Reviews with content warning for Child death - She Who Became the Sun

What a cool read. A dark reimagining of the birth of an empire, holding no punches as it informs along the way.

There's a substantial amount of cultural and historical information, the harsh realities represented beautifully and without pause, with just enough fantastical elements to make it shine the brighter. Can't wait to check out the next one.

Content Warnings

jpremmel's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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leanne_miron's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny 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

5.0

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dragongirl271's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

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btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

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challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

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heather_harrison's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“Desire is the cause of all suffering. All Zhu had ever desired was to live. Now she felt the pure strength of that desire inside her, as inseparable as her breath or qi, and knew she would suffer from it. She couldn’t even begin to imagine the awful magnitude of the suffering that would be required to achieve greatness in the chaotic, violent world outside.”

It's Mulan vibes but with more violence, war and treachery, with an element of fantasy. BUT... also a really interesting exploration of destiny, gender identity and gender fluidity. How refreshing to have complex gender-queer relationships in historical fantasy! The prose is great and even the (spicy) scenes are beautifully written.

I did go into this relatively blind, and didn't know that it reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Parker-Chan takes great effort to build the world, and it does feel deeply rooted in history with many examples of grim reality.

We meet a young girl, a peasant of the famine-stricken Central Plains of China, who was fated for nothing (literally). She adopts her brother's identity after he tragically dies, as he was fated for greatness. She decides to take his name, identity and in turn, his greatness, to survive for herself.

Our main character definitely leans more towards to the anti-hero, and will do anything to survive.

There is a lot of confusion with the pronouns for Zhu's character - as they seem to switch between she/her and he/him depending on the situation. For clarity, I'm going to refer to Zhu as they/them. They are resilient and cunning and you can't help but be enamored. I absolutely adored the part one of this novel - as it centred around Zhu’s survival

and their time in becoming a monk whilst hiding their gender.

. Part two takes an unexpected turn, as we are introduced to our secondary POV - Ouyang, on the opposing side of the the war taking place.

Ouyang is a eunuch and general in the Mongol army, who also happened be enslaved by the Mongols after his entire family were slaughtered by their army. He also happens to have fallen for the Esen, the prince and son of the leader of the Mongols. When his intentions for revenge are first hinted at - I got so excited but I felt this did let me down a little.

I definitely enjoyed Zhu's perspective more and wouldn't have minded just having the story follow her but it wasn't a deal breaker.

As the narrative progresses, Zhu and Ouyang’s fate become entwined.

The pacing was a bit uneven, and I did find it a bit of a slog until I reached the final part of the story, that I did feel like a 'missed' parts of this because some seemingly important things are just skimmed over. To make matters worse, a lot of the important parts of the story take place 'off page' so we don't even get to see them.

I do feel that Parker-Chan does a very good job at not portraying either the Mongols or the Red Turbans as inherently good or bad. There are no morally superior war heroes in this tale, only survival. I am looking forward to the second book being released this year, and closing off the duology.

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