Reviews with content warning for Blood - Trial of the Sun Queen

i loved it. the vibe, the atmosphere, LOR, the other characters. i did never know who is the bad one - i think everyone. Lor is so iconic and i loved her :)) I NEED TO READ FURTHER 🥹🤭

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xapoptosisx's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.75

I thoroughly enjoyed this book there's so many mysterious and theories and I'm so excited to read the next book to find out the truth. Also excited cause I to was fooled by atlas and I need to see his inevitable downfall.

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booksalacarte's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Trial of the sun queen- 3.75⭐️ 2.5🌶️

New Adult

High Romantasy

Romantic Fantasy

Dual POV

Bipoc

Fae Courts

Magic

Politics

Feuding Kingdoms

Secrets

Bride Trials

Rags to Riches

Slow Burn

🏳️‍🌈 Side Character Rep

Tw- adult themes, definitly check the trigger warnings.

The first line- “That bitch took my soap.” I was immediately invested in this FMC. I wanted to know her story, her hardships. The time in the prison made this story unique and compelling. I wish there had been more of the story developed there.

Thank goodness the trials in this book were heavy in the plot and revealed character growth. They took up space and were well laid out. There was a little bit of haziness around the 2nd. I was more than a little turned around on the obstacle course in where the competitors were in relation to each other. But I was relieved for them to be as central to the plot in how they were played out and not just that they happened. It helped with more than just the FMC’s character development, I feel like it really moved the side characters forward as well.

If the secret had been known, I feel like it would have added to the tension and stakes of the plot. Instead I felt left out and that the FMC was untrustworthy.

I found the romance to be very naive right off the bat, making it feel more YA. The FMC’s defined character from her time in prison immediately disappeared once she was in the trials. In the prison she was independent, untrusting, self-sufficient, with feminine rage for days. When she was in the palace, all of a sudden she had absolutely no self preservation or suspicion until further in the plot than you would expect.

I had a great time reading this book!

Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Gran Central Publishing) for an Advanced eReader Copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

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sarahyjackson's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

3.75

A little too exposition, future installment reliant for my person taste!

Also sex happened off the page which is unfortunately unforgivable to me.

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kayceeisbookish's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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datskira's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Good pacing overall. Kept my interest. Interesting world building and Fae politics. FMC with the potential for strong individuality, but had several moments of stupidity and naivety. Semi-predictable plot and characters, but the book still ended with a lot of reveals left... unrevealed but hinted at.

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dbguide2's review

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adventurous tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

It’s quite funny because the previous book I read that was said to be “inspired by The Hunger Games” was Lightlark, which quite possibly wins the award for worst book I’ve ever read. (review still to come, NaNoWriMo is kicking my behind). But then I read this book and it’s so so much better at executing the prompt/inspiration and making it truly its own idea.

Trial of the Sun Queen understands that The Hunger Games was more than the romance, there’s reasons for the games and why they need to occur and so on. What Trial and THG have in common is that the focus shouldn’t be on the romance that might (and does) occur; the focus should very much be on why the tributes have to be in the contest and why it’s all wrong. And then also adds fae to the mix, because why not? While we do get a bit of the politics, I did find myself wanting more but hopefully that’ll play a bigger role in the second book.

The book was well-written, packed with action and fast-paced (it’s under 400 pages). The characters were written in such a way that you couldn’t help but to root for Lor, smile/smirk whenever Gabriel was mentioned on the the page (I chose him as my favourite character probably before his third scene?). I’ll admit, I was confused with the first few of Nadir’s pov chapters and actually though he was the Sun King’s son (he was not) so I think I’ll enjoy getting to know more of this compelling character in the next book.

There was more action than I originally thought there would be and I liked that! Listen, I’m still recovering from Lightlark where a ton of action was promised and we received about 2.9%. So I was glad that what was promised, was actually given! I think a large part of the book is basically build up to have a second book as it felt like half of the story was told in this book. So hopefully in the next book which comes out next year will have it all.

I enjoyed the plot and the plot twists that we were given – again, I could see that it’s for the build-up for the second book – but honestly I really didn’t mind that. In fact it actually made me more excited for the sequel. For the next book I definitely want more Gabriel (I just really love him).

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