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justamy's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.75
Great book. Recommend read.
I find that the secondary protagonist of this story is more understandable. His goals are very clear, while the primary protagonists goals are sort of fuzzy. This might be on purpose and I don’t think it takes away from the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, War, and Misogyny
Moderate: Violence, Homophobia, Murder, Sexual content, Death, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Death of parent, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Infidelity, and Slavery
bluejayreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
- 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
5.0
I put a hold on this audiobook at the library, and I’ll admit, when it came ready I wondered what I was thinking. I’ve read a lot of Chinese- and East Asian-inspired fantasy lately, including a completely different one that was also a fantasy version of a real ruler of China’s journey to power. But I’ve also DNF’d many, many other similar books recently. So I was a little skeptical going in.
Everything on the back cover is basically the setup for the story. The girl does not get a name, either because her father and brother don’t think her important enough to use it or her family never bothered to give her one in the first place. Surrounded by famine so terrible that people have resorted to truly terrible means, there was no reason to put effort into keeping a daughter alive when you could instead save a son.
But the girl lives. She takes her brother’s name and identity to enter a monastery where there would be food. There she discovers how far she will go to survive. She believes her true fate is nothingness and death, but if she has a strong enough will, she can convince Heaven itself that she should live.
That is the story. It is a monk who is not a woman* but who must hide her woman’s body, whose choices are nothingness or greatness and who will sacrifice anything, even breaking her own heart in the process, to seize her fate. As a girl child in a world that would rather let a girl die than let a boy be uncomfortable, she chose to live by any means necessary.
She is not a good person, but she is a strongly compelling character, a queer anti-hero who does many things that are morally dubious or outright wrong but who I still want to see succeed.
Her journey is set against a war – the Red Turban Rebellion – as the Chinese attempt to overthrow their Mongol rulers. And hers is not the only perspective in the story. There is also the eunuch general of the Mongol rulers, biding his time in dubious favor with various Mongol nobility until he can get revenge for his slaughtered family. There is also Ma, engaged to the son of a Red Turban leader as the rebellion’s leadership jockeys for power, who gets significantly less page time but no less importance than the other two. The threads of fate surround everyone and draw them ever closer to their glory or doom.
This review is poetic because that’s what this book evokes. The writing style isn’t poetic, and the book itself is full of violence and gore and hatred, but the story feels like an epic saga, the kind of thing that gets put to song and sung throughout the land. I occasionally had a difficult time keeping the names straight – though I’m pretty sure that’s a limitation of reading it as an audiobook – and the sheer excess of misogyny was hard to read at times. But I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. The sequel hasn’t even been announced yet, but there is going to be one and I can’t wait.
*About gender and pronouns in the book: Though raised as a girl until age 9-ish, Zhu declares herself not to be a girl. She presents as a man and uses he/him pronouns with others, but declares herself to be in a space between or outside the two genders, neither male nor female. The parts of the book that are from her perspective use she/her pronouns for her, so that’s what I use in this review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Gore, Ableism, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Classism, and Racism
Minor: Vomit, Animal death, Dysphoria, Cannibalism, and Fire/Fire injury
artemisg's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
There were aspects of this book I absolutely loved, and aspects I just didn’t.
The story follows a young girl who takes her brother's identity as Zhu Chongba and therefore his prophesied destiny of “greatness” after he dies. We never learn her given name which is a decision I really loved. She grows to lead the rebellion against the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. On the other side of the war (kind of - it’s complicated), we follow Ouyang, the eunuch general.
One of my favourite parts of this book were the explorations of gender and its fluidity that stemmed from these characters. Additionally, Parker-Chan does a wonderful job of making us sympathise with morally reprehensible characters and honestly root for them. Admittedly, at the end of this book, I was less of a fan of Zhu than I started. Alternatively, Ma had my whole heart from start to finish.
On the other hand, this story had pacing issues, with some intense battles taking less than a page, and some unnecessary exposition taking up far too many pages. Also, I felt like some of the destiny and fate discussions were too many and too heavy-handed.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and devoured it in one day. I’m looking forward to seeing where this series and story goes, especially after the conclusion of this book.
The story follows a young girl who takes her brother's identity as Zhu Chongba and therefore his prophesied destiny of “greatness” after he dies. We never learn her given name which is a decision I really loved. She grows to lead the rebellion against the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. On the other side of the war (kind of - it’s complicated), we follow Ouyang, the eunuch general.
One of my favourite parts of this book were the explorations of gender and its fluidity that stemmed from these characters. Additionally, Parker-Chan does a wonderful job of making us sympathise with morally reprehensible characters and honestly root for them. Admittedly, at the end of this book, I was less of a fan of Zhu than I started. Alternatively, Ma had my whole heart from start to finish.
On the other hand, this story had pacing issues, with some intense battles taking less than a page, and some unnecessary exposition taking up far too many pages. Also, I felt like some of the destiny and fate discussions were too many and too heavy-handed.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and devoured it in one day. I’m looking forward to seeing where this series and story goes, especially after the conclusion of this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism and Colonisation
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, and Blood
sunsetcity's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Gore, Trafficking, Violence, Toxic relationship, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Blood, Sexism, Body horror, Colonisation, War, Classism, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Slavery, and Torture
cait's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
3.25
An act of kindness that had been met with violence. And, in the end, hadn't made any difference at all. It had been the very opposite of pragmatism... The gesture had been pointless but somehow beautiful. In it had been [the] tender hope for the world as it should be, not the one that existed.
I am very happy that we are seeing more and more Chinese historical fantasy novels in recent years. As someone very interested in Chinese history and culture, I really enjoy the very unique perspectives displayed in Chinese fiction vs. Western fiction vs. Japanese fiction vs. Korean fiction, etc.
She Who Became the Sun definitely delivered on everything it promised to. We follow a clever girl from a poor village who has been cursed with a fate of nothingness while her cruel brother is granted the fate of greatness. When her brother dies, though, she decides that the only way for her to escape her fate is to steal his. So she takes his identity and runs away to a monastery, not knowing that this action would be the one that propelled her fate from destiny into reality.
This story delivers on all that it promises. Parker-Chan does not shy away from the brutality of war or ancient China. Everything is ugly and brutal and fatal and cruel. This is an ugly story. The characters are ugly. The terrain is ugly. War is ugly. The writing doesn't waste its time waxing poetic about shit-filled latrines or dismembered corpses.
So why didn't I give it five stars if it did all that? Honestly? I just don't like corruption arcs.
I am very happy that we are seeing more and more Chinese historical fantasy novels in recent years. As someone very interested in Chinese history and culture, I really enjoy the very unique perspectives displayed in Chinese fiction vs. Western fiction vs. Japanese fiction vs. Korean fiction, etc.
She Who Became the Sun definitely delivered on everything it promised to. We follow a clever girl from a poor village who has been cursed with a fate of nothingness while her cruel brother is granted the fate of greatness. When her brother dies, though, she decides that the only way for her to escape her fate is to steal his. So she takes his identity and runs away to a monastery, not knowing that this action would be the one that propelled her fate from destiny into reality.
This story delivers on all that it promises. Parker-Chan does not shy away from the brutality of war or ancient China. Everything is ugly and brutal and fatal and cruel. This is an ugly story. The characters are ugly. The terrain is ugly. War is ugly. The writing doesn't waste its time waxing poetic about shit-filled latrines or dismembered corpses.
So why didn't I give it five stars if it did all that? Honestly? I just don't like corruption arcs.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Death, Toxic friendship, War, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Outing, Physical abuse, Classism, and Injury/Injury detail
yamumsnotproud's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
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? No
2.75
Adheres to the old adage of ‘rooting for the underdog,’ and for the first 75% of the book you do. After that the desire of the main character moves from ambitious to megalomaniacal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Misogyny, Ableism, Body shaming, and Sexism
Moderate: War
Minor: Classism and Slavery
loupoulis's review
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Cursing, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Sexism, and War
adrianabaltar's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I really wanted to love this book but it became too slow paced ! too soon for me. I didn’t really connect with the characters and i wasn’t captivated by the story neither..
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, and War
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