The Sunbearer Trials

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I just loved this book; It made me laugh out loud, fall completely in love with the characters and the world and feel genuine peril in the trials. Aurelio must be protected at all costs!

The story is full of action, but also does a great job with characterization and complex relationships. We get very human moments with characters in between competitions and Teo must wrestle with big questions about right and wrong, friendship, and sacrifice. While not graphic, this book does touch on physical and emotional abuse by a parent figure. Thomas: I can’t tell you how empowering it was to create a world where the intersections of my identity are celebrated, and even revered. I think it’s wild that inclusivity is still such a rare thing to find in fantasy worlds — there’s this idea that high fantasy needs to be “historically accurate” and have all these Western biases and bigotry about gender and sexuality. I created this world for me and my community and my friends, and the characters within really reflect that. you are a loud, impulsive, persistent seeker of justice, and that makes people uncomfortable, but it doesn't make you bad. it makes you very good, in fact.” Teo's ability to talk to birds at the beginning - especially his friendship with the two birds who helped him deface a poster -made me think there was a lot going to happen between him and his bird friends. Unfortunately not. The fact he could speak to birds only came up once more in the whole book. Some of the scenes went on too long. For example, most of the trials took a single chapter. The fourth trial took 3. I ended up fast forwarding through those chapters.

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We just...they don't know how to help you, Teo. You barely talk to them anymore. So, she thought you might talk to us," Niya explains softly. I really enjoyed watching Teo's journey in this book; with his wings, his confidence, his determination, his strength, especially considering he only had one power that we know of and couldn't use it very well 😅 As a diehard fantasy fan this is hard to admit but the past year or so I've really been struggling to read many fantasy books. But the premise of this just dug it's claws in me and would not let go. Although I have many unread arcs (sorry netgalley) I knew I had to bump this one to the top. Cada diez años se celebran LAS PRUEBAS DEL SOL, donde solo participan los diez semidioses más poderosos, así que este año no podía ser diferente, solo que, para sorpresa de todos, este año eligen también a dos semidioses que no están preparados para enfrentarse a esas pruebas ni mucho menos para todo lo que les espera☠️ I also just wanted a super fun action adventure story where queer, trans and Latinx kids could see themselves as not only heroes, but as the children of gods. I want them to be able to read The Sunbearer Trials, connect with one of the characters and root for them as the story goes on. It’s such a powerful, thrilling thing to be able to see yourself in a book. I think this is a story that all young adults readers will be able to find someone they really attach to and identify with, from the Stoic Hero, to the Well-Meaning Troublemaker, or the Beefy Lesbian with a Sword!

The best thing about the universe was the way being trans or alternative binary was normal. Gods ran the gamet of sexuality and gender. Demigods who came out as non-cisgendered were given a gender party where they revealed who they were and their families celebrated it. This is such a wonderfully inclusive book where every gender, every sexuality is welcomed and accepted. The 10 heroes who compete are made up of golds and jades, some cisgendered, some trans. One was deaf which was another wonderful inclusive point. for those who have read cemetery boys, teo embodies yadriel’s heart & julian's sunshine soul (& head empty vibes only). for those who have not (what are you waiting for!), he’s a scrappy underdog who you can’t help but root for.I’m incredibly unsatisfied with this and really feel like this was marketed poorly. I’m tired of letting both authors and publishers get away with misleading audiences into expecting one thing and then delivering another. You cannot pitch a book as part Hunger Games unless you are actually committing to that kind of seriousness and grimness. The novel perfectly balances the vibrant, energetic Latinx culture while delving into heavy topics like LGBTQ+ acceptance, deportation, colonization, and racism within authoritative establishments." —TeenVogue.com Xochi's hands curled around her waist and sneaked beneath her shirt to drag her warm fingers up and down Niya's cold sides. The journey to the title of Sunbearer is awesome. The trials are quite unique and the challenges are thrilling to read. Y no solo eso, sino que Jade, uno de nuestros dos candidatos, ve cómo su mundo se tambalea peligrosamente al darse cuenta de que, además de competir por su vida, tendrá también que enfrentarse a su peor enemigo (un enemigo muy especial🤫)

As each new decade begins, the Sun's power must be replenished so that Sol can keep traveling along the sky and keep the chaotic Obsidian gods at bay. Sol selects ten of the most worthy semidioses to compete in the Sunbearer Trials. The winner carries light and life to all the temples of Reino del Sol, but the loser has the greatest honor of all--they will be sacrificed to Sol, their body melted down to refuel the Sun Stones, protecting the world for another ten years.

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every ten years, ten semidioses are chosen to compete in the sunbearer trials. some semidioses spend their whole lives training for the trials. but not kids of jade gods like teo, because they’re never chosen. until this year. the stakes are high because although one winner travels through reino del sol to replenish sun stones that keep the world safe from evil obsidian gods—one loser is the honorable sacrifice that keeps the stones lit. teo knows he isn’t a hero. he just wants to make sure he and his friends survive. In a Nutshell: A thrilling combination of Mexican-inspired mythology and The Hunger Games. I had fun with this, but it is clearly YA in its approach. Recommended only to the target age group and to those patient with the flaws of YA fiction. I loved the casual queerness of the gods and everyone in this world. It's not explained, but the Gods can create children even in same sex partnerships. I think most, if not all, of the ten semidios competitors were on the LGBTQIAP+ spectrum and one of them is also deaf, and I think a lot of attention was put in to make sure that you remembered that Dezi was deaf, and that people made the effort to sign without it being a big deal.

the character cards that mmarsloud has drawn for them is an absolute thing of beauty. each so, so gorgeous & intricate with diverse abilities, identities, and appearances. i eagerly followed along as each character card got revealed & honestly? went a little feral whenever they were. The teens in the trials who do bad things ACTUALLY are judged for them - I LOVED this point because the one thing that drives me crazy is when books have people doing cruel things and authority looks away. Here, Sol does not look away.

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Not to mention, all that slang and language and technology and progress . . . all of that comes from very specific origins in our world's history, so to have them in this world out of context makes zero sense. Good second world fantasy has their own slang, technology, history, and cultural mores. This book did not show much evidence of that kind of worldbuilding. It felt really shallow. its not just teo though. each character—himbos to beefcakes to kids with hearts of gold— is so strongly developed & written that its impossible not to fall in love with them.