Raybearer

I raced through Raybearer in a few hours. It's so absorbing, the world-building so brilliant, that I couldn't put it down. 

This fantasy YA is full of fantastic characters. Tarisai is a strong, caring protagonist who puts others before herself and is always looking for love and acceptance. The side characters were all well-developed too, with their own stories and motivations (some of which, such as the Lady's, still remain a tantalising mystery)

Ifueko's world building is immersive from the very beginning. She has created a wonderful, well explained magic system and a rich fantasy world I was disappointed to leave. There is plenty of superb mythology which I'm looking forward to learning more about in the next book. Her world is brought vividly to life through beautiful descriptions and plenty of detail.

The abrupt, cliff-hanger ending has left me desperate for book two - I'm already eager to return to this world and story, to find out what Tarisai does next.