Reviews

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

superlillative's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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? No

3.75

The characters were all incredibly well thought out and I enjoyed the dubious morality. The two different perspectives made for a very rich contrast and exploration of gender, especially in a violent setting and how that intersected with character motivation. The plot was interesting, but slow at times. Great for character study but was kinda just whelmed by the story itself. 

capybara5's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

leamrn's review against another edition

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

3.75

yodisborg's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.75

It’s fine. It is as if the book switched who should be the main character. The villain is out for revenge and will sacrifice people to achieve understandable revenge. The protagonist will hurt people for power with no goal besides power. They have too much self awareness for being so morally corrupt and uninteresting.  It feels like the story started with the goal of representation without any story to tell. Read the Poppy War insteadz. It does everything this books wants better.

bluejaybooks's review against another edition

Took me an embarrassingly long time to realize this was an alternate historical fantasy novel . . . when I heard Mongolians mentioned I was so confused for a minute there

desolation73's review against another edition

3.0

I read two asian set fantasies in a short space of time, I favour The Hand of the Sun King by TJ Greathouse over this.

This is very highly rated by a lot of people but wasnt for me .

xtie's review against another edition

4.0

oooo my gad a queer sapphic Chinese histfic!!!! Ya ngl I had to skip a lot of the military scenes and found being inside Zhu’s head not particularly engaging (Ouyang on the other hand, oof). Characters weren’t all evenly developed and that’s the main reason this isn’t a five. Closer to a 3.5 for me!

treehugger513's review against another edition

3.0

I really wanted to love this book. But, alas! There was too much I didn't like about it. First and foremost I must mention the the writing is beautiful and it is the reason my rating sits at 3 stars and not lower. There is a beautiful and classical feel to her writing and this woman definitely has talent there.

The political and battle driven storyline was NOT for me. My mind takes a walk during those sorts of scenes and it happened A LOT.

But what really got me down were the characters! Though they were all incredibly fascinating and watching the journey with desired and fate unfold was so interesting, I couldn't help but HATE nearly everyone. And by the end of the book I DID end up hating everyone. Everyone was so self centered (with the exception of Xu Da and Ma) and so self concerned their selfish actions were just too much. Also, like, way too many men having a proverbial Penis Waving contest. I needed more female characters and more likable characters. I felt no need/want to keep reading, though I did anyway.

I don't think I will keep reading this series because they're all jerks.

mags_k's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense 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

3.75

elusorius's review against another edition

3.0

Some things I liked:
The concept of this book intruiged me immensely. A good-for-nothing girl, disguising herself as her fated-for-greatness brother. I enjoyed the setting, the worldbuilding and the representation. The inclusion of nuances in gender identity as well as LGBTQ+ characters are so important in literature.

Some things I hated at first but grew to tolerate:
The writing style, the supernatural elements, the multiple POV's. Out of these, I actually ended up enjoying the supernatural elements.

Some things I disliked:
The pacing was off and the characters felt detached. In fact, I didn't connect to any of the characters at all. I didn't care for them. Their emotions felt shallow and there was very little depiction of their thoughts. There were some very boring parts in the book as well as weird time skips or victories achieved too fast and easily.

In total, I would say this book is good? Maybe? I honestly feel somewhat indifferent about it. 3/5.