”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.

I'd like to thank the publisher, NetGalley, and the author for allowing me to read this book.

I had this book on my list of books to read for the year, excited for its release. A female Zorro-type character? Hidden identity? Gimme. I quickly dove into it.

After reading just one chapter, I knew this book and I were going to have issues. I'm one of those readers that can picture a book in their head - like a film. So, if the movie is interesting, flows well, has a good focus (or main character) I'll keep with it until the end. In this? Well, none of that was really happening. The main character was just really boring. Even with the added magic aspect / changing into a panther, that should have gotten me hooked even more?

No. The author kind of sprinkles throughout the book the character thinking about her training with her previous mentor, who is MIA / dead / etc. I honestly didn't care. We're being told / shown glimpses of conversations they had about her powers, who she is ... and all I kept thinking of is, why should I care? There is little to no magic lore / build up besides the fact that the girl apparently gets these powers from her gods. Great. Tell me more about that? Make me understand / accept the world we live in. There is none of that. It's like the author wanted to write a story about a female Zorro character that can shape shift into a panther and not really give good world building to go along with it. Make me understand the depth of what she is in by giving me a world that needs her. Because frankly, I don't understand exactly WHY they need her.

I made it 50% through this book before closing it. The male love interest I felt was bland, and he appeared to have a hidden agenda. He was working for the enemy (the Captain that her secret identity runs into a lot) and he has magical powers which he apparently doesn't know why he has them. ... Again, I don't quite understand why they have these powers either. This is apparently an AU Spain? This isn't like we're in the world of now and it's the Avengers and mutants are real and we just 'accept it'. Explain to me, please, why we have these powers in the world and why no one knows of them but yet they exist. Show me there are other people with these powers. Show me a threat that should make me care.

I believe there could have been a really good book in here, but maybe it would require a more balanced blend of historical and fantasy. I don't know what this is, and it's a shame.