Sub-genre: Historical Fantasy
Features: Colonialism, Indigenous Characters (Main), First Person POV, Mesoamerican Mythology, Secret Identity, Shapeshifting, Single POV, Zorro Retelling
Series Length: 1+ books

Set in 1500's Mexico, a young woman fights to protect her people from injustice. By day, she is the mestiza noblewoman, Leonora; by night, she is Pantera, the masked vigilante. Leonora must come to terms with the opposing sides of herself, and face a threat even greater than the Spanish conquistadors - a threat to the world itself.

I will break down this review into world-building, characters, romance, and plot.

World-Building:

When I think of colonialism, I don't think of Spain first. Even though I intellectually know Spain colonized much of Latin America, I didn't truly understand - until reading Sun of Blood and Ruin. Lares' powerful world-building brings colonized Mexico to life, showing Spanish as the language of oppression, and religion as a weapon against the people.

Despite Spain's oppressive rule, Lares illustrates how indigenous people retained their cultural identity and autonomy. Some resist openly, while others, like Leonora, struggle with their place in New Spain.

Though Lares establishes the environment well, I got lost with the gods. Through Leonora's eyes, we learn about the Nahua myths and customs; knowing only a little about Mexica (Aztec) myth, the many names and references overwhelmed me. Instead of showing things through story, Lares defaults to explaining through Leonora.

It may have helped to simplify. Lares obviously knows a huge amount about Mexican history and mythology, and excitedly loads it into the book. Focusing more closely on fewer things would have made the world more digestible.

On the other hand, we get front-row seats to tonalli - the life-force magic used by Leonora. Simple yet exciting, Lares shows us plenty of whirling, earth-shaking magic.

Characters:

I felt lukewarm about Leonora. Her main character trait is Being Angry, and she consistently makes reckless choices. This does not seem like an intentional flaw, and does not improve much throughout the book.

Perhaps because of where the story starts, Leonora feels simultaneously complicated and superficial. From page one, she's already a vigilante folk hero, an accomplished swordsman, and a sorcerer; how does the reader relate? What exactly are her struggles?

Exposition tells us that 10 years ago, she disappeared into the jungle, and was taught magic and swordsmanship by the gods. What an exciting place to start! We could learn magic and meet the gods alongside Leonora, instead of learning about her very-interesting past through not-so-interesting explanations.

The other characters also feel unfortunately flat, with some exceptions. To keep this spoiler-free, I will not give specifics, but two characters are initially set up as antagonists, and later reveal exciting depths.

Romance:

Leonora's love interest, Andres/Tezca, introduces himself by stealing her medallion. From there, they are at odds for most of the book - but they also want to smooch, of course. The narrative doesn't develop this subplot much; they are attracted to each other because, without any scenes deepening their connection.

Plot:

The plot is... rough. Like with Leonora's character, there is too much happening. In the first few pages, Leonora - vigilante/swordsman/sorcerer/shapeshifter - gets shot, incapacitating her for the first 30% of the book. From there, she gets engaged to the prince of Spain, her ship gets blown up, she plays politics against her step-mother, she loses her magic sword, and gives up being a hero. Oh, and the world might be ending. The pacing gave me whiplash, and bored me at the same time. I wanted to see Leonora do heroic things; instead, she spends many pages arguing with Spanish politicians.

This improves dramatically in the second half of the book, when the story commits to fantasy adventure instead of political intrigue. We go into the jungle to help the native resistance against Spain. The world really comes to life here, intertwining history and myth.

In Sun of Blood and Ruin, Lares has really cool ideas, but tried to cram too much into one book. New ideas were still being introduced in the final chapters. Several times, Leonora responds to information with revelation, but has to explain it's significance to the reader. Overall, the book lacks cohesion, never fully allowing the reader to participate.

Other Thoughts:

I listened to Sun of Blood and Ruin on audiobook, narrated by Victoria Villareal. This phenomenal audio narration carried the book for me; I kept listening just so I could hear Villareal read. This helped tremendously with pronunciation; unless you speak Spanish and Nahuatl, I highly recommend the audiobook.

Conclusion:

As Lares' debut novel, Sun of Blood and Ruin demonstrates imaginative ideas and depth of research. With more experience, I believe Lares will craft some brilliant stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the ARC. Sun of Blood and Ruin published on February 20th, 2024.

I wanted to love Sun of Blood and Ruin so much, but it was rather meh. I was expecting a much more badass FMC and more high-level political scheming, but it all felt rather basic. The best part was the Mesoamerican folklore and mythology. That made this fantasy feel fresh and new. But aside from that, this book wandered with too many story elements to carry a cohesive plot. It felt like the back half of the book was a retelling of the first, just with different enemies and different powers. I enjoyed the love interest, even if he wasn't anything we hadn't read before. I don't know, I really wanted to like this one.

The world building of this story was so incredibly well done & used some unique mythology native to the Americas (specifically what is now Mexico). This story also interweaves the history of colonialism in the area & discusses important themes related to the history of this area & Spain’s actions that forced native people out of their homes and to abandon their belief systems. I also felt like the main character Leonora is really well done as her journey to help her people also becomes a journey of self discovery. I am so excited to see what the author does with this series next since this is only book one!

Genre: YA historical fantasy
New Spain (Mexico), 16th century

The old gods of the Mexican people are starting to lose footing as the Spaniards force Catholic conversion on the indigenous population. A young woman named Leonora, sister of the Viceroy of New Spain, is also Pantera, the Panther, a masked fighter who protects the indigenous peoples. As Leonora, she's been baptized twice and attends mass. As Pantera, she respects the old gods and listens to the prophecies... she is, after all, an actual panther shifter. This is the start of her tale as a fighter to maintain the balance, to fight against the injustice of the Spanish colonists, and stave off the destruction of the universe that comes with the Fifth Sun.

When reading this with my eyes, I DNFed on page 5. First person present tense is very difficult for me to read that way, and I found the writing inaccessible. So I waited patiently for the audiobook from the library, and was very invested. The narration helped me connect with Lares's writing. Honestly, I also just love listening to Spanish in my ears these days (especially as I start to understand more of it).

Sun of Blood and Ruin struggles a bit with pacing, but the audiobook really helped me get past that. There were also a lot of characters to keep track of, some of whom have multiple names and identities, but again, once you settle into the narrative, that makes sense. The romance is very slow burn, but satisfying for a YA book. There’s some interesting play with concepts of dualism, especially related to the magic system, deeply rooted in the indigenous religion.

I’m really glad I gave this book a second chance. It’s pitched as a spin on Zorro - a masked vigilante from the upper class defending Mexico against Spain - and it does that well. It’s not packed with adventure, but there is still plenty of action.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC! I am very grateful and happy to explore everything this author will write in the future as well!

I really enjoyed this book. I'm a big fan of fantasy and I love that this took fantasy and blended it with Aztec history and legend. Our MC was interesting and I liked that she wasn't automatically perfect at everything. I also appreciated that while there were romance elements in this book, that wasn't the primary focus. It was just the right sprinkling of romance to keep things interesting.

First, I`d like to say that if I could give this book a 3.5, I would, but half stars aren't a thing on here, so i decided to round up. Sun of Blood and Ruin is a 16th-century fantasy gender bent Zorro retelling containing mesoamerican mytholegy. As a girl who fell in love with Zorro movies as a kid heard gender bent Zorro retelling and I was in, but i was disapoted a little this started strong and the the pacing was inconsistant but the second half did pick up and i was right in again. if your into the idea of a fantasy Zorro taking this is worth the read.
Thank You to Netgalley and Harper Voyager

I can't even begin to express how much I LOVED this book. The world was so lush and richly drawn. The mythology was amazing. Pantera is a hero for the ages. Need book two now!

Was immediately drawn in by the premise being sixteenth century Mexico and colonization via Spain. The fantastical abilities of the characters were exciting and I was excited to read a fantasy/mythology not based on white cultures. Overall it was a solid read, I didn’t have the easiest time connecting to the characters but the world itself was fresh and exciting!

this book was utterly captivating from start to finish I really enjoyed the spirit of it and I cant wait to read more from this author

2.75, rounded up to a 3

sun of blood and ruin is the story of leonora and her vigilante persona pantera through times of tragedy, ruin, and evil. leonora loses a lot of fights and friends but she stands up, with magic courses in her veins, to spanish tyranny and the end of the world.

this book had a LOT of things going for it:
the INCREDIBLE premise of the story itself, i mean a fantasy zorro fighting against colonial rule? sign me up!

the world-building is one of this book's MAIN attractions, it is so rich and decadent and it is clear that mariely lares has put her effort into this atmosphere because every single aspect is incredibly detailed--it does get a little headspinny as fantasy exposition does with a lot of new words and little explanation but once settled, it is truly so great

one of my favorite things about fantasy, and especially fantasy like this book, is its brutal nature. mariely lares does not shy away from depicting the gruesomeness and death that i love and appreciate in fantasy and that makes me appreciate this book a lot more

leonora, at her core, is just an 18 year old girl as she finds herself and with every decision she makes, it is clear. she's literally still a teenager and i never once was annoyed at her personally for her admittingly stupid decisions <3 (ones involving her love interest aside. but we'll get to that) if one didn't like her it would be hard to enjoy the story and lucky for me i liked her!

the action scenes are ACTION scenes. they're tense and full of bloodshed and fighting and they're a spectacle to read i loved it
but i also had some major gripes:

the writing is hard to get through, the beginning is a little rough but the middle especially drags. it is almost hard to pick back up again but boy is it worth it because the end is incredibly fastpaced, it just takes a LOT (like almost 300 pages) to get there

the romance was not done very well. i could understand the appeal of the two characters but it was handled, especially in the middle and end, haphazardly. the chemsitry at the beginning was THERE but then..somehow it fizzled away when they started getting to know each other genuinely. like a crush! every scene where leonora was upset at tezca was contrite and made me roll my eyes and when they did get together, there was no fanfare from me

at a certain point it did feel like there were too many characters at play, i would lose track of who's who whenever i would stop reading and pick the book back up after some time and it took quite a few pages to remember again.

the last third of the book was incredible, but it took trudging through two-thirds of the book to get there

overall, while i'm disappointed about the book, i definitely appreciate the direction we're headed for fantasy and i will be waiting for the sequel that i'm assuming this book has !

thank you to avon and harper voyager for this arc (however late my review may be!)

I received an ARC of this book by the publisher via Netgalley in an exchange for an honest review.

Sun of Blood and Ruin is Lares' debut novel set in a fantasy-reimaging of sixteenth century Mexico, shortly after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire. The main character, Leonora, is a noblewoman whose father was the Spanish viceroy of New Spain and her mother was indigenous. Since her father's passing, the Spanish have been terrorizing the indigenous population and Leonora decides to hide her identity and become a vigilante to protect the people. Lares genderbends the Zorro archetype and adds a lot of magical elements into the story such as Leonora uses Nuhuatl magic and can shift into a panther . The premise sounds interesting and there were certain aspects of the book that piqued my interest. But the book feels like a first draft.

It's obvious that Lares had A LOT of ideas for this book, and she tried to stuff every last one into the book. The pace is outrageously quick and when important poignant moments happen in the book, Lares doesn't take a moment to let it sink in. That leads the reader to not care about these moments that are really meant to inform Leonora's struggles and trauma. Lares also has a tendency to info dump in inorganic ways. Honestly this book could've benefited from being split into two different books and taking more time to allow the story to develop after big events. This appears like it's going to be the first book in a series, but I'm burnt out on it. Also the main relationship between Leonora and her love interest screams toxic to me.

I give Sun of Blood and Ruin 2.5 stars rounded up. Because of the hyperspeed pacing it didn't drag or get boring, so that's why I'm rounding up. However, I could also make a strong argument that the writing warrants a 2 star rating. I won't be continuing this series and I don't recommend the book. It's disappointing because I was looking forward to a fantasy mythological retelling set in the Aztec pantheon.

My honest review is that I was disappointed. The premise is great - a Zorro retelling set in Mesoamerica during the time of the interloping Spanish colonialists, a heroine (the Zorro-figure) who is part of both worlds yet even more than that, magic and culture and spiritualty-- all things that sounded so good!

Let's start with what was cool! There is a vast love for the indigenous peoples that lived in Tenochtitlan and the surrounding areas because as we know American schools teach us basically zip about Central/South America except "and then the Spanish came and colonized--" so I appreciated both the afterward basic explanations, the big glossary, and the throwing us right into the culture and language. Although there is a lot of Spanish and Nahuatl words and phrases, they were pretty much immediately translated either with direct English or obvious enough in context to get the vibe without having to do a search all the time.

Now, for the less positive:

I don't know if it just wasn't for me but I didn't much enjoy the ride. There were a LOT of contradictions:

"I don't kill." two pages later (not literally) kills a bunch of dudes
"I haven't shifted since I lived in the jungle, I'm not supposed to without a master, I won't do it" two pages later shifts and does the aforementioned killing of a bunch of dudes

There's more examples but I don't want to just make a laundry list of immediate contradictions and things that don't really make sense.

We know Leonora is the legendary Pantera, a masked witch/heroine to right the wrongs of the Spanish subjugators but also we never once see her do that nor get any backstory as to how she's so righteously regarded or even why people know to blow the horns three times for her (?).

Another thing that is maybe a 'me' thing is that I don't really jive with writing that has lots of short sentences for effect(?). Leonora... doesn't quite have a defined personality and that may be a first-person-narrative flaw here since it's her POV only, how she is seeing the world and coming to terms with all this wild stuff that is happening around/to her but it's also hard to get a sense OF her at any point in this book. Likewise with Tezca -- we know from his intro that he's going to be a love interest but there's also not much to it. They're attracted to each other (partially because of their spiritual energy) but once they start working together there's like no chemistry and they spend almost no time together.

I'm glad this being the first book in the series doesn't leave everything extremely undone like a lot of first book in a series have issues with recently and that there was a clear and definitive end even if we the readers are reminded there's still a crummy dude out there and also an epilogue that's really just a very unclear (to me!) setup for future story, but I think I'll stop my reading journey here on this one.

Also: the cover is SO BEAUTIFUL! Loved that, it's what drew me to read the premise which led me to reading the book.

Rounding up to 3 stars because even if there was a lot I don't like I think there's enough here that others may, and the historical fiction cultural education is pretty neat and is an important edition to historical fiction shelves.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager/Harper Voyager for the eARC in exchange for review.

I did not realize that this was a Zorro retelling as I began this book. I enjoyed the integration of fantasy and Mexican folklore/history with fantasy; however, the book was difficult to get into. It threw you into this world without the proper world-building I ended up DNF-ing.

Book Name: Sun of Blood and Ruin
Author: Mariely Lares

ARC
Thank you to Netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager, Harper Voyager for an ARC of Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares

Stars: 1 (DNF)
Spice: (DNF)

Thoughts
- No World Building
- Assumed Too Much Knowledge of the Reader
- Gender Bent Zoro
- Vigilante FMC
- 1550s Mexico
- Mesoamerican Mythology

Apparently, I didn't know enough MesoAmerican mythology or enough about Zoro to enjoy this book. I felt lost and then because the longer I read the fewer things seemed to connect I got frustrated (frustration with no reward or too long to be rewarded is the kiss of death for books with me)…. So DNF… I wanted to like this and it had everything in it to make it something I liked.... So I blame Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia for spoiling me with amazing Mexican History Meets Fantasy reads that feel accessible and enjoyable.

Due to the Negative Nature of this review, I will not be posting it to Goodreads or retail sites with respect to the publisher and author.

2.75⭐️

Thank you to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had such high hopes for this book. A fantasy novel set in 16th century New Spain with Mexican history and Mesoamerican mythology?! Along with the stunning cover?? I had to know! Sadly, it didn’t live up to my hopes. The pace felt very confusing, and the plot holes made it even more difficult to follow. I also felt that the romance was… nonexistent? They had no compatibility or connection whatsoever that it felt forced. I will say I really enjoyed Leonora as the FMC, and I felt like she was definitely a badass that fit her role well.

Loved this book. I read it in one weekend because I was hooked. I will be recommending this to everyone.

I will admit I'm disappointed, but I'm happy I still grateful I got to read it when others couldn't at the time maybe this is because of my reading slump but I will re-read at a later time to see if my opinion changes.

Sun of Blood and Ruin feels like part Zorro part wild fantasy. I love books with secret identities and persecution.

Mariely Lares created a wonderfully vibrant world that brings to life Pantera/Leonora's struggle to decide who she is going to be. Leonora is a dainty royal but Pantera is a panther with magic in the streets trying to protect people from the tyranny of the throne... whom Leonora is supposed to marry.

This book is a wonderful break from thick European-style fantasies with multi-person storylines.

*I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley.*

From the moment I read this epigraph at the start of the book, I had high hopes:

"They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds." (Mexican proverb)

What a powerful proverb, right? Powerful, somehow ominous, full of promise. Honestly, I loved it and was excited to read everything that followed. And for a while, the book captivated me. It definitely had a Zorro feel, and I liked the inclusion of ancient Mesoamerican history and culture. But at some point that I can't really pinpoint, my intention every time I opened my Kindle changed from enjoyment of the book into a rush to finish the book. My interest in the characters and what happened to them diminished as the story branched out from the original Zorro-ish plot and into a "Leonora encounters all kinds of mythological demons and gods as she seeks to recruit people to fight against Spain" plot.

Leonora (18) was a more interesting character when Inés was around, as odd as that may seem. Their friendship bordered on sisterhood, and it was a great relationship. But one the book meandered away from Pantera-the-people's-masked-defender, her personality began to flatline. I felt the same about Andrés--he was interesting and charming until he just wasn't. I didn't appreciate his tendency to share his bed with so many women (big turn-off for me), despite his claims that he was discerning about his partners. I don't know why Leonora maintained any interest in him at all. The best chemistry the had was at their initial meeting.

The epilogue indicates that a sequel is forthcoming, but I'm okay leaving it alone. That said, I do appreciate the research that must have gone into a book about Mesoamerica and all of its mythology. I enjoyed the occasional inclusion of Spanish.

How it ends: (view spoiler)

Note: Some language. A couple LGB characters. Violence.