Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Celui qui noya le monde by Shelley Parker-Chan

47 reviews

forgottenwitch's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is not going to be for everyone.

The tone of this novel was markedly darker than its prequel, but you can’t help but be transfixed by the main cast and their descent into darker and darker waters. Each character plays such an important role in the story as a whole, but with each new perspective you can’t help but see how they’re all doomed by the narrative in their own unique ways since they exist in a world that is designed to prevent them from winning. 

While this story focus a lot on themes of bigotry, social rejection, and self loathing (especially when it comes to gender identity and expression), it also highlights the incredible power that self acceptance holds in a world that despises those who are different. Despite this story being absolutely riddled with tragedies and loss, it does go on to show that not all new beginnings are heralded by one last terrible act.

My only complaint is that the third part of the book (the last 80 pages) felt a little rush in my opinion. I would have love to see Zhu’s finale plan develop a little bit slower and I wanted to see more of how the world reacts to the very last scene in the story. This book is already incredibly long, and there certainly wasn't enough material to stretch the series into a trilogy (it also wouldn’t be as hard hitting), so I do understand why the final wrapping up of all the loose ends was fairly quick.

By and large, this duology hits hard and it places a heavy focus on how bigotry and self loathing can destroy not just the individual, but society as a whole. There is a glimmer of hope for the future, but you certainly wont get to see that hope carried out here.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Grief, Rape, and Self harm

justinekorson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Ouyang deserved better.... I felt so bad for him by the end of this story. The Third Prince also deserved better. I didn't expect that kind of betrayal from Baoxiang at all. Ma ALSO deserved better too instead of doing what Zhu asked of her!! It sounded like she chose to do it in the end but that's... it's still very sad. The one who DESERVED BETTER MOST OF ALL THOUGH IS XU DA. I'M GOING TO BE SAD ABOUT HIM FOREVER. Also go Zhu!! I support women's rights and women's wrongs!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Violence, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Grief, Body shaming, Gore, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Sexual content, Misogyny, Murder, Torture, Slavery, Toxic friendship, and War

pearlbird's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Props to Parker-Chan for being brave enough to write this book and get it published. All characters are deliciously messed up while fighting for the Imperial throne of China. Each of them has to deal with being outside of the gender and sexuality norms of the time and place and be warned - it's not pretty. Marginalisation does not a hero make. It is however well-written and dares to explore these questions in ways I have rarely seen. I only had to deduct some points because

my fave my bestie my love Ma Xiuying is weirdly absent for the vast middle.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Toxic friendship, War, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Sexual violence

Minor: Child death

drowning

nikenacs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Rape, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Animal death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Self harm, Pregnancy, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Abortion, Miscarriage, and Infertility

shibh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A bittersweet end to the duology. These books look at gender and the human experience of it in a way that has left me feeling exposed and crying. In a good way though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal death, Homophobia, Body shaming, Classism, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual assault, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Murder, Abortion, Confinement, Genocide, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Lesbophobia, Addiction, Misogyny, Child death, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Gore, Infertility, Pregnancy, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Vomit, Xenophobia, Sexism, Transphobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

qito1706's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual violence, Slavery, Death, Sexism, Murder, Self harm, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Sexual assault

isi__1's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Self harm, War, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Miscarriage, Torture, and Rape

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

laurareads87's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

My first five star fiction of 2024 is He Who Drowned The World, the sequel to the excellent She Who Became the Sun. Set in mid-1300s China, this book picks up where its predecessor left off (and, helpfully, includes a very brief overview of where the previous book left the main characters).  The book follows several characters vying for the imperial throne and, with it, the ability to shape the future in which they all live.  The plot moves quickly, but for me the character work is what really shines here; the characters are multi-faceted and complex and the subtleties of their shifting motivations and relationships are extraordinarily well developed.  Themes of cisnormativity and heteronormativity - particularly how their ideologies are internalized and wielded by those they most harm - are handled so skillfully; this was an emotional read, and is the kind of queer historical fantasy I want to read.

In comparison, to the first book, the sequel is definitely heavier in tone; I would also say that the fantasy elements figure more prominently.  Having read the first book is vital to reading this one.

Content warnings: War, violence, murder, blood, injury detail, ableism, internalized homophobia, sexism/misogyny, death of a child, drowning, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, torture, rape (several instances, in one case described in some detail on-page), animal cruelty & death. This book is not easy reading.  It is not the most graphic by any means, but violence is absolutely pervasive throughout and the author's skill means that the content is deeply impactful.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, War, Blood, Violence, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Misogyny

Minor: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Child death

saphfics's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book really managed to outshine the first book in many ways. From adding new interesting POVs to really diving deep into the themes of gender expectations and gender performance. 

It can feel very slow at times but that is because puzzle pieces are moving all the time. I feel like it needed like a couple of pages more at the end because it felt to me that the story stopped very abruptly. However, I think that the ending still does justice to everyone's character arc.

I would warn anyone to really look at the content warnings because it really is dark at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Ableism, and Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content and Suicidal thoughts

nemrac23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Self harm, Slavery, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Blood and Vomit