Thank you to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
WOW WOW WOW. Aiden outdid themselves in this one. His writing and talent really shine. Fans of PJO will LOVE this one. It was so flipping good.
The Sunbearer Trials takes Mexican mythology and brings it to life. In this story we follow Teo, a jade semidiós. He never thought he'd have to worry about the Trials except for his best friend, Niya. But this time Sol nominates two jade semidióses for the trial: Teo and Xio, the 13 year old son of Mala Suerte. Now Teo must compete for his life and he is very much underprepared to face off against the other gold semidióses, even with Niya on his side.
Y'all! I am just going to be screaming about this one forever!!! SO FUCKING GOOD!! I love Teo so much. He was precious and must be protected at all costs. I loved seeing him embrace himself for who he is and seeing his wings manifest that (I was so emotional during that scene). Also the way he guided Xio and looked out for him made me soft. I loved that Teo never misgenders the nonbinary character who is a jerk. Because even bullies don't deserve to be misgendered.
Also I'm pretty sure Niya had a hate attraction to the mean girl in this and I kind of ship it??
Rep: All Latine cast. Trans gay male MC, sapphic cis female side character, trans male side character, nonbinary side character, achillean cis male side character, deaf cis male side character, various Latine side characters, queer-normative world.
CWs: Bullying, violence, injury/injury detail, death, attempted ritual murder, blood, fire, classism. Moderate: dysphoria, death of parent.
WOW WOW WOW. Aiden outdid themselves in this one. His writing and talent really shine. Fans of PJO will LOVE this one. It was so flipping good.
The Sunbearer Trials takes Mexican mythology and brings it to life. In this story we follow Teo, a jade semidiós. He never thought he'd have to worry about the Trials except for his best friend, Niya. But this time Sol nominates two jade semidióses for the trial: Teo and Xio, the 13 year old son of Mala Suerte. Now Teo must compete for his life and he is very much underprepared to face off against the other gold semidióses, even with Niya on his side.
Y'all! I am just going to be screaming about this one forever!!! SO FUCKING GOOD!! I love Teo so much. He was precious and must be protected at all costs. I loved seeing him embrace himself for who he is and seeing his wings manifest that (I was so emotional during that scene). Also the way he guided Xio and looked out for him made me soft. I loved that Teo never misgenders the nonbinary character who is a jerk. Because even bullies don't deserve to be misgendered.
Also I'm pretty sure Niya had a hate attraction to the mean girl in this and I kind of ship it??
Rep: All Latine cast. Trans gay male MC, sapphic cis female side character, trans male side character, nonbinary side character, achillean cis male side character, deaf cis male side character, various Latine side characters, queer-normative world.
CWs: Bullying, violence, injury/injury detail, death, attempted ritual murder, blood, fire, classism. Moderate: dysphoria, death of parent.