Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. The Sun of Blood and Ruin was a beautifully written novel, and I really enjoyed every minute. I don't always love how authors integrate historical aspects with fantasy, but I LOVED the way Ms. Lares did. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

I use StoryGraph and I'm technically giving this 3.75 stars. I quite enjoyed this, but didn't LOVE it like I wanted to.

My main qualm here was that I felt like the pacing and plot got a bit muddle and clunky right around the 60% mark and onward. I actually really was enjoying more of the political stuff that was going on in the first half. The mini quest in the second half is what felt a bit clunky to me, and paced oddly.

I thoroughly loved the uniqueness of this fantasy world and seeing mythologies that we RARELY see in the adult fantasy space. I also enjoyed the characters overall.

I will be reading the next installment of this series, for sure. I'm intrigued enough and I think that the issues I had with it could be easily solved simply with more experience and practice for this debut author.

4.5 stars

Sun of Blood and Ruin follows Leonara de Las Casas Tlazohtzin a woman who is both Mexica and Spanish, a woman who is also Pantera - a masked sorceress. This book starts with the promised gender-swapped Zorro retelling and expands into what feels like an origin story for the sorceress Pantera with a story that is much larger in scope.

The best way I can describe the structure of the story is dreamlike. The narrative moves at a rapid pace with some swift, perhaps abrupt, shifts between scenes with the fantastic blending between the everyday similar to the progression of a dream. I can see how some may not like this style of writing. It took me a few chapters to really be really drawn in, and I ended up really enjoying the style.

What I loved most about this book and what I thought was the most well done was the interweaving of the mythology of the Nahua people into the story. The author also uses Nahuatl and Spanish words throughout with quick definitions so the reader is not pulled out of the story.

A word on Leonora, she is certainly a flawed character. While she is loyal and wants to serve, she is also often quick to anger and impulsive in her actions. She did grow, especially near the end of the story, though I would have liked to see a bit more detail or explanation with this.

Overall, I found this to be an excellent blend of fantasy, mythology, and history.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an eARC of this book. All expressed opinions are my own.

I usually have a hard time getting into historical fiction and coupled with mythology, this book was not a fit for me. The pacing seemed off and slight overload on various characters and story elements.

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review/feedback.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 stars.

Sun of Blood and Ruin is a Zorro retelling where Zorro is a noblewoman who can turn into a panther in an alternate universe version of New Spain/post-colonization Mexico. Leonora de Las Casas Tlazohtzin is promised to the heir of the Spanish throne but is a vigilante by night, and in addition to being a sorceress, she is prophesied to die young in battle. Ultimately, this is a coming of age story that also deals with colonialism, and there’s a lot of neat magic and mythology woven throughout.

I thought the premise of this was really interesting and I greatly enjoy non-European fantasy, so I was eager to read this (and it’s also a speculated book box pick). Despite some hiccups, I did ultimately enjoy this! Lares has written a fast-paced novel that I found easy to read and to sink into and did an excellent job weaving Mesoamerican mythology into the story and worldbuilding. I liked Lares’ characters (I really liked the supporting cast!) and I really enjoyed her descriptions of demons and other mythical beings. It was easy for me to understand unfamiliar terms (or, at the very least, to visualize them—I’m only tangentially familiar with Mesoamerican mythology but I think Lares did a good job at making sure I didn’t feel lost at sea).

While the book moves fast in general, I think the first half is a bit muddled and the second half is markedly better; I thought it felt a little more cohesive than the first half. This is written in first person present tense, and while I think that first person makes sense for the story Lares wants to tell, the present tense ended up making the novel feel like it lacked some depth and perspective, and thus it read a little younger than I’d been expecting. I liked Leonora a lot, but she is fairly rash and it’s clear this is a coming of age story—she’s still working out the kinks in her understanding of her personhood. I actually liked this, but it wasn’t quite what I expected and did contribute to it reading more in the nebulous space of new adult to me. The romance was middling and I didn’t really care for it either way, but there’s so much else going on that I think it’s fine, and I do wonder if and how it will be further developed in the future.

Ultimately I had fun and enjoyed myself while reading, and I look forward to seeing how Lares’ writing career progresses. Sun of Blood and Ruin had a lot of fun bits for me to toss around in my head and I loved the way she incorporated Mesoamerican mythology into her story, which was a real highlight for me. There’s some aspects of this that didn’t quite work for me, but it’s a good debut and I think it’s worth a read.

I know that I'm in for a great read when I see Swashbuckling, fantasy, magic and romance all in the description. I love all of that! Blame it on the princess bride and the three musketeers. I love a good sword playing dramatic fantasy. This book was absolutely enchanting. I just couldn't get enough of it and I absolutely loved it. I cannot wait for the next book in the series!!
I just reviewed Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares. #SunofBloodandRuin #NetGalley
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Thanks to publishers Avon and Harper Voyager and Netgalley for access to the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was delighted to enter the magical world of sixteenth century New Spain. Only a few decades after the conquest by Hernan Cortes, society suffers from an epidemic, political unrest, and the continual clash of cultures and beliefs. Our heroine Leonora sweeps in to save the day as a Zorro-inspired masked defender of the people. But her personal life is complicated. Her icy stepmother is forcing her into an arranged marriage. As a mestizo with mixed ethnicity, she struggles to belong in a society divided culturally and politically by the Spaniard conquerors and the indigenous population. Even her fabulous second life as her alter ego brings her danger and worry over inadequacy. The countdown to her wedding day begins, and the rumblings of war between the Spanish overlords and the mountain rebellion grow louder.

Steeped in Mesoamerican mythology, this fantasy feels very different than the average fantasy book you will pick up. You will need to refer to the glossary if you want to closely follow the story and understand the details. Because although the storytelling execution remains fairly straightforward, the author frequently includes culture/mythology-specific terms without explanation beyond the initial.

What prevented me from loving this story was the chaotic delivery of story and lack of structure. I was never bored while reading. However, too many conflicts and too many enemies popped up. It wasn’t difficult to understand, but the overload of those elements made me weary and prevented momentous events and reveals from packing the pull punch.

4.25 stars

Sun of Blood and Ruin is an intriguing Mesoamerican inspired historical fantasy that explores the themes of belonging, freedom, and oppression. It's set in sixteenth century New Spain (colonized Mexico)and pitched as a gender-swapped retelling of Zorro.

Leonora de las Casas Tlazohtzin is the viceroy's sister of nobility in New Spain, but she carries a secret identity. She is a Nagual, a sorceress that uses magic to shift into her other form and wield superior strength, speed, and senses. As her hidden identity, Pantera, she fights against Spaniards and their injustices against the indigenous. However, Leonara is engaged to marry the Crown Prince of Spain and has to decide between fighting as the Pantera, or choosing her noble life.

The world building is immersive and I found the setting very rich. It is very inspired by actual historical events, mythology, and indigenous culture. I personally do have knowledge of this time period, with the colonization of South and Central America and the mythology, which I think helped me with picking up the world-building. It does feel a bit info-dumping at times, with Leonara switching between the present and the past as she was training. Overall, I felt that the ongoing explanations and just the extensiveness of the world-building was something I really enjoyed.

The characters themselves were complex, their motivations made sense, and they were flawed. Leonara struggles with her identify and knowing where she belongs. Her brother that she loves dearly is the Viceroy of New Spain, which is the helm of the colonizers that are subjugating the indigenous. But she also shares a connection with the indigenous on her mother's side and spends ten years living with them and learning their culture. As a mestizo, she has a foot in both worlds and trying to consolidate that is one of her biggest struggles throughout the book.

The main drawback and thing I didn't like was the pacing. The plot also felt very full to me. The first 50% of the book I really enjoyed and there was a central idea and plot that was moving forwards. It builds up into a climax of a big battle, but then there's another 50% to go. In that time, there was so much going on it was hard to pick up on the reveals and the book felt very full. I do wish this was split up into the sequel or more books.

The highlights of this book were the characters and the overall world and history weaved into the story. I thoroughly enjoyed it despite those flaws, and I will pick up the next!

Thank you to Avon Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley, as well as the publishers for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, this book felt like it was a Zorro retelling. Period. I struggled a little bit with the pacing, but it was still an enjoyable read. If you grew up watching Zorro like I did, I personally feel you will like this book.

Sun of Blood and Ruin by debut author Mariely Lares is a gender-swapped Zorro retelling set in sixteenth-century New Spain (present-day Mexico). To most around her, Leonora is a member of the viceroyalty in New Spain, sharp-tongued at times, but by outward appearances, settled in her role nonetheless. Leonora's other role is that of the masked shape-shifting sorceress, Pantera, who uses magic and shape-shifting to fight against tyrannical Spanish rule.

I was super excited about this book. I love retellings, especially those with a feminist twist, I love historical fiction that reexamines the dominant historical narrative to shine a light on oppression and exploitation, and I love books that weave together historical events with magical or fantastical elements. Add all that together and set it in sixteenth-century Mexico and I couldn't wait to get my hands on this one. Unfortunately, despite a promising premise and some great elements, this ultimately didn't come together for me.

What I liked: Aside from the compelling premise, I also really appreciated the depth of information that Lares included about indigenous beliefs and practices that added depth to the magic elements. I also thought the second half of the book was very compelling, once Leonora sets off on what I'll call the quest portion of the novel. Lares was able to write some very engrossing battle scenes and flesh out Leonora's character in ways that she hadn't quite done during the first half. The quality of writing was also really great-- there were many times where I thought to myself, "Oh, that was beautifully put," or "I like the way she said that."

What didn't work for me: The first half of the book was really difficult for me to get through. I think part of it was a pacing issue-- we are thrown in and then it takes a while for the book to strike the right balance between moving the plot forward and giving us the background and context we need to be invested in that plot-- and another issue was that I didn't get a great sense of many of the characters until that second half, so I wasn't really bought into what was motivating anyone or feel really invested in the story until the back half of the novel.

Despite these issues, there was a lot of cool stuff happening in this book, especially once it got its legs under it, and I would still recommend checking it out if you like retellings, feminist historical fiction, or fantasy books grounded in historical reality. Sun of Blood and Ruin comes out in November.

3.25 out of 5 stars

**Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares was one of my most anticipated books and it was such a fun read. It was definitely not a perfect read but overall, I enjoyed it. Some of the things that I did not like about this book was the pacing and the story structure. I felt like it was all over the place and it didn't take a little bit of time to explain what was going on. It's definitely one of those reads where you figure it out as it goes. My main issue with this book was that you have moments where one thing is happening and then a sentence later something completely different was happening and there was no explanation or showing how it ended up where it was. There's literally a scene where all these important people are at some fancy dinner event and the next sentence you're thrown into a scene where the castle has been invaded and there's fighting happening and it's apparently been going on for a while.

Overall, I enjoyed the story but I definitely felt it needed to be smoothed out a little bit.

This fantasy debut is one to look out for! I really enjoyed it, although, as with I think most fantasy debuts that I've read this year, I do have some drawbacks as well that kept me from rating this one five stars.

What I enjoyed: the world here is super complex, and I'm not even sure that this book explores the full scope of that, but the magic and worldbuilding have so many potential places to go, and you can absolutely see the amount of work that Lares put into developing these ideas and layering her world so that it feels real and lived in, and not like just a barebones fantasy world.

I also really loved the characters here: they are all flawed but have such fascinating motivations, some of which aren't revealed fully until the book is almost over. They never feel like caricatures, and as with the worldbuilding and magic, it feels like sequels will have so many interesting places to go with what Lares has set up here.

What I didn't love: This book had soooo much going on. In some ways, it was almost too much, and yet I don't think it was the length of the book that was a problem. I just really had a hard time following some of the various reveals, the speed with which characters traveled between (seemingly?) distant places, and the changing character dynamics.

My biggest wish for a sequel would be to decrease the amount that Lares feels she needs in the book and to allow for more quiet character building moments in the narrative, to balance the pacing and character development just a bit.

I still think this is a super promising debut, and I'm excited to see what comes next!

This book promised me a gender bent Zorro but make it indigenous representation and it gave me that.
Witty, uplifting and incredibly well written; Sun of Blood and Ruin takes the reader on a journey that while quick paced and generally light hearted remains largely powerful.
Historical Mexican back drop (think 1550's), tyranny and shape shifting surprisingly come together on page to form a lush poetic novel full to the absolute brim with gorgeous scenes, indigenous iconography, and feminist flare.

When I first read the book blurb of Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares I was extremely excited. My knowledge of Mesoamerican mythology and the historical events surrounding the Spanish colonization in South America is rather limited, thus making this novel a promising avenue for discovery. Additionally, I had yet to encounter a reimagining of the legendary character Zorro in my reading endeavors. However, as I delved into the pages of Blood and Ruin, I gradually realized that the book failed to meet my expectations. I do understand Mariely Lares is a debut author, and my intention is not to dissuade her from writing but to provide constructive criticism. I really tried my best to keep on reading but at around 30% into the book I lost all interest and decided to put it down for good. Therefore my review is based on what I encountered in that portion of the book.

Foremost, I must acknowledge and appreciate Lares' endeavor to illuminate the realm of Mesoamerican mythology and to initiate discussions regarding the profound impact of colonization on a nation. I found great pleasure in immersing myself in the portrayal of diverse deities and the exploration of various customs indigenous to South America.

However, I found the world building to be severely lacking. The quality of the writing did not align with my anticipated standards. The dialogue felt disjointed and lacked conviction. The chemistry between the romantic leads was tepid at best. Moreover, the narrative progression felt peculiar, and up to the point where I stopped reading, I struggled to discern a coherent plot. Magic system wasn't cohesive either.

In my review on my blog and Goodreads, I will omit the following points for the sake of maintaining a balanced and constructive critique and avoid spoilers. These specific points are intended exclusively for the publishing team's internal consideration to elucidate my observations regarding the book's deficiencies in particular aspects.

In the opening chapter, Leonara makes a solemn vow to relay Senor Alonso's final words to his son before his unfortunate capture and subsequent beheading. Despite the poignant nature of these scenes, I noticed a notable absence of Leonara fulfilling her promise by sharing Miguel's father's last words or offering him solace in his time of grief. This was particularly disappointing since it presented a missed opportunity to convincingly establish Pantera as a dependable and resilient character, capable of providing assistance to those in need. Furthermore, the inclusion of Pantera during the beheading event seemed to lack a significant purpose, if anything, it appeared to hasten the execution process without substantial narrative impact.

Additionally, I was unable to find substantial evidence to support the notion that Pantera, as portrayed by the author, was a formidable and awe-inspiring vigilante who selflessly aided those in distress. Despite the author's claims of her extensive ten-year training in the jungle, Pantera's actions seemed rather inept, inexperienced, and lacking in knowledge. This portrayal left me with the impression that she was somewhat clumsy, naive, and ignorant, failing to fulfill the expectations set by her character's background and purported abilities.

Furthermore, I found myself perplexed by the need for Leonara to consistently portray herself as a helpless "damsel in distress" whenever she assumed the role of the princess. This exaggerated behavior appeared excessively theatrical and failed to convince me as a reader. Additionally, it seemed as though she deliberately set Prince Filipe up for failure while simultaneously criticizing him for attempting to act chivalrous in response to her distress. This contradictory behavior struck me as highly hypocritical on Leonara's part.

Also let's talk about her first encounter with The Pirate or Andres. It struck me as rather peculiar that a mere suggestive remark from him was enough to make her blush, especially considering the fact that he had just callously stolen her most prized possession, the medallion bestowed upon her by her father, right before her very eyes. Given the gravity of the situation, I found her response to be questionable, as it seemed incongruous to react with a blush instead of anger, betrayal, or a sense of urgency to retrieve what had been taken from her.

Moreover I didn't understand why Leonara chose not to expose Andre to the military once she discovered his infiltration. There seemed to be no compelling reason for her to withhold this information, especially considering that he was unaware of her secret identity as Pantera.

It seemed evident that Lares aimed to highlight the limited opportunities for women to advance, even if they held the position of a princess. However, during the crucial moment when Leonara had a chance to showcase her intelligence and capability in making challenging decisions for the betterment of the people, she instead embarked on a tangent about a prophecy and her strained relationship with her stepmother. This diversion detracted from the council's primary focus of addressing the victims of the earthquake and quelling the rebellion from the rebels. It was a missed opportunity for Leonara to provide valuable insights and contribute to meaningful discussions on pressing matters. This narrative choice appeared to prioritize personal grievances over the urgent needs of the kingdom and left me questioning the effectiveness of her leadership abilities in critical situations.

These were among the significant flaws I encountered, along with various other minor issues, during my reading of the book. Based on these observations, I have decided to give a two-star rating. It is worth noting that I appreciate Mariely Lares' efforts as a debut author to bring attention to Mesoamerican culture and mythology within the realm of literature. I extend my sincere gratitude to NetGalley, Avon, Harper Voyager, and Mariely Lares for providing me with an advance copy of Sun of Blood and Ruin.

”I knew, when I decided to don the mask of Pantera, that this wasn’t going to be easy. To pretend to have an interest in this life, in these Christians and their god, in the dull chat of courtiers who don’t know the world outside their walls. The games they play. For position. For power. For influence.”

Honestly, I’m really disappointed with this book. I had decently high expectations after reading the synopsis and seeing the gorgeous cover (I know, don’t judge a book by its cover…) but they were crushed almost immediately. Right off the bat, I had multiple issues with the book and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to finish. It took me over a week to read this and honestly, put me into a bit of a reading slump. I had devoured so many books before this one and then this ruined the streak I had going—and that’s <i>not</i> what I like to get out of reading a book.

I have a lot to say, but I’ll start off by saying that the second half of the book was a million times better than the first half. Though most of the issues I had with this book were consistent throughout the entire story, the overall flow and storytelling was much improved and easier to digest in the second half. Honestly, I was quite lost until the second half, and that was when I was able to start distinguishing characters and plot pieces. Before that, I could hardly pick out specific chronological events. I even tried going back after initially finishing the book to see if the first half was better with my new knowledge, but to my disappointment it stayed the same flat story that I could hardly follow.

The biggest issue with the first half of the book was how we just dove in with no explanation. Now, I’m not knowledgeable at all on indigenous Mexican cultures and religion; I only recognized two of the many well-known names from folklore and mythology. However, I think that for a book that is marketed to a wider audience, it should be explained. Not everyone has the knowledge going into a book, and it’s kind of inconvenient to read a book where it just never explains things well. The explanations themselves I had an issue with too; they always began out of nowhere, almost switching writing styles. It sounded like it was copied and pasted out of a textbook and into this book, before it went back to the actual story. It was these massive paragraphs of over-explaining sprinkled throughout the book, which made the writing as a whole seem really choppy and hard to follow.

There is a glossary included at the end of the book, but I didn’t find it all that helpful. While it did its job and provided definitions for words the audience might not know, that wasn’t enough. I needed more than a glossary with a few words and badly placed chunks of explanations. It was there, I just wish it was done better. It felt like a very sloppy, lazy job at trying to explain to the audience what the writer already knew.

However, something that I was really feeling conflicted about, was the dialogue.

On its own, I don’t like the dialogue in this book at all. It feels unnatural, like the characters are all reading from a script. But for some reason, paired with the story, it works, and I find it a lot more readable. I only realized how weird the dialogue was on its own when there were parts of only back-and-forth talking between characters.

I felt even more conflicted when I realized that there was a bad imbalance between dialogue and description, and for some reason we could not have both at the same time. It was either ten pages of in-depth description, explanation and history, or ten pages of back and forth rapid dialogue. This also contributed to the choppy feeling of the writing as a whole.

My last criticism has to be the characters themselves. I could not differentiate between 99% of them until the latter half of the book, and even then I didn’t really understand anyone’s importance. They all seemed so two-dimensional and unmemorable, even the main characters. Like I said, it got better towards the end, but it was a massive struggle to even remember who was who for a majority of the book.

On the brighter side, there were a few parts that I thoroughly enjoyed. The mythology was super cool, and I really liked all the mythological creatures that made appearances. Here, the descriptions and imagery was phenomenal, and I felt like I could really picture them in my mind as I was reading. I also liked the idea of the book; the retelling of a female Zorro. I think that retellings can either be really good or really bad, and unfortunately even though I liked the idea, the execution came short. But I still really liked the idea and the premise.

There was also a good amount of world building in this book, which was helpful in the second half when most of this took place. The descriptions of the physical setting were the most helpful here. The world building was not perfect, but it was enough. My issue with it has to do with a lot of the overarching problems I had with this story; it was just way too choppy and unnatural. It was the same random chunks of description, but this time instead of some historical explanation from a textbook it’s just made-up fantasy explanations. So, not that great. But I really appreciated the efforts, and it was partially successful.

Lastly, my favorite part of this book was the action writing. The final battle at the end of the book was so well written and I was just wondering where this was for the first three quarters of the book! The battle came to life before my eyes and I could picture everything that was happening. It was beautifully done and it makes me a little sad to know that the entire book could have been written like this!

Overall, this book was not my favorite. I have to be completely honest and just say that. However, I was pleasantly surprised by certain aspects of the book, and I am sure that there is a big audience for this story. It just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Netgalley, Avon and Harper, and Mariely Lares for the ARC!

This feels new and exciting in the crowded field of fantasy today. The setting is intriguing and should resonate with others. I did find the book more YA than adult.

From the first paragraph, this felt like YA. It doesn't feel like it has the crossover potential. We don't have a lot of YA visitors. I stopped after chapter 1, but I can see it going over really well for high schoolers and maybe even middle grade.

GORGEOUS cover. Absolutely stunning.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC.

I had high expectations. "Indigenous retelling of Zorro" will do that. In many ways, this was an enjoyable read! I think my biggest issue was generally that this was pitched as adult fiction but read much more like YA, maybe even middle grade. It tried to be romance, but mostly failed at both steam and emotional drama. It does a lot of things mostly well but nothing so well that I was blown away.

Characters were juvenille at times, and pacing was thrown to the pigs at a few points to the extent that the decisions characters make seem incredibly rushed. Lots of emotional beats and dramatic reveals occur, but somehow none of them have... pizzaz? Impact? A character that I really cared about straight up dies. I should have given more of a shit but instead the story kind of just... carried on and blew past the emotional tolls involved with that.

Characters... for lack of literally any better way to describe this... act like sims. They turn on a dime and make decisions that are clearly just to advance the plot from point A to B. Despite being first person we don't get any additional insight into character motivation.

The writing style will suddently get very Shakespearean when Big Important Things happen but that took me out of the more contemprary prose of the rest of the book.

I'm still giving it 4 stars for multiple reasons that I would argue are redeeming.

1. The engagment with Nahua mythology is ASTOUNDING and SO well done. If you know nothing about this mythos, you will be rapt with ample explanation. If you do there are fun nods.
2. Indigenous tribal solidarity to overcome Spanish colonization? Hell yeah
3. Own voices works are so important. Maybe other kids will read this and see themselves for the first time and that has immense value
4. Queer rep sure is in there

All in all a good time

A re-imagining of the zorro tale/myth. It was a light, quick adventure, and was a good read; nothing spectacular, but I was thankful to have received an ARC as it might not have been one I picked up otherwise.

thank you netgalley for the arc !

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ 2.5/5 stars *ੈ✩‧₊˚

read if you like:
♡ gender-bent zorro retelling
♡ badass vigilante sorceress
♡ backdrop of 1550’s mexico
♡ shape-shifting
♡ mesoamerican mythology

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ sun of blood and ruin is a sumptuous feast of mesoamercian mythology, set against a backdrop of mexico two decades post-spanish conquest and shot through with sorcery, political intrigue and romance. a debut ambitious in its compass, mariely lares is indubitably working within her wheelhouse with this historical fiction fantasy novel.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ tyranny rules with an iron fist in sixteenth-century new spain as indigenous religion is brutally overturned, a rich mythology dwindles into obscurity, and the people are accused of witchcraft without due process - a condemnation of death in all but name. into the fray enter masked vigilante sorceress pantera, who wields the outlawed sorcery tonalli and her sword in an act of defiance and to protect the innocents persecuted indomitably by the spanish powers that be. as for who is behind that mask? it is none other than the lady leonora de las casas tlazohtzin, the most unlikely suspect in the eyes of the world - a lady who can hardly countenance merely leaving the palace and who has only just entered into an engagement with the recently widowed heir to the spanish throne prince felipe. with a prophecy foretelling boundless destruction and a cruel curse of her own - pronounced during her baptism - to die young in a battle all cresting overhead, leonora will be swept away in the undertow no matter what. to her, this matters not. she will fight to the bitter end, even if that spells an untimely grave for herself.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ for all my commendations on the beauty of this book, wherein we traverse this tapestry of rich mesoamerican culture, history and myth, the likes of which fantasy has rarely, if ever, had within its purview - this failed to measure up to my expectations. the suspense, the characters, the pacing even, were all very tepid once you look past the brilliance of the aforementioned. in vain i struggled to connect to leonora who whilst being interesting in that she’s a gender-bent zorro, failed to appeal to me and her character, though a tried and true archetype of fantasy heroine - is just that. her thorny, lip-curl comments and badass sorcery/weapon toting are all deployed in the service of dissembling the fact that there’s nothing much to her. it’s a process not unlike covering a gushing mortal wound with a tiny hello kitty plaster. incidentally, inés bore more intrigue about her and left me with a deep appreciation for her character.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ conclusion:
on a more positive note, lares’s admirably lush writing still succeeds in breathing life into such a gorgeous mythology and sun of blood and ruin absolutely does it justice. it’s only when you attempt to peel back this surface beauty that you recognize there is a hollowness in its construction, in a manner of speaking. nonetheless, i think it’s so vital and historic that writers such as lares are expanding the range of cultural influences within the realm of fantasy.