Trial of the Sun Queen by Nisha J. Tuli (BOOK REVIEW) || Finding Mrs Sun Queen

Thank you to Book Sirens for granting me to this book! I really enjoyed reading it and can’t wait for the second book and the author’s other books!

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc through the author and BookSirens in exchange for a free and honest review. The book cover and details are taken from Goodreads and the content warnings are taken from The Storygraph; from me reading the book, or from others’ reviews. I try my absolute best to find the cover art/designer but unfortunately I am not always able to do so. The page numbers/audio hours are taken from the version that I’m reading from (if an e-arc, the Kindle version then). The featured image is my own. All opinions expressed are my own.

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Title: Trial of the Sun Queen
Author: Nisha J. Tuli
Series: Artefacts of Ouranos #1
Number of Pages: 358
Year Published: 2022
Publisher: Thirteen Crowns Press
Cover Art/Designer: https://miblart.com/
Genre: New Adult ~ Fantasy ~ Fae ~ Romance
Stars:
Links: Goodreads || The Storygraph
Copy: E-arc (BookSirens)
CW/TW: Death, blood, violence, Mentions of sexual assault (nothing on page but main character has spent time in a prison so most of the mentions/times are from there).

The Bachelor meets the Hunger Games when ten women face off in a deadly battle, where only one can win the king’s hand and ascend to the exalted throne of the Sun Queen.

Lor has endured twelve long years of torment locked up in the Aurora King’s prison. Her only goal is to get out and pay him back for every moment of misery. When a surprise release finds her in the hands of the Sun King, Lor is thrust into the spotlight as she competes for his hand in marriage against nine other tributes. If she wins, she can 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’s been freed from prison, 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 wiped of the gameboard, permanently.

Now Lor must do everything she can to win, because if she loses, she dies. Or worse, she’ll be sent back into the hands of the Aurora King.

This glittering fae romance is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer Armentrout, and Raven Kennedy. Trial of the Sun Queen is the first book in a trilogy with an eventual happy ever after.

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It’s quite funny because the previous book I read that was said to be “inspired by The Hunger Games” was Lightlark, which quite possibly wins the award for worst book I’ve ever read. (review still to come, NaNoWriMo is kicking my behind 🤡). But then I read this book and it’s so so much better at executing the prompt/inspiration and making it truly its own idea.

Trial of the Sun Queen understands that The Hunger Games was more than the romance, there’s reasons for the games and why they need to occur and so on. What Trial and THG have in common is that the focus shouldn’t be on the romance that might (and does) occur; the focus should very much be on why the tributes have to be in the contest and why it’s all wrong. And then also adds fae to the mix, because why not? While we do get a bit of the politics, I did find myself wanting more but hopefully that’ll play a bigger role in the second book.

The book was well-written, packed with action and fast-paced (it’s under 400 pages). The characters were written in such a way that you couldn’t help but to root for Lor, smile/smirk whenever Gabriel was mentioned on the the page (I chose him as my favourite character probably before his third scene?). I’ll admit, I was confused with the first few of Nadir’s pov chapters and actually though he was the Sun King’s son (he was not 😄) so I think I’ll enjoy getting to know more of this compelling character in the next book.

There was more action than I originally thought there would be and I liked that! Listen, I’m still recovering from Lightlark where a ton of action was promised and we received about 2.9%. So I was glad that what was promised, was actually given! I think a large part of the book is basically build up to have a second book as it felt like half of the story was told in this book. So hopefully in the next book which comes out next year will have it all.

I enjoyed the plot and the plot twists that we were given – again, I could see that it’s for the build-up for the second book – but honestly I really didn’t mind that. In fact it actually made me more excited for the sequel. For the next book I definitely want more Gabriel (I just really love him 😂).

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There you have it! I’m glad I enjoyed it more than I thought I would do at the beginning! Have you heard of this book before? If not this one then maybe the other more known book by the author (To Wake a Kingdom?). I think it’s great to read a book by an author and then finding out they have more books – always a happy discovery!

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