Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

75 reviews

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

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

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

bookspaperink's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, War, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death of parent, Blood, Sexual content, and Grief

Minor: Slavery, Alcohol, Animal death, Excrement, Child death, and Vomit

thecourtofreading's review

adventurous dark slow-paced

2.0

if you want a fate other than what heaven gave you, you have to want that other fate. you have to struggle for it. suffer for it.

whoever recommended this book to me, we absolutely did not read the same book. this book, with a gorgeous cover, told me it would give, and it did not, in fact, give. 

part 1 of SWBTS was great, like when she was in the monastery, but the rest of the parts just did not and could not compare. a book that had great potential at the start just then stumbled, fell, and stayed down. and you’re telling me this book compares to the poppy war? no, the poppy war is phenomenal, and this to be frank is not. 

the only reason i did not give this book 2 stars is the characters, and i’ll praise them for a little bit, because they were by far the most developed. (their names were surprising similar to the poppy war might i add. altan? changhan? hmm. is probably a coincidence but i didn’t like it.) zhu was my favourite although i disliked the love interest, ma, a lot she got on my nerves, and ouyang i loved alongside esen, though their povs became tedious at times. ALSO XU DA. HE CARRIED THIS BOOK. 

chapter 21 was VERY unprovoked. you go from war to—okay smut? THEY HAVE NO CHEMISTRY AT ALL. this reminds me of that one scene in a court of wings and ruin. you know what i’m on about. 
 

basically, if you want a book about war, go read the poppy war. i adore that book. don’t read this. they’re way too similar, and if i’m honest, the poppy war is better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Sexual content, Violence, War, and Murder

Minor: Alcohol

purple_adora's review

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Body shaming, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Death of parent and Child death

Minor: Alcohol

zombiezami's review against another edition

emotional tense

• 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

3.75

While I enjoyed the characters and the ways that the author explored gender expressions and identities in this book, the plot lost me several times. I'm learning it's hard for me to pay attention to narratives that revolve around war. I feel like I would have liked this more as a television show or movie. Some aspects were hard to visualize for me. Not sure if I'll read the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Ableism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Trafficking, Violence, Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Excrement, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, and Vomit

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

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: Child death, Classism, Death, Dysphoria, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Gore, Torture, Xenophobia, Transphobia, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Outing, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Grief, Homophobia, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and War

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful 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? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Colonisation

Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, Child death, Death of parent, Cursing, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Grief, and Death

Minor: Animal death, Excrement, Ableism, Bullying, and Vomit

serena_hien's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, Misogyny, Violence, War, Ableism, Alcohol, Murder, Classism, Dysphoria, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Body horror and Torture

Minor: Child death

storykath's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The monk Zhu Chongba is swept up in an ongoing war between Mongolian rulers and Nanren rebels, but there is much more to the situation, the adversaries, and Zhu herself than meets the eye.

This book felt longer than its 400 pages, which was both a strength and weakness. There's so much that happens - towards the end, I found myself looking back at the beginning with incredulity about how much the situation and characters had changed. I had truly been taken on a journey with the protagonists. On the other hand, I also found that some parts of this book dragged. When the plot became saturated with politics or an ongoing battle, I found it hard to stay invested, but it was always worth it to power through. Parker-Chan guides us through all the intrigues and betrayals fairly well; there's generally enough context to keep up with the revolving cast of characters and their various motivations, but at times there were intentions that were implied and not totally clear.

The changes in perspectives were engaging, and I enjoyed seeing each protagonist from the others' perspectives. Zhu Chongba in particular comes across very differently depending on whether we see her from her own perspective or someone else's. The characters were all enjoyably complex and morally nuanced, and while I can't relate to the overarching themes of fate, greatness, and vengeance, I could clearly see how those factors drove the characters in their every decision and action.

I'm curious to see what comes next in this series, and I hope that we can continue to explore these characters and see their continued redemptions and/or corruptions.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Murder, Sexism, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Violence, and War

Moderate: Grief, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, and Slavery

Minor: Alcohol, Medical content, Animal death, Child death, Infidelity, and Xenophobia

mcgildey's review

adventurous dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Gore, War, and Violence

Moderate: Death of parent and Racism

Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, Sexual content, and Vomit