Summer School Zone: The Masked Reader reviews "Raybearer"

By Gabriel Gomes, The Masked Reader

“What if you’ve sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy?”

I think it’s a little interesting how one sentence on the back cover can perfectly summarize an entire book. “Raybearer,” by Jordan Ifueko, is the story of a magical child, named Tarisai, who grows up in a mansion surrounded by maids, tutors and servants. But amid those people, the one person that Tarisai wants — no, the person she longs for, is not there.

That person is her mother, who in this book, is only known as “The Lady.” Tarisai was cursed by her mother, and because of her curse, Tarisai only has one main mission in her life — to gain the Crown Prince’s trust and kill him later.

Once Tarisai becomes old enough, The Lady sends her off to the capital to compete with other children that are her age. If Tarisai manages to get the prince’s trust, she will join him and his council through a magic called the Ray, which is deeper than blood. Fortunately for The Lady, the Crown Prince takes a liking to Tarisai, and he anoints her as part of his council. But this is unfortunate for Tarisai, who has her own feelings and does not want to kill — only to be loved, 

When this book arrived through my library delivery system, I am sorry to say this, but I committed a practical sin in the book-lover community. I judged a book by its cover. I'm sorry, but at least I judged correctly because I thought the cover looked really good.

But the truth was, the actual story was even better. I love the characters, the plot, dialogue, development, EVERYTHING about this book.

If Jordan Ifueko were an artist, this would be her Mona Lisa. There are a lot of questions written in her story, but one thing is for sure: Whether in a library or bookstore, if you see this on a shelf, trust me, you will love this book more than Will Ferrell, the actor who played “Elf”!