Last Sunrise in Eterna by Amparo Ortiz
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publishing Date: March 28, 2023
Synopsis:
Three teenagers are invited to spend seven days on the secluded island floating off the coast of Puerto Rico to learn the magic of the elves.
All they have to do is give up their dreams.
Seventeen-year-old goth Sevim Burgos hates elves. Everyone else on earth loves the elves (especially their handsome princes) and would give anything to participate in Eterna’s annual Exchange, where three teens can trade their dreams for a week of elven magic.
But Sevim knows things most people don’t. She can see through the illusions the elves use to conceal their crimes. Ever since elves killed her father, Sevim has longed for revenge. So to help support her single mother, she has been selling abandoned elf corpses on the black market.
But it turns out that the elf prince Aro has noticed Sevim bodysnatching, so he kidnaps her mother in retaliation. To get her mother back, Sevim must participate in the Exchange.
In the home of the elves, Sevim will have to surrender her dreams and put her trust in the charming prince who took the last family member she has in order to master the art of elf magic. And in working with him, she will discover how the royal elves might be more tied to her own history than she ever suspected.
Content Warning: trauma, handling corpses, blood, cancer, death, suicide, grief
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ANNOTATION ART
REVIEW
Last Sunrise in Eterna constantly surprises the reader with action, solar magic, riddles, and plot twists. This story not only features a unique magic system and contemporary fantasy style, but combines it with diverse characters and beautiful culture too. Amparo Ortiz infuses the story with rich Puerto Rican history and culture, creating a fantasy world with Latinx elves and characters alike. Furthermore, other characters are equally diverse, as we get to meet a deaf elf, and queer, trans, Black, and Southeast Asian people along the way. I absolutely loved these aspects of the story.
The novel is also dark and mysterious too. From the start we learn our main character, Sevim, has a vendetta against the elves, and she steals their corpses to make money. Her father was killed by the elves, but everyone seems to be blinded to how evil the creatures really are. Every year, humans all over the world pine to be chosen for the Exchange, where a select group are chosen to visit the elven island of Eterna, where they exchange their dreams to experience elven magic. In order to save someone she loves, Sevim is forced to participate in the Exchange, where she learns nothing is as she thought and she can trust no one, maybe not even herself.
At times, I did find the execution of the plot to be rushed and slightly chaotic. While it was action-packed, so much happens so fast, I became confused at points. The challenges during the Exchange seemed strange to me as I felt unsatisfied that most of the keys to solving them was unknown to the reader until the moment it was brought up, as in I could not solve alongside unless I knew a random specific literature reference and so forth. Also, I loved Aro and his snarky comedic lines, however I did not feel a real chemistry as far as the romantic side plot and it seemed to appear and disappear randomly. This wasn't a major issue for me though since it was mostly a background plot to the main story, but it did limit the ending somewhat for me.
The thing that really kept me hooked was the amazing plot twists that I could never guess. Especially the bigger ones, which I really loved but wished there was more explanation along the way. Overall, this was a fun, diverse, unique fantasy with lots of surprising twists. I didn't love it as much as I wanted to but I still enjoyed my time reading overall!
3.25/ 5 Stars
Thank you to TBRandBeyondTours for the review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!
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