Sons of Day & Night by Mariposa AristeoMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I AM SO ANNOYED AT THIS BOOK and yet I couldn't put it down.
Waruu is a Son of Day, and his one goal is to take the place of the king in order to free his people from tyranny. King Daccias is a Son of Night, and he will go to his grave with the secret of where the Separator is, even if his entire Kingdom is decimated by the plague.
As a retelling of the Prince and the Pauper, Aristeo has created a fascinating premise for this magical world - the fact that everyone has an opposite twin. Her writing pulls you through the story even when you don't want it to - I finished it in basically one sitting even though I spent half the time being VERY, VERY ANNOYED at a lot of things. It's also written in alternating first person POV, which made Daccias' sections even more annoying because he obviously has Reasons for not wanting to release the Separator, but he refuses to tell anyone WHY. Not even the reader.
So you spend the whole book not knowing why, and agreeing with everyone else that Daccias is a stupid, annoying brat of a king. And then you find out why and realise that actually, he is still a stupid, annoying brat. It's one of those tropes that I hate (whatever it's called) because all the tension is built up on one person refusing to explain something which would resolve ALL THE PROBLEMS and he refuses to say anything despite everyone asking him to (and almost forcing him to) because nyeh nyeh nyeh he is the king and can do whatever he wants. His twin/opposite Waruu is also an annoying brat, but he is at least entertaining, and trying his best. Waruu is also pretty upfront about all his motives, which is maaaaaybe why I liked him a little better. (Side note: Maybe this is why YA is irking me more and more - I have no more patience for teenage shenanigans. I would have probably enjoyed it more if I read this as a teen myself.)
There's a bunch of backstory to the founding of this kingdom and the stark separation between Day and Night layered into the things/history Waruu discovers when he takes Daccia's place. I found this pretty fascinating, especially since you don't really know anything about the current day except that the Sons of Night are the elite ruling class and the Sons of Day are the poor commoners.
So anyway, the plot and execution could be stronger, and I spent a lot of time thinking all the characters in the book are slightly dumb (or are prone to making brainless decisions) but it's fast-paced enough to pull you along anyway despite your better inclinations.
Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from Enclave Publishing. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
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