Last Sunrise in Eterna was something that wasn't for me unforantely. While I felt it had some great elements it just lacked depth and character development and showed me that I am definitely out of my YA Phase of reading but if you enjoy YA then definitely give it a try.

I love that this is a Latinx fantasy book and the Spanish that was incorporated within. (I’m a sucker for Spanish in books) This book is full of diversity which I also really loved. A Boricua Elf prince and a gothic girl? YES.

every now and again, a book we don’t expect to seduce us, to ensnare us so fully we can’t bear to put it down until it’s done, does exactly that. Amparo Ortiz’s “Last Sunrise in Eterna” is one of those special books.

it’s easy to celebrate a finely woven tale that reintroduces beloved YA tropes in a brand new way. this book in particular achieves the difficult task of blending fact with fiction. from structural inequities like racial and social divides to climate impacts, it touches on the damaging impacts of America’s colonization of Puerto Rico, all while balancing a rich storyline rooted around elves, magic islands and unexpected romance.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.*

Amparo Ortiz's "Last Sunrise in Eterna" is a YA fantasy about a magical tournament that takes place on a secluded island off the coast of Puerto Rico. Winners will have the chance to wield elven powers in exchange for their dreams.

I haven't read Puerto Rican fantasy so I was pretty excited for this one. However, it hurts me to say that I couldn't get into it enough to see it through to the end. I stopped a little after the midpoint since I typically always try to give it a chance and see how the writer handles act 2. Still, it just wasn't for me.

I think it needed to stand out somehow. There have been a lot of magical tournaments done in fantasy. And there have been a lot of death game stuff too. Who can forget the iconic clock in Catching Fire? So I understand the pressure of taking this on. That was the thing. Just a little more of each element could have made this a better book.

Some of the characters are memorable at least. We know Aro and his obsession with donuts and our MC's gothness. But the chemistry isn't there. And the MC's quirks at times distract from the narrative instead of add to it. For instance, the MC's short stories. I could see the novel standing on its own without being distracted by other narratives.

I wish there was better immersion. Even when the book's worldbuilding is on the soft end, that doesn't mean that immersion should be sacrificed. I think any of Miyazaki's films prove that. Of course, I would have known more about the world if I'd read more but there have been loads of fantasy books that gradually immerse you in the first few chapters alone. In Black Sun and City of Brass, more and more information is revealed as you go along, heightening the current scenes and setting up future ones.

And most of all, I wished the challenges were better. When you're writing a novel on these tournaments, you need to remember you're going up against so many others. It helps to think of conundrums that, from the start, seem impossible to solve. Take the first challenge in Netflix's "Alice in Borderland" (not exactly? fantasy? but the design of the games apply). Arisu and his friends need to choose the right doors to exit the area or die. But there's no clear pattern. And there you have it. Something that sparks curiosity but also raises the stakes. And most of all something that will help show off just how clever and resourceful your characters are. Just a little more push and I think Last Sunrise could have gone there.

I was really excited about this book because a goth girl stealing elf corpses and a magical tournament? Sign me up!
However, this book was not really for me. While I loved all the ideas and plot twists incorporated in this story, I had a hard time connecting with the characters. Sevim seemed very grumpy to me and I was not really able to sympathize with her. Towards the end of the book, I found myself warming up to her more, but overall, I did not care about her as much as I should care about the MC. Moreover, I did not care about the love interest or any of the other characters. I did not feel a connection between the two MCs and I felt like the romance between them was kind of forced. The only characters I found myself kind of liking were the other two contestants in the Exchange, Jason and Ryujin (but I’m also not sure how to feel about the Kpop references in this book, even though I do love Kpop). They were the only characters in this book I found likeable and who showed somewhat of a personality. I kept mixing up the elves in this book because they just did not have an outstanding personality to me.
Moreover, while the writing style was nice and easy to read, it wasn’t really what I expected going into this book. I expected a magical writing style that would really transport me into the world of the elves, but instead it seemed very casual. This of course is a personal preference, but it was just not for me. Additionally, there was not a lot of world building, and if there was, it just confused me and didn’t really answer my questions. It seemed like the author writes about this world as if the reader already knows all about the history of the elves and the magic system, so therefore it wasn’t really explained that well in my opinion.
However, I do want to mention that I loved the diverse cast in this book, there were Latinx, Korean, deaf and trans characters, which was very nice to read in a YA fantasy. The book is also quite fast-paced and has a lot of action, which makes you read it very fast.
Overall, I would give it 3/5 Stars.

I absolutely loved this story. My attention was captured from the beginning and I wasn't able to stop thinking about it every time I had to walk away. The addition of Puerto Rico's history were beautifully done in this story. The fantasy in this book was so well done. This book had me guessing and kept me on my toes. I really loved this story and was taken on a rollercoaster of emotions. This is was fantastic!

Thank you NetGalley and Page Street Publishing for this eARC. All opinions are my own.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Page Street for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review*
Last Sunrise in Eterna is the story of our main character Sevim, a goth girl who steals elf corpses for money to support her mom and how all that changes when she chooses the wrong elf to go after one day.

I enjoyed this book so much! Ive read Amparos debut novel Blazewrath Games and absolutely devoured it and this one was not different. When I found out this was going to be about Puerto Rican elves I just had to read it and I was so excited when I was approved for the arc. I loved how this was set on the island of Vieques and real history was used as a part of the story. It was heartbreaking to learn about what actually happened but it was fascinating to see how the effects of that had an inspiration and influence on the story and the setting. I loved the relationship with Sevim and her mom and how it’s not as cut and dry as it seems. I also loved the representation and diversity in here. All the elves are brown, we have a deaf character who uses American Sign Language, a Black Trans boy and a South East Asian character.

A few things I didn’t enjoy as much was that at times the plot was a bit confusing. I loved the Exchange and the challenges that came with it but at times I was a bit confused and couldn’t really envision what was going on in those scenes. Sometimes the dialogue between the characters was a bit unrealistic in my opinion as to how teens would speak but it was few and far between. I sometimes didn’t agree with the choices our MC made or didn’t understand but you don’t always need to relate to their personal motivations. I enjoyed how the romance wasn’t the central point of the story however it still felt a bit rushed and insta-lovey as this whole story takes place in about a week.

Overall, I highly enjoyed this novel and the writing style. I would definitely recommend this to readers who want a diverse fantasy in a latin inspired setting. I can’t wait to read more works from Ortiz in the future!

This book was incredible! There were so many twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat and I was so invested in all the characters from start to finish. Additionally, I was so excited to read a YA fantasy that took place in present day Puerto Rico and had Puerto Rican characters. I will highly recommend this to anyone who loves YA fantasy and will be looking for out any future releases from Amparo Ortiz because I am now a huge fan of her work.

CW: trauma, handling corpses

Last Sunrise in Eterna – The Review
Characters
There are so many characters in Last Sunrise in Eterna that have a lot to do with the story, so I really don’t want to go into too much detail regarding specific characters. I will say that I really enjoyed Sevim – she and I are a lot alike (aside from the fact that I am not Puerto Rican – I mean music and fashion tastes and loving to read). I also greatly enjoyed Aro – although sometimes I didn’t and you’ll understand more about that when you read the book. As far as Aro’s brother, Feyn is concerned, I don’t care much for him, but later on I came to understand why he is the way he is. I also loved Jason and Ryujin.

Atmosphere
I appreciated the fact that in Last Sunrise in Eterna we have elves (Aro, Feyn, and others) interacting with humans on EARTH… not some made up planet. But actually on Earth, in Puerto Rico. It’s pretty cool and I really loved it. It gave the book the basic elements of fantasy while actually having it be a normal setting. Loved it.

Writing
The writing style in Last Sunrise in Eterna is absolutely wonderful. It is easy to read, easy to follow, and even when something is said in Spanish, it isn’t that hard to figure out what’s going on or what’s being said. The book had wonderful pacing and I loved that I was never bored with the book. It did take me a bit to get into, but that was more of “right book, wrong time” than anything wrong with the book.

Plot
Do we have books where people are chosen to go do this or that? Yes, of course we do. But what about books where those people are heading off to an island full of elves? On Earth no less? With twists and turns you will never see coming… you have to read this book to believe how amazing this plot is. Seriously, Last Sunrise in Eterna is not a book you should be sleeping on!

Intrigue
Trust me, this is a fantasy book, YA fantasy to be exact, and it has plenty of intrigue. Unless you’re not a fan of fantasy or elves, you will love this book. There are elves, magic, danger, mystery, and the best plot twists you’ll ever see. Intrigue is definitely a part of this book.

Romance
Oh come on, what’s a good YA Fantasy without a little romance? I’m not going to tell you who the romance is between, but in all honesty, I think there might be more than one brewing in this book. However, with this book appearing to be a standalone, we may never see them come to fruition. But the romance is cute and it is a slow-burn for the romance, because there are issues. But what romance doesn’t have issues?

Ending
The ending to this book will blow you away. There are plot twists that come towards the end that just smack you out of left-field. While the absolute ending somewhat leaves things open for a possible sequel, the book is finished well enough the way it ends.

Conclusion
I gave this book 4 stars because it is an amazing read – I wouldn’t call it one of my favorites for this year, although since we’re only in April, it’s possible it could still become one! I’m telling you, this is a book you need to read!

I for one will have to applaud all the freaking wonderful representation in this book!
Because WOW! Boricua elves!! With magic holy moly! I had way to much fun reading about that!
This book also had trans representation with one of the chosen for the exchange! jason is a black trans teenager.
We also read about Ryujin who is 16 and Korean.
We Even have a character Raff who uses American Sign Language
We have Spanish interwoven within its mix too!
The cultural rep was so cool to read about, the island history and food.
There was even more than one small romantic element.
We had Aro who was funny and super entertaining all on his own. Who has a crush on sevim our gothic witty main character.
Jason who throws cute flirtatious vibes towards Feyn are broody ruler.
There are even rebels and lots and lots of chaos.

These 3 have to face several missions and challenges to be able to stay and proceed on this island.
With each challenge we discover and abundance of secrets ALL of these characters have.
Some have dark secrets, that are so haunting others secrets they wish know one would find out because that would endanger their lives. Some secrets amount the royal family are just as intense and change so much of the challenges on these island.

When I tell you the LAST SECRET YOU DISCOVER had my damn jaw on the floor rereading just to make sure I read it right.

But holy hell the descriptions of certain characteristics are so haunting, chills!
Some were so beautiful too.
I overall just had fun reading about all these representations. All the secrets had me keep reading and ultimately I hope more enjoyed this story as much as I did.

This was such an interesting and unique story! I loved the diversity and the influence of Puerto Rican culture and history; it’s not something I know very much about and it was cool to see it blended with a magical fantasy element. I can also truly say that I had no idea where the story was going to go – there were so many twists and turns and it definitely kept me guessing until the very end.

I think with a little more work this could have been SUCH a compelling fantasy, but it fell a little flat for me in a few areas. We were thrown into the action right away and it never really slowed down, which made it difficult to connect with the world and what was going on. There was so much happening and I was often confused and wondering if I’d missed something. I also didn’t really get invested in any of the characters or the romance, so it missed a lot of that emotional impact for me.

Overall this had the bones of a really great story, but in my opinion the execution wasn’t quite there. It’s a quick read though, so if “magical elves in Puerto Rico” sounds like your jam, you might want to give it a try!

To be honest, I struggled with this book a little bit in the first half. The story starts off with action right away, and it definitely keeps you engaged. I found myself feeling a little confused about the magic and struggling to remember the names and everyone's roles. I also struggled a little bit with the love interest and didn't feel much of a spark between them. However, as the story went on, the pieces fell into place and there were some crazy twists and turns I never would have predicted in a million years. Overall, the book was entertaining and a quick read.

Epic! Brilliant! A wonderful take on elves and I love the goth protagonist in this one!! And also I like the plot too!

My Rating:4.5/5

Last Sunrise in Eterna was twisty in the most unpredictable way. I love it when YA Fantasy have this element in them because it keeps my mind focused on the plot.

Sevim was a grump on the outside and total softie on the inside. She was cynical and selfish at times but when it came to doing the right thing, she stood up for it.

We get to know about Aro and his world through Sevim’s PoV. We have a polished version of him because our girl has a huge crush on the young Prince. But she saw him for who he was and not just the title he held.

What actually made me sign up for this tour was the goth mc and the elves.

One had to keep an eye on the elves because they could shape-shift and deceive anyone easily except their kind. It confused Sevim and landed her in trouble.

The story at times felt suitable for younger audience than YA but there’s quite a bit about US Colonisation, nuclear weapons, and human experimentation that made the story appropriate for ages above 13 or 14+.

Anyway, if you do come across this book in a bookstore, do pick it up. It is a fun-filled fantasy with dangerous games, rebellious elves and a goth mc to take us on a wild rollercoaster ride.

P.S if you decide to read this book, look out for chapter 40.

Thanks to TBR and Beyond Tours and the Publisher for the free DRC of the book!

Last Sunrise in Eterna by @amparo_ortiz 🧝🏽‍♀️

Summary: Three teenagers are invited to spend seven days on the secluded island floating off the coast of Puerto Rico to learn the magic of the elves. All they have to do is give up their dreams. Seventeen-year-old goth Sevim Burgos hates elves. She can see through the illusions the elves use to conceal their crimes. Ever since elves killed her father, she has longed for revenge. So to help support her single mother, she has been selling abandoned elf corpses. But it turns out that the elf prince Aro has noticed Sevim bodysnatching, so he kidnaps her mother in retaliation. To get her mother back, Sevim must participate in the Exchange while uncovering secrets.

Feels: THIS BOOK IS MY WHOLE PERSONALITY. Truly the best thing I’ve read all year. Thank @netgalley for blessing me 🥲. But I obviously pre-ordered my physical copy at @thebookmarkpr 😍

Reads like a love letter to Puerto Rico. There were SO many relatable and beautiful details. A+ in how you weaved PR’s history to your story. Amparo plays to her strengths, and writes in a way I can see so clearly in my head.
As always character development and inclusion is *chef’s kiss*. I’m talking deaf elves, queer elves, plus sized elves… And the actual plot 🤯 The challenges were dark and amazing. But this book also made me cry! And I did not see ✨stuff✨ coming. It was an absolutely joy to read.

Pretty please make a second book about the rebels 😍

#book #books #bookstagram #bookstagrampr #bookstagrammer #booklover #booklove #bookworm #bookblogger #booknerd #bookish
#LastSunriseinEterna #netgalley #puertorico #puertoricogram #dogsofinstagram

I read this book as part of the blog tour hosted by TBR & Beyond Tours. Special thanks to Page Street Kids for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review! 2.75 stars rounded up

I'm quite conflicted with my feelings about this book. It's not terrible and I did enjoy the author's writing but I found myself wanting more throughout the whole read. Ultimately, I realised that this probably wouldn't make it on my list of recommendations for readers that want a YA fantasy, no matter how wonderfully diverse it is! I was really hoping to enjoy this more than I did but it just wasn't the right fit for me as I found the plot and characters to be too surface-level to really engage with.

Amparo Ortiz is an author that I've been wanting to try for a while and I'm glad that I finally did. Although this book didn't end up being great for me, I still enjoyed the author's writing. It's easy to sink into and Ortiz managed to hook me in with just the first few lines. I was surprised to find that the plot really takes off from the first chapter as the action almost immediately kicks in and we're literally thrown head-first into the story. This was both good and bad—good because I enjoy fast-paced fantasy but bad because it never really slowed down and gave me the chance to become fully immersed in this world and to connect to the characters.

What I enjoyed the most about this story was how diverse it was. As far as I can recall, there wasn't one white character in this fantasy, which was refreshing! What also made it unique was that it was about Puerto Rican elves and I loved that we get to see a classic fantasy race have brown skin. The author is Puerto Rican and she infuses the story with the culture, language and history of her island home very well. Coming from the other side of the world, Puerto Rico's history is something that I didn't know much about, so it was interesting to see how she blends (what I assume to be) actual history into this fantasy world grounded in reality. Beyond the Puerto Rican representation, we also have diversity represented through a few of the main side characters such as Jason, a black trans boy, Raff, who is a deaf elf, and Ryujin who's Southeast Asian.

The premise of the Exchange was interesting and I liked the concept of human dreams fuelling the magic of the elves as it's something that I don't think I've read in fantasy before. It's clear from the beginning that there are going to be darker aspects to the story as our main character steals elven corpses to sell them for money; however, the tone does take a much darker turn the further we get and it was kind of unexpected. There are definitely some readers who won't feel comfortable with the content so I would advise checking out the content/trigger warnings in advance. I didn't particularly mind the grittier and more sinister vibes the story took, but I also feel as if it escalated very quickly, which is frankly also what I felt with much of the story, too. The rushed execution of the premise and the lack of clear world-building really left me wanting. The existence of the elves, the magic system and the use of ensueño or illusions, among the other more fantastical elements of the story were never properly explained—and again, I'm going back to how everything just felt rushed, skimmed over and underdeveloped. There was simultaneously a lot of repetition and inconsistency which, unfortunately, I also found applied to the characters too.

This brings me to my biggest issue with the book which is that I didn't care about any of the characters. There's a lot that happens to them in a short amount of time but through it all, I didn't connect to any of them and I particularly didn't care for Zevim. She's admittedly an unapologetically strong-willed and determined protagonist who will do anything to save her mother, but she was also incredibly mean and unsympathetic which made it hard to feel empathy for her. There was a lot of back and forth without any clear indication as to why our main character, Zevim, felt and thought the way she did because the intensity of her reactions/actions seemed to spawn out of nowhere. This made me feel a big disconnect with her, which was difficult considering hers is the only perspective we get.

There was also not much in the way of character development for anyone in this story and all the connections that the author introduces just felt clumsy and messy because it always felt like chunks of context were missing for each interaction; quite simply, the dots didn't connect for me! There is also a romance that seems to spring out of nowhere and was very instalove. I wished that Prince Aro at least had a better-developed arc but unfortunately, we see very little of him save for sporadic moments of squabbling with Zevim. I will say that there was one very interesting twist in the plot that I (obviously) didn't expect or see coming at all and I found it really fun and surprising in a good way! Sadly, it came just a little too late to change my feelings towards the book because everything continued to be poorly explained away.

Ultimately, while there were a few things to enjoy about this book, it didn't end up delivering on the great premise. I couldn't connect to the characters and the minimal/glossed-over world-building didn't help either. I'm glad that I finally read a book by Ortiz but I'm sad that I didn't love it as much as I hoped I would!

This is a really unique world and I loved the involvement of elves - I feel like that's such a cool fantasy element that doesn't get used enough, at least in the books I've read, so that was really cool to see!

However, I think this story was just too complicated to make sense of - there's glamours and magic and lies and dreams all over the place, and it just made it really hard to follow what was happening and what was real or not. It was very confusing and it made it difficult to connect to the characters; especially the main character, Sevim, who I can't lie comes across as a bit "not like other girls", so that was quite annoying.

There was a lot of action and plot twists, but it was difficult to know whether the plot twists were real or not, and so by the end I couldn't bring myself to feel shocked by whatever was happening, because I knew that in 3 or 4 pages we'd probably find out that it wasn't even real life.

I have never read from Amparo Oritz before, so it was a bit refreshing to read from a fantasy Latina author. I always love reading from diverse authors because they bring so much more to fantasy books, such as their culture's mythology or folktales.



Last Sunrise in Eterna is a refreshing Latina YA fantasy story about Sevim and Aro. Sevim may not look like the typical teenager since she loves being dressed in all black and being cynical. But Sevim faces what all teenagers feel when they lose their parents: anger and grief. And her way of dealing with it may not be appropriate since she is capturing dead elf bodies. Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with her grieving process, especially Prince Aro.



Prince Arc may be addicted to his sugary donuts, but he is more devoted to finding out who is using his fellow dead elves. And so far, Sevim is the best guide to follow. Too bad that they are now both caught in a deadly game that they have no idea about. And it does not help that Arlo's older brother is no help either, since he is acting like a jerk to everyone.



The best they can do together is work together, no matter how much they become attracted to each other. But they can’t do anything about it. Good thing; the slow tension between them makes the read so much better. Expect a lot of slow tension between them and awkward moments as well.



As you read Last Sunrise in Eterna, expect surprises along the way as well as shocking secrets. And make sure you check out the content warning. Heavy topics are mentioned and discussed in this book.

The way I GASPED at everything I did not see coming. Amparo is a goddess and I will continue to read every single thing she writes forever and ever.

This book is for you if you want:

🥀a book set on the PR mainland + its outlying islands (loved loved loved getting to read a fantasy book set in my country - like I still can't get over it)
🥀brown caribbean elves
🥀a goth teen MC
🥀dangerous magical challenges
🥀corpse stealing
🥀dream extractions
🥀high stakes
🥀real PR history mixed with magic (if you don't know about Vieques you're about to LEARN)
🥀multiple plot twists
🥀princely romance

If you've followed me for a while, you know I loved all my dragon babies in Blazewrath 1 & 2, and all the stories in Our Shadows, but I think this might actually be my favorite Amparo YA yet.

I love this book so much! You can tell Amparo loves her island as she mixes fantasy history with the real history of how the US has harmed (and continues to harm) Puerto Rico. This is a fantasy with interesting worldbuilding, lots of action-packed scenes, and an intriguing mystery with great plot twists you don't see coming!