raped) and then she is competing to become part of the future king's counsel of eleven. In the counsel of eleven, no one can marry and you can only copulate with the king, but hey "as a female counsel member you can birth us our future." Right....I was done with the weird sex cult idea and then the fact that she is just chattle to birth an heir. I'm good. I am sure the novel would get better later on, however, this was just unfortunately disturbing to me and screaming creepy cult and it is not something I want to continue.

OK I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH AAAH!!

Raybearer totally stole my heart and fixed it and I'm in love. 🥺 I went into the book knowing nothing about the plot and I think that is why I was more surprised too.

The plot is one of the best parts about the book. It is so complex and layered, there is literally no point when you feel bored in the book. Every single page is filed with intrigue and singing interesting, keeping you hooked. I loved the world building. What made me swoon the most was the fact that it wasn't a straightforward YA - there were so many twists and turns and secrets that you don't really see coming. The author takes you back and forth in the story, keeping you in a loop of guessing and bombarding with badass secrets! Loved that 😍

Coming to the characters, my god 😭 I loved Tarisai's voice right from the beginning. She had a distinctive and complicated character arc, and the author brought it out in the words. Her complicated relationship with The Lady was so well portrayed - all the emotions that she went through, the dilemma of choosing between loyalty and love, the crave to be important and belong, the want for a family. Ah, my heart ached for Tarisai!!
Ekundayo was an adorable bean, tbh, and I wished we could've had more scenes of him with Tarisai, seeing their relationship grow. Sanjeet wasn't my favorite character in the beginning but he really did grow on me later.

The whole cast is so intricately woven into the story, with a large ensemble. And each were unique, with distinctive voices. The palace politics was also so perfectly lain down, with excellent incorporation of culture and traditions, I felt. Listening to the audiobook was a delight in itself; the narrator truly brought out the essence of the story through the various sound imitations and voice modulation.

The story is not your average, everyday YA fantasy. It is an unique fantasy, richly inspired by West African folklore, while also exploring themes of race and cast, misogyny and patriarchy, trauma and healing, and the generational burden that we carry with ourselves. Raybearer is truly one gem of a book and I NEED THE SECOND BOOK LIKE RIGHT NOW 🥺😭
The ending was so beautiful and heartbreaking aarghhh. Jordan Ifuenko really ended it that way aghhhggg 🙃 I really loved this book so much and would 10/10 recommend. Can't wait for the next book to see where the story goes and how Tarisai fights in the patriarchal world!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an early audiobook. All views expressed are solely mine.

I received an advance reader copy of this book on audio to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This book was amazing! I just don't know where to start!
Therese (the main character) has been starved of touch from others since being a young child because if she touches you she can not only see but change and manipulate your memories. Her mother (the lady) sends her to become close to the Prince Drayo. She has been manipulated by The Lady and her mind tells her that once he anoints her as his own she must kill him.
Therese embarks on a journey longing for love and freindship, scared of the weapon she has been made into and the book unravels a plot that leaves you guessing at every turn as just when you think you know whats going to happen, the book cleverly twists to leave you guessing again.

This is a fantastic fantasy book with romance that contains many diverse, interesting and likeable characters throughout. Each scene is beautifully described and easy to envision. So many topics are woven into this book making it a fantastic book of the times we live in such as race, trauma, class, segmentation and colonisation.
The audio book I received was beautifully read and the narrator did a fantastic job reading it.

Unfortunately my Netgalley app doesn't seem to want to work. Which is a pity I was really looking forward to this audiobook. Will try again once the app decides to work.