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Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Celui qui noya le monde by Shelley Parker-Chan

95 reviews

and_opossum's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.0


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emrosch's review against another edition

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

5.0

It more than just surpassed all of my expectations. All this book did was make me miserable.

It's absolutely brilliant. This entire duology is like nothing I've ever read before. The prose, the characters, the vividness of everything... It's simply phenomenal.

Here's to hoping Shelley Parker-Chan releases more books in the future!! 

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ysary's review against another edition

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

4.5

I loved this book! 
The plot is amazing with a lot of twist and turn where you don't expect it. Seeing all the POV of the different Mandates makes you root for each of them and want to scream at the other when they fall into their traps. It's a very gruesome book with a lot of detailed violence that made me sometime have to take a minute before continuing reading.
In the end I knew I wanted Zhu to win but I had no idea how she would do it, everything was against her. Some of her action where more than questionable and some of them I did not understand but all of it is for the greater good. She scarified so much to get her empire but was it worth it? To me it wouldn't and I love that she also as moments of doubt because I was right there with her.

I usually don't like military books but I could not put this one down because more than armies they  are people and they aren't just fighting for power but for their future. 

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dmteralie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.0

I felt conflicted about whether I liked the book the whole way but I found it addicting to listen to. This book is dark and sad pretty much the whole way down. 

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shibh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense 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

A bittersweet end to the duology. These books look at gender and the human experience of it in a way that has left me feeling exposed and crying. In a good way though.

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tinyflame4's review against another edition

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

4.5


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laurareads87's review against another edition

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challenging dark hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

My first five star fiction of 2024 is He Who Drowned The World, the sequel to the excellent She Who Became the Sun. Set in mid-1300s China, this book picks up where its predecessor left off (and, helpfully, includes a very brief overview of where the previous book left the main characters).  The book follows several characters vying for the imperial throne and, with it, the ability to shape the future in which they all live.  The plot moves quickly, but for me the character work is what really shines here; the characters are multi-faceted and complex and the subtleties of their shifting motivations and relationships are extraordinarily well developed.  Themes of cisnormativity and heteronormativity - particularly how their ideologies are internalized and wielded by those they most harm - are handled so skillfully; this was an emotional read, and is the kind of queer historical fantasy I want to read.

In comparison, to the first book, the sequel is definitely heavier in tone; I would also say that the fantasy elements figure more prominently.  Having read the first book is vital to reading this one.

Content warnings: War, violence, murder, blood, injury detail, ableism, internalized homophobia, sexism/misogyny, death of a child, drowning, suicidal thoughts, self-harm, torture, rape (several instances, in one case described in some detail on-page), animal cruelty & death. This book is not easy reading.  It is not the most graphic by any means, but violence is absolutely pervasive throughout and the author's skill means that the content is deeply impactful.

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grace_b_3's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective 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

4.0


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saphfics's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes

5.0

This book really managed to outshine the first book in many ways. From adding new interesting POVs to really diving deep into the themes of gender expectations and gender performance. 

It can feel very slow at times but that is because puzzle pieces are moving all the time. I feel like it needed like a couple of pages more at the end because it felt to me that the story stopped very abruptly. However, I think that the ending still does justice to everyone's character arc.

I would warn anyone to really look at the content warnings because it really is dark at times. 

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alyballybee's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

A fantastic conclusion to the duology. Many twists and turns yet the reader is always along for the journey and never left wanting. Each character is uniquely shaped and crafted, serving a purpose in a meaningful, well-thought out cast. You feel what they feel, and while you may not always agree with their choices, the writing offers respect to what has been done and what could have been. An astounding read. Highly recommend.

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