The Sun and the Void

• Author: Gabriela Romero Lacruz
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: July 25, 2023
• Publisher: Orbit
• Series: The Warring Gods #1

Thank you to Orbit and Angela Man for sending me a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In a lush world inspired by the history and folklore of South America, a sweeping epic fantasy of colonialism, ancient magic, and two young women’s quest for belonging unfolds.

Reina is desperate.

Stuck living on the edges of society, Reina believes her only salvation lies in an invitation from a grandmother she’s never known. But the journey is dangerous, and prayer can’t always avert disaster.

Attacked by creatures that stalk the region, Reina is on the verge of death until her grandmother, a dark sorceress, intervenes. Now dependent on the Doña’s magic for her life, Reina will do anything to earn—and keep—her favor. Even the bidding of an ancient god who whispers to her at night.

Eva Kesaré is unwanted.

Illegitimate and of mixed heritage, Eva is her family’s shame. She tries her best to be perfect and to hide her oddities. But Eva is hiding a secret: magic calls to her.

Eva knows she should fight the temptation. Magic is the sign of the dark god, and using it is punishable by death. Yet it’s hard to ignore power when it has always been denied you. Eva is walking a dangerous path, one that gets stranger every day. And in the end, she’ll become something she never imagined.

I was really excited about getting to this book. The cover is beautiful, and I was thrilled to get to read a book based on Venezuelan history and folklore. It took me a really long time to get around to finally reading it, but I always try to avoid reading any reviews until after I’ve read a book to prevent accidentally reading spoilers, or having someone else’s opinion influence my own. However, I wasn’t quite sure what to think when my friend told me she was interested in hearing my thoughts, rather than hearing her say she knew I’d love it. 

To start with, the world-building is intense and complex. It’s a hefty undertaking for a debut author, and in this case, the concept sounded better than it worked out in practice. I often had to reread passages to try to absorb the information presented, which most often was presented as an info-dump, rather than worked in slowly in bits and pieces that are easier to retain. It also made some parts of the story move really slowly, making the pacing inconsistent, especially in the earlier parts of the story.

The writing is beautiful, and so descriptive. It makes it easy to visualize the scenes that are described. I quickly surmised that she’s also the kind of author who loves flowery writing that consistently takes 20 words to write something that can be described in ten. As always, when a lot of unnecessary words are thrown in, it makes it difficult to stay focused on the actual message. But I loved how she works Venezuelan culture, folklore, and history inseparably into the story, allowing readers to learn a little more and hopefully get inspired to do some research into the culture. 

I struggled with the characters. Honestly, I didn’t find either Reina or Eva to be very likable characters, and had a difficult time connecting with them. They are both interesting, which kept me focused on finding out what was going to happen next in their stories. Both women face significant prejudice as mixed-race characters, and have to deal with major challenges on their separate journeys to self acceptance. For much of the story, their plot lines are separate, only converging towards the end of the book. I did enjoy the slow-burn sapphic romance subplots.

Overall, this isn’t a book that I can say pulled in my attention and held it in a vise grip, but it definitely had some interesting elements. I loved the beautiful nature of Romero Lacruz’s writing, and enjoyed learning more about a culture I don’t know very much about. The magic system was intriguing, and the author’s creative mind is very much on display here. While the action and pace ramps up in the last quarter of the story, the pace is inconsistent, especially in the beginning. Ultimately, there were some high points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the slower pace and confusing elements of the story for me.