O Desafio dos Semideuses

The Sunbearer Duology #1

by Aiden Thomas, Vic Vieira (Translator)

Dividido entre Ouros e Jades, o Reino de Sol vive em paz desde que elu deu sua vida para confinar os terríveis deuses Obsidianos em prisões celestiais. Mas seu sacrifício não foi suficiente para mantê-los eternamente afastados, então, a cada década, um novo sacrifício deve ser feito.

O Desafio dos Semideuses reúne os dez melhores semideuses para uma competição brutal na qual o vencedor leva luz e vida aos templos de todo o reino, mas é o perdedor que recebe a maior de todas as honras: ser sacrificado em nome de Sol e, com isso, proteger o mundo por mais dez anos.

Filho trans da deusa dos pássaros, Teo tem dezessete anos e não está preocupado com o Desafio, a não ser por sua melhor amiga. Niya é uma semideusa Ouro que, como todos eles, tem grandes chances de ser escolhida para competir por ser mais habilidosa e mais bem treinada. Mas dessa vez Sol surpreende ao selecionar dois Jades... e Teo é um deles.

Como um Jade, Teo não tem nem as habilidades, nem o treinamento dos Ouros, então precisará descobrir como sobreviver às provações mortais do Desafio — mesmo que isso implique em aceitar partes de si mesmo que precisou reprimir.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, LGBT, Queer, Mythology, Fiction, Audiobook

378 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 6, 2022

About the author

Aiden Thomas is a New York Times Bestselling author with an MFA in Creative Writing. Originally from Oakland, California, they now make their home in Portland, Oregon. As a queer, trans, Latinx, Aiden advocates strongly for diverse representation in all media. Aiden’s special talents include: quoting The Office, finishing sentences with “is my FAVORITE”, and killing spiders. Aiden is notorious for not being able to guess the endings of books and movies, and organizes their bookshelves by color.

Their debut novel, CEMETERY BOYS, was published on September 1st, 2020.

Reviews

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book I ever read for fun was Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Those books got me started on reading, and the Hunger Games made me fall in love with books. Stories with deadly competitions are always my favourite. I was so excited when I first heard about this. I will always be a fan of taking elements of popular YA books from the early 2010s and making them queer. I had huge expectations for the Sunbearer Trials, as whilst this was the first novel I’ve read written by Thomas, I have heard nothing but high praise from my friends.

Whenever I read a new fantasy, I love learning about the world. I appreciate world-building that fits seamlessly with the plot. It was very easy to join Teo in Quetzlan, which interestingly contained a lot of elements from our own world. I enjoyed all the references to social media and celebrity life, especially the different names given to platforms like TikTok and Instagram. I loved the little changes to common phrases like “for Sol’s sake”. This made the tone of the story feel quite modern, which I rarely see executed well in fantasy. I adored how these modern elements were combined with the beautifully described cities and buildings, particularly Reino del Sol’s temple. It was easy to picture the gleaming Sol Stones, like powerful beaming stars in the sky. I really relished how the trials were sensationalised by the media in a similar way to the Hunger Games.

The Sunbearer Trials themselves were the highlight of the story. Whenever we were between a trial, I was itching to get to the next one. I loved how the intensity of each trial increased each time, which in turn raised the stakes. I loved the character development and appreciated how the competitors grew more paranoid and stressed as they neared the final trial. My favourite trial was the fourth one. I love Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth, and trial four took me straight back to my childhood. You’ll have to read the book yourself to find out why!

However, it was the characters and their distinct abilities that allowed the trials to thrive. I am a huge mythology fanatic, and I loved how unique it was in this story. The different gods and their powers were so engaging. I would have loved to see more of the Academy and how it functioned. If I was a competitor, I would want to be the son of Tormentoso. I adored Atzi, who was one of my favourite competitors. Think Clove meets Storm, and you’ll have Atzi. I loved her powers and how she used them. I am thrilled to announce that I have anointed myself president of the Auristela and Niya ship club. Their rivalry was my favourite, and I’d love to see that explored more in the next book. Speaking of Auristela, the twins were also a highlight. Aurelio was the strong but soft boy every YA book must have, and I loved to follow the progression of his relationship with Teo. I warmed up to him as he started to share more of his personality, and really enjoyed learning about what in his childhood had made him so stoic. Teo’s wings were wonderful, and I loved that there was a deeper meaning and storyline behind them. The fact that the birds almost acted as Teo’s familiars, I mean, could this book be more made for me? I think the fact that I loved the full cast of characters says a lot about the story.

The fluidity of gender and sexuality was lovely to see. It was normalised and started with the gods and ended with the mortals. I loved how Sol’s genderless presence was highlighted, and how that informed the gender presentation of many of the characters. I adored how non-binary characters like Ocelo were allowed to be unlikeable, as all different kinds of rep is important, particularly in YA stories. Let young queer youth see themselves as the villain!

I appreciated how the Sunbearer Trials carves its own narrative within the battle royale and popular YA market. It felt more Percy Jackson than Hunger Games. Yet, it doesn’t really need to be compared to either. The ending was intense, and I’m excited to see how the story concludes in book two. When this duology is complete, I’m going to need Thomas to give us at least ONE novel about a previous Sunbearer Trial.

Thank you to MacMillan Children’s Group and the author for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I post about queer books on: Instagram Twitter TikTok

[Chloe Gong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Splendid storytelling. The Sunbearer Trials dazzles with adventure, breathing life into a bustling fantastical world filled with both wonders and evils. Aiden Thomas is a brilliant talent.

[human]

that cover and that synopsis sdnkjsdcknjsd i'm crying y'all 😭🙏

~~~~~~~~

PERCY JACKSON MEETS THE HUNGER GAMES???!!!

PERCY JACKSON MEETS THE HUNGER GAMES???!!!

PERCY JACKSON MEETS THE HUNGER GAMES???!!!

PERCY JACKSON MEETS THE HUNGER GAMES???!!!

[Rosh ~catching up slowly~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a Nutshell: A thrilling combination of Mexican-inspired mythology and The Hunger Games. I had fun with this, but it is clearly YA in its approach. Recommended only to the target age group and to those patient with the flaws of YA fiction.

Story Synopsis:

Once in every decade comes the Sunbearer Trials. These are special games dedicated to the Sun God, Sol, and are essential to replenish the power of Sol to keep the evil Obsidian gods at bay. The winner carries a special honour of carrying the light of the Sun to all the temples in Reino del Sol, while the loser (the one who is placed last) is sacrificed to Sol. The competitors, all semidioses (half human half god) between thirteen to eighteen, are residents of Reino del Sol and are chosen by Sol himself based on their worthiness.

The competitors are almost always Gold semidioses, but Sol has a surprise this time. He has chosen two Jade semidioses worthy of participation, one of whom is our lead – Teo, the seventeen year old trans son of Quetzal, the goddess of birds. Teo didn’t expect to compete in the Trials, but with this unexpected selection, he is forced to ensure his survival, as he has no intention of sacrificing himself to power the Sun.

Thus begins Teo’s journey in The Sunbearer Trials, where he finds new friends and rediscovers old ones, while also making new enemies along the way. With five mysterious trials coming up against opponents who have trained for these competitions all their lives, how will Teo fare?

✔ Quite a lot of the content has parallels to that of The Hunger Games. The main difference is that the dystopian setting is changed to a mytho-inspired setting. I liked the concept of the tri-level semidioses (Gold, Jade and Obsidian) and also the fantastical weaponry.
❌ The Hunger Games concept creates a lot of déjà vu, especially as these trials are also fought in scenic natural settings, and the Gold semidioses are very clearly the equivalent of District One participants of THG.

✔ I loved the Mexican-mytho-inspired elements. While I am not sure how much of the mythology is actually Mexican and how much invented for the story, the theme was great and many fantastical elements were incorporated well. At the same time, their world seemed to be similar to ours, as the semidioses use mobile phones and social media such as “Instagraph”. It was a nice juxtaposition of fantasy and realism.
❌ The world-building could have been better. The trials had the best scene settings, but the non-trial scenes could have taken place anywhere.

✔ The journey to the title of Sunbearer is awesome. The trials are quite unique and the challenges are thrilling to read.
❌ In The Hunger Games, there was never a doubt that it would be Katniss Everdeen to snatch the title... Similarly, the story here soon shows who is to become the next Sunbearer. I wish it hadn’t been so predictable.

✔ There are a few interesting characters among the Gods and the semidioses. My favourite was Niya, Teo’s best friend who was more brawn than brain and also more heart than head. Quetzal was another interesting character. I loved Teo’s pet birds and wished there was more of them in the story.
❌ Every character is either good or bad, there’s no midway. It was too simplistic for the most part. Teo was a bit too whiny for my liking.

✔ I loved the rep! I did have high expectations about it because Aiden Thomas had nailed LGBTQ rep in their first book, “Cemetery Boys”, as well. But it is so much better in this story. There’s no judgement about any trans character; no one bats an eye at gender identities and all use pronouns of their choice without hesitation. There’s one scene where one trans character guides a shy trans about what it’s like to be out. It was one of the most empathetic scenes I have seen with trans characters. If there’s any young trans reader who reads that scene, I am sure they will find it very helpful. There is also plenty of content connected to dysphoria, not just gender dysphoria but also body dysphoria. Teo’s struggles with his wings being a natural extension of his body and his personality were so well-written!
❌ Sometimes, the content bordered on height-shaming. Kind of like ‘Tall people, good; short people, despicable’. This might not have been deliberate but there was enough to make me wave a red flag of protest on behalf of us, the innocent shorties of the world.

❌ Everything I dislike about YA fiction is present in this story. The constant talk of others’ physical appeal, the feelings of attraction rendering themselves through the character’s chest or stomach, the uni-dimensional character sketching, the rambling,… There’s also a sprinkling of cuss words. The only thing missing was outright lust, which I was grateful for.
✔ Then again, the story was advertised as a YA story, so this is all a matter of my taste than the book’s shortcoming. It is perfect for the older YA segment who love YA Fantasy. Not recommending it to younger YA readers because of the swear words, though I am sure this feedback will not dissuade them from the book.


The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 13.5 hours, is narrated by André Santana and he does an outstanding job. I have a strong feeling that the audiobook made the book better for me, and Santana’s narration had a major role to play in this satisfaction.
There were quite a few characters in the initial chapters and I struggled to remember who was who. Once I decided to forget about the names and go with the flow, things became quite manageable. Audio newbies might get discouraged at the extensive character list.


Is there a cliffhanger ending?
This is the first book of a planned duology, so the above question is pertinent if you are a reader like me. So, just know: There is a cliffhanger but it is not that major and doesn’t leave you frustrated in limbo. The ending made me very keen to know what happens next, so I can say it stopped at the right point for me. I am looking forward to the sequel.


All in all, no regrets reading this YA read. It was a fun story with enough thrills and not too much rambling. At the same time, this is not one of those YA books that would work well beyond its target age group. My rating as an adult would be 3.25 stars, but the book didn’t promise anything other than a YA experience. If I were a YA, this would have been at least a 4.25. So I’ll just go with the average.

3.75 stars.


My thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC of “The Sunbearer Trials”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.




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[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an ode to the troublemaker, and I loved it. It’s imaginative, whimsical, and nothing short of the purest form of magic. The main character, Teo, was a delight to follow and I was rooting for him from page one. He’s funny and way out his depth for most of the book, which only helps to highlight the dangers of the trials even more. Also, he works as a perfect foil to every other character in the story, which is just a classic example of good character writing. The story itself was exhilarating rollercoaster and I didn’t want to put the book down until I was finished! I do think Teo's probably a little too kind and forgiving at points though. I’m just saying if I were a contestant in this tournament, I would have made some very (very very) different decisions.

The trials themselves were really exciting in a way that haven’t seen in a book in a long, long time. I’ll admit, I was at the edge of my seat with every daunting task that Teo and his friends had to go through, and cheered whenever they would triumph! I guess I now know what it’s like to be a sports fan? I can definitely see why this book’s blurb compares it to the likes of The Hunger Games, but maybe the “danger” aspect could have been done a little better. Part of what makes the “life or death tournament” genre so exciting is that the characters have to find an equal balance between resourcefulness and luck, and I think Teo leans a little too heavily on the luck part for my liking. He also gets help from friends a lot! But this actually isn’t a huge issue because this part of his character ties in nicely to the book’s message. Besides, an underdog story will always have my heart.

“You are a loud, impulsive, persistent seeker of justice, and that makes people uncomfortable, but it doesn’t make you bad. It makes you very good, in fact. Far better than the rest of us who stay quiet because they’re afraid to speak up.”

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hadn’t known before starting that The Sunbearer Trials takes place in a modern world, in many ways similar to ours, with social media and high schools and corner stores where you stock up on Chupa Chups. The world building here was wonderful, with settings I could picture vividly throughout. I loved all the nods to apps we use and the incorporation of Heroes into this world, where they are celebrities and influencers and on trading cards. Though there isn’t any real details or focus on the ways things are being captured, there is definitely an awareness throughout that there is always an audience. The Trials are a spectacle, and social media here - as in real life - makes sure your best and worst moments aren’t forgotten.

I also loved how inclusive this world is, with gods and demigods alike representing a wonderful range of queer and trans identities in a world that acknowledges and accepts them without question and immediately treats them with respect. The idea of the gender confirmation ceremonies being a standard was lovely, and I especially enjoyed how the magic was tied into real world struggles, with a storyline of elements of Teo’s powers causing him dysphoria, for example. I loved the resolution there! There is a large cast of significant characters here, and though it took me a minute to get familiar with all of them (the trading cards Aiden has shared were really useful!) it was impressive how many of them became so distinct and stood out for me. Of course I loved the brooding childhood friend turned enemy turned ???, the loud sapphic with a sword and the tiny girl who zaps her competition among others, and I’m sure we’ll delve further into even more of them in the sequel. I am so looking forward to that!

For someone whose personality revolved around Percy Jackson and The Hunger Games aged 9-15, hearing this book pitched as a combination of the two did something to my brain chemistry that I can’t begin to explain. Both series left such lasting impressions on me, and I have The Hunger Games to thank for how I still actively seek out and devour books with any kind of competition or tournament in them. I’ve read books where some stages of the competition or trials themselves are far less exciting than others, and ones where the stakes aren’t high enough for you to actually get invested. That couldn’t be further from the truth here. Though I definitely had favourites, each trial was intense and gripping and hearing from an underdog in the competition allowed you to appreciate the sense of difficulty and fear involved. Even with demigod powers (and, in the case of Teo’s competitors, years of academy training), I never got the sense that things were too easy, especially as mysterious happenings throughout made the trials and rankings harder to navigate. And the stakes are definitely high here - avoiding your own death, preventing the death of your friends and other kids you’ve grown closer to, proving your worth to people who’ve made you feel less than all your life. There was that constant dread of the looming sacrifice, hating it, questioning it and wishing it wasn’t necessary, but unhappily accepting that it is all the same. The tension in and out of the trials had me hooked, and I truly cannot wait to step right back into this world!

I’d love to hear what you think if you read it 💚

Thanks so much to Macmillan Children’s Books for my eARC!

[Sheena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another anticipated read ending up being very alright. Not to be dramatic but I waited 2-3 years for this one. I guess because Cemetery Boys was too good but I have to learn to stop comparing authors different books to each other because then I get disappointed.

For starters, this is supposed to be young adult but honestly the way it was written was so middle grade. I love a good middle grade but it was done in such a juvenile way - I can’t explain it. Even Percy Jackson felt more adult? Maybe I’m becoming old or wasn’t in the right mood for it though. I don’t know.

The stakes seemed kinda low despite human sacrifice on the line. I actually kept forgetting that that is looming over the heads of our characters lol. I wanted this to be more intense honestly.
There’s not much world building, it’s a little predictable, and I don’t love the main character too much. It’s also exactly like the Hunger Games so some parts of it felt copied from it.. but maybe I am nitpicking.

That being said, I do want to leave this on a positive note. I did love the Mexican inspired mythology as well as the diversity of gender and queer representation. I haven’t decided if I want to continue the series but I more than likely will. Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book!


---------------

Percy Jackson meets the Hunger Games???????

Is it 2022 yet😭

[Astra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I REGRET NOT reading this book sooner!!! I absolutely fell in love with it. The writing isn't amazing or unique but it doesn’t need to be. Instead it was easy to follow and it fit Teo’s personality, which is almost better if you ask me. The world building is extraordinary, every single place it takes you has its own customs, style, and history, all amazingly thought out. I also liked all the characters, every single one! Including Ocelo and Auristela. It’s clear that they all have their own stories, some of which we don’t get a look into but that’s fine since it’s all part of the charm. Throughout the plot there is a great mix of action and important laid back moments and I was thoroughly invested in Aurelio and Teo’s relationship. Which is like a friends to enemies to friends again and possibly to lovers 👀👀. The ending is full of twists and turns that will leave you wanting book two or a better way to put it is needing book two. I need book two!!

[Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

OUT NOW!
Adored Cemetery Boys? The Sunbearer Trials is better! What makes this story so stunning is the beautiful descriptive writing, flawed and fully fleshed-out characters, and queernormativity interwoven with Mexican mythology.

For a few chapters I thought, I like it, but will I really love it? Then the choosing of the competitors started, and OMG my heart suddenly pounded in my chest, and shivers ran over my body. Of course, I loved The Sunbearer Trials! I rooted for Xio so much, and the butterflies in my stomach fluttered more and more violently each time Teo and Aurelio interacted with each other.

I love how Aiden included body dysphoria differently than authors usually do. The emotions that ran through my body when Teo finally felt fully male! Wow!

I urge you to read this story and can’t wait to read the second book of this duology!

I received an ARC from Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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[Charlie ~ Happy Pride Month! · Rating 5 out of 5]

PERCY JACKSON MEETS THE HUNGER GAMES?!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!! YASSSSS!!!!

[hiba · Rating 2 out of 5]

disclaimer: this isn't really a fair review since i wasn't in the right mindset for this kind of book, plus i'm not the target audience anyways.

sadly, the sunbearer trials didn't entirely work for me.

- way more simplistic and middle grade in tone than i expected.
- the plot felt oddly low stakes for a competition with human sacrifice on the line.
- the trials could've been so much more creative and dangerous. likewise, certain character moments/relationships could've been more complex - that simplicity made the book feel more middle grade than young adult.
- it bugged me how the author never explains why only kids between thirteen to eighteen can be part of the trials. like that's so specific, what's the reason?
- the ending twist was painfully obvious.

what i did like was the mexican-inspired mythos, the effortless queer and gender diversity built into the world, and my fave strong muscular girl niya. would definitely recommend to younger people looking for a light diverse queer fantasy read.

[Celine Ong · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE MOST FUN I'VE HAD IN A LONG TIME HOLY SHIT BOOK 2 WHENST

"you are a loud, impulsive, persistent seeker of justice, and that makes people uncomfortable, but it doesn't make you bad. it makes you very good, in fact.”

to replenish the sun’s power & keep the obsidian gods at bay, each decade 10 semidioses are chosen to compete in the sunbearer trials. the winner gets the prestige of travelling through reino del sol to replenish the sun stones. the loser, however, gets the greatest honor— a sacrifice to sol to fuel the sun stones. the children of the mighty gold gods train their whole life for this trial, unlike the children of the jade gods who historically have never been chosen. until now. until teo. what's a semidiós to do except try his hardest to survive?

(no spoilers, just me yelling about how much i loved this book & aiden thomas, so yknow, just regular things!!)

just as i did with cemetery boys & lost in the never woods, i inhaled the entirely of the sunbearer trials in under 12 hours because i have zero chill & immediately added it to the faves shelf.

simply put, i loved this so much. i laughed, cried, gasped over the gorgeous worldbuilding, sent a dozen voice messages hollering. this book was. the most fun i’ve had in a very long time. wowie what a delight.

for those who have read cemetery boys, teo embodies yadriel’s heart & julian's sunshine soul (& head empty vibes only). for those who have not (what are you waiting for!), he’s a scrappy underdog who you can’t help but root for.

its not just teo though. each character—himbos to beefcakes to kids with hearts of gold— is so strongly developed & written that its impossible not to fall in love with them.

the character cards that mmarsloud has drawn for them is an absolute thing of beauty. each so, so gorgeous & intricate with diverse abilities, identities, and appearances. i eagerly followed along as each character card got revealed & honestly? went a little feral whenever they were.

my commitment issues are Strong but i’m calling it right now— prepare to see this on my end of the year countdown. that’s right i said it !!

thank you to macmillan for sending me an arc of the sunbearer trials in exchange for an honest review. the sunbearer trials comes out on 6 sep 2022.

[Janine Ballard · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 star

I think I’m going to call this a DNF at 38%. It’s not bad but it was miscategorized as YA. It’s really a middle grade book. Further, Teo keeps joking around despite the fact that he and a couple of friends are in a Hunger Games competition where one of a dozen kids will be a human sacrifice and another will have to kill him. It sets up an incongruous tone. I also can’t help compare it to The Hunger Games (there are many parallels) and the stakes here feel so much lower. THG was riveting and this one is kind of boring. I may skim just to find out what ultimately happens but maybe not.

11/29 update

So I did skim this today (I would still count that as a DNF) and it reinforced my feeling that this book is for children, not teenagers, that the main character is immature and the tone is incongruous. Teo is also slow to catch on to important things and others around him are even slower. This is a really simplistic book and as another reader pointed out to me, the characters are one dimensional. Not recommended for adults.

[Virginia Ronan ♥ Herondale ♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m on BookTube now! =)

”You are a loud, impulsive, persistent seeker of justice,” Huemac cut in, not letting him finish. “And that makes people uncomfortable, but it doesn’t make you bad. It makes you very good, in fact. Far better than the rest of us who stay quiet because they’re afraid to speak up.”

Rarely did a book quote resonate with me as much as this one does and I think it’s one of the reasons I loved this story so much! “The Sunbearer Trials” is a book about standing up for your beliefs, about taking the hard way because it’s the right thing to do instead of taking the easy way out. It’s about calling out injustice and yes, it’s also about a trans masc character who has a heart of gold and doesn’t hesitate to do what needs to be done. The world needs more books like this one and not less, but sadly the political climate all over the world is changing and I can already guarantee you that this book will be banned in many countries. (If it isn’t already…)

Am I going to start talking about the importance of LGBTQIA+ books whenever I write another review about one of them? Hell, damn, yes! Because it is necessary and just like Teo, the protagonist of this story, I can’t stand injustice and will always raise my voice to speak up for those who can’t. Often to my own detriment but for me truth and justice are more important than my own discomfort. Teo, precious soul that he is, sees it the same way and I absolutely loved him for it! <3 Truth be told there were many characters in this story I liked and the fact they were all so different and diverse only caused me to enjoy this even more.

With this book, Aiden Thomas created a wonderful and rich world with a plot and storyline that tackles many important topics and this in a very sensitive way. Moreover, it was extremely suspenseful and some of the trials the semidioses had to get through had me at the edge of my seat. At the beginning of the book some of the characters seemed to be pretty disagreeable, but the better I got to know them, the more I was able understand them and their motives. And well, yeah some continued to be fools until he very end so you might say it was realistic as well. ;-P Anyway! This is going to be one of my longer reviews which means there will be some spoilers in my characters section, so don’t say I didn’t warn you when you continue to read. Okay, let’s do this!

P.S.: If you want to read it, you can find my full & uncut review here!

The characters:

This is the part of my review where I go into detail and talk about some things that might be spoilery. So if you haven’t read the book yet, head my advice and turn around. To all the others: Welcome to Reino del Sol! I’m sure we’re going to have an enlightened time! ;-)

Teo:

”His wings were no longer the familiar sight he’d spent every morning hiding. They weren’t brown and patchy. Now, brilliant ultramarine, iridescent blue, and electric green feathers sprang from his back.
The feathers of a proper male quetzal.”

I swear, Teo is one of the most selfless, compassionate and honest characters that were ever written. The way he sees the world, how he speaks up whenever some injustice is happening, how he always tries to understand where the other side is coming from, how fiercely he fights for those he loves and cares about. Damn! He was just perfect and I could relate to him on a visceral level. I know how it feels to be fiercely protective of the people you love and how the urge to protect them kicks in when you see how your family and friends are treated not only unfair but also poorly. Teo had a lot on his plate and all he wanted was to survive the Trials, yet he still watched out for his friends and tried to get Xio through every ordeal. I get why he beat himself up every time he lost sight of Xio in one of the trials and couldn’t help him, but it wasn’t his fault and I think he did everything he could. As one of the only two Jades in the trials, he certainly didn’t have it easy and his sense of justice got him into more trouble than he could handle, but he never backed down. Teo knew he wasn’t as strong as the Golds but he outwitted them anyway and made his way through every test. He was clever, resourceful, strong and stubborn. All traits that probably saved his life more often than he cared to admit. *lol* I honestly loved that boy so much! <3 I can’t wait to see more of him in “Celestial Monsters” and I’m sure he’ll stay true to himself while trying to save the world. No pressure, right?!

"He could do it, not just for himself, but for every Jade who'd ever been made to feel less than.
It was more than making sure the bullies lost.
Before, Teo had wanted to protect and survive. Now, he wanted to win."

”Take your seat, and be grateful. To show up late for a banquet held in your honor as a competitor is enough of a disgrace. Do not embarrass your mother further!”
“Someone’s going to get killed tomorrow!” Teo shouted back, his voice echoing off the walls. “And all you care about is that I’m late to this stupid dinner?”
The room was silent. No one had said it plainly like that, the whole length of the trials. Everyone had quietly agreed to ignore half of what this was all leading to.

”Teo closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
It had worked.
His friends were safe.
He could let go now.
As Teo fell and the lights on his suit went out, he prayed to Sol that it had been enough to keep Xio safe. And then everything went dark.”

Aurelio:

”It was a matter of getting used to it,” Aurelio said, his voice quiet as they sat next to each other, heads bowed over his arm. He flexed his fingers and patches of scar tissue pulled taut over muscle. “Resistance training, my mother called it,” Aurelio murmured.
A sudden coldness struck Teo in his core. He recognized the shapes now. Handprints. The same size but layered and in different stages of healing. Teo clenched his jaw. Angry heat flooded his veins. If there was ever a reason to punch a god, this was it.

Now Aurelio was one of those characters I didn’t exactly like at the beginning of the book. He seemed to be a quiet boy that blindly followed his twin sister everywhere and since I absolutely disliked Auristela for the way she mistreated everyone who wasn’t a Gold I kinda extended the courtesy to Aurelio too. Still, the more we got to see of him without his sister, the more I realized that he didn’t agree with her actions. I think they are both products of their mother’s ambition and to put it mildly Lumbre was quite a piece of work! (Kudos to Teo for daring to talk back to her! Love that boy!!) With a parent like that you don’t need any enemies and I’m pretty sure if given a little bit of time Auristela will see the error of her ways as well. Aurelio was already on a good way when the book ended and at the end of the day he loved his sister unconditionally no matter how horrible she was. I can respect that, she is his family after all. Moreover, after he apologized to Teo he rose in my esteem. It takes guts to admit that you were wrong and to own up to your mistakes. There might be some hope for Teo and Aurelio after all. XD

”I would do anything for my sister, and she would do anything for me. I don’t care about being named Sunbearer to impress my mother anymore. I just want both of us to make it through alive.”

”Teo watched Aurelio’s expression tighten with resolve. He had no regard for himself or his safety. Brave, foolish Aurelio, who would set himself on fire to keep others warm.”

Niya:

"They could have gotten hurt."
"They didn't, though, see!" Niya said, gesturing at Ocelo, who was red-faced and stomping away.
"Yeah, nothing but their ego," Teo added, trying to hold back a laugh.

Bless Niya! She wasn’t just Teo’s best friend but also brought a light-hearted vibe to the entire story and plot. I think her character acted as some sort of counterweight to all the serious stuff that happened in the book and I really appreciated her for that. Also, just like Teo she doesn’t care about status and fame and this even though she was one of the Golds. The mere fact she stuck with Teo and didn’t leave him even though he was a Jade spoke volumes about her character and the way she was raised. Niya is loyal and kind to a fault, which are both character traits she has in common with Teo. She would never let her friends down and is a big advocate of truth and justice. In addition, she has a very sunny and communicative personality that fits to her being a daughter of Tierra. Not to mention all the mischief she was up to which added a lot of fun to the overall storyline. Throughout the entire book, she was always carefree and optimistic and I think this is the reason why her sadness at the ending of the story hit so hard. T_T Let’s hope saving the others will give her some purpose again and rekindle her joy because to see Niya cry broke my heart. It felt like taking away a lollipop from a little child. >_<

”What’s wrong?” He looked her over and didn’t see any cuts or gold blood, but the pain written across her face looked excruciating.
Her face was pinched and streaked with fresh tears. Her hands were upturned in her lap, palms red and raw. “They’re gone,” she choked. “We couldn’t save them.” She looked up at Teo with eyes full of an anguish he’d never seen before. “I wasn’t strong enough.”

The other semidioses:

Okay, so since there are 10 semidioses in total and about 5 I didn’t even mention yet, I’ll try my best to keep this concise. The first thing I want to say about those five characters is that they were an extremely diverse cast with many different ethnicities. For instance, Dezi is deaf and uses sign language to communicate with all the other contestants. Ocelo (who I hated btw because they were such a horrible person) is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. Marino is a black boy who can control water; Xochi is a trans girl and the daughter of Primavera and Atzi is the daughter of the weather god who is one of the youngest competitors. All of them have different abilities, parents and varying personalities. I think Dezi and Marion were the most likable among them because they were nice to Teo and Xio and didn’t look down on them. Also is it just me or was there something going on between those two?! Ocelo, well, let’s just say next to Auristela they were the worst and I won’t like them anytime soon. They would have to have quite the character arc for me to grow fond of them, but maybe Aiden Thomas will surprise me?! Suppose I’ll find out in the next book.

The relationships & ships:

Teo & Aurelio:

"I think I'm done with the sauna," Teo said, getting up onto his very wobbly legs. "But not because it's too hot."
An amused look danced across Aurelio's face. "Are you sure? Because you look pretty hot."
Teo tripped on his way across the cave. "Thanks!" he yelped.

Haha! I gotta admit that those two had some of the most hilarious moments in the book and even though I know how much Aurelio’s actions hurt Teo I couldn’t help but ship them. I think many of Aurelio’s actions were due to his own insecurities and didn’t have anything to do with Teo himself. Still, he hurt Teo and he had every right to be angry with him, especially because he didn’t do anything to rectify his mistakes at the beginning of the book. He just went along with Auristela and Ocelo. There came a moment when he began to open up and change, though, and I can only speak for myself here but it was very satisfying to witness Aurelio use his own voice. The chemistry between Teo and him definitely gave me friends-to-lovers vibes and I was so here for it. Also we got one of those famous “Shut up.” and “Make me.” moments I’m such a sucker for. It never gets old. *lol* Moreover the way Teo protected Aurelio against Marino even though he was considered to be weaker than him was such a powerful and amazing scene. I kinda loved the fact that Aurelio accepted Teo’s boundaries without him even having to say anything and he finally won me over when he apologized. I think those two could be good for each other and they are definitely on the right way. =) I’m looking forward to read some cute moments in “Celestial Monsters”!

”He was so used to people grabbing and touching his wings without consent, he hadn’t even considered that Aurelio didn’t touch them because Teo hadn’t given him permission to.
Teo cleared his throat, doing his best to put on a façade of nonchalance and composure. “Well, you can touch them if you want,” he offered as casually as possible.
Soft pink tinged Aurelio’s cheeks. “Are you sure?”

”He just sat on his knees, his arms wrapped around himself. His fingers were white from how hard they were pressing into his ribs, like he was holding himself together.
Teo stopped thinking and moved on instinct. He wrapped his arms around Aurelio and hugged him with everything he had. He wouldn’t let Aurelio hold this alone.
It wasn’t about fault or blame. It wasn’t about the tirals or the apocalypse. All that mattered right now was Aurelio’s pain.

Teo & Xio:

“Very handsome," Niya agreed with an enthusiastic nod.
For the first time that night, Xio smiled.
Teo grinned back. It was nice to meet someone who had been through the same kind of bullshit as him.

I’ve to admit that I didn’t see THAT one coming! I mean I loved that Teo and Xio became friends. They were the only two Jades in the Trials and both are trans so there was a lot of common ground which made it easy to befriend each other. Add Teo’s strong sense of justice and the fact that Xio was so young and it was no wonder Xio became some sort of little brother for Teo. Or well, sibling?! I think once his journey is over Xio might go with they/them pronouns like Ocelo. Anyway! Xio’s betrayal hit hard! I never saw this one coming and yes, there were some small signs and hints that didn’t add up but I honestly didn’t expect Xio to go all dark child! I can’t believe it was all just pretend and I’m kinda hoping for a redemption arc in the next instalment. Xio is still so young, he might not even be fully aware of what he signed up to. >_< I honestly don’t know how Teo and Xio will feel once they meet again, but I already know it’s going to be tough to read about.

”It’s too late,” Xio said, clutching the obsidian dagger protectively against his chest. “The stone went out.” He said it like he was relieved. A shuddering exhale rolled through, Xio. His black eyes slid to Teo. “Sol can’t help you now.”

The trans representation:

”Two years ago when he was fifteen, Teo realized he was a boy. He’d started hormone replacement therapy and gotten top surgery, which helped him feel more at home in his own body. He even liked his top surgery scars – they looked badass. The binders he wore were for the set of wings he’d been born with.”

Am I going to talk about the awesome trans representation? Yes, of course! I really love how Aiden Thomas always includes trans characters in their books and makes being trans a tangible thing! I mean we even had an on page scene in which Teo gave himself his weekly dose of T. Which is so rare in books! I think more authors should dare to write about what it means to be trans and how it feels to suffer from dysphoria. In Teo’s case his dysphoria actually comes from the colour of his wings and if you know a little bit about birds this made total sense. I like that Aiden Thomas always gives those details of being transgender some visibility. No matter if it’s through mentioning that the MC wears a binder or by the characters talking about top surgery. We need more educational and informative trans reps like that in books! I really hope Aiden Thomas continues to write stories and that there will be even more books written by them. Voices like Aiden’s need to be heard and the simple fact we don’t just have Teo and Xio but also Ocelo and Xochi shows how wide the transgender spectrum truly is. All this to say: We need more education and less hate! Period.

”Doesn’t it hurt?” Quetzal asked, softly smoothing her fingers down a section of exposed feathers between their bindings.
“No,” Teo lied, shifting out of her reach.
The truth was, it did hurt. It was like having a second set of arms handcuffed behind his back, but that was nothing compared to the cloying dysphoria that choked him whenever he saw his wings.

”Excuse me,” he murmured before bolting for the door. His heart rammed in his chest, humiliation coursing through his veins. Once in the hallway, Teo slumped onto a couch sitting against a wall and put his face in his hands. Why was it that just because his body was different from everyone else’s, they thought they could ask whatever inappropriate questions they wanted?”

”I don’t know why they took so long, but transitioning is never one clean and clear shift, you know. It doesn’t happen overnight.” Teo shrugged. “It’s just as much mental as it is physical, I guess. Puberty was a bitch,” he added.

Conclusion:

“The Sunbearer Trials” was a perfect book with a full cast of diverse and unique characters, an amazing world building and a trans MC who might struggle but still fights and stands up for himself and his beliefs. I could go on and on and rave about this story for ages, but I think I already said everything in my review so I’ll leave it at that. The only thing I’ll add is: If you’re looking for a book with a headstrong trans MC who fights injustice and doesn’t allow others to silence him and if you’re looking for a suspenseful story with strong friendships, well, then this probably should be the next book at the top of your list. ;-)
________________________________

I loved “Cemetery Boys” when I read it last year and I’m already convinced I’ll love “The Sunbearer Trials” too!
I mean what’s not to love?
- A trans masc MC
- Mythology, gods and semidioses
- A deadly competition
- “Hunger Games” meets ”Percy Jackson”

This sounds exactly like my cup of tea! =)

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[Krysta ꕤ · Rating 4 out of 5]

”You are a loud, impulsive, persistent seeker of justice, and that makes people uncomfortable, but it doesn’t make you bad. It makes you very good, in fact.”

this was one of the books on my “24 in 2024” list and im glad i finally got to it cause this was so fun! books like this is the reminder of why i still love to read YA. Teo, the mc has all the qualities that make someone easy to root for and his friend Niya was so chaotic in the best way. the characters have to compete in the sunbearer trials— a competition that’s winner will be given the opportunity to bring light to the temples that’ll help fuel the sun to keep fighting off the Obsidian gods, while the loser is sacrificed. i always appreciate casual queerness and this has that in spades, i was also living for the little crumbs of possible romance between Teo and his rival Aurelio. the Hispanic influence made me so happy and the pace is break-neck, which keeps the adrenaline pumping enough to get to the end which had some really good surprises that i didn’t expect. i’ve already made plans to read the sequel soon.

[nikki | ཐི༏ཋྀ​​݁ ₊ ݁ . · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You are a loud, impulsive, persistent seeker of justice... And that makes people uncomfortable, but it doesn’t make you bad. It makes you very good, in fact. Far better than the rest of us who stay quiet because they’re afraid to speak up.”

rating: 4.25

this mexican-inpired hunger games meets legends of the hidden temple adventure has plenty of action and comedy with a super queer cast. teo makes an excellent main character, as we follow his story as a jade (considered lesser than the gold semidioses). there is examination and commentary on class as well as gender identity and the struggles of both.

but while handling some big topics, this story mostly maintains a lighthearted tone, especially thanks to the jokester niya. the pace is overall fast, with different challenges and courses for the trial competitors to complete. the interweaving of the fantastical elements in a tropical yet contemporary setting was really interesting and vivid for me. i'm actually BEGGING authors for more tropical-set fantasies, i very much fucks with the jungles and beaches, please give me more!

overall, i had fun reading this and there were some touching moments. i'm really excited for book 2!

By nature of their short existence, the humans held more compassion and empathy, loved more fiercely, than any god could through an eternity.

[Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best fantasy novels I have ever read. Aiden Thomas is masterful in their ability to not only build such a brilliant world but also characters who you love and want to root for. The Sunbearer Trials is a force to be reckoned with and has completely changed the game.

[Bastard Reviews · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read this review or check out other Bastard Reviews:

SPOILERS AHEAD.


Have you ever wished you were reading Percy Jackson or the Hunger Games, but not like, actually reading them, just reading, maybe, a shittier knockoff version of them? Then boy, do I have the book for you! The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas asks bold questions such as, I wonder if my local library has the Hunger Games, and, I’m checking out the Hunger Games on Libby right now instead of reading this book, and, while I’m at it, I wonder if the original Percy Jackson holds up.
Never heard of the Sunbearer Trials? Just close your eyes, and let Bastard Reviews take you by the hand, leading you once more into the fray of mediocre young adult novels written by Twitter-addled west coast twenty-somethings who think a Canva infographic shared on their Instagram story is activism.


The Worldbuilding.

The book starts with a little mythology.

First, Tierra brought forth gold from deep within the earth, and Sol shaped it into the Golds.

Ah yes, the golds were made from gold. Sure. Seems reasonable. You could name them something besides the Golds but that would probably make it tricky to keep track of more than one name. Gold = gold. Reasonable.

Next, Tierra brought forth jade from the caverns where the ocean met the shore, and Sol shaped it into the Jades.

Oh, what were the jades made from? Jade? Right, yeah, silly of me to think differently.

Last, Tierra brought forth obsidian from the edges of the earth’s hottest flames, and Sol shaped it into the Obsidians.

You’ll never guess what the Obsidians were made from.

The intro then explains that the Golds are the most powerful, the Jades are less powerful, and the Obsidians are evil. All of them. Evil. Why are the black ones the evil ones? Don’t worry about it. The evil Obsidians try to overthrow Sol who does some alchemy or something and turns into the sun, and also some sun stones. The sun stones keep the obsidians in the sky as constellations and have to be powered by a demigod being sacrificed every 10 years or else the evil obsidians will escape. We don’t want that, because they’re all so evil. Why are they evil? Don’t worry about it. Isn’t it kind of weird and essentialist that some of the gods are inherently evil and some are inherently good? Don’t worry about it.
So a demigod has to be sacrificed every 10 years to keep the sun stones burning. Thus is born the Sunbearer Trials, where demigods compete in a series of challenges for the ultimate honor, to win and… not be sacrificed. It’s actually the loser who’s sacrificed. The winner just gets a crown or something.
This is where my problem with the Sunbearer Trials as a mechanism lies. The entire society is built around the idea that a child must be ritually killed every 10 years. It would be much more interesting if the sacrifice was seen as a huge honor, and the winner of the trials was sacrificed. That way the characters would all be striving to win, only realizing at the end of the book when the sacrifice happens that it’s actually very fucked up.
Instead of this being the case, all the characters enter the trials afraid of losing and being sacrificed. But where’s the honor in that? Where’s the glory in not dying for your god? Not making the ultimate sacrifice? You have the opportunity to lay down your life for your god, the source of light, the banisher of darkness, and you say, uh, isn’t killing kinda bad? :/ Come on! Their entire religion is supposedly organized around this sacrifice, but none of them want it? This is weenie hut jr. worldbuilding! If Aiden had just swapped this one point, the focus would have been entirely about the idea of sacrificing oneself for your god, and the story would have had much, much more tension than it does. Which is zero. This story had zero tension. Most of the time it was outright boring.

Back to the worldbuilding. There’s a whole pantheon of gods in this story and they are all named extremely creatively: the ol’ ‘let’s put the name in Spanish and no one will know!’ strategy. We have Sol, the god of… the sun. Tierra, god of the..earth. Agua. God of water. Amor, love god. Primavera, god of spring. Mala Suerte… god of bad luck. And so on. Really, I’m jealous of all the creativity and skill that went into creating this pantheon. I mean, how could I top Water, the god of water?

With a warm smile and sticky-sweet personality, Diosa Pan Dulce was one of Teo’s favorite people. She was short with soft curves and wore her hair in braided spirals on either side of her head like novia sweet bread.

Special shout-out to my favorite god name in this book, God Sweet Bread, the god of sweet bread, who wears her hair in buns on the side of her head that look like sweet bread. Because she’s the sweet bread god of bread god bread. Bread god.

Another strange thing about the worldbuilding is the question of when and where this is exactly set. The book is written like it’s set in modern-day Mexico with the inclusion of gods and demigods and stuff on top, which would be the Percy Jackson approach. But it’s not set in Mexico, it’s set in an alternate fantasy world with fantasy geography, fantasy cities, and fantasy landmarks. This makes the constant allusion to modern real-world stuff like Vine, Tiktok, the Internet, and YouTube very bizarre. I kept thinking stuff like, so, where exactly are the other continents? Is Fantasy Mexico in Fantasy North America? Does it share a border with Fantasy USA? Where's Fantasy Asia? Or is the entirety of this world fantasy Mexico? Was there a fantasy Y2k? A fantasy wwii? Is fantasy Mexico really fantasy Mexico if there are no fantasy Catholics? It’s never explained. I guess I shouldn’t have asked.
Speaking of geography, this landmass or continent or whatever the fuck it is that they live on is pretty laughably devised. I mean, it doesn’t even seem like Aiden googled ‘mapmaking for dnd campaign 101,’ which, let’s be real, is like the baseline level of effort for making a fantasy world. The competitors in the trial have to travel from one city to the next for every trial. Every city is connected by river, and they go to a new city every day, making it seem like the travel time between every single city on the entire continent is..about a day. This travel time never changes, like Aiden just imagined all the cities as being lined up in a row with a river connecting them all. At one point, a big deal is made about a city they go to being suuuper hard to get to, super uninhabitable and hostile, and in the middle of the desert. They get to this city…by boat in about a day. I don’t know about you, but a city that’s next to a river a day’s travel away from the last city isn’t exactly hard to get to. Even weirder, the biomes change between cities, like every forest, swamp, rainforest, and desert is only about a day’s travel wide. Like Minecraft biomes or something.
The Sunbearer Trials is also a televised event. Supposedly. We never actually see any, like, evidence of that. If you recall the Hunger Games, the idea that the Games are televised is central to the plot. It affects every way that the characters behave. Every choice they make before and during the games is related to their screen presence. They need to perform well on screen because of the inclusion of sponsors, who might decide if they live or die. There’s nothing like that in the Sunbearer Trials. The world filled with humans that are supposedly super invested in this event that should be on par with the Superbowl just… doesn’t exist. The audience never affects the plot. Most of the time, I forgot that was an aspect of the story entirely until I would be surprised by a sudden reference to a jumbotron or something.
The human world is also a huge issue in this book. Specifically, the lack of the human world. Our main character Percy, I mean Teo, has been raised in the human world his whole life and went to human high school. However, Teo has no human friends from high school- his only friends are other demigods. We don’t see any scenes of him in school, interacting with humans. Teo’s human parent is nowhere to be found in this story, and he only cares about his godly parent, Quetzal. Thus, he has absolutely no ties to the mortal world, making it strange that he would care about mortals at all. Why not give him a human best friend, instead of only demigod friends? Why not give him a human parent? In contrast, in Percy Jackson, the most important figure in Percy’s life is his human mother, and needing to save her is the only reason he agrees to go on the adventure at all, giving the story depth, nuance, characterization. All things that the Sunbearer Trials lacks.

The Plot.

Okay, so, Teo has been chosen to compete in the Sunbearer Trials. This is supposed to be a big deal, because lowly Jades are never chosen. Only Golds. We are told this approximately 800 times via exposition. I get it, okay? Teo is a Jade. I get it.
Teo, some Golds, and another Jade named Xio are all competing. Teo gets attached to Rue, I mean Xio, because he’s super young and wimpy and Teo doesn’t want him to die. Teo is pretty wimpy himself, but we’ll get into that later.
Every trial is a video game plot. Characters have to retrieve x number of magical orbs/stones/gizmos without getting hit by obstacles, or climb a big thing and press buttons without getting hit by obstacles, or search through a temple without getting hit by obstacles. I can’t even remember any of the individual trials because they were all the same. In basically every trial, Teo thinks he’s doing badly, but then he actually does okay, and then Xio gets last place, which stresses out Teo. There are like 8 trials all with the same character beats. Moving on.
At the end of the story (seriously, I’m struggling to think of a single significant event until the end) Teo somehow wins Sunbearer, and realizes it means he has to sacrifice the loser, who ends up being the sister of his romantic interest. Teo decides not to do it, then Xio betrays everyone, reveals he was an evil Obsidian all along, and frees all the evil Obsidians from the sky. The evil Obsidians open a big pit in the ground that a bunch of the demigods fall into, then Teo and friends decide to go find all the broken pieces of the sol stones (video game plot much?) to defeat the evil Obsidians and rescue the other demigods. Cue sequel.
And yeah, that’s everything that happens. For the majority of the book, there are absolutely no stakes and there is no urgency. We’re supposed to care about Xio always being in last place, but Xio is so unbelievably shitty at every trial that I started thinking, like, hey, just let him die? Teo himself is never really in any danger of losing. Also, if you refer to my summary, you’ll notice that Teo refuses to sacrifice the sacrifice. Which means that no one in this book… actually dies. Seriously. A book with the Hunger Games as a comp title has no character deaths. Amateur hour!! I want blood and guts! If characters are engaged in a deadly competition, my primary attitude on reading the book should not be one of boredom.

The Characters

Our protagonist, Teo, is a trans boy demigod who appears to be some kind of self-insert wish fulfillment fantasy for the type of person who walked the mile in high school, tried to get out of gym class because they have anxiety, and finds talking to McDonald’s cashiers to be an intimidating social interaction. Teo has the strength of an invalid victorian maiden, the personality of a shivering, elderly chihuahua, and the moral backbone of a pine nut. He sidles into every challenge whining about how scared he is and how he doesn’t know what he’s doing, and despite this, the narrative jumps through some impressive hoops to land him on top of the other competitors, through no achievement of his own. At no point does he display cunning, intelligence, strength, fighting skills, magical skills, or any other quality that might give the reader a clue to why he’s the protagonist. Often, at pivotal moments, Teo stands there saying nothing because he’s so scared, allowing all the other characters to affect the plot. The author attempts to compensate for Teo's lack of personality with some weak attempts at humor, but given that all the jokes in this book are ripped from popular tweets, it doesn’t really land. At one point, Teo comedically finds it impossible to lift a 30 pound weight, and it pins him to the ground, which implies that Teo could be overpowered by a human toddler.
One of Teo’s friends is Korra, I mean Niya, who seems to be crafted to appeal to online weirdos who constantly post about wanting various fictional women to step on them. I found Niya’s character to be kind of disturbing, as the narration and dialogue is constantly focused on her body, specifically her thighs. All of Niya’s dialogue goes something like, “Hey guys! I’m so stupid I don’t know what common words mean! Good thing I have giant, swollen, glistening thighs and huge honking tiddies to make up for it! I don’t find this depiction of women to be weird at all!”
Teo also has a romantic storyline with a character named Aurelio, who has fire powers or something. The romantic scenes were incredibly repetitive. The same exact scene happened a good 3-4 times. Here’s my imitation:
Teo went into the gym because he was starting to think being fit would be a good idea if he wanted to climb the ranks in the sunbearer trials. Aurelio was already in there, exercising with his shirt off and his golden skin. ‘Crap,’ thought Teo. He marched over to a random machine, trying not to look at Aurelio’s skin. It can’t be that hard to use this thing, Teo thought. He grabbed a random lever and immediately slipped and fell. Aurelio walked over. “Do you need help?” said Aurelio. “Don’t tell me what to do!” said Teo. It was so annoying how Aurelio lorded over Teo being a Gold.
I kid you not that the same confrontation in the gym takes place a SOLID three or four times with no change. The conflict between them (that Aurelio is supposedly being clique-y like the other Golds) doesn’t work at all, because Aurelio is so transparently just trying to help and be nice. It makes Teo look like a giant asshole who’s constantly yelling at him for no reason. And then suddenly they’re in a relationship or something. I don’t know. Whatever.

Racism

For the god of harvest, the tall and lanky dios didn’t look like he ate much. He had a long face, a wide nose, earth-rich black skin, and eyes the color of tobacco leaves that were currently glaring at Teo and Niya.

Before the Incident, Maize had had shiny cornrows that fell to the middle of his back.

Yes, I’m giving this character his own section because he bothered me so much. The god of harvest is a Black man (named Corn) who is described as having literally black skin. Not ‘brown skin so dark it was almost black’ but literally. Black skin. He also is described as having eyes the color of tobacco and… as having had cornrows. Now, anyone with two braincells to bang together knows that tobacco as a crop has certain connotations with regard to American slavery. I really would like to know why that crop, of ALL crops, is the one that came to mind when describing this character. Like, what on earth compels someone to write, essentially, ‘Corn, the god of corn, had cornrows because he was black and he looked like tobacco.’ Please.

Popularity

Okay, you might be wondering. Okay, so the characters are wack, the worldbuilding is wack, the plot is nothing. Why is anyone reading this book at all?
I would like to give credit where credit is good. Aiden Thomas is not, in my opinion, a particularly gifted author. He is, however, very savvy with social media and promotion. The Sunbearer Trials was promoted with an extremely aggressive social media campaign involving all kinds of merch, special editions, and character trading cards.

Each character was revealed one at a time with accompanying art and the promise that you could win a mystery trading card with your preorder of THE SUNBEARER TRIALS!!! The characters were accompanied by bulleted lists of why you were sure to love them. Identities (Sapphic! Trans boy! Nonbinary goblin!) featured prominently on the character introductions, no matter how much or little those identities and characteristics were featured in the text of the book itself. (At least one trans character and several ‘sapphic’ or ‘bisexual’ characters, by my estimation, made it the entire book without their identity coming up at all. There were no characters described in their trading card as lesbians.) Easy to swallow characteristics and Twitter-poisoned phrases made up the rest of the bulleted lists. (Herbo! Goth daddy! Youngest Child Syndrome!)
Tweets in all caps full of keysmashing about how great Sunbearer Trials is were retweeted constantly by Aiden. Special editions were announced frequently. And this was all before the book even came out. All those people couldn’t be wrong about the book, right? All those tweets couldn’t be… lying?! I mean, it’s not like just anyone can create a twitter account, then tweet ‘AKSJHEKJHGHG SCREAMING CRYING AT THE END OF SUNBEARER TRIALS ARC,’ right? …Right??

You like stickers, right?? There’s stickers, too! Surely just any old book can’t have adorable chibi stickers.

And the special editions! There are so many! Wondering how much these cost, I put together a price list for everyone:

Rainbow Crate: $45
B&N: $18.99
Regular Edition: $17.99
Obsidian Moon Crate: $20
Fae Crate: $33.32 OR $43.42

Adding about $7 in shipping for each item, the total comes up to around $180. I mean, imagine spending $180 on a book and it’s not very good. Would you say anything? Or would you just go on twitter, post ‘THE SUNBEARER TRIALS ENDED MY LIFE [CRYING EMOJI],’ and try and convince yourself that you actually liked it?



Now, do I think that everyone who enjoyed the Sunbearer Trials is a liar? Of course not! I am a firm believer that there are many, many people out there with incredibly bad taste.

Rating: 0/5 bastards.

[Laynie Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOLY SHIT MY DUDES MORE IN DEPTH REVIEW TO COME BUT OH MY GOD THAT WAS FUCKING EXCELLENT OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD?!?????? ITS THE REAL DEAL YALL AIDEN THOMAS NEVER MISSES

[౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

thank you for the arc netgalley!!

(rating might change)

was not expecting that much plot tbh but it’s basically gay hunger games x rick riordan books (but with mexican mythology!)

————————————-

OMFG I GOT AN ARC?? LITERALLY CRYING CAUSE IT LOOKS SO GOOD

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really did not expect to hate this but here we are.

I loved Cemetery Boys and enjoyed Lost in the Never Woods, and naturally was excited for this, especially given its pitch of Percy Jackson meets The Hunger Games. However, this was not what I was told it would be, in my opinion, and I feel cheated and upset.

First of all, there is an astounding lack of stakes. The trials have no risk until the very very end when one person will be chosen to die as a sacrifice. So every trial just feels meaningless and unexciting. This could be easily remedied by throwing in some drama or conditions that make the trials go awry or something. An example that comes to mind is Divergent. But no- everything is clear cut and makes it feel like nothing happens in this book until the very end.

The second, and biggest, issue I had was the world building. For the life of me I cannot FATHOM what compelled Aiden Thomas to include modern day things like technology and whatnot in this. It does not work. It feels out of place and ridiculous. And then you had to go ahead and throw in the fake parody social media apps like “TicTac” in place of TikTok, which honestly I don’t even understand why they need to be different if you’re even going to include a Vine reference in the book. So Vine exists, but TikTok and Instagram are too far and need to be changed?? The Vine reference also took years off my life because. It’s dated and it just felt stupid.

The book didn’t know what tone to take either. Was it a fun time? Was it serious? It doesn’t know! It honestly felt like a middle grade masquerading as Young Adult. Throw in some swear words and call it YA! Why not?

Characters were boring, and there were so many. Ten competitors and none are given proper time to be developed in any meaningful way. Then you have the different gods as well, and you’re just left with a very hollow cast.

The book is a slog, like I mentioned. A good hundred pages could have been cut because it was all just repetitive stuff of travelling and sleeping and doing nothing that matters.

I’m incredibly unsatisfied with this and really feel like this was marketed poorly. I’m tired of letting both authors and publishers get away with misleading audiences into expecting one thing and then delivering another. You cannot pitch a book as part Hunger Games unless you are actually committing to that kind of seriousness and grimness.

Final thoughts: this was awful.

[Drusilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow
DAMN
AMAZING
I hesitated for a long time before reading this book because I thought, well, the subject matter isn't really that new. Maybe I should have read a few reviews first. Sometimes it's strange why you ignore some books and jump at others.
Anyway, I was proven wrong and I have taken this book and all these characters deeply into my heart.
This story is so rich in characters, wonderful creatures, and plot that it simply blows you away.
One tiny complaint—there's no romance—but I'm not complaining, it wouldn't have fit, there's too much animosity and far too many other important things going on. The tiny bit of attraction you get to feel between Teo and Aurelio is great and doesn't need anything more.
I love the richness of queer and trans identities and how they are addressed. I love how Teo describes his feelings about his body. It's all so beautifully woven into the story, including how this world embraces and accepts gender diversity in general. It's all so natural and really so simple that it makes you want to live there.
From a fantasy-mythology perspective, it's absolutely brilliant. When I read the prologue, I thought, “No way, my brain is way too small for this this week, I don't understand anything”... it happens, BUT it was so easy to dive into it, and even though I read too fast and I'm sure I missed some things, it's really great how you learn more and more about this world piece by piece.
And all from Teo's perspective—it's really great how you can travel through this book with him.
The plot, wow, pretty brutal and extremely exciting. My adrenaline level was way too high.
After reading a few reviews, I kept seeing comparisons to Percy Jackson and The Hunger Games. Um, the first one, yes, the second one, no, sorry... I find it almost offensive to compare the richness of this book to The Hunger Games. Of course, in terms of the Trials and the brutality behind them, but otherwise I think the comparison is pretty silly.
In any case, I don't particularly like such comparisons, because this book is UNIQUE! That had to be said.
I'm also a big fan of the writing style, so I guess I'll have to read more by this author, not just the sequel to this book.
Aww, I love Teo, and that ending almost made my heart stop.

“What was I supposed to do, stand by and watch while—?”
Huemac cut him off. “You are not a Hero, Teo.”
Teo’s mouth snapped shut.
It was true, he wasn’t a Hero. But it wasn’t like anyone had given him a chance to be. He was destined for a dull life of serving his mother like a glorified priest. The very thought was enough to send his pulse thudding, trapped under his skin. 🥺💕🥺

Two years ago, when he was fifteen, Teo realized he was a boy. He’d started hormone replacement therapy and gotten top surgery, which helped him feel more at home in his own body. He even liked his top surgery scars—they looked badass. 🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵

Niya yanked him into a hug, lifting him off his feet. “We’re gonna have so much fun together!”
A surprised laugh jumped in Teo’s throat. Leave it to Niya to see the silver lining of his probable death sentence. 🥰💕🥰

“How does anyone get anything done in these?” Niya growled, tugging at her clothes like some feral cat. “The ladies need to breathe!”
“Which ladies?” Teo asked, looking back at her as he tried to loosen his tie.
“These!” Niya flexed her biceps. The muscles strained against the fabric of the jacket. “The tiddies aren’t doing great, either, though,” she said, glancing down at her chest. “I can’t tell you how much underboob sweat I’ve got right now.” 🤣😂🤣

[khaz. · Rating 1 out of 5]

06/08 - OKAY you know what? It’s time to spill the tea about this book because it is everywhere on my Instagram thanks to pride month and it makes me mad every fucking time. Also, I’ve watched the first hunger games movie yesterday -fucking masterpiece all the details and the attention? Love it- and I remembered the fact that they dared to call Sunbearer trials a “hunger games like” book and this is so far away from the truth that I want to scream like how dare you?

So yeah. The more I think about this book, the more I hate it. Truly. Which is terrible because I would have loved to love this book if you see what I mean by that. Mythology and queer characters? Hell yeah. Except that as I was reading it, this turned into a Hell no. Well, there is still queer characters and representation and that is good, obviously. But representation itself doesn’t make a good book.

And this was not a good YA book. It was not even YA it’s a middle grade book with immature children swearing a lot and making bad references to vines – like come on, you can’t even be funny by your own? You have to use the two bros chilling in a hot tub for that? You just ruined a very good vine for nothing. At least Percy Jackson, which this book compares itsetlf to because it is not good enough by itself to sell apparently unless you compare it at two best sellers, well AT LEAST Percy was ridiculously funny. And since we are talking about comparison, let’s talk about THG – no I will never let it go.

THG was amazing because of its very dark universe. Here, have 24 kids fight in an arena until death, and yes, as expecting because the book announced it, people died. Like – a fucking lot of people. Because it is a violent life with violent games. We were selling something and we got it. So here? Trials opposing teenagers with the treat of the last one being sacrificed to their Sun divinity (very smartly called Sol – I will get to the name of the gods don’t worry)? Ok why not accept that they are never in real danger. Nobody dies. Since we are at it, I would like to point out how those games do not make any fucking sense: “but the loser has the greatest honor of all―they will be sacrificed to Sol” How? If this is such an honor to die for Sol, why the loser is sacrificed? Why not the winner? It would at least be a bit more original an interesting to see kids fighting for the great honor of giving their life for Sol, and Teo being ‘you all are nuts’ but that's just my take I guess

And I guess this is what I had the most trouble with this book. It was weak. Weak writing- or from what I could understand from other reviews, weak edition and even weak translation in my case even because I’ve read it in French and well, the neutral pronouns were messy sometimes-, weak plot, weak worldbuilding, weak characters,…

One thing I was very hopeful about and disappointed me the most, is the mythology. The book is said Mexican-inspire fantasy and seeing the name Quetzal I was hoping to see references and actual divinities from the Mayans and Aztec pantheons which I know little about and would love to read more about it. Well, guess what? It was not. I don’t know what the author tried to do here, but the gods were just bleh. He did not go with the actual pantheons, and instead just stamped a very not subtle Spanish name onto the gods, and there we go. Seriously look: Tierra the goddess of earth? Luna the goddess of the Moon? Mala Suerte the god – you will never guess – bad luck. Make a bit of effort, please. I saw another review by a Latin person who was disappointed and said that this book felt written for people with no knowledge of Latin culture and I kinda agree – also some anti-indigenous undertones but I don’t know enough about it to talk it here.

Which leads me to another thing about this world and the way it words – I will not talk about the map and the geography and how their boat trip makes no sense. So here we have gods who, because they are gods, are not limited by gender or sexuality in any ways and they have gender confirmation ceremony for demi-gods so being transgender is very accepted and non-binarity pretty common too. After all, this is a fantasy world. So why taking a very ‘real life’ turns when it gets to Teo, with his dysphoria and hormones and top surgery? You had the possibility to do so many things, your MC is a demigod with wings for fuck’s sake? Also, I am SO tired of transgender character complaining that they did not transition when they were younger when at 17 years old, they are already so advanced in the medical aspect of it. I did my top surgery only a couple of months ago and I’m in my late 20’s. People can transition at every age and any pace, don’t sell me a ‘normal and idealizing’ way of transition like the younger the better not all of us knew we were trans at 5 years old.

But I’m losing the point here. Which is Teo sucks as an mc. He is annoying, stupid, he complains a lot, judge all others characters and his relationship with Aurelio is so boring like stop blushing and looking at his abs for two seconds before getting mad because you think he is your enemy while Aurelio is literally sitting doing nothing but giving Teo the sad puppy eyes – btw Aurelio deserves so much better and the romance between them would make no sense at the moment. The others are no better, they have one – two for the lucky ones – character traits. Like Niya is the loud and strong best friend. Nico oops sorry I mean Xio is quiet and emo. For me, the most interesting character was actually Auristela, even tho the Teo team keeps calling her a mean bitch – at least, she is more than just what you think and her relationship with her twin or their mother sounded more interesting than literally everything else.

I won’t bother talking about the plot, there was none and you saw everything coming ten miles away. The pacing is weird, there is too many lore-drop just for the sake of it, the mix between fantasy universe and modern setting and references is offsetting. And the ending is just??? Confusing, this is not a cliffhanger this is just a bad stop after a very obvious twist

Anyway, I guess I have to say something positive now. Yay, representation, queer diversity! If you liked it and felt seen, I am happy for you, but it is just a confirmation than Aiden Thomas' books are not for me. And I have to admit, if the editing team is not very good at their job, the marketing one is killing it.


04/19 -
i am so mad at this book i yelled about it to my friends for an hour

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine. But "fine," after reading this author's wonderful debut, Cemetery Boys, is not enough. I feel like there were so many flaws baked in to this book before the author even started writing it, and they didn't do enough to overcome them. The worldbuilding choices made in this book baffled me, and it read like a middle grade novel with f-bombs thrown in. (Not good when you're aiming for upper YA.) Gonna bullet point this one to sort out my thoughts.

*This was pitched as "Percy Jackson meets The Hunger Games" and that couldn't be more obvious. This will probably play a lot better to an audience that grew up reading Percy Jackson, like the author did, but that was not me, and I expect more from my fantasy books. It felt like the author just took his enthusiasm for Percy Jackson and wiped a metaphorical coat of paint on it, transplanted it to a new world, and went from there.

*The choice to make this a secondary fantasy world, but one where seemingly all of earth's pop culture, technology, social media, slang, etc are the same was ill-advised, in my opinion. These characters could easily pop in to our world and be totally fine. If you're going to write second world fantasy, write second world fantasy! But personally, for the tone and type of story he was going for, I think it would have been much, much better to set this in our world like Percy Jackson is. It was so jarring and annoying to hear the characters say things like "Does this make me a furry?" and talk about TúTube (the fake Latinx version of YouTube), and have this violent magical ceremony in the same space as someone watching baking videos on their phone.

Not to mention, all that slang and language and technology and progress . . . all of that comes from very specific origins in our world's history, so to have them in this world out of context makes zero sense. Good second world fantasy has their own slang, technology, history, and cultural mores. This book did not show much evidence of that kind of worldbuilding. It felt really shallow.

*The Hunger Games aspect was off and flawed from the start. Nothing about this sat right. The tone of this book throughout was light and playful, even as Teo (the main character) was always talking about how much dread he was feeling. There just didn't seem to be much gravitas about the person who gets last place having to be killed in a very public ceremony. Everyone is focused on who will win instead, and celebrating all the time. The fact that they compete and the losers are chosen this way is fucked up, and that doesn't work in this story, because this isn't a dystopian world where powerful people keep the downtrodden oppressed by encouraging them to glamorize violence and spectacle. It's meant to be a (relatively) just society.

*The attempt to make Jades seem underprivileged, frankly, just did not work. Okay, you're gods but you don't get people licking your boots all the time? All right, I'm so sad for you . . . nope, they're still gods and demigods. This is not a good dynamic for the story to explore, and it was one of the weakest aspect of the story. It also feels like Thomas was trying to recreate the dynamic in Red Rising, but again, that's a DYSTOPIA. Not going to work in the context of this story!

*The characters were . . . there.

*The trials aspect was the most fun part of the story. I also liked the Latinx mythology and culture that made up the world of the novel. That could have been kept even if it was set in our world, though. I just really think the good parts of this would have been so much better if the parts that didn't work would have been whipped into shape. So much of this book could have been so much better, but it was flawed from the start, and nobody seems to have pointed that out to the author. Or maybe I'm the only one who cares and this is a nonissue, and it's not important that this book didn't work for me. I know that I wouldn't have cared about any of the stuff that I'm talking about here when I was younger.

So those are my thoughts for now. I will probably read the second book, just because it's a duology and not a huge commitment, but Thomas isn't going to be an autobuy author for me anymore. I really hope his debut wasn't just a one-off, and that he can go back to being more thoughtful and deliberate in his plotting and characters than he was here.

Read Harder Challenge 2023: Read a novel about a trans character written by a trans author.

[Maria Clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

¿TE APASIONAN LAS HISTORIAS DE DIOSES😍?

🦜Es más, añádele a la formula un puñado de aves exóticas, una escuela para formar a los semidioses en héroes y una terrible prueba que exige un sacrificio humano😱

🦜 ¿A que suena tentador🔥?
Pues espera porque apenas he empezado!

🦜Cada diez años se celebran LAS PRUEBAS DEL SOL, donde solo participan los diez semidioses más poderosos, así que este año no podía ser diferente, solo que, para sorpresa de todos, este año eligen también a dos semidioses que no están preparados para enfrentarse a esas pruebas ni mucho menos para todo lo que les espera☠️

🦜Y no solo eso, sino que Jade, uno de nuestros dos candidatos, ve cómo su mundo se tambalea peligrosamente al darse cuenta de que, además de competir por su vida, tendrá también que enfrentarse a su peor enemigo (un enemigo muy especial🤫)

🌸REPRESENTACIÓN LGBTIQ+
🌸AMISTAD
🌸VENGANZAS
🌸TRAICIONES y
🌸ODIOS ANCESTRALES

UNA COMPETICIÓN QUE NADIE QUIERE PERDER, UNAS REGLAS QUE NO SE PUEDEN ROMPER Y UN FINAL DE INFARTO. ¿A QUIÉN SACRIFICARÁN ESTE AÑO?

[micah ➳ canonicallychaotic · Rating 5 out of 5]

the way this book isn’t even fuCKING OUT YET AND I NEED THE SEQUEL NOW
//

“it was true, he wasn’t a Hero. but it wasn’t like anyone had given him a chance to be.”

every ten years, ten semidioses are chosen to compete in the sunbearer trials. some semidioses spend their whole lives training for the trials. but not kids of jade gods like teo, because they’re never chosen. until this year. the stakes are high because although one winner travels through reino del sol to replenish sun stones that keep the world safe from evil obsidian gods—one loser is the honorable sacrifice that keeps the stones lit. teo knows he isn’t a hero. he just wants to make sure he and his friends survive.

➳ more a raw reaction than a proper review! no spoilers!

if you know me, you know i don’t read a lot of high fantasy. i tend to stick to contemporary and romcoms, where the stakes are usually much lower than life or death. most fantasy i do pick up is low, grounded fantasy with ties to our world with a twist.

but if you know me, you would know i’ve made cemetery boys a personality trait. and i would do anything to be in the worlds aiden thomas creates.

the sunbearer trials is a whole rollercoaster fun. i did literally scream at my book, and i did tear up with emotion. but i also laughed out loud. sometimes all these things happened in a single page. the stakes are high, and you’re at the edge of your seat wanting the words to move faster in your mind but also needing to pause to take a deep breath before the shit hits the fan.

part of what drove me to pick up this book when i did was aiden posting character cards for the ten competitors in the book. they’re all so bold and interesting, spanning a wide variety of appearances, abilities, and identities. it’s easy to pick one of them to root for, whether based on their parent or their attitude, or how much of yourself you see in them.

personally i am a bit of a bitter underdog and dragged by my height by Some People so maybe i see myself in teo what about it.

this book isn’t even published yet and i already crave a sequel. i can’t wait for everyone to read this later this year, how am i gonna survive until 2023??

thank you to @fiercereads for a e-arc of this book!! i Will have more to say on this in the months to come i will Not Shut Up.

[Kenz The Dragon Queen]

Pitching your book as two of the most popular YA fiction novels (and arguably the best rated and best regarded) ever, mixed together, is ballsy af. And I’m totally here for it!

[Nico · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I could say I liked this. I really, really wish I could say I liked this.
The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas was one of my most anticipated books of 2022. I only got around to it of February of this year, which gave me plenty of time to imagine how great it would be. Surely this incredibly anticipated book by one of my auto-buy authors was going to brilliantly tackle character, theme, plot, worldbuilding, all of it! Aiden Thomas would do great with their epic fantasy debut after their wonderful urban fantasies of years before!
I was. So wrong. If you liked this book, exit out now. I am going to be a bitch.
First: Who Is This Book For?
The Sunbearer Trials is marketed as a YA story. This is absolutely not correct. In fact, the comp title to Percy Jackson is almost more correct in tone than it is when referencing the origin of the main characters. TST feels very distinctly like a middle grade book with added swearing and mature jokes. I kept reading thinking, if I were in 6th grade, I'd like this more, because... I would. The writing is incredibly simple (more on that later), the humour (when not about sex or cursing) is things like "haha, snot" and "haha, crushes", and the characters often act more like they're all 13 than just Xio is. They act 10, even.
But, like I said, there's a lot of fucking swearing! It's in the very first line. I don't have a problem with teens swearing in books, but like. It does not fit the tone for Niya to be yelling about sons of bitches when a few pages earlier this could have been The Lightning Thief. There's also a few jokes about sex/attraction and one about BDSM. Again, I am not crying and screaming on the floor about that being in a YA book. That's realistic. But again it doesn't FEEL YA (I should know! I'm the target audience!) and parents wouldn't give the book to a 11 year old like they would give a 11 year old PJO... who the fuck is this for?
Second: The Clusterfuck That Is This Book's Worldbuilding
This will be split into a few, smaller clusterfucks. It's a lot.
Clusterfuck 1: This Literally Isn't A Fantasy World
I had to check probably a dozen times to make sure I'm not about to slander a book that takes place in our-world-but-changed for taking place in our-world-but-changed. But nope, TST takes place in a fantasy world, so I can say this:
NO THE FUCK IT DOESN'T. YOU ARE LYING.
Tictac. Instagrafia. TuTube. References to the "two guys sitting in a hot tub" vine. Humour that sounds exactly like that of a chronically online teenager. Modern slang (like "thirsty" and "harshing my vibe"). Almost no consideration of how a theocratically-run society actually works, beyond the trials (especially in the lives of normal people). Exact same approach to trans identity, which is fucking weird, because transphobia doesn't exist (more on that later). No thought to politics or economics or why the world works almost exactly our way when it does not have the many centuries of history to explain it. This is earth with an Instagram--sorry, Instagrafia--filter over it.
Also, I'm not necessarily against technology in fantasy, I can enjoy it, but it just felt lazy here. "Jumbotron" is a brand, for fuck's sake. (And again, the hell that is this book's social medias). If you're going to put tech in a fantasy world, be INTERESTING with it. Spice it up!! Make newer, worse ways for the government to encroach on our privacy! Make newer, worse ways for social media to consume people! Or even just, like. Newer ways. Be original. I am begging you. Have one (1) thought toward how society functions outside of your main event.
Clusterfuck 2: Transgenderism
I am a fan of transgenderism. Genderfuckery, even. I myself am trans, and I was really, really looking forward to how being trans would be approached in a fantasy space that lacked canonical transphobia! But... uh. I was disappointed again. Because even though transphobia doesn't exist, the trans characters just want to look like cis people. For some reason, "looking like a man" still means flat chest and no period and blah blah blah, even though that very viewpoint is rooted in transphobia. And for some reason, Xio has to be assured that potentially being nonbinary isn't shameful, even though... that doesn't make sense? Because (as said in the very same scene!) being nonbinary is something totally normal and their highest god is nonbinary? So, like. Why is this a concern of his?
Just like, in general. Why do they assign genders at all? Why are there still gender norms? Why, why, why. If transphobia actually doesn't exist, there HAS to be a different approach to gender entirely. It goes all the way down. The other option is to put on your big boy pants and accept that transphobia/cissexism/gender norms DO still exist, and do something INTERESTING with it. Create new ideas of what manhood and womanhood are, what gender means. The closest this book got to that was Teo's dysphoria over having dull "girl wings" at first, but it never went beyond that (even the "girl wings" were solved very quick), which is just annoying. There were so many opportunities here that were not taken, and I don't know why.
(Also. "All-femme" horse racing team. Are you saying femme men are allowed, or are you transphobically grouping femme enbies with women? Hint: it's probably not #1.)
Clusterfuck 3: Why Are The Trials Like This?
I know why they're a thing. I read the damn book. But why are they for 13-18 year olds, picked without consent or control, to find the best one? The meta answer is that this is YA, so it must be about teens, and it's Hunger Games inspired, so it must be... all that other shit. But there is no in-universe explanation for why Sol doesn't pick, like, honored aging demigod volunteers instead of the children with no choice. It would be really, REALLY easy to say that, like, the power in the blood peaks at that age which is why they must choose the kids. THG had an in-universe reason for being about kids!!!! Why doesn't this!!!!!!
Clusterfuck 4: Wow, That Religion Is Disappointing
This was touched upon in clusterfuck 1, but like. There's barely any thought put into how the religions actually function. What HAPPENS in the temples? What do priests do? How do gods interact with their people? (It's acceptable to fuck a god, so... what's that mean?) How do people pray? Do they even do that? How do people honor their religion and gods? Are there sects that don't get along well because they value certain gods that aren't on good terms with other gods? HOW DO RELIGIONS EVEN WORK??? ARE THERE MORE THAN ONE???
Basically the thing we get is who some of the gods are, their Old Lore, their hierarchy of Gold-over-Jade, and the fact that Gold semidioses are kept away from mortals while Jades walk among them. That is not enough, lmao.
Third: What Is This Book Trying to Say?
We are away from worldbuilding now, but I am not going to use less words!
Thematically, this book is a mess. In the first 3/4, it's a heroic story about being an underdog! and Teo winning the trials to prove himself and the Jades capable! It's trying to comment on hierarchy and power, but kind of just.... ignores the central Murder A Child Day. And then, very suddenly, it shifts to being about the choices everyone is being forced to make and how horrible it is to have Murder A Child Day. But even that isn't done very well, because it is simultaneously trying to say how horrible it is they're killing children and no one minds, but also saying "oh no, there's basically no other choice other than apocalypse, so we have to!". I'm a TMA fan, I love me some stories about the horrors of choosing between two terrible things, but this just... isn't done well. And it COULD HAVE BEEN. It could have been a commentary on how Teo had the rose-tinted glasses that is societal view of the trial ripped away from him to reveal the rotting horror it is. It COULD HAVE done the shaky descent from "I'm going to win! I'm going to prove myself and my people!" to "Oh no. What are we doing?" really well, but... it didn't, because it tried to do both at once in a way that just did not work. . (That whole section isn't MAJOR spoilers but I hid it just in case.)
Fourth: Characters and Romance
I'm grouping this, since most of my character complaints are also romance complaints. Non-romance complaint: the characters all felt very flat. Teo is an underdog and troublemaker, Niya is strong and likes candy, Xio is quiet and needs to be looked out for, Aurelio is a BITCH but actually not that's just Teo's perception. I honestly felt Auristela was most fleshed out, and I still don't know much about her, but like. She compels me, I guess. Insert Benoit Blanc meme here.
Romance complaint: Aurelio does not deserve Teo and does not have any reason to date him. They are only the obvious endgame they are because the author wants them to be. They were friends what, nine years earlier? Even if Aurelio still cared (which he could, I guess), it wouldn't make sense to have romantic feelings so quickly, especially because... well! Teo is an asshole! Aurelio never does anything actively antagonistic, actively tries to help multiple times, and tries to be civil with Teo repeatedly. Teo, on the other hand, blows up in his face, constantly & consistently views him as an enemy, and still "doesn't know if he can forgive Aurelio" for something he KNOWS Aurelio's MOTHER caused. In fact, until the one random cave conversation that starts making Teo not be as terrible, there is absolutely nothing between them except "ooh hunky muscles".
And yet, after that conversation, Teo's next step is to... get Aurelio to sneak out? BOY. MAN. DUDE. YOU HATED HIM TWO CHAPTERS AGO, AND THINK HE DOES TOO. There's no real development of a relationship--it's like a switch is just turned on, and now they like each other, and it's fucking stupid. (In general, I hate Teo. He's immature, rude, and naïve.)
Fifth: The Writing
There is just. No point in this book where the writing is interesting, compelling, complex, or evocative. It uses incredibly simple vocabulary, relies on out-of-place terms like "speedrun" and "vibes", and is tonally very inconsistent (at one point, Niya is sobbing and blaming herself for a horrific incident, and then in the next chapter, which is the same day... is joking and laughing and excited). The stakes are also abysmally portrayed--I did not worry that ANYONE would get hurt until trial 5. It was never an actual issue--there was no tension. This is in part due to the PJO-esque feel; it's very jokey and fun, even when they're in the death game. This... doesn't work. Sorry. It works for PJO, because PJO is 1) middle grade and 2) NOT A FUCKING DEATH GAME (the stakes are high but not that immediate). This tone does not translate well into TST at all. It also makes the last 1/5th or so (when everything gets tense and dark) very, very jarring, and not in a way that feels purposeful. Everything goes from 1 to 11 real fast, with no time to adjust and no thematic or plot use of that feeling. I was HOPING for the last 1/5th's tone the whole time, and I genuinely don't understand why this dark YA fantasy reads like a MG fantasy-comedy. (Also, I don't know where to fit this, but: the plot twist was so predictable it hurts and the foreshadowing felt like being smacked upside the head with a bag of bricks.)
In Conclusion
Aiden Thomas has gone from an auto-buy author to someone who's books I will almost certainly avoid. I don't even know if I want to bother getting the Cemetery Boys sequel from the library when it releases. I certainly won't continue reading this series.
I gave this a 2 star because I didn't want to give such a queer, latine story (+ side disabled rep) that low of a rating when it's already got to be fighting among the stories about more privileged groups and by more privileged authors. But "diverse" doesn't mean good story, and genuinely, I am just... so deeply disappointed, and angry, and dissatisfied in a way that will leave a sour taste in my mouth for awhile.

[Grapie Deltaco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh. My. GOD!!!!!!

DAMN YOU, AIDEN THOMAS!!

♾/5⭐️ and I’m so unwell over it.

When this was advertised as Percy Jackson x Hunger Games, no lies were told. HEAVY on the Percy Jackson.

We open up on Teo and his birds vandalizing a building and very quickly jump into the story of magical hierarchies, a competition between tweens and teens to determine the next sacrifice for the sun god, uncovering personal histories, and figuring out what truly makes a hero.

Despite the large cast of characters and distinct personalities, Aiden Thomas manages to avoid making things feel jumbled or squished together. It’s a fast-paced story featuring fascinating and lively characters with varying motivations, powers, and roles to play.

The main dynamic between Teo, Niya, and Xio managed to be filled to the brim with warmth, familiarity, and humor with how they bounce off of and protect each other. But my favorite relationships were between gods and their children. Even the smallest interactions spoke volumes to who those characters truly are and I was at the edge of my seat from start to finish.

Gorgeous Mexican-inspired world building and magic systems, 3-dimensional and entertaining characters, high stakes, a deeply compelling underdog story, and a book that is beautifully queer to its core.

The ending will haunt me until I get my hands on the eventual sequel.

CW: death, human sacrifice, violence, grief, brief mentions of child abuse, brief moments discussing gender dysphoria

[Anniek · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is basically Percy Jackson, if Percy and Nico were trans, meets The Hunger Games, all in the best way possible. It is a book that deserves the biggest fandom, so I'm really hoping it will be huge!

Aiden Thomas's books, even though they're all fantasy, are all distinctly different subgenres, but they're all super immersive and I once again loved their writing style. Like Cemetery Boys, I think this book will become a comfort read for me.

Our main character Teo is the son of the goddess of birds, and as such he can communicate with birds and he has wings. These wings are a cause of dysphoria for him, because he's trans and the wings look like how a female bird's wings would look, leading him to wear a binder to hide them. I don't want to give too much away, but I absolutely loved how this storyline was handled.

I don't want to give too much away about the Sunbearer Trials either, but they're super fun and engaging to read about, with some twists at the end that make me crave the sequel like nothing else.