A review by sol_journal
The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz

adventurous dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Posted to: Goodreads and The StoryGraph
Posted on: 1 September 2023

4.4 (rounded down to 4) out of 5 stars.

Wow.
Just- wow
‘The Sun and the Void’ was entirely a book that I didn’t know I needed. Gabriela Romero Lacruz says that this was a book born from the desire to see her culture represented in a high fantasy setting- and this was a book that easily found a home in this Laitna’s heart too. From delectable descriptions of food to a world inspired by various locations of South America, ‘The Sun and the Void’ is a fantasy adult novel that transports you to another world.

Right off the bat- I LOVE stores with different points of views. We only see Reina and Eva, our main characters of the book. Reina is a half-nozariel being who has lost everything she has save for her final teether to a family- her grandmother and notorious sorceress Doña Ursulina. After an accident occurs with some tinniebals on the way to the Águilia manor, Reina is stuck relying on the magic of her grandmother to live. Eva is a quarter valco and a smudge to her family name because of it. She longs for freedom though, to not always be told what to do and what expectations to meet.
These two are our driving narratives for the story. I’ve seen a few other reviews call them naive a lot of times- and yes, honestly they were. There were times where I had to put the book down because something happened that annoyed or irritated me all because they didn’t think everything out through. But that’s the thing- that naiveness is part of the character and backs up the whole idea of those molds they are trying to break. It adds a layer to the change that very much happens throughout the book and that, I hope, will lead into the second book. 
There was such a nice level of layering to all the characters though. Gabriela Romero Lacruz does well in unraveling these dynamics for the readers. She did not shy away from showing the full scope of emotions and aches, something that I genuinely love to see in books. I love when characters are dismantled and you can vividly see their growth and change (although one character is still on thin ice, iykyk)

What I also enjoyed about ‘The Sun and the Void’ was how the information was handled and the good magic system. If you’ve been following my reviews for a while, it’s pretty clear that I LOVE a good magic system and this book certainly has one that I vastly enjoyed! While explaining it all though, there wasn’t really a sense of information dumping? There was a mix of both show *and* tell that made the story flow nicely while unveiling how everything worked.
It is a bit on the slower paced side though. There is a little mix of higher action scenes, but there is more lore-building and character building done than constant action. I, personally, didn’t mind that all too much, but it really isn’t a read for everybody. I hope that there will be more in the second book though (especially with that ending I mean- wow) and more interactions with two characters specifically who grew to be more highlighted characters by the end of it. Honestly though, I really enjoyed this read! I didn’t know how much I needed to see bits of a culture similar to my own represented in this amazingly done fantasy series. I *cannot wait* to see what’s to come for these characters that I’ve come around to love!
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