'Trial of the Sun Queen' is a dazzling rollercoaster of emotions, thrills, and sheer unpredictability. Lor, our heroine, is a force of nature, battling against odds that would make lesser spirits crumble and coming out victoriously time and time again. Her journey through the Sun Queen Trials is full of heart-pounding action, deep, soulful connections, and twists so audacious, they leave you gasping. There is a beautiful balance between the electric tension of the trials with the relationships between characters that had me equally invested in both.

There's an undercurrent of sensuality and mystery that was addicting, though, making it impossible not to fall a little bit in love with the MCs. With friendships as dazzling as they are dangerous and betrayals as cutting as they are unexpected, 'Trial of the Sun Queen' is a symphony of storytelling that crescendos to an ending that left me reeling.

I really wanted to love this book but I found myself unfortunately only liking it. I’ve had this arc on my current reads for months because I ultimately found it hard to get into and stay into.

Perhaps because my preference now skews to more romantasy and I found the writing to be much more young adult?

Anyways as most of the reviews say - if you’re a fan of the hunger games with more fantasy this could be the book for you. 3🌟

I recieved an arc of this book and was intrigued because a friend loved it. This book follows Lor who is kidnapped and sent to compete in the sun trials for the sun kings heart. Lor is fighting for her brother and sister who are still locked up in Nostraza, the prison they've been in since they were young. Lor has to compete in trials with 9 other tributes who have all grown up in high society. Will she win? Will she be able to free her brother and sister? Or will she fail and be sent back to Nostraza?

This book is a quick read. It starts right off with a lot of action and gets right into the story. It gets even more exciting when the trials begin. A strong female character who has to fight to protect the people she loves? Yes please! There's death, love, confusion, family, mystery, and an exploration of different realms. It really is a ride. One of my favorite things is that Lor comes from Aurora. There it is always dark except for when the aurora borealis lights up the sky. Such a beautiful image that has more than one meaning throughout the book.

This book is very similar to other fantasies I've read. At times that made the story fairly predictable. I wasn't really surprised until the very end, which had me confused, but excited to read the next book. I have a feeling I know a bit about what's coming in the next book, but I'm hoping Nisha surprises me with something unexpected!

If you're looking for a quick and exciting fantasy, this one is for you!

Wow this is so good! I wasn’t expecting to be so sucked into a new fantasy series but this was awesome. I agree with the labeling of a mix of A Court of Thorn and Roses and Fourth Wing.

I loved the story and I had a feeling (from reading ACOTAR) that as good as The Sun King seemed there might be some hidden alternative motives. I loved Lors character and her bravery and strength throughout. I really enjoy reading books with badass female leads.


I’m hooked and so excited to read more.

4 stars for making me forget I was reading! I loved the hunger games back in the day so I was immediately intrigued. It was a little predictable, but I still enjoyed the journey!

Review posted to Goodreads and Amazon

This book is the making of a killer fantasy romance. I ate this story up and all of the personalities. Lor takes on everything thrown her way with strength and perseveres through every obstacle thrown her way in her early life and now with the Sun Queen Trials. Enemies to lovers and a high stake competition for a handsome Kings heart makes this book one of my favorite reads so far this year. Spoiler alert, I feel just as passionately about the second book in the series, so good!

This is like Throne of Glass meets the bachelor. It’s a fast paced romantasy with a great FMC. Her backstory and the trials are equally interesting. You get a good sense of the FMC and a few of the other characters, but mostly the impression that there’s a lot more that we don’t know. Since it’s a first book in a series it lays out the groundwork for the remainder of the series with the history and lore. It seems like there are some things left unanswered but it only made me want to read the next book even more. It’s a great foundation book and the series can only go up from here. Thanks to NetGalley, Forever Publishing and Nisha J Tuli for this e-ARC

Title: Trial of the Sun Queen by Nisha J Tuli
Genre: Adult Romantasy
Pub Date: August 15, 2023

⭐ 4.5/5
🌶️ 2/5

ACOTAR x Hunger Games
Deadly Trials
Epic Twists
Multiple POV

I loved this book! I was worried it would be too spicy but it's perfect, lots of tension and flirting but nothing too explicit! I love Lor, our strong bad@ss FMC who literally will risk losing these trials in order to help her fellow competitors. I have complicated feelings about the rest of the characters (our MMC) BUT I believe it will all be cleared up in book 2, Rule of the Aurora King! 👑

Thank you so much @netgalley and Forever Publishing for the digital review copy!🫶❤️

I appreciated the fast paced nature of this books! So many books feel to drag on these days, and I am glad that this one did not.
This book felt similar to many other fantasy books that I have read, but not in a bad way at all. It successfully executes popular tropes but still kept me on my toes wondering what was going to happen.
I am a big fan of dual-pov books, so I was instantly on board with this story. I will definitely be reading book 2!

I have so many questions. I have so many theories. Throne of glass vibes but give it ✨diversity✨. Nisha absolutely never misses and I’m equally sad that I waited so long to read this and happy that I saved it for last. I don’t want to say too much and give anything away but I can definitely tell this is just the tip of the iceberg for this series and that we’re about to find out a whole lot about all the different players in this game. SO different from her other series which is such an accomplishment as an author to not stick yourself into one specific box. I loved absolutely everything about this. I’m SPRINTING to read the second book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this arc!

I really enjoyed this book. Basically imagine The Selection mated with Fae, this is their baby. I love a Romantasy story but then you toss in Royal court and all the intrigue and deception that goes on in EVERY royalty novel and I’m just hooked. It was so delicious.

I found the FMC very interesting, she had her flaws but she was unapologetically honest to who she was which I enjoyed. I wished we had more scenes from Nadir’s point of view. I’m already guessing at something that’s being hinted at about him so I’m really excited to see how his story continues.

I loved that the story kept unfolding with secret after secret. It is exactly what I like from any royalty focused book. Unfortunately I figured out the plot twist as soon as it was hinted at and wasn’t surprised by the ending but I still loved it. It was a great cliffhanger to end on and I can’t wait to see how everything unfolds in the next book.

Thank you again NetGalley for this arc in exchange of an honest review!

I forgot to leave a review for this, but I really enjoyed it! It's been out for ages, so I won't say much more than I need to for my star rating. <3

This started out promising and then I lost interest pretty quickly. Unfortunately I didn't care for any of the characters. Lor's storyline was your standard secret royalty with a series of trials. The romance wasn't really a romance, and the spicy scenes felt like they were only there to say this book has spice. I liked the idea of having another POV with Nahir, but he felt disconnected to me. I didn't enjoy his chapters being written in 3rd while Lor's were in 1st. Overall I was pretty disappointed with this one.

Thanks to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Love, love, love!
This book hands downs have one the best entrances/introductions on page 1. Lor and her soap.

The best way to describe this book is it's kind of like the Hunger Games meets the Selection. Lor has been trapped and basically enslaved to this prison for humans. She does something that the commander does not agree with that lands her into some trouble, but her bad luck turns to good luck, then turns back to bad luck.

She finds herself in a trial to become then next sun queen. She will have to compete with 9 other women and if she does not win, she dies.

There is a touch of romance and spice but it's very little. The book was jammed pack full of action and I loved it! I have so many questions! Can't wait for the next book!

I absolutely love this book so much. The dual pov in this book was written beautifully. I loved the way the fmc was written. I never had a moment where I truly disliked her which is hard to find. I didn’t agree with all of her decisions but I wasn’t truly mad at her. The circumstances all made sense. Her love for her siblings was a nice touch to this story. Something about Nadirs pov chapters had me kicking my feet. The plot and storyline had me hooked the entire time. The trials/games were truly something else. I literally felt everything that was described. The world building was spot on and beautifully written. I would definitely recommend this book to so many people.


Thank you to the author, NetGalley, & Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the eARC in trade for an honest review!

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!

My weakness is a romantasy that has a good world building and amazingly written characters. Lor is such an intelligent, resilient, and total badass FMC. I fell in love with her since the first page of the book. She only grew stronger and clever throughout the story.

I loved how the dual POV were from characters who didn't know each other. It kept things very interesting, and I can't wait to see what direction the story takes in the sequel.

Here are my reasons why you should read this:
♡ You like deadly trials.
♡ You like unique magical courts and fae politics.
♡ You like a Cinderella rags to riches.
♡ You like a badass FMC with mysterious morally grey MMC.
♡ You like rival kingdoms.
♡ You like Hunger Games meets The Bachelor.

Did I binge read this? Yes of course how could I not!?! I knew the main characters secret early on and usually that makes me not like books but her journey is what I was attached to from the very beginning! Easy magic system to understand with dynamic characters that I attached to quickly! This world is so vivid and immersive, I never wanted to leave!

I have read so many fantasy books, but there's something about GAMES in them that I love. The Hunger Games, Serpent and the Wings of Night, etc. I loved how unique this was, the betrayal, the twists and turns!

Here I thought the Sun King was our man 🥺
I WAS ROOTING FOR YOU, WE WERE ALL ROOTING FOR YOU. can't wait for book two!

Let's just say I've already gone and purchased the second book in this series because--WHAT!?--you can't leave me hanging like that!!!

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, & Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the eARC in trade for an honest review!

I thought the plot and world building were spot on. I liked that this tale takes a very sheltered and suffering "human" being through a series of potentially unfortunate events to leverage the bravery and strength she needs to cut a path through the devices of others into of fate she makes for herself. Lore is neither perfect or powered (yet?) and she is one bada$$ character (if not a little naïve). Do I sometimes want to shake her for some poor choices? Yes, frequently! Do I want her to open her eyes and stop being a doormat to the might of men (since I can so anticipate where the plot is going to thicken)? Abso-freaking-lutely!!! Yet, she is the right kind of humble and outspoken. She might allow herself to be lead in the hopes of finding someone who cares for her the way she wants to be cared for, but she does not let that hope blind her. That makes me feverishly annoyed in other books of the same ilk.

Lore may start out as a prisoner but she never let all the horrors blunt her edges. This story deals with a few triggers like sexual abuse, abduction and being held against her will, violence, a bit of gore, and betrayal. But Lore is a shining example of what it means to never see herself as a victim. She knows she couldn't have avoided or changed the things that have happened to her, but she never lets those wrongs become her vengeance. So when she is stolen from prison only to be cast into a cage of another sort, it doesn't harden her to what matters to her most. Instead, she uses this opportunity to become stronger. She allows the love she has for her brother and sister, still imprisoned, to become her reason to survive. This is a fantastic tale of triumph, even when the book ends with TO BE CONTINUED.
Definitely recommend!
NO REGRETS!!!!

Have you ever wondered what The Bachelor would be like if it involved hundred year old Fae, deadly trials, political intrigue, and ancient secrets?

Enter: The Trial of the Sun Queen

Lor was taken from her home at a very young age and put into a brutal prison. For the last 12 years she’s been trapped in the Aurora prison. After being sent to solitary confinement for some of her actions in the prison, she finds herself kidnapped, taken to a different kingdom, and forced to compete in the deadly Sun Queen Trials, vying for power, the king, and her freedom.

This was such a wonderful book! Lor is headstrong and impulsive but holds fierce determination to come out on top of these trials. She is relentless in her pursuit for her freedom and resilient to everything that is thrown her way.

This book starts a little slow but quickly picks up and keeps you guessing on who to trust, who’s being honest, and what secrets everyone holds.

Read for:
Hunger games meets the bachelor
Fae
Political intrigue
If you like to root for the underdog
Dual POV

Looking forward to reading the next one!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!