Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

115 reviews

laurareads87'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

5.0

She Who Became the Sun was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022 and it far surpassed my excitement. I love so much about this book – the writing, the character development, the exploration of gender and sexuality. Set in the mid-1300s, the later years of the Mongol-ruled Yuan Dynasty of China, focusing particularly on the Red Turban Rebellions, the novel follows two storylines – that of Zhu Chongba, who was assigned female at birth and takes on her brother’s identity at a young age in order to claim the greatness predicted for him, and that of Ouyang, a eunuch general in the Yuan army who carries complex motivations of his own. It is a heavy read, full of political machinations and strategies and manoeuvring as well as reflections on identity, fate, desire, and power. I will say that this book reads much more as historical fiction to me – it is thoroughly researched and many characters and events in the book have a historical basis – than fantasy; the fantasy elements in the book consist of the Mandate of Heaven, ghosts, and dynamics of preordained destiny. I very highly recommend this novel + am thrilled that it is the first part of a duology. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and War

Moderate: Animal death and Gore

aardwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

An amazing execution of bright, sharp lives, a mess of protagonists who are none of them remotely good but are painfully themselves, drawn out dooms and tragedies that are no less inevitable for foresight. I love all these terrible people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

peachani's review against another edition

adventurous reflective tense slow-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

4.75

Absolutely beautiful prose. I can't wait to read the next book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Grief

mmefish's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cursing, Gore, and Sexual content

Minor: Animal death

astropova's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.75

It was a cool book, but I think a little bit not for me. I found it a bit slower paced than my liking at times, and I wasn't as into the story during Ouyang's POV as I was during Zhu's.

But on the plus side, the book was interesting in the focus on gender identity, one's sense of self, personal growth, and what fate really is.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexism and Sexual content

Minor: Child death and Fire/Fire injury

feyra's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

sporemiette's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

sometimes the prose was really good and sometimes it felt clumsy. the dialogue especially was a toss up, although i think it got better as the book went on. one thing that i wasn't a fan of was the cursing in the narration, although that's something i don't like in any book. there were times when i felt like the crass nature of swearing contradicted whatever was going on in the actual scene. other than that the story was good and i especially like how the author handled gender identity and dysphoria ^^

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and War

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Outing, and Alcohol

Minor: Pedophilia, Excrement, and Pregnancy

laurenw's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, Sexual content, Slavery, Death of parent, and Dysphoria

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

wrenxavier's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Genocide, Gore, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and War

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

missindyrose's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and War

Moderate: Child death

Towards the end of the book there are multiple character deaths by skinning, beheading, and being drawn and quartered by horse.