Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Celle qui devint le soleil by Shelley Parker-Chan

41 reviews

psbibi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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

5.0

She Who Became the Sun is a brutal and tender epic of tragedy, the struggles of gender dysphoria, sexuality and the all encompassing rage that is ambition. Zhu and Ouyang are deathly counterweights, enemies that balance and reflect one another. While it is able to stand on its own, I am aptly excited to read more of this world and its characters in the forthcoming sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Sexual content, Blood, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Xenophobia, Grief, and Classism

julesxyz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

• 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

this book had me hooked from the first page, it’s now my favorite istg this book is liquid gold to my eyes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

samugranjo's review against another edition

adventurous reflective 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

The focus of this book is desire, this desire obtains different shapes but usually there's a pursue of power involved. The author wrote about humans relationship with desire incredibly.
The characters are lovable at times but with most of them you are gonna feel annoyed too, feel like they have went too far. You both understand them and want to stop them.
The way the author writes about gender is outstanding, I was surprised by how much I related to this book as a genderqueer person. There's also some representation in the ace spectrum that I think was done well considering how little space it had.
Overall really recommend this read, and have to end this review by praising the writing in this novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Body horror, Cursing, Genocide, Slavery, Torture, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Vomit, and Death of parent

miamcmillan's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring medium-paced

• 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

4.0

deeply compelling and beautifully written. i loved the parts with ouyang’s point of view and didn’t guess the twists at the end, which truly surprised me and made for a great reading experience. the moral greyness of the protagonist, zhu, is also fascinating, especially because i think it would have been received very differently by readers if she were perhaps a man. she’s very likeable and also slightly repelling in her lack of morality, and i really enjoyed parker-chan’s refusal to shy away from the suffering and crimes inherent in a path to greatness. ma and xu da are lovely and to be quite honest deserve better in general. the beginning interested me less than the middle and the end, which seems to be contrary to a lot of reviews, but i just thought the build up was brilliant and the tone of the book really suits the theme of greatness which acts as it’s catalyst. the author’s exploration of gender was also very relatable and very well done. it’s interwoven into the story in a vital way and is very sympathetic in its additions to the plot and the characters’ development. overall a shocking, vividly impactful read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Genocide, Grief, and Dysphoria

sonaea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, and Death of parent

Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Genocide, Slavery, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol

handful_of_frogs's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

andromeda_1998's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

She who became the sun is an epic novel about Zhu’s journey towards greatness. Eventhough the endpoint of the duology is clear, the writer was able to make this book unpredictable. The writing is impeccable and this book is a really good recommendation for lovers of the poppy war. What is it that makes this book so great? 

Characters 
Zhu is a strong character that has come a long way in the journey to find themselves. Eventhough she does some despicable things, you will still find yourself rooting for her. This book has muliple pov’s, and eventhough I liked Ouyangs story less I do think it’s an important pov to have. It transforms Ouyang from a mythical angry general into a hurt and damaged men who’s trying to take revenge for what has been done to his family. 

Ma Yingzi is one of the characters I liked less. She is nothing more than the empathetic woman who follows Zhu trough her troubles and I would have loved for her to have more moments where she would show her desires for life. 

Worldbuilding 
This book is a genderbended retailing of the ascension of Zhu Yuanzhuang, the first emperor of the Ming dynasty. It has fantasy elements, and it has been done beautifully.  The story focuses a lot on political games and can be a bit hard to read but in the end it’s worth it. 

Writing 
The writing is beautifully done. There are some amazing quotes in this book! 

Story
Like I said before the story focuses on political games and war themes. It has some big triggerwarnings and the book can be very heavy to read. 

Recommendations 
If you loved this book I would recommend you the poppy war but also the priory of the orange tree. The poppy war and she who became the sun are closer together but this kind of epic story also fits in very well with the priory of the orange tree 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Classism

antimonium's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Epic historical fantasy. A good read, but dark.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Genocide, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and War

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-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

4.0

War epics are not my cup of tea, but if they're yours you might enjoy this one! Set in ancient China and packed with destiny, epic battles, political intrigue, betrayal, the occasional ghost, and clashes between Chinese and Mongol powers, this book tells the epic story of a girl who didn't starve to death claiming a name and destiny that might not have been hers.

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Content Warnings

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

giuliaprim's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Genocide, and Violence

Moderate: Domestic abuse and War