Trial of the Sun Queen - Review

Trial of the Sun Queen (Artefacts of Ouranos, # 1)

By: Nisha J. Tuli

Publication: November 15, 2022

400 pages

Genre: New Adult, Fantasy, Fae

( Goodreads | Amazon )

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Goodreads description--Ten women. A deadly contest. Only one can win the Sun King's heart.

Lor has endured twelve long years of torment under the Aurora King’s rule. Her only desire is to escape and pay him back for every moment of misery she's endured.

When a surprise release finds her in the hands of the rival Sun King, Lor is thrust into the spotlight as she competes against nine other Tributes for the role of queen. If she wins his heart, she'll earn her freedom and finally get her revenge.

But Lor doesn't belong in the Sun Queen Trials. Not only does she not understand why she was freed, she isn’t a citizen of the Sun King’s court. The other Tributes resent her presence and will stop at nothing to ensure Lor is removed from the competition, permanently.

Now Lor must win, because if she loses, she dies. Or worse, she'll be returned to the evil—and now vengeful—Aurora King.

Trial of the Sun Queen has a slow start. Lor and her two siblings have been prisoners since they were children. Lor is the youngest sibling; she was twelve when imprisoned. Tristan, the oldest, and Lor, the youngest, have endured the most. Lor most of all. They are keeping their family bonds a secret. And Lor has done just about everything to survive. She's thrown into a pit outside, which is a form of solitary confinement when she's taken by the Sun King's court to participate in the Trial of the Sun Queen, which will determine who will be the next queen. Atlas, the Sun King, is interested in Lor from the beginning. She's the final tribute--usually a human from the slums, instead has been pulled from the Aurora Kingdom. Atlas promises Lor if she wins he will bring her "friends" Willow and Tristan to her. If she loses, she will go straight back to prison. 

Atlas appears to be kind, and he seems to have an attraction to Lor from the beginning. Her spirit and determination interest him. She shows herself to have queenly characteristics both from the trials she's conquered and their conversations. Atlas also makes it clear that he wants her. Even with all this, I didn't feel the connection between these two like you expect from two main characters in a romantic relationship. Plus there's Nadir, prince of Aurora, who also narrates. His narration had me thinking that Atlas is not a long-lasting love interest in this series. 

So even though I rarely seek out spoilers for a book, I've learned that occasionally spoilers do help me. That being said, I decided Trial of the Sun Queen was one I wanted immediate answers to some of my questions. Of course, since only book 2 (out of 4?) is available now, I didn't get too many answers. Just enough to continue moving forward.

Trial of the Sun Queen takes a very sudden turn at the climax of the story. Lor u-turns so suddenly that it feels jarring. I take this as a sign of weak writing. She was full-speed ahead on her course until what seemed like a small thing made her derail completely. It was necessary for the overall story of the series, but I think better writing could have made this feel more natural and less out of the blue. It wasn't a plot twist. I could see it coming, but it didn't feel authentic to the character or the story. It's hard to describe, especially without spoilers.

There are trigger warnings at the beginning of the book. There's sexual assault and trauma--not specifically stated, but implied and discussed in the past tense. There's also physical abuse and trauma. Sexual content is present in the book, as well as quite a lot of language. Add in the random LGBTQ scenes that were brief and unnecessary. 

Trial of the Sun Queen reminded me a good bit of The Selection series by Kiera Cass. It wasn't exactly the same, but moments felt very similar. The girls competing to become queen, having these trials, Atlas having to spend time one-on-one with each of the girls, and the jealousy that sparks between the contestants or tributes. 

Trial of the Sun Queen kept me interested only after I sought out some spoilers. I immediately picked up book # 2, Rule of the Aurora King. I didn't buy the relationship between Atlas and Lor exactly. Their interactions always fell short of what they should have in a way that's hard to describe. Plus Nadir's narrations indicated a piece of the puzzle still to come. Lor has bitterness towards just about everyone because she suffered for no reason, and either they didn't suffer, or they didn't stop her suffering. Illogical if you ask me. Trial of the Sun Queen gets 3 Stars. Have you read Trial of the Sun Queen? What did you think? Let me know!