Welcome to yet another book review! This time I’ll be reviewing The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas. Let’s start by saying that I’ve been stuck in the biggest reading slump– that is, if we’re not counting the fanfics I compulsively read to make myself feel better. The mere act of picking this book from my bookshelf felt like a welcome relief. It’s also very fitting that I chose Aiden Thomas to break my reading slump, given that my first ever Her Campus articleー coincidentally published about a year agoーwas a review of Cemetery Boys by this same author. So I was equally excited and emotional to read this story. It’s important to know that I pre-ordered this book months ago, without knowing what it was about until I started reading it to make this article. I trust this author just like that!
The Sunbearer Trials is a Mexican-inspired YA fantasy novel where ten teen semidioses compete with each other once every decade in an event known as The Sunbearer Trials as a means to fend off the wrathful Obsidian gods. The winner of the tournament will carry light and life to all the temples of Reino del Sol, but the loser will be sacrificed to Sol so that their body may be used to fuel the Sun Stones that protect the people of Reino del Sol for the following decade. Teo, a 17-year-old trans semidiós that’s also the son of Quetzal, the bird Diosa, is the first Jade semidios in over a century to get chosen for the trial. However, he’s not the only one. Sol also chooses Xio, the 13-year-old semidiós child of Mala Suerte. Together, Teo, Niya–daughter of Tierra and Teo’s best friend– and Xio, must compete in five mysterious trials against opponents who are both more powerful and better trained than our heroes.
If I had to pick five things that I enjoyed the most about this book, it would be:
The Worldbuilding and the LGBTQ+ representation
In my Cemetery Boys review, I wrote about how Aiden Thomas manages to explore sensitive topics such as gender identity and discrimination with the care and sensibility they require through the plot, the dialogue and the characters themselves. I’ve never been so glad to repeat myself. Once again, Aiden Thomas managed to make me fall in love with his words, making me feel hopeful that someday the world can become somewhat closer to their beautiful words and inclusivity. Why? Because even if it’s a fantasy story, Thomas still took their time to create diverse characters with intriguing personalities and traits in a world full of possibilities, including a deaf character that uses sign language to communicate, a neurodivergent character, and trans and nonbinary characters, for example. In Reino del Sol, being trans isn’t frowned upon; instead, it was celebrated in a sort of Gender Confirming ceremony. It was the same with every characterー it didn’t matter how they identified as, how they looked like or who they were attracted to, there was acceptance for all. But of course, in the context of the story, if you were a Jade diose and not a Gold one, you were seen as a lesser deity. This leads me to the second thing I loved the most about The Sunbearer Trialsー It was really nice to not have to translate the names of every diose because they were all in Spanish. Culture, baby!
The story of Sol and Tierra and their children.
Like I said before, I had no idea what this book was about when I bought it nor when I finally decided to start reading it. So when I opened it and saw a preface, I was confused. But, oh my god, it was wonderful. As soon as I finished those three pages, I turned to my mother and started reading it out loud to her because I needed to share it with someone. Sure enough, she looked at me funny because she didn’t understand a thing, but at least she listened to me and that’s whatcounts. In this preface, Thomas tells the story of this universe’s creation. Sol was lonely, so they created the earth where Tierra was born. They fell in love and decided to have children. But no matter how much they tried, they kept failing. First were the Golds, then the Jades, later the Obsidians. With the latter, the world became chaotic. But I won’t tell you the entire story because that’s for you to find out if you decide to read this wonderful book. Let’s just say that I was so impressed with it that I considered asking the author on Twitter for a longer story about the beginning of Sol and Tierra. Perhaps I will… who knows?
The relationships between dioses and semidioses
By relationships, I’m referring to the ones between the gods and the semigods; specifically, the relationships between the parents and their kids. I was expecting the gods to have more of a cold shoulder when it came to parenting their children, but the reality was different. It’s unusual, at least in the stories that I read, to represent the relationship between parent and kid so affectionately and beautifully. Theo, the protagonist, had a warm relationship with his mother. It caught me completely off guard because I was expecting the Diosa Quetzal to be unapproachable. Yet she loved her son and made sure to give him as much affection as possible even when she had her own responsibilities. Even though the other dioses were busier than Quetzal, you could tell they loved their kids in their own ways. The reason why I loved this so much is because it’s another way to describe the Latinx culture. Just like I said before, this story is heavily inspired in Mexico and its culture. It was nice to notice that not only was the setting and the language merged into this beautiful culture, but also the relationship between the characters.
The characters and Mar’s art
I’ve always been more of a character person than a plot person. And although I already mentioned the amazing characters that Thomas created in the first point, I need to specifically discuss some of them. The first one has to be Niya, Teo’s best friend and my new favorite herbo. Maybe you can see her as the comic relief because she was a little bit clueless of pretty much everything and slightly naïve. But oh, how much I enjoy reading her. She was the comfort Teo desperately needed in the trials and she was always there for him. She was also incredibly strong and beautiful. How do I know this? Well, if you haven’t noticed from the awesome cover of the story, Thomas worked once again with Mars Lauderbaugh to create beautiful cards of every semidios and their parent.
Art by Mars Lauderbaugh
As a reader, I don’t really picture the characters in my head. When I read character descriptions, it’s like I can’t make them up in my head. However, I can imagine their energies and their emotions. So having the main characters drawn previously helped me picture them easily. Also, because there were a lot of characters, it was easier to remember them. Every few pages I would pick up my phone to check the cards and read (and also admire) them.
5. The second book that hasn’t come out yet…
Yes, you read that right. I know you may be wondering why in the world would I mention the second book if it hasn’t even been officially announced yet. Well, the thing is I just know I will love the second book a lot, even possibly more than the first one. For a couple of reasons, too. I am more of a romance kind of reader; so if there’s even the remote possibility of a romance taking place, count me in. Although this book hinted at a possible romance between Theo and Aurelio, there wasn’t really time for them to even reconcile and create a stronger bond that would let them explore their relationship in a romantic way. But the second book might just do that! I can’t wait for the famous “oh“; the realization of actually finding out how their relationship will unfold. However, even if it doesn’t happen, I know I will still love the second story because the ending of The Sunbearer Trials was really cool and it hinted that we would be exploring even more action and suspense than what we had seen so far.
If I have to rate this book, it would definitely be a “Where’s the second book? I need it ASAP!” Aiden Thomas teased me with that final chapter. I truly didn’t know it was going to be a duology, but when the climax was getting bigger with no intention of being resolved, I had to come to terms with having to wait for a second book. I still feel like I’m on edge. Once again, Aiden Thomas did a wonderful job, and I’m glad I got to be part of their journey.