The Sunbearer Trials Book Review: Demigods, Death, and the Kid Who Wasn't Supposed to Win
- Luke Stoffel
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Rating: ★★★★
"The Sunbearer Trials" Book Review:
Aiden Thomas first caught my attention with Cemetery Boys, which was one of those debuts that made you sit up and go "oh, this person is going to be important." The Sunbearer Trials confirms that instinct and then some. Thomas has built an entire world here—Reino del Sol—rooted in Mexican mythology, Aztec-inspired gods, and a competition structure that borrows from the Hunger Games playbook but does something genuinely fresh with it.
Here's the deal: Teo is a semidiose, a demigod, and he's been selected for the Sunbearer Trials. The winner gets glory, becomes the hero everyone worships. The loser? Sacrificed to the sun god. Not metaphorically. Not in some hand-wavy, "oh they just go away" sense. Actually sacrificed. So when I say the stakes are high, I mean the floor is lava and the ceiling is also lava and everything is on fire.
But what really makes this book sing isn't the competition—it's Teo himself. He's not the chosen one. He's not secretly the most powerful competitor. He's a kid with insecurities about his abilities, doubts about whether he belongs, and a desperate need to prove himself that feels achingly real. Thomas has this gift for writing characters who feel like people you'd actually know, people you'd want to protect, and Teo is maybe the best example of that. You root for him not because the plot tells you to, but because you genuinely care whether this kid makes it out alive.
The world-building is where Thomas flexes hardest. Reino del Sol doesn't feel like a setting—it feels like a place. The gods have personalities, the traditions have weight, the magic system ties into cultural mythology in ways that feel respectful and deeply researched. There's queer representation woven throughout that never feels performative or tacked on. It just exists, the way it should, as part of the fabric of this world.
If I have one complaint, it's that the pacing occasionally stalls between trial sequences—there are moments where the book catches its breath a beat too long. But that's a minor gripe in a book this ambitious and this fun. I finished the last page and immediately picked up book two because Thomas left me no choice. When an author has you by the throat like that, you don't fight it. You just keep reading.
If You Liked The Sunbearer Trials, Try:
The Storm Runner by Jennifer Cervantes — Another Maya/Aztec mythology-infused adventure with a kid who doesn't fit the hero mold, aimed at a slightly younger audience but just as rich in its world-building.
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn — Arthurian legend reimagined with a Black protagonist navigating a secret magical society, with the same "outsider proving themselves" energy.
The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna — West African-inspired fantasy with brutal trials, godlike powers, and a heroine who has to fight a system designed to destroy her.
From Luke Stoffel's Bookshelf
If you enjoyed this book review, check out my novel The Stardust Pirates — a YA adventure about a ragtag crew of misfits who discover that the universe is far stranger and more wonderful than they ever imagined. thestardustpirates.com
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