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lavenderhimbo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
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
5.0
This book is incredible. I only have a few critiques and they're not a big deal. The characters are consistent and unique, and they are clearly being set up for interesting arcs and growth. The worldbuilding is awesome so far and I can't wait to see where the plot goes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Murder, Death of parent, Animal death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Child abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Racism, Xenophobia, and Self harm
Minor: Sexual content, Sexism, and Homophobia
ainaruizdegauna's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
3.75
Although I like fantasy very much, I am not a fantasy-reader girly. I enjoy somewhat easier to read fantasy books, most of the time. Going into this book, I didn't know it was an epic fantasy; it was just a book my partner had gifted me for Book Day. So I just started it not knowing much about it and it has been a wild ride. Firstly, I had trouble finding the time for reading because of the amount of workload I have on right now, and secondly, I have had a difficult time finishing it because I read it in English, which is not my mother tongue. So it has been a challenge indeed, but I am really happy I got through it. If English is your mother tongue or you have a great English level (I would say C1 or C2 level), then I definitely recommend this book to you. I wish I had read it at a better time and could have enjoyed it more, but nonetheless, it is an amazing book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
kirchnerkd's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Racism, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Classism
Minor: Misogyny, Confinement, Racism, Suicide, Slavery, Child abuse, and Death of parent
ebp's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Classism, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Alcohol, Murder, Suicide, and Death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Kidnapping, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: War
honeycupreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This book... WOW! Serapio and Xiala I love you so much! I really don't know what else to say. I care so much about these characters and cannot wait to see what happens with each of them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, and Suicide
saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
4.5
"A false god is just as deadly as a true one."
Black Sun is almost a perfect epic fantasy! A world based on the Americas' pre-Columbian societies, the story had me captivated the entire time. I finished the entire book in only three days, only two of which I was actually reading it, I could not put it down any time I picked it up! Its a twisty game of gods and magic with a cast of characters that had me wishing they could live in better situations, I wanted to hold them in my hand and feed them nice treats.
Serapio is my son. Xiala is such a good execution of a character whose badass and rough who has a vulnerable soft side, I also loved the lore behind her and the Teek! Naranpa had such an intriguing plot and world building, a priestess unraveling a dangerous mystery. This plot and world mainly work because there's such an enduring cast at the reins of it, giving ample reason to care. I also adored how effortlessly queer this book is, practically every character is queer in some way and there are even two who use xe/xir pronouns!
What kept me from giving this a full five stars were mostly small things. I didn't care much for Okoa's POVs, not that I disliked him or his chapters, I just felt he came in too late for me to really connect like I did with the others. The cliffhanger ending makes the overall story feel incomplete, so my feelings won't be complete until I read the sequel or maybe even the entire series. But overall, this was an extremely promising start to the Between Earth and Sky series!
Black Sun is almost a perfect epic fantasy! A world based on the Americas' pre-Columbian societies, the story had me captivated the entire time. I finished the entire book in only three days, only two of which I was actually reading it, I could not put it down any time I picked it up! Its a twisty game of gods and magic with a cast of characters that had me wishing they could live in better situations, I wanted to hold them in my hand and feed them nice treats.
Serapio is my son. Xiala is such a good execution of a character whose badass and rough who has a vulnerable soft side, I also loved the lore behind her and the Teek! Naranpa had such an intriguing plot and world building, a priestess unraveling a dangerous mystery. This plot and world mainly work because there's such an enduring cast at the reins of it, giving ample reason to care. I also adored how effortlessly queer this book is, practically every character is queer in some way and there are even two who use xe/xir pronouns!
What kept me from giving this a full five stars were mostly small things. I didn't care much for Okoa's POVs, not that I disliked him or his chapters, I just felt he came in too late for me to really connect like I did with the others. The cliffhanger ending makes the overall story feel incomplete, so my feelings won't be complete until I read the sequel or maybe even the entire series. But overall, this was an extremely promising start to the Between Earth and Sky series!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Minor: Homophobia
chainingbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Violence, and Death
Minor: Animal death, Suicide, Child abuse, and Death of parent
jemms's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
4.75 ⭐
Characters: 1
Fascinating characters each with their own flaws, hopes, and desires that made them relatable and sympathetic, but not always in the ways you'd expect.
Plot: 1
Cunningly simple, the plot revolves around how decades of machinations converge on one day--with world changing consequences.
Pacing: 0.75
Personally, I like books that slowly build on themselves, revealing bits of information that come together to reveal a larger, complex picture. Black Sun did this well, however, the ending was lightning fast compared to the rest the book and thus a little disappointing.
Writing style: 1
Captivating and immersive. The voice of a true story teller.
Vibes: 1
This is the first fantasy book I've ever read that felt like it could be real, a forgotten bit of history from a world ruled by gods.
Characters: 1
Fascinating characters each with their own flaws, hopes, and desires that made them relatable and sympathetic, but not always in the ways you'd expect.
Plot: 1
Cunningly simple, the plot revolves around how decades of machinations converge on one day--with world changing consequences.
Pacing: 0.75
Personally, I like books that slowly build on themselves, revealing bits of information that come together to reveal a larger, complex picture. Black Sun did this well, however, the ending was lightning fast compared to the rest the book and thus a little disappointing.
Writing style: 1
Captivating and immersive. The voice of a true story teller.
Vibes: 1
This is the first fantasy book I've ever read that felt like it could be real, a forgotten bit of history from a world ruled by gods.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Sexual content
salemander's review against another edition
5.0
this book is fucking amazing. absolute genius
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexual violence, Torture, and Physical abuse
camrich's review against another edition
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? Yes
4.25
I’m usually not much of a high fantasy reader, but I had heard so many great things about this book that I had to give it a shot. Overall I thought it was great! It took me a little bit to get into all of the world building, but the characters (especially Serapio and XIALA!!) had me hooked from the start. I actually grew to love learning about all of the cultures and the tensions between them as the book progressed, especially the political state of Tova and tensions between the clans/the clans and the priesthood/within the priesthood. Another thing I loved was all of the representation, especially regarding trans & non-binary identities and visual disability.
Now for a bit of the negative points of this book for me. The main one was that the book spent all its time building up to this major event only for it to actually happen across 2, maybe 3 pages; I was obviously disappointed. That being said, I did think that it was cool to read about the effects of this event from the different character perspectives which softened the blow a bit. Another was how underdeveloped one of the main character’s story was, especially in comparison to another character who got lots of page time but had very little development (*cough* Narampa *cough* ) I was actually really interested in expanding on Okoa and the mystery behind his mother’s death/murder but unfortunately it seemed like that plot point was abandoned (hoping the author further develops that in the second book!).
Overall a solid start to the trilogy, will definitely be picking up Fevered Star and Mirrored Heavens to see how everything plays out!
Now for a bit of the negative points of this book for me. The main one was that the book spent all its time building up to this major event only for it to actually happen across 2, maybe 3 pages; I was obviously disappointed. That being said, I did think that it was cool to read about the effects of this event from the different character perspectives which softened the blow a bit. Another was how underdeveloped one of the main character’s story was, especially in comparison to another character who got lots of page time but had very little development (
Overall a solid start to the trilogy, will definitely be picking up Fevered Star and Mirrored Heavens to see how everything plays out!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Gore, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Suicide, and Xenophobia
Minor: Alcohol, Sexual content, Animal death, and Genocide