Reviews with content warning for War - She Who Became The Sun

This book, like its characters, contains multitudes. It reflects on gender, survival, ambition, society, discrimination, loyalty, identity, and even more than I name here. It also manages to tell an epic story on top of all that. For that I praise Shelley Parker-Chan. My only gripes with this book are that it takes a very long time to get into the meat of the book, that the prose is beautiful at the expense of sometimes distancing us from the characters (who were truly my favorite aspect of this story) and

there is a very interesting connection made with fate and biological sex throughout the story, but ultimately I, as a nonbinary reader, felt wasn’t explored as well as it could have been.

All in all I recommend this book and enjoyed it, though I will say I am not in a rush to pick up the sequel.

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moreadsnrambles's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

3.75

I really enjoyed the complexity of this book. I was worried that it would be overwhelming as someone who doesn’t read a lot of fantasy but I thought the premise was really interesting and the book was really good! Somehow I both liked and disliked a lot of the characters’ choices, often at the same time, but I really enjoyed getting to know their lives and stories!

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chelseanaylor's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

4.0

A good read, if a little slow at times. I really enjoyed the overarching theme of one's ability to shape their own fate.

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jess_always_reading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

I absolutely loved this story. The writing is beautifully done, evoking emotion in even the meanest description. Parker-Chan was able to conveying so much with each character's portrayal and the plots, machinations, and political movements were intriguing. I truly had no idea where this would end up when I started.

The queer themes added a wonderful complexity to the storylines. Parker-Chan treats the queerness of their characters as an added dimension rather than a heavy-handed all-encompassing character trait. Though there's a place for that too, I really appreciated the way they crafted those parts of the story. It fit well and felt realistic.

The story does depect violence, death, and dark themes but not in a gratuitous way.

10/10 would recommend!

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jennswan's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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offthecarousel_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad

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

4.5

I wish I could lead or be in a class studying this book. There's honestly too much to unpack. The descriptive prose is so visceral and creative it made me pause at times. The discussions of gender, especially their emotions & internalized phobias about how their bodies and how others perceive them is extremely well done. I rarely see it done to this level in published YA fantasy.

The way Zhu and Ouyang's arcs seemed like each others' road not taken, and yet each of their fates inevitable, fascinates me. In some cases they mirrored each other and others they were completely opposite. Zhu craved the gender she was perceived as while Ouyang was so repulsed by it he rejected all things feminine.

My only critiques are that the pacing felt a bit fast and loose, and the first switch to the new perspective was a bit jarring after several chapters of just one perspective.

Edit: I forgot! The fantasy element, at least in this first book, was either subtle or underdeveloped, depending on how generouly you want to look at it. I'm curious if that will come in more in the sequel, but if you're hoping for a book with a lot of fantasy, this is not the one.

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mozaikmage's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring 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

5.0

Bro what if we were Narrative Foils... Bro...

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adamsrib's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

i loved this book, honestly. the prose was evocative and very nicely written, which made the book easy to devour. i loved the setting, and the fact that the magical elements were small enough to add mysticism and intrigue whilst not overshadowing the rest of the worldbuilding.

i do admit that this book would likely not be everyone's cup of tea. it does not shy away from descriptions of war and violence and political subterfuge. the main characters, with the exception of one, are all morally grey: nobody is the "perfect hero" on either side of the war. the end of the novel is good but bittersweet and, in my opinion, suited the novel wonderfully.

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