Welcome Back, Booklovers! The Sun and the Void caught my attention last year because in a genre dominated by European aesthetics and similar feeling kingdoms it was cool to see a unique setting. There aren't a ton of South American inspired fantasies in the adult epic fantasy space and I was happy when Gabriela Romero Lacruz reached out and asked if I wanted a copy to review.
The Sun and the Void is a dual pov fantasy following two young women who in many ways are in similar situations. Both are of mixed origin and yearn for a place where they belong. Reina's parents are dead and she answers the call of a grandmother looking to connect after all these years. While Eva has a family, she feels like an outsider and dreads the day her family marries her off to be rid of her.
Part 1 consists of a lot of set up for the main story and I do think that it could've been edited down because it was quite lengthy and some of it could've easily been summarized in a few sentences. We get a play by play of Reina arriving at the manor after being attacked by these demon like creatures called the tinieblas who attempt to rot her heart. While that was a critical piece of the story, I felt we could've been told about rather than shown Dona Laurel and Don Enrique's struggle to have a boy. Reina felt a connection to the Aguila family specifically Dona Laurel and Celeste for showing her kindness but I was still left confused about why she had such strong feelings for them. Readers are told that two years time has passed but despite the slow pace it didn't feel like much had happened. Eva also gets little focus during this part of the book so readers are left wondering when she and Reina will cross paths.
Part 2 is when the story finally starts to take root and action happens. Reina's grandmother, a practitioner of mineral based magic, wants to invoke the power of a forbidden god. Reina is desperate to be her grandmother's successor and also dependent on her magic to keep her alive so she agrees to do her bidding. Blood must be sacrificed. Eva on the other hand has found a way to escape her family who have ostracized her for partaking in dark magic. Not only do we get to know more about the characters in this section but we get to explore more of this world and it's politics. Unexpected secrets are revealed that make the book worth continuing.
There's no side that's right vs wrong here, as the author has readers constantly second guessing who to root for as agendas are uncovered. It's a very character driven story with the characters written in a way where readers have to determine if they find their actions justifiable enough to excuse the harm they've done. For those who like romance in their fantasy that's here and the morally ambiguity extends to those relationships as well.
There's still much to explore with an ending that leaves a lot of possibilities for the sequel.
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