I absolutely LOVED this. I wasn't too sure when I started reading (I thought it would be similar to Children of Blood and Bone) but I'm so glad I decided to give it a go. World building was great, and as soon as I finished the sampler, I went to preorder the novel. I can't wait to read the rest of it!

Raybearer is that delicious thing: a book - a whole world, in fact - that you wholeheartedly believe in from page one. Magic, mythology and action blend beautifully together in this tale of finding your true family and deciding your own fate.

Ifueko has created a world of diverse characters - it is so important in YA that we have fully-fledged BAME characters, especially protagonists, so that readers can either identify with them, or see that there are other valuable stories out there besides their own. That has been achieved here with expertise. A fantasy YA book that is engrossing, original and has a sense of humour, Raybearer promises to be an instant classic. I cannot wait to finish it.

I had to reread some sentences when I started this book as I found the rhythm difficult to follow at first, but once I did the prose really started to flow and I was able to focus on the vivid pictures conjured by the author. The different regions of the realms are fascinating and easy to picture and the concept of the Raybearer and their council of Eleven is really interesting. I would like to read on and see what happens next as by the end of extract I really cared about the characters and what will happen to them.

This sampler has me so excited for the full release on the 18th. The story is already gripping and I would love to read more - having to wait a week is too long!

I’m giving this sampler a 3 star rating as this is not the complete book and it feels wrong to pre-emptively give it as high a rating I’ve given to complete ARCs previously. This can of course change a lot with the full release.

What a fantastic start to the story! I am hooked by the writing style already, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the complete book!

This sample is an intriguing start, a very promising start to this debut. I am certainly going to pick this up and continue as soon as I can. The magic was very imaginative, and the writing brings the richly-woven world alive with colour and movement.

This seems like an amazing read. Already in love with the writing style. Can’t wait to read the rest of this one.

This sampler is cruel. I need to read the rest and I need it now! This book has so much potential I simply have to read the rest. Beautifully written and intriguing, this sounds fabulous and I will be reading more.

As sample reads go, this definitely did the job as I cannot wait to read the full book. A superbly written book that transports you through the story with ease, truly beautiful

After these first chapters and all the potential there is, I can't wait for this book's release to keep reading. The sampler stopped after a very big event and I need more.
I'm loving the world building and magic system and the mc is likeable and definitely one I want to cheer on!
This sounds like a great book and I'm sure I won't change my mind after reading the rest.

This book made me extremely happy. I was given only an excerpt as an ARC so this is all I will review but the moment I finished those pages I made sure to pick up the entire thing. The inscription from the author at the beginning spoke to me, a fairytale for people looking for their own face in such stories. These are the fairytales every child should get to read. Ringbearer brought back so many things that entranced me as a child about folklore and myth. There are songs, and legends, and supernatural folk. There are also callbacks to Anansi, and creation stories rooted in Africa of Earth, Water and Sky.

I don't generally read much YA fiction. I took a chance on this and I'm glad I did. I'm hoping that the rest holds up to such a strong beginning.

This is going to be the most amazing YA book of the year! I absolutely love the characters and the world, the magic and the mystery. What an exciting sampler of Raybearer. I can't wait to read the whole book - everyone needs to put it on their to-read list NOW!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing the eARC sampler 105pages for this book.
Release date : 18/08/2020

“You write your story, not the people who came before you.”

This is an African inspired fantasy. The world and the magic system Ifueko has created is intriguing without being overly complicated and is easily grasped from the very beginning of the book.

The story revolves around a young girl named Tarisai who grew up lonely and starved of touch, being brought up by an absent mother referred to as The Lady. Tarisai eventually learns that she is half jinn born of her mothers wish to murder the prince after joining the council. Regardless, she yearns for her mother’s love and approval.

As Tarisai comes of age and passes her first test, she enters The Children’s Palace where the prince will choose 11 council members to help him rule. She quickly learns that once anointed it is her mothers final wish for her to kill the prince. This she must do to set her ehru and herself free from The Lady. The book fast forwards four years where we learn that Tarisai rejects and has constantly rejected the princes wish for her to join the council. This she has done in order to protect him from herself. Coming to the end of the sample I could tell that Tirasai’s story has now become a fight between free will and ‘destiny.’

Having read only 105pages I can say that although this book is set in a world of fantasy and magic it is relevant to our time as already numerous issues have been touched upon i.e. man vs women, masculinity, power, justice, leadership, politics, the family, race and skin colour. I am intrigued to see Ifueko’s take on these issues and how they develop throughout the story and their impact upon Tirasai’s world. I am also truly curious to see what the mother-daughter dynamic between Tarisai and The Lady will amount to.

A must read in today’s time.

Only read the sampler and can not wait to get my hands on the full book. It has been a long time since a fantasy novel has felt so fresh and unique. Plea, essentially, also engrossing . Will amend rating when I have red full novel

The style of this book is so different from anything I’ve read in a long time. A very different fantasy story, the writing has a wonderful rhythm to it, and a story that draws you in from the start. The characters are building up nicely just as you come to the end of the sampler. This is the first time in ages that I’ve actually thought I must buy this book.

Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an ARC sampler in exchange for an honest review.

First, let me just say that Raybearer is utterly incredible, the sample eARC I was given wasn't enough. I was left bereft and desperate to know more.

Jordan Ifueko has created a truly incredible world with characters that are each both so unique and fascinating that I am left wanting more. From the beginning of page one to the moment I realised I had come to the end of the sample; I was left breathless by the beauty of the story and how vivid and interesting the characters are and the world in which they live.

It's the first fantasy novel I have read that doesn't follow a familiar pattern that you can recognise and that in itself is excellent. It really is special and I can not wait to have it finding a home on my bookshelves so I can return once more to the story of Tarisai, The Lady and the Crown Prince. Oh and of course the other children of the Council who each have a tale to tell of their own - I am utterly enthralled by ’Bear’ and want to know absolutely everything about him.

Whilst there is a fantasy side to Raybearer, there is also the more simple side to the tale of Tarisai creating a family from those around her. You have these lovely glimpses of humility, fear, kindness.. you name it and Jordan Ifueko provides it.

I would highly recommend this for children and adults alive who love fantasy and value incredible worldbuilding, a realism and relatability in characters and the love of a story that you can lose hours in.

Raybearer is a story unlike any other and I hope that this will be book one of many.

https://books-i-recommend.com/2020/08/07/anticipating-jordan-ifuekos-raybearer/


As a lover of epic fantasies, I can't help but be excited for the release of Raybearer, the first in an African-inspired duology by debut author Jordan Ifueko. It has been absolutely everywhere on Twitter, and for good reason - having been fortunate enough to read the first 100 pages already, it truly deserves all of the attention it's getting, and is sure to be a five star hit when it is released later this month.

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Synopsis
Tarisai has always been able to see other people's memories. Born to a mother known only as 'The Lady', she was raised alone by a rotating number of tutors too afraid to touch her, and always longed for a true family of her own.

One day however, her mother returns, giving her a task she is magically compelled to obey - to kill the Crown Prince of Aritsar, Ekundayo. To do this, she must become bonded to him by the Ray and become a part of his Council, a group who will become even closer than the family she's always wanted. However, Tarisai doesn't want to kill Dayo, and must therefore fight the magic that binds her to chose her own path and achieve what she's always dreamed of.

Why You Should Add it to Your TBR
Having read a sampler of Raybearer, I'm even more excited for its release than I was when I first heard about it. Ifueko's world-building is incredible, and her lyrical descriptions really bring the story to life in a way that will also work perfectly for audio. The backstories she has created for her characters are wonderfully rich, and her idea to start the story when Tarisai is still a little girl is an inspired one that really allows the reader to connect with Tarisai as she and her relationships grow and develop. The etymology of the names she has given her characters also hold a lot of meaning, with Ekundayo meaning 'sorrow becomes joy' and Tarisai meaning 'behold', showing how much research has gone into giving this book real depth.

I'm also really excited for more readers to be able to see themselves reflected in fantasy and for blackness to be celebrated within the genre, and Raybearer has this at its heart. From the diversity of its characters to smaller details, such as her re-imagining of the richer families being 'known as bluebloods: blue, because their skin was so black, it shone like precious cobalt", it is evident that Raybearer keeps representation at its forefront. Combined with the book's empowering message of forging your own path, this representation will allow many readers who often feel forgotten to find themselves in Raybearer's pages and to go forwards feeling more hopeful long after reading, which is why this is one of my must-reads for 2020.

Jordan Ifueko's Raybearer comes out on August 18th 2020 in paperback, e-book and audio formats.

A sampler of this book was kindly gifted to me in the form of an e-ARC. My thanks go to Hot Key Books and NetGalley for sending me a copy.

From the opening Raybearer is rich, beautiful and fully immersive. The world building is incredible, I felt as though I'd been swept away to Aritsar, a world full of magic and wonder. I just love all the nods to African folklore. This sampler is an excellent introduction to what's to come and to sweet, loving and precocious Tarisai.

Wow! Raybearer gets off to an absolutely incredible start! Right from the first page the writing is magical, the world building immersive and the characters unique and surprising. I cannot wait to read the rest of this amazing book!

This sampler has left me feeling completely intrigued and needing to know what happens next.

The story feels so fresh and unique; so many of the elements of the story are things that I have not come across before. Despite jumping eight years through the course of this extract, the pacing didn't feel forced or rushed.