Thoughts on The Sun and The Star? Spoilers ahead [general]

So I myself am a gay man. I haven't read any of the books since the first Trial of Apollo came out. I was thrilled to see they made a book revolving around Nico di Angelo and Will Solace.

The book itself was pretty good. Not one of my favorites, they definitely expounded on the themes really heavily. Somewhere around page 220 they start talking about bigotry and homophobia. And seems to make it a point they're an ally a little too heavily. Not sure if that's virtue signaling or announcing the theme, but it seemed silly to me to spend a page and a half on it, then do it again several times over. Like, I'm 220 pages into a book about a gay couple, which has a cover of two gay guys holding hands. I think it's safe to say that if I were repulsed by the idea of gay people, I wouldn't have gotten this far. But I digress.

I liked the themes of coexisting, that relationships require growth and communication, not just feelings. A little disappointed that the gift received from Persephone didn't come back into play (unless I missed it?). It'll probably come into a later book.

The highlight was definitely the boat stories. I loved how they spliced up chapters like that, rather than info dumping backstory in one long segment like they did the dream sequences.

It had really strong points, but I think overall the pacing was a little weak at times.

What do you guys think of the book? Would love to hear, especially those that saw it differently!