Raybearer

What an epic, thematically rich page-turner of a YA novel. It ticks every box for what I expect from a book meant for teen audiences and on top of that creates its own enthralling world of mythos, magic and politics. In this empire the ruler is bonded to representatives of each of the 12 realms - all have their own unique power - and together they form a council. It begins with the protagonist, Tarisai, being raised in isolation and longing for her mother and to go outside and make friends. If you're looking for something with a complicated daughter-mother relationship, feminist themes, themes around power and choice, deep friendships (including unconditional, platonic m/f), found family, a smidge of teen romance (felt genuine and did not hit on the annoying YA romance tropes for me), revenge and complex schemes, and a wholly realized new fantasy world to explore, I highly recommend.