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wlreed312's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny
Minor: Homophobia
jjjreads'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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Classism, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Body shaming, Confinement, Death, Slavery, Ableism, Child death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Excrement, Fatphobia, Murder, Outing, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Homophobia, and Misogyny
Moderate: Alcohol, Deadnaming, and Physical abuse
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Medical content
kingrosereads's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
I don’t know if this book is anything like The Poppy Wars or The Song of Achilles since I haven’t read them yet, but it is similar to Game of Thrones (at least the show, again, didn’t read the books) in that there are multiple POVs across the country and none of the characters are wholly good or wholly bad. They do what they believe is necessary to obtain their fate. There’s also a lot of (in my opinion) boring political war strategy taking place. Love the drama of politics, but war strategy is a snooze fest. There’s also just a lot of “setting the scene” for the two major characters, Zhu and Ouyang, which is somewhat necessary to understand the characters but it does drag on a bit.
This book does not hold back when it comes to the horrors of violence and war (there’s literally a whole descriptive scene where a man is burned alive). It’s also descriptive in medieval hygiene practice (or lack thereof) so if you’ve ever wondered how smelly everything was back then, this book will tell you in heavy detail. Don’t make the mistake of eating during this book as there’s bound to be something unsettling to occur.
This book starts off following Zhu as a 9 year old girl in a village that’s been suffering through a famine that claimed the lives of her mother and many siblings, leaving just her, her father, and her brother, Zhu Chongba. From the start it’s clear Zhu is very clever and more capable than her father and brother, but they treat her as if she is nothing. One day her father takes her and her brother to this fortune teller who states that her brother’s fate is greatness whereas hers is nothingness. That is until her father is killed by bandits and Chu Chongba kills himself. This is when Zhu assumes her brother’s identity, hellbent on taking his fate since he gave it up, and she takes his place at a monastery to be trained as a monk. She masters her lessons and is even ordained early when she turns 19. We spend the book watching Zhu struggle with her identity, live in fear of people and Heaven discovering her deception, and claim her fate.
However, the Mongol army, led by General Ouyang, burns her monastery to the ground. She ends up joining the rebels and slowly climbs the ranks, constantly running into Ouyang, a eunuch, as it seems their fates are intertwined. Ouyang is Nanren, and his family was killed by the Mongol empire, but he was spared, castrated, and enslaved but was favored by the Prince’s son, Esen, and therefore was able to rise in status and became a general. He’s mistreated since he’s a eunuch and despite being an incredible warrior and successful general, he is denied any respect. Ouyang’s journey is similar to Zhu, but he has postponed his fate for as long as he can, but once events are set in motion, he charges headfirst into his fate.
I LOVE the very obvious similarities between Zhu and Ouyang in terms of their gender identities and sexualities. As well as their backgrounds and social standings as leaders. And I believe they’re both Nanren in this Mongol empire(?), I can’t remember.
This book has a lot of turmoil, physically and emotionally. There are a lot of shocking things, and we see how far both Zhu and Ouyang are willing to go to succeed. They’re both selfish in their own ways and make morally questionable decisions constantly.
This book doesn’t have romance, not really, like it’s not even a subplot. It’s more like a subplot’s subplot. The magic is minimal. Like those that have Heaven’s Mandate can produce flames and Zhu can see ghosts. That’s pretty much it for the magic. It’s also a common misconception that eunuchs don’t have their penis or testicles, most of the time it’s just the testicles that are removed, however, I learned while trying to understand some things about Ouyang that in China the practice of removing everything was common there for eunuchs. So that’s just a little fun fact to take with you.
I liked this book, but it just took forever to get through the first half. It’s definitely a long read and slow-paced. But it’s very interesting. I feel like I’m learning so much about another culture and it’s just so unapologetically authentic. Like Parker-Chen doesn’t waste any ink trying to explain cultural concepts or anything and I really like that. And they just write so beautifully. Like it’s full on poetic. It’s also just so queer. And I really love that Zhu doesn’t know her name, because it doesn’t seem like an accident that she struggles with her gender identity as well as who she is in general.
And (SPOILER) once she DECIDES who she is, she chooses a name for herself.
I’m hoping the next book just has more action in it. I suspect it will be slow-paced, but now that the events at the end of the book have occurred, I’m interested in what this means for Zhu and her relationships with her loved ones and Ouyang. Very good, definitely read if you like political historical fiction.
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and War
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia
julesxyz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Transphobia, Vomit, War, and Violence
midnightgremlin'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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Sexual content, Body shaming, Colonisation, Violence, Death, Homophobia, Murder, Blood, and Racism
Moderate: Torture
Minor: Animal death
qwerty88's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Ableism, Murder, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Violence, and War
Minor: Homophobia, Colonisation, Death of parent, Grief, Ableism, Child death, Animal death, Death, Medical trauma, Outing, and Alcohol
fiveredhens's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, Child abuse, and Death of parent
Moderate: Ableism, Child death, War, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, and Dysphoria
Minor: Cursing and Rape
ye_li's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Violence, Body horror, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Classism, War, Child abuse, Death, and Colonisation
Moderate: Sexual content
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: Child death, Classism, Death, Dysphoria, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Gore, Torture, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Outing, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Grief, Homophobia, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and War
gilroi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
If you're a fan of big action, big feelings, or historical dramas, you need to read this immediately.
Moderate: Homophobia