#The Sun And The Void

[melanielocke]

Here are some of my favorite books I read this year, divided into three categories because I'm not good at choosing.

[bookishlyvintage]

Prettiest Cover on my tbr ~

[alberta-sunrise]

Now reading 📖

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

[thestrangerthings]

Fall Special Edition Reading Challenge

Whoops! I've got a big TBR problem and a chunk of that is thanks to my love for special editions. The issue? I haven't read more than half of the SE's I own, and I can't keep allowing myself to purchase more when I don't even know if I like what I have. Plus I'm beyond out of space on my shelves and I think it's about time I start unhauling what I don't like instead of excusing their existence "because they're pretty."

So for this fall/autumn season, from September through November, I'm challenging myself to finish all 19 of my currently unread SE's and decide if they stay or if they go. Technically more books I preordered have arrived since taking these photos, and there are more to be delivered this fall, but I will not be forcing myself to include them.

Have you read any of these? If so, did you enjoy them? Are there some in here you want to read, but haven't had the chance yet?

Feel free to comment or tag the SE you like best just based on looks!

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Queer Adult Fiction Set in South America

Cantoras by Carolina de Robertis (Uruguay) Brickmakers by Selva Almada (Argentina) The Words That Remain by Stênio Gardel (Brazil) Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk (Argentina) Undiscovered by Gabriela Wiener (Peru) Bonus: While a fantasy novel, The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz is set in a Venezuelan- and Colombian-inspired world.

[wlwbookshelf]

THE SUN AND THE VOID - GABRIELA ROMERO CRUZ Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Sun and the Void is told from the dual points of view of Reina and Eva, both young women that are trying to fit into societies that reject them. Gabriela Romero Lacruz uses a South American setting and mythology to create a world unlike any I’ve read before. 

As this is the first book in a series it does have some worldbuilding that slows the start of the book down. However, once that initial build-up is done, it is realized to its full potential and becomes an exciting, fast-paced book. 

You cannot help but root for both Reina and Eva, and I am excited to pick up the next one and find out what happens. 

Many thanks to Orbit Books for an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads // twitter thread

The Sun and The Void

Venezuelan inspired high fantasy

follows a young outcast swordswoman taken in by her grandmother, the dark sorceress for a noble family, who relies on the magic to keep her alive after being attacked by monstrous creatures

and a young noblewoman who’s the shame of her family because of her mixed heritage and desire to use magic

both are manipulated by those with more power than them into a plot to free an ancient evil god

mineral based magic, politics, nonhuman MCs

[tbookblurbs]

The Sun and the Void - Gabriela Romero Lacruz (Warring Gods #1)

3.75/5 - Lesbians, Venezuelan/Colombian inspired imagery, very well-rounded characters, pacing is a little off

The Sun and the Void was, by and large, a very good debut novel from Romero Lacruz. The character and interpersonal relationships on page are rich and very clearly developed. The novel takes place in two post-colonial nations, and Romero Lacruz does not shy away from criticizing real world problems through the novel. Everything from forced conversion to Christianity to homophobia and sexism to discrimination and subjugation of native people. Specifically, Pentimiento, the religion most humans follow, is clearly based on Christianity.

The characters themselves feel like very full people and none of them are exclusively good or bad. They all have their moments of poor decision-making and cowardice that are balanced out by their moments of heroism and sacrifice. From a personal standpoint, I found it really difficult to get into the headspace of Eva Kesare, mostly because she annoyed me, but I found Reina fascinating. Her motivations and the danger she has to invite upon herself makes her character and her choices so much more fraught and really pulled me in, especially when looking at her relationship with her grandmother Ursulina.

However, the book itself struggles with some pacing issues. I was around 40% of the way through the book before I felt that we had really found the plot and get underway. The book could've been probably 10-15% shorter than it was if an editor had gone over it. Furthermore, many of Romero Lacruz's plot choices were predictable. This might be because I've read so much fantasy, but by around the halfway point of the book, I predicted the ending. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it means Romero Lacruz's foreshadowing was well incorporated, but I think I would've liked a little more subtlety.

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Sun and the Void | Author: Gabriela Romero-Lacruz | Publisher: Daphne Press (2023)

[bloodmaarked]

➸ reading list

just added:

prophet, helen macdonald + sin blanché

our share of night, mariana enriquez

the sun and the void, gabriela romero-lacruz

a greek love: a novel of cuba, zoé valdés

the thursday murder club, richard osman

black england: a forgotten georgian history, gretchen gerzina

black people in the british empire, peter fryer

the end of men, christina sweeney-baird

the actor, chris macdonald

the black queen, jumata emill

[tigger8900]

The Sun and the Void, by Gabriela Romero Lacruz

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Ches, the god of the sun, and Rahmagut, the god of the void, have been absent from the world ever since Ches defeated Rahmagut and sealed him away. But every so many years the celestial phenomenon known as Rahmagut's Claw crosses the night sky, heralding the opportunity to seek the god's favor to satisfy one wish. Such a time is upon the land. Reina, born powerless, seeks strength through her grandmother, a powerful sorceress, but instead winds up indebted to her. At the same time, Eva wants nothing more than to rise to her full potential, but with her family suppressing her true nature she decides to take her life into her own hands. As the stories of these two young women converge upon Rahmagut's tomb, dueling ambitions will determine whether the world continues on in relative peace or if the land will be thrust into chaos.

The world building in this novel is fantastic. It's a fantasy world based on Venezuelan history and folklore, with a magic system centered around using real-world metals as reagents. There were indigenous people who lived in the land before human colonizers arrived, as well as a revolution that brings to mind the rebuffing of certain real-world colonial empires. This is the first book of a series, and honestly it's mostly set-up. But the set-up is so interesting that I didn't even care. I can't say enough how much I love the magic system. It's exactly the right balance of simple and complex.

The dual-PoV was done very well. I found the two voices to be distinct, and the characters were believable. Sometimes they did foolish things — very foolish things — but those mistakes seemed natural. The supporting characters were also excellent(Maior was my favorite, by the end). I'm not sure what I think about Javier. I feel like I know where the author is taking his arc, and I think it's going to annoy me. I'd say he's honestly the biggest weakness of the entire book for me, because he leans on tropes — the sick boy, the jerk, the master manipulator — that I'm not a huge fan of, and yet he's so central. Fortunately he's not the only relationship present, so that softens the annoyance a bit, and the fact that Maior exists almost cancels his unpleasantness out.

The author is also an illustrator and has drawn her five primary characters. They appear in the book, some at the start of part 1 and some at part 2, and can also be viewed on her website. If you're a visual reader like me, I recommend checking all five portraits before you start reading so your brain performance of the book doesn't do any odd recasting. There is sapphic rep here, though in this first book at least it's predominantly incessant longing with some small payoff near the very end. The author claims that the next book will be spicier, so I imagine it will get more development later.

The book has frequent action sequences, mixing physical combat with spellcasting. This is going to be a weird comparison, because the settings and plots are nothing alike — not to mention I trust this author more than I trust Cassandra Clare — but whenever the characters were fighting I kept getting Shadowhunters vibes. In a good way. Don't @ me, I said it was weird.

[bookishlyvintage]

unread book box stack of shame

[alberta-sunrise]

My to read pile 🤣

[evenstarfalls]

Diversity win your evil murderous racist grandmother is was also a lesbian

[nuttydragonbird]

The Sun and the Void is such a great book! In the beginning I thought I knew where it was going...but boy, did it take me by surprise just about every 100 pages in part 2! Reina and Eva are such cool protagonists and their differences in motivations and thought processes are awesome to see! Also, wlw romance, manipulative witches and deer people, we love to see it!