Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

14 reviews

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Murder, Child death, Death, Death of parent, War, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Dysphoria, Grief, Misogyny, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Homophobia, Colonisation, and Blood

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Slavery, Suicide, Alcohol, Cursing, Pandemic/Epidemic, Abandonment, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Infidelity, and Body horror

spootilious's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

 Read: December 17, 2023
 Title: She Who Became The Sun 

Series: The Radiant Emperor #1 

Genre: Fantasy / Historical Fiction / LGBT 

Rating: 3 / 5
 Review: 

I went into this book looking to expand my reading to other cultures and in that aspect I wasn’t disappointed. 

From the beginning this book had an entirely different feel than the fantasy novels I have been used to. There’s such a beautiful cadence to it and the cultural aspects from names and titles to imagery are breath taking. Shelley Parker-Chan is a stunningly talented artist! 

With that being said there were some ups and downs with this book. First and perhaps my biggest complaint is the marketing (which has little to do with the book but) it was pitched as Song of Achilles meets Mulan. If you go into this book with the hope of that kind of story you be SORELY DISAPPOINTED. This is no love story, there are no ‘feel good’ moments. This is pain, sorrow, duty and ambition. There is no sugar or softness. 

That isn’t to say there isn’t a romance, simply that the romance in the book is in the background and has very VERY little to do with the story. 

Now, the thing I loved most about the novel is the exploration of the gender spectrum and the comparison and contrasting roles of the two main characters. I found it intriguing and something I haven’t seen in many books. Being cis I am curious how individuals that identify with these characters feel about their representation. I for one and simply happy to see it in a (for the most part) positive light. 

I also feel that while Parker-Chan’s writing is what had me turning the pages, the plot was inconsistent and left something to be desired. The beginning and the end were certainly a meal but the middle felt like a fasting that lasted far too long. The book became very politically focused and with so many names to characters that weren’t very distinguishable that it all just formed into one incoherent blob I was forced to trudge through. 

Again, that is not to say it was bad, simply that it was a struggle. 

In fact, most of the characters were a bit formless, fading into the background until something important happened and I was forced to try and recall who they were. This also left the feeling of a disconnect with the characters. I never really warmed up to anyone or felt on edge. I don’t think I would have shed a tear if either of the main characters or their loved ones died and for me that it a tragedy when examining how stunningly well written this book is. 

I hold out hope that book 2 will change my mind but regardless I recommend this book for anyone looking for stunning writing, multi-culturalism, beautiful imagery, and LGBT representation. 

 

QUOTES: N/A 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Vomit, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Child death, War, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Confinement, Cursing, Classism, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Suicide

btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Death, Sexism, War, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Bullying, Child death, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit and Torture

sadiaa's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No

2.75

I listened to this as an audiobook, it was the only way to get through it. I kept picking it up and putting it down, I didn't feel interested by it, the only reason I finished it was because I borrowed it from the library. I felt that the pacing was so slow and that the book could have been shorter, lots of added detail that was slowing my interest. Don't think I'll read the sequel but glad I finally got this off my tbr list.

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Content Warnings

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

thecatconstellation's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death of parent, War, Gore, Death, Blood, Violence, and Torture

Moderate: Racism, Misogyny, Grief, Animal death, Sexism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Genocide, Child abuse, Child death, Bullying, Ableism, and Body shaming

Minor: Suicide

sunsorbit's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense slow-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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide and Ableism

georgiaisreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

4.5

Such a good story! I was entranced by the world building and vivid imagery depicted. The fleshed out characters which all had their own ambitions and flaws seen in their pov was great! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Animal death, Alcohol, Body shaming, Genocide, Misogyny, Violence, Suicide, and War

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

i loved the characters and the relationship between the two main characters. the ending was such a perfect end to the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Rape, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, Grief, Sexual assault, War, Colonisation, Gore, Blood, Sexual content, Classism, Abandonment, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

readwithria's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad tense

• 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

3.0

She Who Became the Sun was a slow, steady journey from nothing to greatness. Here's the problem with that: greatness as a desire doesn't really lead to a strong plot.

Okay, so here's the thing, character stories are not my jam. Slow pacing is not my favorite. Stories baked in religion are my least favorite thing in the world. She Who Became the Sun is all of those things. That makes it a book that is obviously not aimed at me as its primary audience of choice. None of those are things that make the book objectively bad, they're just things I don't like.

What I did find interesting was the exploration of gender, and Ma. Ma is great, she deserves the world, and she's too good for Zhu.

All in all, not my cup of tea. If I read the sequel it will be either for book club or because I've heard it's better than the first book. 3 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Murder, Dysphoria, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Death of parent, Suicide, Body shaming, and Child death

katebird's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, Blood, Murder, Violence, Sexual content, and Body horror

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Suicide