**SPOILERS**
My rating for this book was actually 3.5 stars, however for the purpose of this review I will round it up as I feel it deserves closer to four than three.
I found the book extremely interesting in the beginning, I was hooked from the very start. We follow the life of Tarisai, who is destined by a wish from her mother 'The Lady', to kill the prince. We follow Tarisai's battles to get accepted on to his council, and therefore seek his trust and get close enough to make the move. However, things don't go to The Ladys plan, and Tarisai does everything in her power to stop herself causing harm to her friend.
The world of which Ifueko creates is exquisite, I enjoyed it immensely, however I did unfortunately have two negatives with the book, which influenced my mid-range rating.
Firstly, I felt the relationships within the book were rushed, so we missed out on falling in love with the characters. There is a council of 11, and we only meet 2 others outside of the Prince and Tarisai. For me, part of a reason I fall in love with a book or a series, is down to falling for the charactesr themselves and investing my time in wanting to see their stories follow through. However, I felt I didn't fully receive this from Raybearer.
Secondly, I found it uncomfortable reading at the beginning the relationship the council would have with one another. At the time of reading this section, the characters themselves were 11 years old, and I felt uncomfortable reading how they would be expected to not be seen having relationships outside of this tightly knit group and how members of the Kings council all 'kiss and stuff'. I had anticipated the relationships to be that of siblings, however felt uncomfortable at the suggestion of more. Once the characters had grown to older teens further along in the book, it felt more normal to be discussing the relations they may have with one another, however I just didn't feel it was necessary for this to be discussed whilst they were so young early on.
- It looks as though no one else felt this way as it isn't written into other reviews, so perhaps I misinterpreted the scene. I read it through twice, and once again when I had finished, and I still personally felt it was a little off. -
Overall, it is a very good book set in a unique world and setting, and I am looking forward to reading the second in this duo when it is released (soon I hope!).
My rating for this book was actually 3.5 stars, however for the purpose of this review I will round it up as I feel it deserves closer to four than three.
I found the book extremely interesting in the beginning, I was hooked from the very start. We follow the life of Tarisai, who is destined by a wish from her mother 'The Lady', to kill the prince. We follow Tarisai's battles to get accepted on to his council, and therefore seek his trust and get close enough to make the move. However, things don't go to The Ladys plan, and Tarisai does everything in her power to stop herself causing harm to her friend.
The world of which Ifueko creates is exquisite, I enjoyed it immensely, however I did unfortunately have two negatives with the book, which influenced my mid-range rating.
Firstly, I felt the relationships within the book were rushed, so we missed out on falling in love with the characters. There is a council of 11, and we only meet 2 others outside of the Prince and Tarisai. For me, part of a reason I fall in love with a book or a series, is down to falling for the charactesr themselves and investing my time in wanting to see their stories follow through. However, I felt I didn't fully receive this from Raybearer.
Secondly, I found it uncomfortable reading at the beginning the relationship the council would have with one another. At the time of reading this section, the characters themselves were 11 years old, and I felt uncomfortable reading how they would be expected to not be seen having relationships outside of this tightly knit group and how members of the Kings council all 'kiss and stuff'. I had anticipated the relationships to be that of siblings, however felt uncomfortable at the suggestion of more. Once the characters had grown to older teens further along in the book, it felt more normal to be discussing the relations they may have with one another, however I just didn't feel it was necessary for this to be discussed whilst they were so young early on.
- It looks as though no one else felt this way as it isn't written into other reviews, so perhaps I misinterpreted the scene. I read it through twice, and once again when I had finished, and I still personally felt it was a little off. -
Overall, it is a very good book set in a unique world and setting, and I am looking forward to reading the second in this duo when it is released (soon I hope!).