“Only the most powerful and honorable semidioses get chosen. I’m just a Jade. I’m not a real hero.”
I was granted audio ARC access to The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas through the publisher, MacMillan Audio, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much for the approval! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.
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About the Book
The Sunbearer Trials
The Sunbearer Duology Book One
by Aiden Thomas
Print/eBook
Published 6 September 2022
Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan)
Page Count: 413
Audiobook
Published 6 September 2022
Macmillan Audio
Narrator: André Santana
Length: 13 hours and 28 minutes
Genre: YA Fantasy, LGBTIA+
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Welcome to The Sunbearer Trials, where teen semidioses compete in a series of challenges with the highest of stakes, in this electric new Mexican-inspired fantasy from Aiden Thomas, the New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys.
“Only the most powerful and honorable semidioses get chosen. I’m just a Jade. I’m not a real hero.”
As each new decade begins, the Sun’s power must be replenished so that Sol can keep traveling along the sky and keep the evil Obsidian gods at bay. Ten semidioses between the ages of thirteen and eighteen are selected by Sol himself as the most worthy to compete in The Sunbearer Trials. The winner carries light and life to all the temples of Reino del Sol, but the loser has the greatest honor of all―they will be sacrificed to Sol, their body used to fuel the Sun Stones that will protect the people of Reino del Sol for the next ten years.
Teo, a 17-year-old Jade semidiós and the trans son of Quetzal, goddess of birds, has never worried about the Trials…or rather, he’s only worried for others. His best friend Niya―daughter of Tierra, the god of earth―is one of the strongest heroes of their generation and is much too likely to be chosen this year. He also can’t help but worry (reluctantly, and under protest) for Aurelio, a powerful Gold semidiós and Teo’s friend-turned-rival who is a shoo-in for the Trials. Teo wouldn’t mind taking Aurelio down a notch or two, but a one-in-ten chance of death is a bit too close for Teo’s taste.
But then, for the first time in over a century, Sol chooses a semidiós who isn’t a Gold. In fact, he chooses two: Xio, the 13-year-old child of Mala Suerte, god of bad luck, and…Teo. Now they must compete in five mysterious trials, against opponents who are both more powerful and better trained, for fame, glory, and their own survival.
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My Review
My Rating: 5 Stars
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I was granted audio ARC access to The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas through the publisher, MacMillan Audio, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much for the approval! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.
So you know how in The Road to El Dorado Tzekel-Kan reveals to the chief that Miguel and Tulio are false gods by pointing out that gods don’t bleed? Well, in this version of the world at least, that’s not entirely true. They do bleed, it’s just not red.
The Sunbearer Trials takes place in a world that blends modern teen culture with a world that feels aesthetically and religiously like a romanticized version of pre-Columbus Middle America. Demigods live among the mortals, they (often reluctantly) settle themselves into a cast system based on the colour of their blood, they use recognizable modern teen lingo, patron recognizable parallels to modern businesses, cook sous vide when they want to be fancy… and run a high stakes competition among their youth once a decade which ends with the winner sacrificing the loser in order to replenish the stones that power the world. Typically only Golds compete, and thus only Golds are trained and prepared for it. Teo is not a Gold. Will he survive?
For fans of battle royale sort of adventures like The Hunger Games, this book will scratch that itch, but for the most part there’s very little blood and gore while the trials are in progress. For fans of Aiden Thomas’ debut novel, Cemetery Boys, this book deliver just as much trans representation and LGBTQIA+ discourse as you’re expecting, if not more! If you’ve been following my reviews for a while now, it’s no secret that the YA novels that were coming out in 2019-2020 that featured trans and non-binary characters who still have a lot of questions really helped push me to discover more about myself, even in my 30s, and I do believe this book can do that for new readers of any age.
If you’re reading this review then you’ve likely looked at a listing for this book somewhere online and you’ve seen the line under the title that says duology book one. There are some things you can correctly predict as this book goes on, like the protagonist not dying halfway through, simply because a sequel is in the works. This doesn’t affect the suspense at all! This book is masterfully written and throws a whole lot of twists and turns that I did not see coming. I’m so sad that the second book isn’t also up for early reviews yet because I must know what happens next!
I reviewed the audiobook, so now is the time to also comment on the narrative performance. André Santana has the perfect voice for this! André is a new narrator for Aiden Thomas’ work, but not at all a new voice in the YA audiobook space, and I’ve enjoyed André’s work before on titles like Before We Disappear and Out of the Blue. André’s latino accent is so smooth and easy to listen to, and if it’s not authentic then it’s very practised and convincing. The pacing in this book is perfect, and each character sounds distinctly different without any extreme pitch shifting that feels unnatural or forced. I’ve definitely said before that I’ll gladly listen to more books narrated by André and that’s still true. André’s performances in the titles I’ve listened to would convince me to try another audiobook simply because of the narrator, even if I know nothing about the book or author.
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Looking for more? Here are my reviews of Cemetery Boys and Lost in the Neverwoods, also by Aiden Thomas.