A review by julia87
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I really wanted to love this book. The world building is amazing, I loved the representation of disabilities and the diversity in this story, however something just fell flat for me. 

I struggled to find all of the different povs interesting. I loved Xiala, she comes from such an interesting culture I wish I could’ve learned more about. Serapio was also an intriguing character with a lot of potential for development. He has such a crazy backstory that I also wish came to more in the end. His development just felt rushed and didn’t really result in anything astronautical. Naranpa and Oakoa were definitely my least favorite point of views, though they too have cultures and backgrounds I find incredible, I just couldn’t feel empathic for them? I can’t quite figure out why I just didn’t love their chapters as much. 

The plot was very meh. There was sooooo much build up and for what? There really was nothing exciting at the end that made me want to read the next book. I understand the build up will probably take hold later, but the plot had so much potential the execution just wasn’t there. 

I give this book three stars because it definitely has its pros and cons. The representation is wonderful and I feel that within this genre (and almost every genre of book) there needs more representation like this. The settings were well written, the characters as well though some definitely more than others. The world building was magnificent, very well done. The plot on the other had was sub par, and as someone who loves an explosive ending, this just wasn’t for me. The writing style was fine, however again, not for me.
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