The Sunbearer Trials

First of all, I want to say that I absolutely loved Teo and following his story. This take on fantasy, especially with a Mexican-inspired twist, is absolutely brilliant, and I couldn't put this book down. It was an interesting blend of traditional fantasy with modern technology, but Thomas seemed to blend the two worlds seamlessly. I was enthralled by the challenges. One of my favorite things, as a mythology geek, was seeing the different gods and goddesses and how they interacted/how they were crucial to the story. This story not only builds a strong world, but it deals with lots of very relevant issues such as body dysphoria and gender identity. I loved seeing how Thomas handled these topics as he wove the story together, and I think show more they were done splendedly. I really loved this novel, and it really did make me feel like I was reading a Percy Jackson novel thrown into the Hunger Games. show less

As I did a lot of yelling about, I recently went to an author event featuring Aiden Thomas, that was so joyful and warm.and nostalgic and funny, that I was prepared to buy everything Thomas has written/is writing/will write forever. So of COURSE this was the first book I reached for to start off #LatinxHeritageMonth.

And it was a banger.

Admittedly, I did find the first two chapters a little slow/clunky/high friction. There was a lot of world building to accomplish and so many things were setting off my injustice alarms. But I would say about four chapters in things started really moving for me, and last night I had to stay up til FOUR AM because I HAD TO FINISH THE BOOK.

Most amusing to me personally, was that the book discussion at the show more event, while careful to avoid spoilers for book two, could hardly help but spoil a few things for book one. But because I didn't know any of the characters yet, I misremembered some details, which means the big final reveal was probably even MORE of a twist for me.

Listen, I elevator pitched this book to my youngest as "Percy Jackson meets The Hunger Games but based on Mexican mythology and trans characters everywhere" and his eyes got SO BIG and he said "is that REAL?" and I said YES, but you have to wait until I finish it first!

(In related news I expect my copy to immediately disappear for a few days.)

Anyway, I love them all, and as usual have BIG FEELINGS about how ALL of the adults in this world have been failing ALL of the kids and I NEED to get on the library wait-list for book two IMMEDIATELY because I am going to have to wait for the paperback to buy it because I need my books to match.

Please come talk to me about your Sunbearer Trials feelings. Also, I need little figurines or plushies of all the alebrijes RIGHT NOW. show less

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5
0🌶 (YA)

Tagline: Hunger Games meets Percy Jackson meets Mexican Mythology in the first half of an epic YA fantasy duology

This was such an epic adventure. It has the same kind of gripping excitement of a trial based tournament that captured the attention of fans of the Hunger Games, along with the Gods & Demigods dynamic of the Percy Jackson series. However, it goes further to include such an interesting mix of cultural Mexican references and gods, a beautiful and complex fantasy universe, and social commentary, all combined with a variety of LGBTQIA+ and disabled (in this case dead) characters to really bring this kind of epic YA fantasy into the modern era.

**Summary:

In a Mexican inspired fantasy world, show more dioses and diosas walk the earth to interact with and protect humans. The large pantheon of gods are separated into different categories, and a millennia ago a war broke out between the factions. In order to win the war and imprison the dark and vengeful gods who started the fighting, the original god Sol sacrificed themselves. Their power was split up into Sol Stones that are now kept across the land at each of the other god's temples for protection for all humanity.

Now the children of the gods, the semidioses, compete in a a competition every 10 years to become the Sunbearer. One demidios gains glory and the role of being Sol's messenger to re-fuel the Sol Stones in each city and temple. But another semidios becomes the sacrifice that provides the energy to re-fuel the Sol Stones.

**Thoughts:

While there are definitely nods to some of the other famous harrowing trials or gods / demigods books in this story, it is also so uniquely it's own. The rich world building, cultural references, and unique characters made this such a vibrant place to imagine. There were so many twists and turns that you are kept guessing right up until the end. I love how this will be a duology so we can get more of these characters, but I also loved how the author chose to break the story up so that each book will have (based on the current clues) different types of adventure arcs.

Now add in the many extra layers that the author chose to include that address problems like class / wealth discrimination, LGBT (especially trans) rights and societal acceptance, and even the seamless inclusion of a deaf character. This is the kind of book I would want in the hands of a YA reader to show them that diversity in all forms is not just important, it can add so much more depth and interest to an already good story. I loved this story and can't wait to dive into book 2 when it comes out.

**The reason I docked half a star off:

While I enjoyed the story and the twists and turns and excitement, the author chose to include some modern technology references that I found a little jarring. While there were different words for things like Instagram and YouTube, there was a direct mention or two of tik-tok. I'm on board with fantasy realms having technology and stuff, but them having apps and websites that were so similar in name to real ones was just a bit off=putting for me / threw me out of the story a tiny bit. This wont bother everyone, but it might bother some. show less

The Sunbearer Trials is about Teo, the demigod son of Quetzal, goddess of birds. He is stronger than a full human, and he has wings! But his mother is a Jade, the lower rank of gods, and so he goes to a regular high school instead of getting to train to be a hero with the children of the Gold ranked gods. It's not fair but at least he doesn't have to worry about being chosen for the Sunbearer Trials, a competition that comes around once a decade, in which 10 Gold demigods are chosen to compete for the honor of Sunbearer, ...or the honor of being the demigod whom the Sunbearer has to sacrifice to prevent the end of the world. Significantly less fun. However, unsurprisingly given the title of the book, Teo is chosen to compete! He's got show more his best friend and a new friend by his side, but the odds are stacked against him since he does not have the years of training the Gold demigods do. He does have his wings, if he can face using them, and the somewhat unwanted advice of a former friend, so maybe his odds aren't as terrible as they seem at first. It's going to be a competition to go down in history, whatever ends up happening!

This book was so much fun. Teo is a great character, he's funny and mischievous, loyal to his friends but still with his own drive to succeed. His mother is a god, but he has a great relationship with her. He's trans, but his gender is accepted without question. The side characters are just as good, Teo's friend Niya is a force to be reckoned with, and all the other competitors have interesting and diverse attributes. The plot keeps moving but still has time for character building moments in between the action. And while there are plenty of books involving high-stakes competitions, this one felt unique in both the set up for it, and the events themselves.

In short, I loved this book and definitely recommend it. My only complaint is that I now have to wait for the sequel, and I really really want to know what happens. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. show less

This book is a combination Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, and Hispanic-culture-love letter. The world of Reino del Sol is beautiful and lively, even with the ritual sacrifice. Thomas's descriptions make the place so real in my minds eye. I loved watching Teo grow over the course of the book, and how even the antagonistic characters became likeable. I also loved all of the queer jokes included, and how the world accepted queerness without judgment. I can't wait to read the sequel!

Imagine a mix between Percy Jackson (Rick Riordan), The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins) and the far lesser known Worm (J.C. McCrae) with a whole lot of extra queerness thrown in and you get The Sunbearer Trials. This is a story (of sometimes not so) superheroes, gods and their children, crazy challenges, travel and sacrifice to try prevent the return of the Obsidians - those who previously nearly destroyed the world.

I loved this book so much! At different times it reminded me more of one of the above mentioned books than the others, but it remained completely unique. I always enjoy it when fantasy worlds are based on something other than western myths (in this case it is inspired by Mexican mythology), but as someone who isn't from that show more part of the world I would have loved a glossary of some kind to explain what the culturally inspired things are. Another slightly lower point of the book was the inclusion of social media. Specifically in the way it was done. I don't mind this world having technology of ours alongside the magic, but it bothered me that the names were so close to the platforms in our world. I think it would have been a lot less jarring had the author made up new names - even if the platform performed the same function as the real world counterpart. I know it's very minor, but it did annoy me. Some things were also repeated a little too frequently for my taste (e.g. Teo is a Jade, not a gold. He didn't get to go to the academy. Jades never get to compete. Oh, just a reminder that Teo is a Jade and less powerful and wasn't trained). It's not too major though. Oh. And one last frustration. Spoilerish related to trans stuff. The sudden wing transformation. I wasn't a fan. Just believing doesn't make you suddenly have all the traits of your gender identity. He went through an otherwise normal transition process, so I don't see why this should be different. I don't have a problem with the wings changing, but it should rather have happened through molting as this is more consistent with how birds work - look up henopause in peacocks for a great example of what I'm talking about!.

I loved the world building and the various characters. It was all very well fleshed out. And I loved how birds were important and incorporated. (Well animals in general, but birds were the focus). And I loved how queer it is. Everything is just normalised in this world and I'd love it of things could reach that kind of level in real life. I know the author is queer, which probably helps to explain why Teo and the other representation are so authentic. I love it when LGBTQ+ can just be and are just normal characters.

The book ends on a set up for the sequel. While I did have some suspicions about what was going on, I definitely didn't see the how coming. I definitely want to know what happens next and will definitely be reading the sequel when it comes out. show less

Originally posted on Just Geeking by.

Content warnings:
There are some scenes with violence and fighting between the contestants. There is a scene with a large scale fire, and (unrelated) a character has multiple burns as a result of training and abuse. There are multiple scenes of bullying including verbal and physical altercations, and scenes of parental neglect and emotional abuse (on page and in flashbacks). Themes of classism, arrogance, and ritual sacrifice continue throughout the novel.

I have shamelessly been stalking following the progress of The Sunbearer Trials on Thomas’ Twitter account for a while now, and fell in love with the sound of it. Even more so when they released a series of trading card style art during Pride show more month for each of the semidióses (children of the gods) alongside their parents who would be taking part in the trials in the book. I highly recommend checking out the artwork (available on Thomas’ website here) because the cards actually feature in the book and the art by Gabriella Bujdoso is gorgeous.

So, where to start with this one? It was even better than I expected. I knew from reading Thomas’ previous book The Cemetery Boys that this would be filled with beautiful and authentic LGBTQIA representation straight from the heart and experience. If you enjoyed that book, then you are going to love The Sunbearer Trials because Thomas has created an incredible Mexican-inspired mythos and kept the core elements of his previous work at the heart of it.

In the world of The Sunbearer Trials humans and gods live together in a place called Reino del Sol. The creation myth is founded on two gods, Sol the non-binary god of the sun and Tierra their male partner and god of the earth. If you know your recreation myths as well as I do, you’ll have immediately noticed how different this is from most others; the two creators are not male and female. As a result Reino del Sol is a queernormative world. Multiple characters in The Sunbearer Trials are LGBTQIA , including the protagonist Teo who is transgender. I kept expecting the Golds, the popular kids, to lash out with trans and gay slurs, and it never once happened. They always stuck to picking on the Jades inferior skills, their appearance and them being Jades. It’s a society where being LGBTQIA is completely accepted. That doesn’t mean that all the feelings and anxieties about being gay or trans go away though, and I’ll talk more about that in a bit.

First, I should probably explain what I mean when I say Gold and Jade. I don’t want to explain the entire mythos that Thomas has created because I’m a firm believer in enjoying the magic of a book for yourself, however, some context is needed to understand a book review. The Golds are the most powerful gods and have powers that have the greatest responsibilities. Their children are the heroes of society, they train from childhood to excel in athletics, fighting and generally saving everyone else from any dangers and emergencies. The Jades are less powerful gods, however, they are less vain than the Golds and spend more time helping the humans that live in their cities. The Jade semidióses are not heroes, they go to school with mortals and are not allowed to join the elite school that the Golds attend.

Every ten years The Sunbearer Trials are held to replenish the Sun Stones to keep the sun shining and the Obsidians, dark gods who grew jealous of humans and attacked Sol. If they get free again it means darkness, destruction and enslavement for humans. The Trial pits ten teenage semidióses against each other in a series of trials for the glory of Sol. The winner spreads light between the temples of Sol ensures that their light continues for another decade. But the light comes from one of their own. The loser of the trial is sacrificed, their essence becoming the light just as Sol gave their life and trapped the Obsidians originally.

It’s called a great honour, however, as Teo and his fellow competitors begin to realise it is anything but an honour.

Of course, Teo isn’t even supposed to be in the Trials to begin with. Golds are trained for these Trials, they look forward to the ceremony when they will be selected while Teo, a Jade is just worried about his best friend Niya, a Gold. He certainly does not expect a crown to appear on his head marking him as a participant! He’s not the only one; the thirteen-year-old son of the god of bad luck, Xios, has also been chosen. Determined to help the younger boy survive the Trials that neither of them have had any training for whatsoever, Teo bands together with Niya and Xios to survive. This quickly becomes a mission to put the arrogant Golds in their place when they overhear them talking about the inclusion of the Jades making the competition easy for them.

The Sunbearer Trials is a book about breaking expectations, finding strength in the face of adversity, recognising the power you have in yourself and not judging people. That last one probably seems obvious, but it’s not aimed at just judging the less skilled Jades in a competition that seems built for the Golds. Teo is a great character, kind and generous, but he has a large chip on his shoulder when it comes to the Golds. We learn why he does and while it’s completely justified, he learns more than once that not everything is as it seems. All the semidióses are very different people by the end of the book, and Thomas excels in showing the journey and their growth, even in the characters that don’t seem to have changed (looking at you Auristela show less