Reviews with content warning for Gore - The Sun and the Void

Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz

12 reviews

tbd24's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

really interesting story but there is soooo much exposition and world building up front. it’s good world building! very thorough ! but I didn’t start getting -into- the plot till like halfway through. I’m excited for the next book, hopefully now that the audience knows about this world we can get straight into business

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corallydeer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Although the beginning was kind of slow for me I enjoyed this book by the end. The fantasy elements were unique and explored in a racial way that I don't see too often. The extent of the portrayals for racism and religious bigotry was often quite sobering and a bit tough to get through, but it felt worthwhile by the end. It was also a bit tough, at first, to sympathize or relate to the characters since many of their situations felt so dire and the choices they had to make so manipulated, but by the end of the book I really rooted for the main group. They all grew in really great ways and I wanted so many of them to achieve real happiness and freedom from their abusive origins.

I will say, as someone who doesn't speak/know a lick of Spanish, that I made sure to pair the book with the audiobook so that I could hear how words and names were pronounced and I definitely think that was a 10/10 decision.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Violence, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, and Gore

Moderate: Racial slurs, Kidnapping, Cursing, Murder, Grief, and Blood

Minor: Misogyny, Slavery, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, and Colonisation

Child Abuse

(young babies are used to check if someone is a reincarnated wife of Rahamagut by being abandoned on a mountain and potentially left for dead)

| Death (of Parent(s) & Child)

(Doña Laurel and her baby pass away in childbirth; babies left on the mountain as mentioned in first tag; various dead relatives mentioned from the past or experienced through the course of the book)

| Domestic Abuse

(Javier physically abuses his wife, Eva, once they're married and treats her poorly once they're legally and magically bound)

| Gore

(attacks, especially from the tinieblas, are graphic)

| Pregnancy

(Doña Laurel becomes pregnant and labor is described somewhat graphically)

| Racism

(Reina and Eva are both mixed-race characters who experience open and hidden discrimination regularly)

| Religious Bigotry

(Eva deals with religious bigotry related to the fact that she's part valco; bigotry against those that don't follow the human's religion of saints; Eva's curandera mentor is burned alive for being a "witch")

| Violence

(Reina gets attacked by monsters; sword fighting training; valcos are known to scalp antlers from other valcos they best in battle)

| Blood

(moderate depictions of blood, gore descriptions are worse)

| Cursing & Racial Slurs

(moderate levels of cursing around the fantasy racial slurs)

| Grief

(moderate depictions of grief over lost loved ones, choices made, etc)

| Kidnapping

(Reina and Javier kidnap young girls to help with reincarnating Doña Laurel, but the process isn't described in too much detail)

| Murder

(Don Enrique openly kills a witness to their plans; Reina kills her grandmother; Reina's grandmother murder's seven of the nine wives)

| Colonization

(it's mentioned in passing that humans colonized Venazia, taking nozariels as slaves, valcos as warriors, and eradicating yares)

| Gun Violence

(mentioned in passing as part of a story)

| Homophobia

(not really outright, but insinuated here and there, and explained to be a colonizer mindset brought in related to the ability to produce heirs)

| Incest

(valcos are mentioned to have inter-bred for breed purity in passing)

| Misogyny

(Javier makes some remarks to Doña Laurel about her role being for breeding)

| Slavery

(slavery of other races used to be legal, but was outlawed so it's mentioned in passing somewhat frequently)

shottel's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Oh, how much I wanted to like this book more. And yet, unless you’re a fan of the fantasy genre specifically, or perhaps of South American-inspired settings, I couldn’t recommend it to you.

Let’s start with what went well: The setting. One of my favorite fictional settings I’ve encountered in a long time. I’m a huge sucker for religious themes and topics, which weigh heavy on the plot. I personally haven’t read much inspired by South America, so it was refreshing and new to me to see a fiction book draw heavily on its history and culture. I might read the sequel just for further worldbuilding.

Additionally, I felt the one-on-one fights were excellent. Clear and visceral. I’ve read more than a few good novels with confusing, poorly wrote fights that drag down the whole thing.

Now, what didn’t go well: The characters. There are two main protagonists in this novel. I deeply disliked them both. One of them is self-righteous, to the point of overlooking her own deeply heinous actions; the other is cowardly and perpetually impulsive, an awful mix that made for a character that repeatedly made her own situation worse and regretted it moments later. That’s not enjoyable to read. It’s frustrating. At times, I was rooting against both of them.

To make matters worse, there was only one character in the book I felt was compelling, and the author hid away his motives until about 80% of the way through the book. When his backstory got more detail I was actually frustrated because it made him deeply interesting. I would’ve greatly preferred reading the entire novel from his perspective. That’s notable, because I read this novel in part because I love sapphic women leads, but I now wish the book was about the straight guy.

The other thing I felt went poorly was the fights that weren’t one-on-one. Most notably, there is a particular large battle in the second half which comes off as incredibly lackluster. Startlingly so, in fact, given how much I felt the one-on-one fights were great. Generously, it felt like reading a college freshman’s attempt in a creative writing class that got a B-.

All in all, I only recommend this book if you’re a fantasy genre fan or want some more South American in your fiction. Otherwise, spend your time elsewhere, because if the setting won’t carry it for you, then characters definitely won’t.

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_annika__'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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lanid's review against another edition

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adventurous dark

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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yarisbooksandbevs's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I wanted more from this book. I felt like he world building and magic system was a bit unclear and incomplete. I thought the characters started to show some growth until they made questionable decisions in the end and it felt like a step back in their development.

Honestly this book left me with so many questions on the world building front.

Why does Reina see her heart as monstrous? Because of iridio? Then why does she admire when Celeste uses it? Eva’s family treated her like crap and she refused to believe that they were lying about her father? How do the nozariel wear clothes with their tails? Is iridio inherently tethered to Rahmagut? Why do some users acknowledge him and others don’t? Among others

.

On a character front, many of them didn’t stick with me or make me love them or hate them. I didn’t have strong feelings for a lot of the characters other than annoyance at their dumb decisions. I did like Maior and her fiery personality.

I liked that Reina chose Maior in the end. I thought they had more chemistry and fit better than Reina and Celeste. Reina started off very naive and impressionable and stayed that way for the majority of the book but I’m glad we saw some development, even if it was toward the last couple of chapters. On Eva’s side, she really started to upset me toward the end. She refused to believe her kind father and stuck to what her horrible grandmother told her, she refused to defend Javier. I know Javier was morally grey but at least he knew he wasn’t a saint. Eva acts all high and mighty then turns around and acts cruel to Javier and caused the whole mess in the end! Not to mention she becomes arrogant with her abilities. I thought Doña Ursulina was easy to hate and Doña Laurel was easy to love which was nice.

.

I wanted more clarity in the world building and character development. There were a few characters I enjoyed and I thought the fighting scenes were well described. I don’t think I will be picking up the rest of the series but I am glad I gave it a chance and someone who isn’t as nit picky about world building may enjoy this more than I did.

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eh1736's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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gen_wolfhailstorm's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thank you to Black Crow PR for granting me a physical uncorrected proof of this title. All opinions remain 100% genuine.

Buddy read with Sharron Joy Reads.

I loved the depth of this tale. It was slow for the first 3rd or so with world building but once I pushed through, I found it to be worthwhile.
The setting was lush, tense and atmospheric, all at the appropriate times.

I appreciated all the contextual terminology being at the front. I find nothing more tedious than trailing through the end of the book, looking for what something means, with the fear of seeing a spoiler hanging over me like a black cloud.

The conversation of oppression, classim and the mistreatment of other species due to being who they are was so on point to how society still is in the real world.

The sapphic romance threaded through was great. I felt like there was a lot of manipulation in the romance though (as well as the platonic relationships) and it was hurtful to see characters I began to care about being strung along on the whims of others.

The magic system felt unique and unusual to me and though at times it went over my head a little, I was excited to see powers being mastered by various characters.

this is the 2nd book in as many with some weird incest thread, oh dear... I mean I wasn't expecting that and I still don't really get the how... I guess Celeste and Reina would be 1st half cousins?

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and can see how it can set up for a sequel, but equally would feel complete enough as a stand a lone.

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bookishaudge's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.5⭐️

A quick synopsis: The story is told in two POVS, Reina and Eva. Both we follow in their lives and adventures in this dark high fantasy were a dark god’s seal can be weakened every 47 years where you can ask him anything you want, but everything comes with a price. in a fantastical and imaginative world with creatures this novel is decided in two parts. One of our protagonist, Reina is a nozariel, her species were enslaved by humans not long ago and are still seen and treated like garbage. Eva is a quarter valco, (which in some places is a high status/honor to be a valco) where she is raised in high society but she was raised by humans who so they see her as an abomination. Both protagonist we follow as the impending doom of the dark god and his followers plot to release him.

Review: I will say before getting into everything. This book is best read if you are in the mood! (I wasn’t not in the beginning but I was very much still enraptured by the story.) Part 1 of the story is world building which is great to set up the story, it was a lot of information and things to absorb, so if that’s not your cup of tea, I get it. The dual POVs were also great, I just wished there was more Eva’s pov in the beginning or more evenly put. All of the characters I loved and hated because they are so complex and grey which I loved because it made me want to know what happens. The book is dark! I sometimes forgot about that and then something happens and I’m like 🫨, so prepare yourself. Part 2 is where things really start to get in motion and the plot builds up. Characters become more questionable and you will be left wondering who to cheer for. I loved the magic system and the world and the diversity! I also loved the sapphic love triangle and pining 🥹 it was so good. I did have strong feelings on certain unlikable characters lol but honestly it made the read so enjoyable. There were so many tense moments and betrayal it was so good. The ending has me shook, especially with a certain so and so’s ending 👀😈.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for this arc!

The Sun and the Void comes out July 25! Go grab a copy, so I can talk about it with someone😃

Content Warnings

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

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Switching POVS between Eva and Reina (although there’s a heavy focus on Reina so it felt more like Eva was just another side character at times).

Heavily influenced by Venezuelan myth/folklore which is very clear-I loved the stories of the gods and learning that one of the plot points is inspired by the Bolivarian revolution.

Aside from the unique use of South American culture and history being used in this high fantasy novel, I also appreciated the uniqueness of the magic system/creatures! I don’t read a lot of fantasy but there are so few that use geomancy (metal magic) and feature creatures that aren’t fae, elves, etc so I really liked that.

A bit slow with the pacing so I wasn’t fully immersed and I was never motivated to pick it up. Some chapters are intense and really grabbed me while others felt like a lot of overly descriptive/passive details that didn’t pertain to the plot or world building.

I would prefer less flowery descriptive writing and more action, especially with a fantasy novel! I can do flowery descriptions sometimes I’m other genres but with fantasy I expect action and faster pacing

The chapters are long and not much is happening. It started with so much promise but for being a fantasy novel, it’s incredibly slow paced. It does more telling than showing and it’s a unique story. I love mythology/folklore inspired books and would’ve loved to have read one that wasn’t the usual Greek centered but sadly it’s not working for me. It could be much shorter and would’ve benefited from another heavy round of editing to cut a lot of the unnecessary detailing, fixing the pace, and making more equally balanced POVs.

I gave this book way longer than I normally do because I was so excited to read it and wanted it to work sooo badly 😭 it tackles issues such as racism, religious bigotry, and colonialism in such a unique way; it held a lot of promise but fell flat in its execution.

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