Stunning photo by @thecrazyreader!
Hey fairy friends!
Welcome to our fifth and final day of the Sun of Blood and Ruin readalong! Grab a snack (or a few!) and let’s dive in and see what happens. Are you as nervous as I am?
Today we’re reading from Chapter 38 to the end of the book.
Please be warned, the following section will include spoilers for Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares, from chapter 38 to the end of the book. Please only read on if you’ve finished Sun of Blood and Ruin!
-!SPOILERS!-
Ok so I love that we learn the meaning behind “I am as you see me” after Pantera said it to Tezca long ago. She was right that she always showed him her true self, she was telling him who she is, a Nagual.
I also love that once she reaches home, Tezca is there waiting. I’m so glad he made it. I kind of had a feeling he was ok but you can never be sure!
She THROWS herself at him. FINALLY.
As soon as she says his name, he kisses her and she knows it’s always been him.
We finally meet the man, the myth, the master… Master Toto! An elusive bookish being if I’ve ever known one. He won’t speak to Leonara right away so she’s left to just, wait.
In her waiting/explorations she comes across the Precious Flower who – plot twist – is Tezca’s mother. She’s quite adamant that Tezca is like his father and will follow in his footsteps but Leonara disagrees.
This does mean though, that Tezca is a god after all. He would also have been a goner if it wasn’t for the Precious Flower saving him when he fell in the ice. She’s really trying to warn off Leonara. Do we trust her judgement?
I think it’s put some doubts in Leonara’s mind which is really frustrating considering they just got to a turning point.
Get ready fairies, it’s Toto time!
I have to admit, of all the things I wondered about or expected to happen here, the least plausible option would be Toto being Quetzalcoatl… and Quetzalcoatl being her dad.
She’s not mortal. So much TREACHERY. Quetzalcoatl also backs up the idea that we might not know as much about Tezca as we think, he tells Leonara he was responsible for a lot of bad, he destroyed civilisations.
For once, could Toto/Quetzalcoatl not be so VAGUE? What does “choose wisely” even MEAN???
They return to Snake Mountain and things are bad. Neza was injured by his brother in what seems like a semi successful attempt to usurp him. He’s injured but recovering.
We have an hour before the Spaniards arrive. Eréndira wants Leonara to lead Neza’s tribe and she she feels like she understands what it means to be a warrior now.
They don’t have Martín’s army, they don’t really have an army at all, but they’re fighting anyway.
So Neza saying his life has nothing for him while Martín is right there is pretty brutal right? Leonara’s right, he’s a coward.
Despite Leonara telling her she can, Amalia won’t leave. She doesn’t want to. So instead Leonara gives her a pep talk. Amalia introduces her to Raya. She wasn’t lying, she really did befriend the ahuizotl.
Battle ensues and when Leonara is thrown from Raya and attached by Xico (I think? Guy’s really got a vendetta) someone comes and protects her… Jerónimo has come through, he even returns the Sword of Integrity to her.
Big shoutout to Tzitzimime for finally getting rid of Nabarres!
Oh another plot twist! Zyanya took Leonara’s tonalli. She’s returning it to her now and tells her she only took it because she was so convinced Leonara was dead and gone that day on the battlefield.
With her tonalli returned, Leonara heads back out with her GLOWING sword (she’s worthy again!!!!) and heads straight for the Demon Queen.
The Naguals arrive just in time, with our boy Tezca in tow, and she thinks about how he’s her sun. I am totally completely fine, not shedding a tear. Fine.
The Obsidian Butterfly puts up a valiant fight, delving into Leonara’s memories and weaknesses, but ultimately she does not know that Leonara is also a goddess, capable of ending her… and that’s just what she does!
Nabarres is gone, the Obsidian Butterfly is defeated. Things seem… ok?
Jerónimo apologises to the people of Snake Mountain… I’m still not entirely sure I trust/like him again though. He’s taken us on a rollercoaster of deceit in this book!
We leave Tezca and Leonara talking of hope, and power and quite literally running off into the sunset together…
Can we take a moment to talk about that cryptic epilogue? Who was that? WHAT was that? Do you have any theories?
Did Sun of Blood and Ruin end the way you expected it to?
Any theories for book two?
Thank you so much for joining us for another FairyLoot readalong, friends! We hope you had fun and we’ll see you very soon for the next one!
Love,
Shannon
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Again, so much happened in this section, wow.
About the cryptic epilogue. Who was that? WHAT was that? Do you have any theories?
I have absolutely no idea so it’ll definitely be interesting to read the sequel.
Did Sun of Blood and Ruin end the way you expected it to?
Not really. I didn’t have any specific expectations for the end, I thought there would be more interaction between Leonora and Tezca. I was totally surprised by most of it though. I thought that they will end the battle and the demons will be defeated so that I expected.
Any theories for book two?
Not really, we will probably see more of Leonora’s dad and hear more about Tezca’s previous lives. Leonora will become even stronger and there will definitely be more fighting. Other than that I don’t really have any ideas and we’ll have to read about it when the sequel releases 🙂
In general it was an enjoyable book, some parts could’ve been written better, it should have had more explanations since not everybody knows that particular history that well, but it was still interesting and I’ll definitely read the sequel when it comes.
I feel like such a negative Nancy since I’ve given I think 4/5 of the last club reads not great reviews but… I didn’t like it. 😅 I swear I do in fact enjoy reading! I’ve been also catching up on FL books I was behind on behind the scenes and enjoying them way more, so I think it’s just the case that the recent crop have largely not been for me(besides If I Have to Be Haunted, which I did love!!)
I mean , after day one I really did think this was a book for me. It started with such a bang, it just turned into a fizzle. I kind of think it would have worked better as a stage play than as a novel because soooo much of this book was conversations without much stage direction at all, often entire chapters back to back with only small breaks to stay Leonara changed location, and I think the conversations were probably impactful in the author’s head but most of the pieces of dialogue ended in “he says” or “she asks” which meant I wasn’t sure how to interpet the way the characters felt about the messages they were trying to convey.
Ending on a positive I did think the action scenes were absolutely fantastic, I just wish they’d gone on longer instead of being cut off by more conversations!
Can we take a moment to talk about that cryptic epilogue? Who was that? WHAT was that? Do you have any theories?
I haven’t a clue. Another positive
I have is that I’m glad that since Mariely wanted to end on a cliffhanger, she did it by introducing a new plot in the epilogue and wrapped up the plot of book one first.
Did Sun of Blood and Ruin end the way you expected it to?
I mean? Yeah? She defeated the villain and snogged the boy. I was a little hurt she snogged the boy and giggled with him while frolicking on the grass literally on the back of the page where she comforted Martin’s Heartbreak over his own lover being dead, but that’s kind of what I meant by saying earlier I found the emotional responses lacking as a whole…
Any theories for book two?
I think it’ll be pretty much an entirely new story going off the epilogue. There’s not a ton to carry over from book one – just Neza’s brother being horrible and Tezca finding out about his past
Well that was intense. I think at the end it’s Neza’s brother praying to Tezca’s dad to come down and mess things up.
I am not sure that Jeronimo’s proclamation will be well supported by the powers back in Spain. It’s a nice idea but also, colonising forces are never great, so good luck enforcing laws to protect people that the invaders don’t see as fully human… Bad times are coming I think.
This really was a strange book. I usually like to have a lot more of a clear idea of the rules and possibilities in a fantasy world. Like, this felt like anything could happen at any time and people could keep coming back from the dead there were loads of unusual creatures. It was a lot. I will read book two tho and it was really interesting to learn about a different historic period.
I am not sure I fully ship Tezca anc our girl. It seems like he might go bad with the prayer to the dark God at the end? I also think she should have told him who he was. If he knew about her parents and didn’t tell her she’d be really annoyed.
I feel like the epilogue is from Neza’s brother or possibly Jeronimo but maybe it’s neither and is a new character.
I was really disappointed how quick Nabarres was written off. It was giving Immortal Longings. I wanted a decent battle between him and Pantera. I wish in general the battles were a bit longer.
I am curious how the next book will go, I imagine Tezca will figure out who he is and will have to battle with what his path should be.