Reviews

Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares

malkat007's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

This is a solid 4 🌟 for me. My only regret was I did preorder it and then returned it because I wasn’t sure when I was going to get to it and then I read it via Libby and now I wish I owned it 🤭

So many good quotes in it. Ex: “You’ll find life is a lot like chess: the best prepared with the cleverest strategy will always win.“

Take the James Cameron Avatar movies, make the main PoV Neytiri and add more gods and magic and you might scratch the surface of this book. You definitely get the natives vs colonizers tension. 

Romance is a subplot.

gvainisi's review

read this for work and forgot to put it in storygraph! mariely lares is super talented. also very cool mythology

rironmonger's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

3.0

bookrecsplease's review

2.5

2.5⭐️

I wanted more background and purpose for La Pantera and all the other groups besides the Spanish earlier on in the book. I had a hard time understanding her specific goals and reasoning for making a lot of decisions because she was just vaguely a vigilante. 

So much of the book was cool ideas that just weren’t executed in a very exciting way. Some examples that include minor details of the book that I wouldn’t necessarily consider spoilers but if you want to go into the book fully blind don’t read:

• I was so excited to see Leonora in jaguar form and to be in the head of her animal form to see what that was like. Then I was majorly let down when the shift happened, and the narration explained about feeling feral and not being able to resist animal instincts, etc. while the inner monologue never changed. That was a huge missed opportunity in my opinion, because it would have been really fun and cool to read an inner dialogue of the ferocity and instincts and not a lot of humanity instead of being told that’s what’s happening. 
• In nearly all action scenes, there was only vague language used and there was super unclear blocking, so I never had a good picture in my mind of how everything was going down. Additionally, during fight scenes there were often jumps ahead in time that took out all tension and excitement. 
• Leonora’s convictions were almost purely externally sourced, which makes her a difficult protagonist to believe in. 
• The jaguar transformation was the coolest idea, but I truly didn’t understand why Leonora tried not to use it and what the oath of sorcerers was, etc. It just wasn’t fleshed out. 
• Leonora’s decisions all feel kind of impulsive and uninteresting because she doesn’t consider what she’ll do after the decision or what the consequences will be. Again, that adds to the book’s sense of directionlessness and limits the intensity/worldbuilding when the protagonist plans nothing but one move ahead.

illusie's review against another edition

2.0

I didn't really enjoy this book. The flow of the story was a little off, though the second part was much better. I didn't feel connected to any of the characters. There were too many characters who were not always easy to distinguish. I didn't like the romance. I did like the world building and mythology.

I received this book from NetGalley in return for a honest review

literarylover37's review

adventurous slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

 

Good premise but muddled execution.

 

sawcat's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

gigireadswithkiki's review

DNF-ing at 27%

Because what do you mean Leonora “fights against the tyranny of Spanish rule” but has never killed any one before? Kill your colonizers pookie. 

Not to mention the weird love triangle (with one side of the triangle being a colonizer romance) that’s being very non-subtly set up: because of course Prince Felipe has some weird secret and of course Lieutenant Ayata is “dashing despite his personality being so angering” or whatever. 

Also Leonora’s dialogue, both internal and external, reminds me of Jojo Siwa, what is “I’m a bad girl I’ve done bad things”?? That’s literally the beginning line of Karma by Jojo Siwa.

rosatibiscotti's review

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

carliecope's review

adventurous dark reflective 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