The Sunbearer Trials - Blog Posts

Teo :)

Pride month art 4/10

Also I will be doing the rest of my pride month art even if it’s late :’)

Afterwards I might not post any actual fully done art for a bit, I’m hoping to do an art study for the next few months or till I’m happy with my skill level :)) though I’ll probably post some of the art study stuff

Some old-ish fanart of Teo from the Sunbearer Trials :)

I have no idea how old your book rant post is, but here I am, about to be your problem

I HATED THE SUNBEARER TRIALS

Yeah, okay cool, it’s a book with a trans author and trans main character. EVERYTHING ELSE WAS TRASH

It starts off great, with the MC graffitiing (spelling???) a wall with two birds and then he never does anything interesting again in favor of pining over/think about/hate a guy from his childhood that was mean to him once ten years ago. Before you go thinking the MC’s hatred of him is justified, just know all that is because the guy pulled a mean girls and said YOU CANT SIT WITH US a literal decade ago.

His best friend is a part of a group he hates, but it’s okay because she’s one of the good ones

And now: The cardinal sin

THIS BOOK IS MARKETED AS PERCY JACKSON MEETS THE HUNGER GAMES YET HAS NO CHARACTER DEATHS AT ALL AND SAYS **** IN THE FIRST LINE

WHO IS THIS FOR????????

I adore Hunger Games, but I mean it when I say that if I could travel back in time to stop those books from ever being published, I would do it in a heartbeat just so I would never have to see a book marketed as "X meets Hunger Games" ever again.

If you put even the slightest hint of competition in a YA or YA-adjacent book, it gets called Hunger Games. I could write a full rip-off of Bring It On, but the competition element would guarantee that it would be marketed as an HG style book.

The same thing happens with Mean Girls. Does your book have teenage or early 20s girls being in proximity to each other? Well it's Mean Girls now.

And it's really not doing these books any favors. Cause people pick them up expecting something in line with the brutality and messaging of HG, and end up disappointed as hell when that's not what they get.

I think publishing houses might actually be my mortal enemy

⬆️ Me fighting publishers for all the bs they pull (especially Red Tower - hate them)

Just finished The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas and... What the fuck? What was the reason? This book broke me in a way I didn't even know existed. I don't know what to say except "What the fuck?"

difference between bf and bsf i guess 😭😭

Teo: *applying chapstick*

Aurelio: what flavor is that

Teo: oh, it's guava

Aurelio: can I try it

Teo: *hands over chapstick* sure

Aurelio: *kisses Teo*

Aurelio: holy shit it does

Teo: *has stopped functioning*

Or alternatively

Teo: *applying chapstick*

Niya: what flavor is that

Teo: oh, it's guava

Niya: can I try it

Teo: *hands over chapstick* sure

Niya: *takes a bite out of it*

Niya: holy shit it does

Teo: What the fuck

finished the first book tn and can’t get my hands on the second soon enough thanks tumblr for keeping me fed while im waiting

Yeah, hey Aiden? This is a shockingly good representation of this aspect of the book. Fuck you.

My favourite books I read in 2023

Elektra - Jennifer Saint

The Sunbearer Trials (The Sunbearer Duology #2) - Aiden Thomas

No Longer Human - Osamu Dazai

If We Were Villains - M. L. Rio

Dead Poets Society - N. H. Kleinbaum

Heaven - Mieko Kawakami

Title: The Sunbearer Trials (The Sunbearer Duology #1)

Author: Aiden Thomas

Page length: 352

Synopsis: The Hunger Games meets Percy Jackson in this electric Mexican-inspired fantasy from Aiden Thomas, the New York Times-bestselling author of Cemetery Boys.

As each new decade begins, the Sun’s power must be replenished so that Sol can keep traveling along the sky and keep the evil Obsidian gods at bay. Ten semidioses between the ages of thirteen and eighteen are selected by Sol himself as the most worthy to compete in The Sunbearer Trials. The winner carries light and life to all the temples of Reino del Sol, but the loser has the greatest honor of all―they will be sacrificed to Sol, their body used to fuel the Sun Stones that will protect the people of Reino del Sol for the next ten years. Teo, a 17-year-old Jade semidiós and the trans son of Quetzal, goddess of birds, has never worried about the Trials…or rather, he’s only worried for others. His best friend Niya―daughter of Tierra, the god of earth―is one of the strongest heroes of their generation and is much too likely to be chosen this year. He also can’t help but worry (reluctantly, and under protest) for Aurelio, a powerful Gold semidiós and Teo’s friend-turned-rival who is a shoo-in for the Trials. Teo wouldn’t mind taking Aurelio down a notch or two, but a one-in-ten chance of death is a bit too close for Teo’s taste. But then, for the first time in over a century, Sol chooses a semidiós who isn’t a Gold. In fact, he chooses two: Xio, the 13-year-old child of Mala Suerte, god of bad luck, and…Teo. Now they must compete in five mysterious trials, against opponents who are both more powerful and better trained, for fame, glory, and their own survival.

my two favorite bird people

Skipped ahead so I didn’t lose the idea lol

It’s rlly bad but it’s supposed to be atzi when she blasted teo out of the sky in the first trial.

Stop

"he hadn't noticed how Aurelio's body heat had been keeping him warm until it was gone"

what if that line came back a second time in the next book, but it's after Aurelio dies