Review: The Sunbearer Trials

The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Aiden Thomas returns to the style of their debut novel Cemetery Boys in the start of their first official series, a duology said to be a Percy Jackson and Hunger Games hybrid in a world inspired by Mexican cultures (particularly the old legends of the Aztec and Maya) and very modern in its sensibilities. Naturally, Thomas writes a great number of LGBTQ+ characters, including trans protagonist Teo, who, while still battling dysphoria (represented by his wings, which are smaller and less bright in color than are typical of cis boy semidioses), is fortunate enough to live in a society that affirms his identity quite freely. (Unsurprisingly, given that even the gods of this world are diverse in terms of gender - Sol, for instance, is established as nonbinary straight from the prologue.)

There are a lot of characters in this story, as one can expect from a televised set of challenges in which ten teenage semidioses must compete to be the Sunbearer. At times, I felt like Thomas bloated the character sheet a bit too much, and while I loved Teo and Xio and their story arcs, I quickly grew tired of other characters, especially the obnoxious twins Aurelio and Auristela. And with Aurelio in particular getting a lot of attention throughout the story, I found myself wanting to skim a lot of pages just to focus on those I'm really here for.

I almost would have rounded this 3.5 star book down to 3 instead of 4 if not for how much the ending really brought home the book's Hunger Games allegories. The level of sacrifice required of these semidioses really hits hard, and particularly brings to mind a certain Rebecca Roanhorse ending - you'll know it when you see it.

That last line is right.

We're definitely gonna need more candy.

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