Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Celle qui devint le soleil by Shelley Parker-Chan

120 reviews

shawnali's review against another edition

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  • 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

4.75

The beginning of the book was harrowing. And though you get a little levity here and there, it's fairly bleak throughout. Don't pick this one up if you're not feeling up to it! 

Gender, as it was represented in this book, was very interesting. Singular pronouns were binary, but there were a couple characters that pushed against it while still playing within it. 

I enjoyed that most of the cast of characters was morally grey at best. 

I wished certain elements became relevant just a bit faster, but overall I had a good time with this one. 

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elliya's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced
  • 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

3.5

This had so many elements that I loved, but I have so much trouble with unlikeable protagonists. And here I am racing into the next book of the series, so 🤷🏻 Good audiobook narration, but the pacing was very slow at times for me — a little bogged down in military strategy and 1300s warfare tactics. But I do appreciate being exposed to historical information (in this case, a re-imagining of the transition into the Ming dynasty) through novels :)

Also this book has a sapphic relationship which gets nearly zero page time — except for a full-on FISTING SCENE that occupies half of the couple’s overall page time??? Honestly though it was tender and I was not mad.

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river_jean_sterling's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

3.75


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dreadspawn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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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jlchabotte's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-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

4.25


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leannanecdote's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense slow-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

3.75


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crystalisreading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense
  • 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

Intense.  well written. Compelling.  Wonderful audio narration. Incredibly morally grey characters. Brutal. All the feels. not for the faint of heart. 

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moreadsnrambles's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

3.75

I really enjoyed the complexity of this book. I was worried that it would be overwhelming as someone who doesn’t read a lot of fantasy but I thought the premise was really interesting and the book was really good! Somehow I both liked and disliked a lot of the characters’ choices, often at the same time, but I really enjoyed getting to know their lives and stories! 

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jess_always_reading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

I absolutely loved this story. The writing is beautifully done, evoking emotion in even the meanest description. Parker-Chan was able to conveying so much with each character's portrayal and the plots, machinations, and political movements were intriguing. I truly had no idea where this would end up when I started. 

The queer themes added a wonderful complexity to the storylines. Parker-Chan treats the queerness of their characters as an added dimension rather than a heavy-handed all-encompassing character trait. Though there's a place for that too, I really appreciated the way they crafted those parts of the story. It fit well and felt realistic. 

The story does depect violence,  death, and dark themes but not in a gratuitous way. 

10/10 would recommend!

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mozaikmage's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring 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

Bro what if we were Narrative Foils... Bro...

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