Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Celle qui devint le soleil by Shelley Parker-Chan

298 reviews

flamesocks's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.5


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vaguely_pink's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense 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

4.25


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withlivjones's review against another edition

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

3.5

This book had a really interesting premise and I really liked the political intrigue aspects and not quite knowing which character was one step ahead of the other. I thought it was a masterclass in writing morally grey, motive-focused characters who are so determined to fulfil their goals that it doesn’t matter who or what stands in their way. However, the pacing was kind of all over the place and the author spent so long hiding the significance of the supernatural elements of the story that the final reveal felt a little anticlimactic. Overall it was a very well-written book, it just wasn’t quite for me. 

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ellen_suth's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark sad tense fast-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

I really enjoyed this book but can’t help but feel like some of the emotional punches would have landed harder if I had more cause to care for the characters. Zhu and Ouyang are both brilliant but in wanting to hide where the story was going, I think the author maybe lost a lot of what would have made me empathise if not completely agree with them. Ma was a personal favourite and I look forward to seeing how her story resolves in the sequel.

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sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad 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

4.75


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andtheywereroommates's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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


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auroramw's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I really enjoyed the first 1/3 of the book - after that it wasn't really for me anymore. I loved the conversations on gender though!

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the_manatee_lord's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? No

5.0


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saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

“Not-wanting is a desire too; it yields suffering just as much as wanting.”

Now THIS is how you do a Mulan story! Gripping, beautifully written, twisty, brutal, and queer. Set during the Mongol Rule of China and following two main characters, Zhu and Ouyang, neither of whom are cis and both of whom are complex anti-heroes who yearn for better fates. Shelley Parker-Chan did an incredible job of writing an unambiguously queer story without needing clear labels. There’s also a touch of magic for a bit of fantasy flavor.

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tinyjude's review against another edition

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

5.0

Absolutely fell in love with these flawed characters and their journeys, how they fight to challenge or grasp their fates and how their perceptions of themselves as beings change as the story unravels. 

It has several lgbtqia+ representation within the story and oh god, the body dysphoria truly hit the sensitive spot for me (/pos) with Zhu, so beware if that is a major trigger warning. 

I couldn't get enough of Ma and Zhu's relationship despite seeing how that journey towards greatness was so toxic and harmful. Same with the other protagonist of the novel, Ouyang, so complex, with such a heart-wrecking story. I felt his shame, humiliation, resentment, desire, sense of duty, self-loathing, so strongly... I felt so much for these characters, enjoyed the world building, politics, war strategies, complicated relationships, mentions of faith, heaven, kinship or 'likeness' as they reference a lot, with characters mirroring each other in many different levels. 

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