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A review by ketreads
The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lacruz
adventurous
dark
mysterious
2.0
I've taken a few days since finishing this book and have decided that it's a solid 2 stars (out of 5). Not terrible, but I definitely didn't connect with it as much as I hoped I would.
The book starts strong. The author introduces us to our main PoVs of Reina, an outcast who at the start of the book has been summoned by her well-known and powerful grandmother who she hasn't seen for years, and Eva, a different sort of outcast who is held at arms length by her family due to her mixed heritage giving her strange magic that the locals look upon as demonic. The world they both inhabit is post revolution so the countries and people we see are still reeling from the consequences from this tumultuous time.
The book eases us into the world, slowly introducing us to the various species, magic systems, and how they are thought of throughout the mapped world. I loved the different in flavouring to each magic system and the clearly well thought upon history to the world we're in. I enjoyed the different humanoid species and the way they're both woven into the story.
Sadly, despite all these positives I still found myself struggling to connect with any characters plight. Initially both were easy to root for but as the plot progresses and the pacing stretches it got harder to feel any meaningful affinity to either character. This also goes for their relationships between secondary characters, especially Reina. The book is constantly attempting a balancing act of nuance when it comes to impact of class division among two institutionally oppressed races within our main cast but kept only telling one side of this impact destroying all attempt at subtlety. By the end of the book, at the height of danger our characters are being put in, I couldn't find myself caring for the characters plight. Nor was the ending memorable enough for me to be interested in continuing the story.
Overall, I really did appreciate the use of a lesser known folklore to build this fantastical world upon but don't think the author quite stuck the landing in pacing or character work.
The book starts strong. The author introduces us to our main PoVs of Reina, an outcast who at the start of the book has been summoned by her well-known and powerful grandmother who she hasn't seen for years, and Eva, a different sort of outcast who is held at arms length by her family due to her mixed heritage giving her strange magic that the locals look upon as demonic. The world they both inhabit is post revolution so the countries and people we see are still reeling from the consequences from this tumultuous time.
The book eases us into the world, slowly introducing us to the various species, magic systems, and how they are thought of throughout the mapped world. I loved the different in flavouring to each magic system and the clearly well thought upon history to the world we're in. I enjoyed the different humanoid species and the way they're both woven into the story.
Sadly, despite all these positives I still found myself struggling to connect with any characters plight. Initially both were easy to root for but as the plot progresses and the pacing stretches it got harder to feel any meaningful affinity to either character. This also goes for their relationships between secondary characters, especially Reina. The book is constantly attempting a balancing act of nuance when it comes to impact of class division among two institutionally oppressed races within our main cast but kept only telling one side of this impact destroying all attempt at subtlety. By the end of the book, at the height of danger our characters are being put in, I couldn't find myself caring for the characters plight. Nor was the ending memorable enough for me to be interested in continuing the story.
Overall, I really did appreciate the use of a lesser known folklore to build this fantastical world upon but don't think the author quite stuck the landing in pacing or character work.