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teriodvarkova88's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
there is a little bit of romance tho
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zhu and ma have my heart<33
Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Child death, Torture, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Grief, and War
lizziaha's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Blood, Ableism, Death, War, Violence, Murder, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexism
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Death of parent, Child death, Classism, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, and Colonisation
Minor: Alcohol and Animal death
julesadventurezone's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Excrement, Blood, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Animal death, Ableism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Sexual content, Vomit, Sexism, Grief, Dysphoria, and Child abuse
Minor: Medical content, Sexual violence, Body shaming, and Slavery
hollowhallow13's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Grief, Death, Ableism, and Animal death
jpremmel's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: War, Gore, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny, Child death, and Ableism
Minor: Slavery and Animal death
sadiaa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
2.75
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, and War
bibliomania_express's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Grief, Genocide, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Torture, Racism, Gore, Xenophobia, War, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Sexism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Death, Child death, Body horror, Blood, and Ableism
melliedm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Zhu is a young girl living in poverty in Yuan dynasty China who has a fortune of nothingness. Her brother, Zhu Chongba, has a fortune of greatness. But when he and their father dies, Zhu decides to take his fortune for herself, and his identity. She joins a monastery which in short time is destroyed by the wronged Eunuch general of the Yuan army, Ouyang, which sets them both on the path to their fate.
For Zhu, that means going to Anfeng and working her way through the complexities and dangers of court politics in an attempt to rise through the ranks and achieve the greatness she has stolen for herself, and encountering surprising (sapphic) love along the way.
For Ouyang, it means accelerating his plans for vengeance against those who ruined him and slaughtered his family...all the while his complex feelings for his Prince, the son of the man he hates, attempt trouble him.
The pacing of She Who Became the Sun is incredible, delivering information, drama, and tense action in such a way that I kept finding it hard to put the book down for any length of time. The court drama was enthralling and frequently left me unsure of how things would end up—no plan could be certain when everyone has their own interests to serve, and they wait only for the perfect opportunity to take what they need.
Both of the main characters, Zhu and Ouyang, are incredibly characterized. Though one is protagonist (Zhu) and one is perhaps the antagonist (Ouyang), it is less that they oppose one another and more that they balance one another, something reinforced many times throughout the book. Even in their identities: Zhu with a female body, but living as a man, and feeling like she is neither; and Ouyang who wants to see himself as a man, but as a eunuch knows the world doesn't share that view, and who internalizes it to a painful level, existing somewhere in between. The story hinges on the push and pull of their sides (not just them individually), and they are incredible foils to one another. The chapters tend to alternate between the two, and I never felt disappointed when we switched, because they always felt like the perfect next step in the narrative.
Both Zhu and Ouyang are saddled with innumerable flaws and exacting ambitions, and their passion makes it easy to care about what they want even if you disagree with the route they choose to try and get it. Zhu may be the protagonist, and she may have many relatable qualities, but she is not a good person. For some, that may be a problem, but I love when female or genderqueer characters can be human--even if it means they do horrible things along the way. Ouyang, as the antagonist, gets more leeway from us with his actions because we accept his role in the story, but also commits truly terrible acts. Like I said: they exist in balance.
All in all, She Who Became the Sun is an incredible feat of storytelling. I devoured every word, and although the end was incredibly satisfying, I was also left wanting more of whatever Shelley Parker-Chan could deign to give me. I cannot wait for the sequel!
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Dysphoria, Body shaming, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Murder, Slavery, Infertility, Medical content, Child death, Grief, and Death of parent
jessiereads98's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
The most compelling part of this story was the character of Ouyang and his relationships. That being said, I would still cut Ouyang’s story from the book entirely. I see how he works as a mirror to Zhu’s character, but him and his story aren’t necessary. This book is too long with too many POVs that are wholly unnecessary and while technically they come into contact occasionally, they really aren’t that relevant to each other. No POV adds anything to the others. The jumps between POVs are also extremely jarring at times. Overall, I found it difficult to care about any character due to a lack of consistent characterization and constant jumps.
There’s no real payoff from the magic here. This is heavy on the military and light on the fantasy to the point where for me it drops to more magical realism than true fantasy. This was really disappointing since it had potential. However, almost every time
I can recognize the writing in this book on its own is objectively, technically very well done. However, it still reads very dry and drags for about 300-350 pages. The ending was good, but it wasn’t worth the rest of the book. This ended up feeling like an excessively elaborate and unnecessary set up for whatever is going to happen in the sequel.
Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Ableism, War, and Transphobia
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Blood, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Sexism
Minor: Excrement, Vomit, Animal death, Slavery, Racism, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Colonisation
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Death, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Sexism, Murder, Grief, Classism, and Gore
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Torture, Slavery, Sexual content, Child death, Ableism, Racism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Excrement, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Cannibalism