Raybearer

** 4.5 stars ** The world, the system, the magic, the characters … I could have read 500 pages more! The author did so many things right and I’m trying to list all of them here. I really enjoyed her style of writing and the way she developed the story. The characters are amazing! Tarisai is a very strong young woman. Next to fighting the mission she was given by her mother she also fights uncertainty and doubts, which makes her so human. Then there’s Sanjeet and I loved him from the first page we meet him. Such a lovely boy/young man with a troubled soul and a heart of gold! My most favourite character in this first book, for sure! His development is equally beautiful to witness (though we’re not going as deep as with Tarisai of course). The way the author descibes development overall is just wonderful. I can even see growth, etc. in the other less prominent characters. An honorable mention goes to “The Lady”, as I REALLY don’t like her. I’m not gonna say much more, as I don’t want to spoil anyone’s reading experience. I LOVED the complexity and the politics of the world. There were so many parallels to our real world, and so many situations showed that the world acutally, actually isn’t just black or white. Though, some of those political issues, etc. were handled a bit “easy”. Which is one of the few things that bothered me a tiny bit. Some conflicts were resolved a bit too quickly. Sometimes, I felt like there should have been a conflict where there was none. And simetimes, issues were dealt with in a manner that felt a bit inauthentic, as consequences weren’t explored enough. It’s the first book in a series, though, so I’m not judging this too harshly - there might be more of that in the second book The second tiny critique would be that some of the planned plot twists were a bit too plain and obvious, and since some of those mysteries weren’t solved until later in the book, the “big boom” didn’t really reach me. Not all of the plot twists though, so it was still very much enjoyable. Lastly, I was missing a few more scenes with the rest of the council members, as those are just as important to Dayo as the three we join most (Tarisai, Sanjeet and Kirah + Dayo ofc). But I also see that it’s Tarisai’s story that’s being told and not Dayo’s, so I’m not too fussed about it. I’m hoping we’re getting to know the others a bit more with the next book, as they all seem so interesting to me, and I’d like to know more about where they come from and why they wanted to join the council. All in all, this was a very good book and I think my expectations were just too high which is why it’s “only” 4.5 stars.