So freaking excited that I get another blog tour with Fantastic Flying Book Club! I love FFBC so much, and honestly I’m so glad that I got to find out about them and sign up to be a host. Click on the banner for the rest of the tour schedule! There’s also more books on schedule as well, so stay tuned for that too.
The sun of the Chicome people has been destroyed six times. First by water, then by storm, fire, famine, sickness, and beasts. After each apocalypse, the creator goddess allowed one of her divine children to sacrifice themselves to save civilization. The gods paid their blood as the price for the lives of the people, and the people owed them blood in return.
Mayana is a noble descendant of the water goddess and can control water whenever her blood is spilled. She has always despised the brutal rituals of her people — especially sacrifices. She can’t even make it through a routine animal sacrifice without embarrassing her family. Prince Ahkin has always known he would be emperor, but he didn’t expect his father to die so suddenly. Now he must raise the sun in the sky each day and read the signs in the stars. But the stars now hint at impending chaos and the sun has begun setting earlier each evening. Ahkin fears he might not be strong enough to save his people from another apocalypse. And to add to his list of worries, he can’t truly become emperor until he selects a wife.
Mayana and six other noble daughters are sent to the palace to compete for Ahkin’s hand. She must prove she is a true daughter of water and face the others who have their own magical gifts from wielding the elements to the control of animals, plants and healing. And in a society centered on rigid rituals, Mayana must conceal her traitorous beliefs because if she doesn’t make Ahkin love her, she will become a ceremonial sacrifice to bless his marriage. But darker forces are at play and it won’t matter if Mayana loses if the world ends first…
Rich in imagination and romance, and based on the legends and history of the Aztec and Mayan people, The Seventh Sun brings to vivid life a world on the edge of apocalyptic disaster.
Lani Forbes is the daughter of a librarian and an ex-drug smuggling surfer, which explains her passionate love of the ocean and books. A California native whose parents live in Mexico, she now resides in the Pacific Northwest where she stubbornly wears flip flops no matter how cold it gets. She teaches middle school math and science and proudly calls herself a nerd and Gryffindor. She is also an award-winning member of Romance Writers of America and the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Fantastic Flying Book Club, Netgalley, and Blackstone Publishing for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.
Oh my gosh. I’m legit just kind of blown away about how much this book messed me up. In a good way of course. I was shocked because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book like this, and I’m so glad that I got to read a copy of this early.
I think one of the aspects that really got to me was how many apocalypses that the Chicome ended up going through. It makes me think about all the movies and TV shows about the apocalypse and how it’s supposed to be the end of the world and no civilization can truly recover from something like that. Yet, in this case, you see that the Chicome have had multiple apocalypses, and they were able to save the civilization through a sacrifice. I guess this is one of those instances where the lives of the few – in this case one person per apocalypse – aren’t worth more than the lives of the many, and I don’t blame them at this point. If you had the chance to save everyone in your world, at the cost of one person, would you do it?
Then we have the magical aspect involved and how different people have different powers, whether it’s coming from the elements to other powers like healing or controlling animals… oh man that was pretty interesting. I think that Forbes did this magical system really well, and I was actually really glad to see a novel that involved Mayan influences. I still can’t really tell if Forbes has some Mexican roots, although her biography said her parents are living in Mexico but is a California native, but I feel like she did a really good job giving proper justice to the Mayan culture in this novel.
I’m just so obsessed with this novel, and I’m so glad that I got to read it. I know I said that multiple times but I’m serious. I can’t freaking WAIT for the next book in the series, and I’m so curious to know what happens next. Which I guess would be the point of reading the next book, duh. You know what I mean!
Back at it again with another playlist!
Got another dream cast under my belt. I’m so curious to know what the official dream cast would be for this novel, because I would love to see what Forbes envisioned for this novel.
I think I like this graphic set up for my dream casts a lot more now, so I’ll definitely stick to this. Let me know what you think about it!
Oh man fam! How do you feel about this novel? I’m seriously so glad that I got to read this novel, and that I was a part of this blog tour. Thank you again so much to FFBC for including me. This is also a debut novel from Forbes, and I think she did an amazing job. Have you had this book on your radar? Would you read this novel when it comes out? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you guys!
Sometimes Leelynn Reads 
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