that_boi_eliza's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: War, Suicide, Alcoholism, Blood, Violence, Xenophobia, and Alcohol
Moderate: Trafficking, Classism, Misogyny, Rape, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Animal death, Cursing, Gore, Drug use, and Death
Minor: Ableism and Confinement
nicnevin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Blood, Classism, Confinement, Death, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Ableism, Alcohol, Animal death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Gore, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Violence, and Xenophobia
lolajh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Xiala was an amazing character to learn about throughout this book. A pirate captain who had to work hard to gain the respect of her peers due to her being a female captain as well as a Teek, which is a female-only race in this world. She is targeted by racism, sexism and homophobia and is very confident and accepting of all her identities. There are minor flings and attraction between her and women throughout the book, and the highlighted romance being between her and a man. Seeing a heterosexual relationship with queer characters was really interesting because of how different love is experienced compared to typical heterosexual relationships. Xiala is also so strong independent from her love interest with her own goals and ideals. Her character arc was wonderful and relatable. Loved it
Serapio’s chapters were of great interest because of how the author describes his perception of the world being blind. This is done so well that when the chapter ends and switches to a different character I am still experiencing Serapio’s blindness and get confused on why appearances of things are being described because of how immersed and realistic his blindness is conveyed. Serapio’s disability also does not in any way weaken him; he is a strong physical fighter often underestimated by his opponents and him being able to see again is never a goal of his - it’s just accepted which was lovely to see.
Then Naranpa, my beautiful underrated queer ball of sunshine. In many reviews she is described as naive, which she can come across as at some points, but I just think she is a person trying to see the best in everyone and just has a lot of bad things happen to her. I love her very much. Naranpa’s chapters were also interesting because of her assassin ex-lover Iktan who is nonbinary and goes by xe/xir pronouns that are never disrespected by the characters except for
Spoiler
at the end where Okoa describes xir as a woman which I personally think took away a lot of xir character and I can’t really understand why the author decided to put that inGraphic: Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Torture, Blood, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Violence, and War
Moderate: Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Transphobia
drinaiscold's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Self harm, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Classism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, and Grief
Minor: Ableism, Misogyny, and Murder
sailorpulsar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Suicide, War, Alcoholism, Ableism, and Homophobia
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Confinement, and Blood
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, and Suicide
Minor: Racial slurs
dreareads_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book reminded me why I love Adult Fantasy so much. While YA fantasy is a favorite of mine, themes of good and evil are often fairly black or white (with some notable exceptions). Black Sun is an adult fantasy that is not afraid to make us question motivations, and show us the fallacy of humn beings. From the very first chapter, Black Sun grabs you and does not let you go (Literally the first chapter is so graphic). While the plot is engaging, and moves at a fairly quick pace, it was the quite moments that drew me in. Discussions of destiny, obligation, and gods were illuminating. I don't want to spoil anything but OMFG.
I loved every single one of these characters. I love that there is bi/pan rep, nonbinary characters, disability rep (although quality is not up to me to decide), and a variety of Poc rep. My favorites have to be Serapino, Xiala, and Iktan!
ANYWAYS!!! Will definitely be buying book two TODAY, book buying ban be damned! lol
Graphic: Ableism, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Torture, Sexual content, and Sexism
iridium's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, and Confinement
yvonne_cl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Homophobia, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Ableism and Sexual content
peachani's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I appreciated getting to see a fantasy world set in Mesoamerica. I am not any more than superficially knowledgeable about the people that lived in that world, so I wasn't able to recognize specific tribes in the writing, but I did notice little details like pyramids and such.
I found myself being totally drawn into the love story between two main characters and was truly heartbroken when there was no way for them to be together... so technically, you could say this book is better than Romeo and Juliet in that sense.😂
These days, the true test of whether I really enjoyed a book is if I want to buy a physical copy of it. I absolutely want Black Sun in my personal, physical library.
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Genocide, Grief, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Ableism, Animal death, Cursing, Drug use, Pedophilia, Racism, and Trafficking