Aiden Thomas quickly jumped into the spot of one of my favorite authors once I’ve read Cemetery Boys. Since that day, Aiden has never let me down. They know exactly how to grab my attention and never let my mind wander into the abyss of the unremarkable.

Reading what was put out into the universe about this book made me a little bit tense. This has been compared to some huge cult following books. Being compared to anything with such adoring love is terrifying, not only for the reader but for the author as well. It’s hard shoes to fill and Aiden stepped up.

Aiden has this way with words that always makes me feel welcome and safe. That we’re all included and represented in these stories. It makes them feel really personal even though the entire world gets to experience Aidens words and thoughts. That personal connection with words is hard to achieve but Aiden gets it every single time.

The story was absolutely amazing. The trials these people have to go through are insane and my heart was pounding as each trial was being played. I was honestly glued to these pages because I’ve been hypnotized by all of this being played out. I felt as if I was watching an action movie in my head. It really was a pure adrenaline pumping, heart pounding, touching, and powerful story. Love is not strong enough of a word for how magnificent this book is.

The Sunbearer Trials was stellar in every way possible. Aiden bears their soul with this one and it shines through with every page. It really was a great book all around with some strong friendships and even better darkness surrounding the trials. Highly recommend this one because Aiden never disappoints.

"The Sunbearer Trials" was an entrancing, captivating read, that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading! The Latine folklore that was incorporated into this book makes it feel as though you've stepped into a myth whilst reading, which is something I absolutely love! Overall, this was a spectacular book.

4.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I've only recently signed up for NetGalley, and this was a title I was so excited to get a chance to read early, as Cemetery Boys was one of my top books from 2021, and I fully did not think I'd be able to, so imagine my surprise when I got approved for it!

On to the book itself:
It's impossible to write a story about demigods in the young adult space without invoking comparisons to Rick Riordan. However, Aiden Thomas does a great job of world-building and exploring the culture of this world, as well as the dioses, the semidioses, and their powers, without feeling like a Percy Jackson rip-off. And as someone who has read a few of the Riordan Presents series this year and disliked most of them, that's no small thing.

I'm really glad so many more cultures and mythologies are being brought into middle grade and young adult literature, not only for people who are unfamiliar with them, such as myself, to experience them more fully, but so kids who pick up these books see themselves and their families and cultures.

I also especially loved the casual queerness in this world, people are allowed to just be who they are, and they even get to have a gender confirmation ceremony if that's appropriate for them. For whatever other societal issues may be present, homophobia and transphobia don't seem to exist.

However, and I might have misunderstood the context of the sentence, but there was a wrong pronoun used for a character about halfway through the book, which will hopefully be fixed in the final version, as misgendering doesn't seem to be a thing in this world (and what a wonderful thing that is). Although it came up again near the end of the book, with a different character, and that was definitely just the wrong pronouns, no question about it.

I'm also not usually one to notice an author's word choices or turns of phrase, but with all these dead weights and dread and knots in Teo's stomach every other chapter or so, he probably needs to see the gastro once this is all done.

The ending got a little Dungeons and Dragons, and in terms of the plot, there wasn't really another way to set up the next book without taking a major left turn, but I'm looking forward to the next one. Although now having read this early means I have to wait even longer for the next one!

Children of gods must face off in a challenge in order to decide who will be the next Sunbearer and who will be used as a sacrifice With each new decade the Sun’s power must be replenished so that Sol, the god can keep traveling along the sky and keep the chaotic Obsidion gods at bay. There are various gods that rule the earth, each responsible and gifted with different powers, and in order to help power Sol and keep balance in the world, Sol selects ten of the most worthy semidioses to compete in the Sun bearer Trials. The winner will be responsible for carrying light and life to all the temples but the loser will be used as a sacrifice to Sol and their body will be melted down to refuel the Sun Stones, protecting the world for another ten years. Teo is a seventeen year old Jade Semidios and the trans son of the goddess of birds. Children in the Jade faction are considered the weakest and thus they are never chosen for the trials, Teo thinks he is safe from it... yet to his surprise he endsup being chosen as the first jade in over a century to be part of the competition along with another jade, Xio the thirteen year old child of the god of bad luck. The competition is filled with rivalry, friendship, and betrayal. Teo has to also face off against his handsome ex-best friend turned famous hero and their complicated relationship. This was like very much like a combination of Hunger Games and Percy Jackson. I did really appreciate the representation in this novel and the series is set to be a duology.

*Thanks netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This book was everything I wanted (needed!!) it to be and more. Everything I’ve read by Aiden Thomas holds an extremely special place in my heart for one reason or another, and The Sunbearer Trials is no different. This was marketed as PJO meets Hunger Games, and Aiden absolutely delivered on that. It was the perfect meetup of the two series (both of which are series I deeply adore and admire). The characters are all so perfectly written and diverse. There’s not a single contestant in the trials that I wasn’t routing for. I especially took to Aurelio (who was very relatable to me as someone who’s quiet and notices everything) and Xio (oh dear god I have so many thoughts about that boy). It was INCREDIBLY fun (stressful) reading this and trying to figure out what was going on, and even now, I still have so many thoughts running through my head on what could possibly happen in the sequel. It was such a well done book with a good mix of fun, angst, and… extreme anxiety (in the good way! Kinda).

Now. With the trans rep. I know I can always expect good things from Aiden when it comes to trans characters, but I was still so giddy reading this and seeing how wonderfully and peacefully Teo and Xio are written (they’re not the only trans characters; I think every single one was amazing, but I’m focusing on these two). They’re trans. They exist happily as themselves. They’re respected. They’re open about who they are. I just loved it so much. There was such diversity in the rest of the trans and non-binary characters as well. Trans rep in fantasy is so important, and I’m so glad we have people like Aiden Thomas writing it.

Oh. My. GOD!!!!!!

DAMN YOU, AIDEN THOMAS!!

♾/5⭐️ and I’m so unwell over it.

When this was advertised as Percy Jackson x Hunger Games, no lies were told. HEAVY on the Percy Jackson.

We open up on Teo and his birds vandalizing a building and very quickly jump into the story of magical hierarchies, a competition between tweens and teens to determine the next sacrifice for the sun god, uncovering personal histories, and figuring out what truly makes a hero.

Despite the large cast of characters and distinct personalities, Aiden Thomas manages to avoid making things feel jumbled or squished together. It’s a fast-paced story featuring fascinating and lively characters with varying motivations, powers, and roles to play.

The main dynamic between Teo, Niya, and Xio managed to be filled to the brim with warmth, familiarity, and humor with how they bounce off of and protect each other. But my favorite relationships were between gods and their children. Even the smallest interactions spoke volumes to who those characters truly are and I was at the edge of my seat from start to finish.

Gorgeous Mexican-inspired world building and magic systems, 3-dimensional and entertaining characters, high stakes, a deeply compelling underdog story, and a book that is beautifully queer to its core.

The ending will haunt me until I get my hands on the eventual sequel.

The Sunbearer Trials is a great YA novel for Percy Jackson fans, with a compelling main character, a fascinating world, and snappy dialogue.

Teo, the main character, is a Jade demidios who is picked to be a reluctant contestant in the Sunbearer Trials. While the Trials are usually the domain of Gold demidioses, Teo has no choice but to participate, and his major development over the book is his reluctant acceptance of his mantle as champion. He matures convincingly and movingly over the novel, but stays snarky and entertaining. He's also a trans guy, which trans author Thomas handles exceptionally effectively and movingly.

The world of The Sunbearer Trials is a neat one I'm excited to see more of. Thomas does an exceptional job of adding pieces of worldbuilding without over-explaining them, creating a world that feels vivid and alive while leaving a lot of mysteries!

A lot of books lately have had characters spouting memes, internetisms, etc., to varying degrees of success-- sometimes it doesn't achieve much besides breaking immersion. Thomas' characters are immersed in some variation of the modern internet in-fiction, though, and so in their mouths memes feel completely natural, and successfully make the book feel like FOR Zoomers, in what seems to me a non-condescending way. I don't know exactly how old Aiden Thomas is, but I'm pretty sure he has some Zoomer energy.

My one complaint with the book is the ending was a little too much of cliffhanger for the next one. There's nothing wrong with a set up for the sequel, but the ending of the book doesn't offer much satisfaction-- particularly looking down the barrel of a wait for the sequel, I wish the finale had a little more resolution before springboarding the next book, but overall I really enjoyed the book!

I can’t help the automatic comparisons between The Sunbearer Trials and the Hunger Games. Both in title and in plot, they are, on the surface, quite similar. A group of young people is chosen to compete in a contest, one that will result in at least one of them dying, sacrificed to the gods. The Golds all train for years to be chosen and almost all contestants are Golds. Except, this year, two Jades are chosen.

Thomas does an exemplary job at explaining the history and culture of this beautiful world he’s created. The gods, the semidioses, are all incredibly vivid in my mind. Like Teo, I do wish we would have spent more time in the different cities.

Thomas is my go-to for queer characters. The sheer variety is astounding, far more than most novels I’ve ever read. The gender affirming joy I feel for Teo is just so wholesome and beautiful. Teo is my new vision of trans joy. This is not a coming out story and Teo is very comfortable in his body. He’s on hormones and has had top surgery. There’s the little problem of his wings still presenting as female wings, but that dysphoria is short lived. I absolutely love his wings and how they’re described. He’s not amazing at using them right away, and the aches and pains from the trials are always there. They don’t magically disappear, even with gods and magical powers.

The first two trials are timed to ten minutes and they fly by, too fast. If there’s one thing I struggle with in this book, it’s the pacing of the trials. There’s just not enough time devoted to them. Not enough time in the cities and not enough time just hanging out as a group of competitors. It’s not until the end, when death looms, that the competitors come together and really begin to learn about each other. I would add about a hundred more pages of these semidioses just hanging out and exploring the different cities, and I wouldn’t be mad about it. Just give me all the cozy times, please! That being said, Teo’s closest friends were well fleshed out and I appreciated them immensely.

I would recommend this book to fans of Thomas’s other works, of course. Fans of adventure and mythology. Anyone who needs more queer books in their life (which is everyone, honestly). Aiden Thomas knocked it out of the park, again, and I look forward to the sequel more than I can say!

If I could give it more than 5 stars I would. I absolutely loved this book and it's a really good contender for my top reads of the year. Aiden Thomas did an amazing job of using humor to deflect in dark times. Each of the characters were unique and fun, especially Niya. She's my favorite. It was definitely reminiscent of Hunger Games but luckily no one does except the sacrifice.
I was so anxious about it ended and was definitely not expecting the twist at the end. Can not wait for the sequel

I think I've come to the conclusion that, while I love Aiden Thomas as a storyteller, I don't particularly get on well with their prose. The Sunbearer Trials has such a good premise and is, truly, quite a solid little book. Percy Jackson and the Hunger Games were both Formative Books TM for me, and, having enjoyed Thomas's past works, this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I like the worldbuilding a lot, I like the diversity and commitment to gender identity being Extremely No Big Deal while still approaching several trans and nonbinary main characters with thought and care. I liked the gods being present as parents, which was a fun distinction! I actually really liked Teo, too. I thought he was a nicely rounded main character with a strong personality and a good character arc.

But.... I don't know. I'm slogging through this book. My Kindle's told me it's been a 7-hour read for me, which is nearly twice what I normally spend on a book this length. It reads quite simplistically and middle grade (which is not a bad thing! I like middle grade!) but with a few too many f-bombs thrown in for that. I'd like to say it's because I'm just no longer in the target audience, which would be fair, but I've revisited the books The Sunbearer Trials uses as comps recently, and they still hold up for me. I can't quite pinpoint what it is about this one that's not quite working for me. It's not bad, and I'm sure there will be people out there who really love it (and I'm so so incredibly excited for them to find it) it's just... a little underwhelming for me.

I was sucked in right away and couldn't put this book down. The world building is amazing. I love all the Mexican references, from Diosa Luna using her chancla to get after demigods, to the gods themselves, candy, and so on. As soon as I finished reading this, I immediately wanted to open up book 2. I'm looking forward to reading it.

I won a digital ARC of The Sunbearer Trials from Fierce Reads and YALLWEST Book Festival!

The Sunbearer Trials follows Theo, son of the goddess Quetzal, competing as one of the first Jades in the Sunbearer Trials in over a century. Along with his friends and frenemies, Theo has to navigate the trials and avoid coming in last place!

This book is really fantastic- I’ve read a bunch since I finished but my brain still keeps coming back to it. There are so many characters I fell in love with!
I ended up preordering a physical copy even though I’ve read it already!

Aiden Thomas is so freaking good. All of his characters are so well developed; even ones that don’t get the most page time don’t feel one dimensional.
~light spoiler alert~ My favorite scene is when things start to get Real with the trials and almost the entire group of kids spent time together. No Gold/Jade issues or competitiveness. Just the kids grappling with the enormity of the situation that they were thrust into.

I am already chomping at the bit for the next book. The cliffhanger is killing me!

Fans of the Rick Riordan Presents imprint absolutely have to check this series out!

Thank you, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, for allowing me to read The Sunbearer Trials early.

Beautiful, gorgeous, stunning, amazing, terrific. Do I need to say more! Aiden Thomas just did it again!

Thank you to YallWest and NetGalley for an ARC.

Every ten years in Reino del Sol, ten semidios teenagers are chosen to compete in the Sunbearer Trials, where they fight to see who gets to become a sunbearer and who will be sacrificed to keep their cities safe. For the first time, two Jades are chosen to compete.

Representation in this was amazing. There are multiple trans and nonbinary characters. There are mentions of same-sex relationships and nobody reacts negatively. One of the characters is deaf and signing is integrated into the world.

Teo's friendship with Niya was great. She liked him for him and didn't care what anybody thought about it. I was confused about how Teo (a Jade) and Niya (a Gold) came to become friends though. The different semidioses seemed to be kept almost completely apart, so while I liked their friendship, I'm not sure I understood it.

I was also confused about why Tierra was considered a Gold when he was one of the creator gods. The others would not exist if not for him, so I felt like he should have been held to a higher regard.

The ending was very intriguing and I look forward to the sequel next year.

Every ten years, the power of Sol's sacrifice must be renewed so that the evil Obsidian gods are kept trapped in the stars. Ten semidioses in their teens are selected by the diose themself to compete in The Sunbearer Trials. The winner becomes the Sunbearer and personally renews the sun god's power in each of the temples of Reino del Sol. The loser is to be sacrificed to Sol. Their body becomes the fuel that will protect the people of Reino del Sol for the next decade.

Teo is seventeen and the son of a Jade diosa, Quetzal. As a Jade, he never thought he would be selected for the Trials. Gold semidioses are almost always chosen to compete, viewed as the stronger deities with the best powers. Not only is Teo chosen for the trials, but another Jade diose is selected: Thirteen-year-old Xio, son of Mala Suerte. The two Jades and eight Golds must participate in five different trials to see who comes out on top...and who lands at the bottom.

This review will be spoiler-free because this book is not out yet, but you <b>BET</b> your immortal bones I'll be screaming about this come release day.

I loved this. Every single character is loveable and unique. We don't get a lot of development on those outside of Teo's circle, but I adore Dezi entirely despite knowing maybe four things about him. Thomas does an incredible job with their character building and a fantasy novel was a brilliant step for them. The world-building is beautiful and inclusive. We have multiple trans and nonbinary characters, gay characters, bi characters, and a powerful deaf character. Spanish is a historically gendered language and was beautifully and seamlessly integrated into a wonderfully accepting world. I felt warm and hopeful reading some of these character interactions and conversations.

There are no words for how badly I need book two. The pacing of this novel was brilliant and seamless. I could see what was coming as it was laid out in front of me, but I didn't feel like I was being foreshadowed to death. This being a duology feels planned and natural, and untitled book two is absolutely going to be one of my most anticipated reads next year.

This book is basically Percy Jackson, if Percy and Nico were trans, meets The Hunger Games, all in the best way possible. It is a book that deserves the biggest fandom, so I'm really hoping it will be huge!

Aiden Thomas's books, even though they're all fantasy, are all distinctly different subgenres, but they're all super immersive and I once again loved their writing style. Like Cemetery Boys, I think this book will become a comfort read for me.

Our main character Teo is the son of the goddess of birds, and as such he can communicate with birds and he has wings. These wings are a cause of dysphoria for him, because he's trans and the wings look like how a female bird's wings would look, leading him to wear a binder to hide them. I don't want to give too much away, but I absolutely loved how this storyline was handled.

I don't want to give too much away about the Sunbearer Trials either, but they're super fun and engaging to read about, with some twists at the end that make me crave the sequel like nothing else.

this book was amazing, one of the only books that could make me cry. i saw so much of myself in aurelio and auristela, as they reminded me of me and my own twin. i was so happy to see so much representation in one book! when teo got his wings i was so happy, i was literally jumping up and down! i honestly loved every character (except ocelo). there is so much depth and character behind each character in the book. i also loved that this was based on mexican/aztec history! aiden thomas did an absolutely stellar job at this masterpiece of a book and i cannot wait until book 2 comes out!!

The Sunbearer Trials is an exciting new young adult fantasy novel that is enjoyable for all ages. The characters, world building, and plot drew me in instantly and by the end of the novel I was ready for the sequel. The Sunbearer Trials involves elements of young adult classics like Percy Jackson or The Hunger Games, but uses them in a fresh way. The diversity in the cast of characters was included and celebrated from the start. I cannot wait for this book to reach readers who will carry this story with them for a long time as I will.

WOW. I absolutely devoured The Sunbearer Trials. After falling in love with Aiden Thomas’s writing in Cemetery Boys, I was so excited for this one. My expectations were completely blown out of the water. Thomas created a unique word inspired by Mexican culture that somehow felt fresh, yet still encapsulated everything I love about YA fantasy. It was fun, fast paced, heartfelt, and gripping. I honestly couldn’t put it down!

The world building was exceptional. I felt like I was a part of the Sunbearer Trials along with the characters! Thomas paints a vivid picture of the world in your head, which drew me deeper into the story. Also, the trials overall were so fun and suspenseful, I LOVED reading about them.

The characters were also a delight. If you’ve read Cemetery Boys, you know Thomas does an exceptional job creating lovable, diverse characters and The Sunbearer Trials is no exception. Teo was such a fun, chaotic, and lovable MC and the supporting characters blew me away. Especially Aurelio.. I love that boy🥹 As always, Thomas included fantastic rep including, but not limited to, trans and non-binary rep!

Overall, the Sunbearer Trials was a thrilling YA fantasy story full of suspense, adventure, and friendship. The unique storyline had me gripped and at the edge of my seat! Everyone please read this when it comes out on September 6!

Another absolutely incredible story by Aiden Thomas. Teo is such a loveable protagonist. Each and every character is well thought out and add to this amazing story