Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - Trial of the Sun Queen

This is the first book I've read by Nisha J Tuli, and I'm absolutely delighted to have found this author. Her characters are very well done, and I especially enjoy the way that she mixes in lore and history of the world throughout the novel. I never felt like they're was an exposition dump.

The book is part of an unfinished series, scheduled to be completed this year. HEA is not at the end of the books, it seems like it will be the end of the series.

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bailey0414's review

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adventurous challenging dark funny inspiring mysterious sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.25

I tore through this book so fast. It's like if Hunger Games, Divergent, and ACOTAR all had a baby and put it into one book. Though this book is a simple read and I did see quite a few things coming, I couldn't put it down because I just wanted to know I was right every step of the way. Lor is a great main character with her temper, her lack of self control after growing up in a prison, and even her conflicting feelings we see first hand. I loved also reading the small moments of Nadir and knew he would have a much bigger role coming up for future books.

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karapillar's review

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

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misswillacolyns's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I love the diversity (race, LGBTQIA+) of the characters. There is mystery to what has been happening throughout Ouranos since Lor and her siblings were imprisoned. I like Nadirs “fuck you” attitude towards his father. I’m lookin forward to where this series takes us.

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rachelglazer's review

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adventurous dark 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? No

3.5

There are a few familiar beats, and some of the chatacters were underdeveloped, but overall it was entertaining and had enough intrigue to keep me going

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jadeandherbunny's review

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adventurous tense fast-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

3.25

The world is interesting, I'm excited to see more in the sequel.
I like Lor (fmc) but she is dumb AF, for example, this discussion: Mag : I hear rumors. The servants talk.
Lor : What rumors?
Mag : I'm sure they're not true.
Lor : What rumors?
Mag : *says said rumors*
Lor : Is tHaT tRuE?
Mag : No.
Lor : *in her head* MaG mUsT bE mIsTaKeN. ThEsE aRe jUsT cRuEL rUmOrS [...]
I like how she fights everyone though.
I just hope the ennemies to lovers banter is worth it and Lor has a great development in the sequel.

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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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hann_smc's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

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

2.75

I liked it, but I didn't love it.
I think the premise was okay, but it really felt like it needed to be a little more fleshed out. There was a lot that we just needed to accept as "this is how it works in this world" for no real reason.
As far as characters go, I feel like our FMC was inconsistent.

Based on the "secrets" she knows that she isn't telling the audience it feels like she'd be more savvy / have a better idea of what is happening, so it's weird that the reader could sus things out quicker even without having as much insider info.

The book is 1st person, so it was also strange to me when she would have revelations that didn't have much build up.

Like "I" thought the Sun King was sus from the get-go, but she was lusting hard, until suddenly she was like " there was always something off" Girl I was in your head, you were way too in your own head / with your own hangups to suspect he had an ulterior motive past just being horny.

She also is supposed to be 24, and yes I know she's lived in a prison for half her life so there is going to be trauma behaviors with that, but there was a weird level of self-awareness about her behaviors, like she'd been to therapy or something.
Other characters were also kind of off and I can't place them. I can't tell whether we're supposed to like Gabriel or not, he's so inconsistent. He's an ass, but then sometimes he looks at her nicely and that was enough for her to be cool with him? I think he was supposed to have a bit of a teasing older brother vibe but I don't think it succeeded. He's just a dick.
The world feels so vague. A lot of it can be chalked up to our FMC not knowing shit, but also she was 12 when she was imprisoned, not 4. She should have some idea of the world around her.

Again, I get the impression she knows a lot more than she's saying, but for some reason her inner monologue is still confused.

My other complaint isn't just a this book problem, but it feels like "New Adult" is written less as YA with Spice, but like Middle Grade with Spice, which gives those scenes a weird icky quality even though they're technically happening between adults.
I'll give book 2 in the series a chance I think, but I really need to see some real world building and character development/growth to go any further than that.

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