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A review by cameronreads
The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
4.0
I’m going to briefly touch on one issue I had with this book before I get into this: repeatedly, non-binary characters are misgendered in here, not by any other characters as part of the plot, but mistakenly by the author in the prose. I hope this will be remedied when more copies are printed in the future.
I really liked the concept of this book. It really lived up to the ‘queer Lantix Hunger Games x Percy Jackson’, and I’m obsessed with that. The plot was very fun but also high stakes, the magic and world building was done very well, and I loved the concept of all the dioses and semidioses. I also loved the ending and the twist - I think it was the perfect ending to this story and am so excited for the sequel.
Teo was a great main character, and I loved watching his development. He wasn’t perfect, but very likeable and cheeky, and I was rooting for him the whole time. The other characters were great as well; there are lots of characters in here but I think Aiden managed to flesh them all out really well. I loved the friendships and glimpses of relationships that we get to see; the friendship between Teo and Niya, whatever is blossoming between Teo and Aurelio, even the glimpses of something between Dezi and Marino and the sibling relationship between Aurelio and Auristela. Speaking of Auristela, I loved how even the characters that Teo didn’t like had redeeming qualities and how I ended up rooting for them too.
And the rep! Excluding the issues with misgendering, the trans rep was wonderful. I LOVED how casual being trans was, and even celebrated in this world. The conversations around different types of dysphoria, the complexity of gender, Teo binding his wings — it was done so well. I also loved all the other rep; with most of the characters being unapologetically queer, and Dezi being deaf with most of the characters automatically signing around him. The little cultural references too were also great to see, things like specific foods and traditions.
Sometimes things got a little cringey (TicTac…) and some of the humour was, um, dated..? (What else do you call the line ‘two bros chilling in a *sauna* five feet apart cause…’) HOWEVER this was rare, and a lot of it had me laughing out loud.
I did really really like this overall. I just wish that there had been a little more time dedicated to editing to make sure there was no misgendering.
I really liked the concept of this book. It really lived up to the ‘queer Lantix Hunger Games x Percy Jackson’, and I’m obsessed with that. The plot was very fun but also high stakes, the magic and world building was done very well, and I loved the concept of all the dioses and semidioses. I also loved the ending and the twist - I think it was the perfect ending to this story and am so excited for the sequel.
Teo was a great main character, and I loved watching his development. He wasn’t perfect, but very likeable and cheeky, and I was rooting for him the whole time. The other characters were great as well; there are lots of characters in here but I think Aiden managed to flesh them all out really well. I loved the friendships and glimpses of relationships that we get to see; the friendship between Teo and Niya, whatever is blossoming between Teo and Aurelio, even the glimpses of something between Dezi and Marino and the sibling relationship between Aurelio and Auristela. Speaking of Auristela, I loved how even the characters that Teo didn’t like had redeeming qualities and how I ended up rooting for them too.
And the rep! Excluding the issues with misgendering, the trans rep was wonderful. I LOVED how casual being trans was, and even celebrated in this world. The conversations around different types of dysphoria, the complexity of gender, Teo binding his wings — it was done so well. I also loved all the other rep; with most of the characters being unapologetically queer, and Dezi being deaf with most of the characters automatically signing around him. The little cultural references too were also great to see, things like specific foods and traditions.
Sometimes things got a little cringey (TicTac…) and some of the humour was, um, dated..? (What else do you call the line ‘two bros chilling in a *sauna* five feet apart cause…’) HOWEVER this was rare, and a lot of it had me laughing out loud.
I did really really like this overall. I just wish that there had been a little more time dedicated to editing to make sure there was no misgendering.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Dysphoria, Cursing, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying and Death
Minor: Murder, Child abuse, and Grief