Absolutely THRILLED to report that this book is just as good, if not better than the first. Aiden Thomas does an amazing job of building upon the groundwork that was laid in the Sunbearer Trials.

The thing I’m most impressed by is how much ground is covered in this book. There is so much action, expansion of the world, and beautiful character moments. The plot moves at a BREAKNECK pace, but even then we still got quiet moments between our main cast and moments of reflection for our more complex villains. The romance between Theo and Aurelio doesn’t take up too much time, but is still a welcome aspect of the book and very wholesome. I maintain that this series could not be more perfect for a TV or movie adaptation because Thomas’s writing played in my head like a movie. He’s just that good.

Something I love about Aiden Thomas’s books is how subtle and mature his incorporation of queerness and queer themes are. Our characters are grappling with the desire to belong, the feeling that you were made to be “bad” or “wrong” and the struggle to figure out who you are. These are, obviously, things that anyone can relate to, but I know the queer kiddos out there who read this will especially connect with Theo and Xio’s internal struggles. I do think in some parts the discussions surrounding the power structure of the world and the political elements of the Golds being in charge were a little heavy handed, but this is a YA so I can let that slide. There are enough genuinely well developed themes in here for teens to grapple with.

That being said, I wanted MORE! Though I think Thomas did as good as he could with giving each member of the core cast as much development as he could within the constraints of 400~ pages, there were definitely still moments where things felt rushed (specifically with Xio, but I’ll get to that in the spoiler-y section). Thomas has given us an entire cast of lovable, complex characters to follow and I wanted more time for everyone to breathe and grow. Also, I do think our main big bads were a little underdeveloped. In comparison to other characters, their motivations seemed a bit flat. 

Overall, these books are just FUN. The action was addictively written, the characters are complex and lovable, and the magic system/mythology was impressively developed for how short these books are. If anything about the description of the first book interests you, this duology is definitely worth your time. 

Time for rambling, spoiler-filled thoughts below. If you haven’t read both books, stop here.

 

Okay, indulge me as I rant about how I might have fixed this problem:

 

I think maybe a time jump between the first and second book, where the semidioses are in captivity for much longer (say like 3-4 months?). Maybe the Obsidians are treating the semidioses even worse than we see in Celestial Monsters, but they promise Xio they’re being taken care of and refuse to let Xio see how rough the group is. Xio obviously wants revenge, but they’re shown to be someone that was uncomfortable with the semidios’ suffering. Maybe we have a way that the Obsidians can steal the semidios’ power or use them as an energy source? Something evil without being too dark - this is still YA. This not only adds to the “badness” of what Xio has done, but it also raises the stakes for Theo, Niya, and Aurelio with an urgency to save them. I even think that having a couple Catra/Adora-esque encounters where Xio is embracing their new alliance with the Obsidians could have added to the complexity of their redemption and provided some really cool moments for them to clash with the main trio. This set-up also gives us the opportunity for a dramatic reveal for Xio. As an audience, it wouldn’t be shocking to us that the semidioses are actually being treated like garbage, but for Xio, who has a vested interest in believing the lies that their new family is telling them, it would be foundation-shaking to find out that they are being lied to and they are directly contributing to the suffering of their former peers (and this would also mirror the way that Xio felt by being lied to about who they are their whole life). If they finally see how badly the semidioses are being treated in captivity, that can be their breaking point to finally leave the Obsidians and commit to the double cross.

 

Obviously, things don’t have to play out exactly like that. BUT I kept thinking about what I would’ve done to give Xio more time to be the bad and also make their redemption more satisfying. I would be curious to see how other people felt about their character arc, because I think it was the most interesting in the book and I mostly just wanted more time for them to have really cool and satisfying moments as someone who becomes more powerful but also. in the end, uses that to do what’s right - and embrace their found family that was built in the first book.

 

Anyways, all these thoughts don’t mean that I didn’t enjoy the book or Xio’s arc. I typically have the most to say about books that are on the CUSP of 5 stars for me but had just one or two things that bothered me and I wanted to be better. This duology has soooo much good going for it but I think it could have been a 5 star (and even among my all-time-favorites) if it had just gone a little bit further with the depth of Xio’s arc.