Book Review of The RIver and the Star by Gabriela Romero Lacruz

 

Name of Book: The River and the Star

Author: Gabiela Romero Lacruz 

ISBN: 978-0-3126-33717-5

Publisher: Orbit 

Part of a Series:The Warring Gods (Sequel to The Sun and the Void) 

Type of book: Fantasy, lowest class, LGBtQI+, female/female relationship, turning to monster, possessions, father/daughter relationship, South American legends and stories., marriage relationships, secrets 

Year it was published: 2025

Summary:

Sequel to the #1 Sunday Times bestselling novel, The Sun and the Void.

THE GODS ARE RETURNING

As they emerge from the ruins of Rahmagut’s tomb, Reina and Eva are now hosts to ruthless, ancient entities: The gods of the sun and the Void.

In the service of the Liberator, Reina wants to rebuild a new life with Maior. But Enrique’s forces loom on the horizon, seeking reparations for the attempt against Celeste’s life and to give eternal rest to the soul of his late wife Laurel. As Maior is still haunted by Laurel’s soul, her life is threatened, risking the fleeting happiness Reina and Maior managed to attain in their new, idyllic island life.

Eva seeks to measure up to being the Liberator’s heir, all the while fighting Rahmagut’s influence as it bursts through the seams. Imprisoned and isolated for his role at Rahmagut’s tomb, Javier is on the verge of losing his identity and turning into a tiniebla. Eva knows she must free him or else she will lose him completely, but relations between her husband and her allies are precarious.

Then, as an inexplicable uprising of tinieblas razes through Venazia and Fedria, Reina and Eva are forced to band together with their newfound strength to quell the darkness threatening their land, all the while leashing the antagonistic gods they house, who may be using their divine influence to orchestrate a plot of their own design…

Characters:

So the main characters would be Eva and Reina, while the secondary characters are Javier, Maior, the Liberator and so forth. Reina is half Nozrael who happens to be the lowest class in her world but she is determined and due to trauma from previous book, namely that of her grandmother and lost of everything familiar, she has difficult time trusting people, in particular the woman she loves, Maior. Eva is quarter Valco, an almost near extinct species that have horns and that are perhaps high to second highest class in the world,. She is ambitious when it comes to learning about the magic and quite often feels uncertain about revealing her thoughts to her new-found father the Liberator, fearing what people will think of her. The secondary characters also have their own demons to deal wtih: Javier with trying to reconcile on what he is becoming due to a curse and Maior with dealing feeling safe in a relationship. There are a lot of secrets in other words. 

Theme:

I did read the book from cover to cover, not sure but perhaps that there is strength to overcome one's status in the world, or importance of family and friends. 

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative, primarily from Eva's and Reina's points of views, although from time to time Maior also makes an appearance. The story begins few months from when the first novel is left off, I believe, and one definitely needs to read the first book to continue on with the story (and yes it has to be back to back reading) The time passage feels realistic, in particular the progression of the characters' relationships. One thing I would have liked is perhaps a list of non-royalty characters and their roles in the story. (The author is good at presenting the royalty of the world, but there are characters that I couldn't find and had a hard time remembering.) Also, there are pictures of certain characters scattered throughout the book which was a lovely addition in picturing their appearance. (I was quite a bit confused by pictures of Rahmagut and Ches until I understood the reason why they were drawn the way they were. And yes, I would have liked more pictures of other characters from the previous books.) 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

Born and raised in Venezuela, Gabriela Romero Lacruz is author of the #1 Sunday Times bestselling novel, THE SUN AND THE VOID. She graduated with a BS in chemical engineering from the University of Houston and, after a stint in Oil and Gas, launched The Moonborn, a clothing, accessories, and stationery brand featuring her own illustrations. She writes dark and twisty fantasy stories set in places that remind her of home, so in her mind, she’s never too far from the beaches and mountains of Venezuela. She also illustrates book covers for select clients.

She is represented by Naomi Davis of Bookends Literary.

Opinion:

To be honest I will give the book about 4.5 stars or somewhere more than 4.5 which rounds up to 5 stars. For me the writing is definitely top notch, a whole lot better than the first book. I also enjoyed getting to know the characters and the world they inhabit a lot more than in the first book. What I will definitely recommend is to make this a back to back reading because I'll be honest, while I was reading this novel, there are plenty of things I had forgotten or couldn't remember when it came to certain events. The characters of Reina and Maior were definitely well done and very believable and I loved watching them progress to their conclusion. I also liked the characters of Eva and Javier although again, I felt frustrated because I couldn't remember certain events from previous book. All in all, an amazing conclusion to a beloved duology that is filled with heavy topics spanning the micro and the macro issues of the world. 

This was given for review

5 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)