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therainbowshelf's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
serena_hien's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror and Torture
Minor: Child death
hannahbailey's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
However, I did love the exploration of gender in the setting of war and violence. It was really interesting to watch the different characters grow into their respective roles. The subtle use of fantasy added an extra element of risk, so the story felt believable with incredibly high stakes.
Fantasy fans will love the diverse cast and character development, as well as the exciting, action-packed plot. I would've enjoyed the book a lot more had it been written in first-person, though I think this is more a fault of my own than that of the book's.
Check trigger warnings for this book as it's packed full of them - definitely not a light read.
thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review
Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
ate_reads's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
justamy's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Infidelity, Slavery, Death of parent, and Classism
bluejayreads's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Racism, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Cannibalism, Fire/Fire injury, and Dysphoria
artemisg's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
The story follows a young girl who takes her brother's identity as Zhu Chongba and therefore his prophesied destiny of “greatness” after he dies. We never learn her given name which is a decision I really loved. She grows to lead the rebellion against the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. On the other side of the war (kind of - it’s complicated), we follow Ouyang, the eunuch general.
One of my favourite parts of this book were the explorations of gender and its fluidity that stemmed from these characters. Additionally, Parker-Chan does a wonderful job of making us sympathise with morally reprehensible characters and honestly root for them. Admittedly, at the end of this book, I was less of a fan of Zhu than I started. Alternatively, Ma had my whole heart from start to finish.
On the other hand, this story had pacing issues, with some intense battles taking less than a page, and some unnecessary exposition taking up far too many pages. Also, I felt like some of the destiny and fate discussions were too many and too heavy-handed.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and devoured it in one day. I’m looking forward to seeing where this series and story goes, especially after the conclusion of this book.
Moderate: Colonisation and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, and Blood
sunsetcity's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
cait's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I am very happy that we are seeing more and more Chinese historical fantasy novels in recent years. As someone very interested in Chinese history and culture, I really enjoy the very unique perspectives displayed in Chinese fiction vs. Western fiction vs. Japanese fiction vs. Korean fiction, etc.
She Who Became the Sun definitely delivered on everything it promised to. We follow a clever girl from a poor village who has been cursed with a fate of nothingness while her cruel brother is granted the fate of greatness. When her brother dies, though, she decides that the only way for her to escape her fate is to steal his. So she takes his identity and runs away to a monastery, not knowing that this action would be the one that propelled her fate from destiny into reality.
This story delivers on all that it promises. Parker-Chan does not shy away from the brutality of war or ancient China. Everything is ugly and brutal and fatal and cruel. This is an ugly story. The characters are ugly. The terrain is ugly. War is ugly. The writing doesn't waste its time waxing poetic about shit-filled latrines or dismembered corpses.
So why didn't I give it five stars if it did all that? Honestly? I just don't like corruption arcs.
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
yamumsnotproud's review against another edition
- 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? No
2.75
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Misogyny, Sexism, and Medical trauma
Moderate: War
Minor: Slavery and Classism