Reviews

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

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itsemmaofc's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

3.75

I loved following Zhu’s storyline, but I felt like the book got really bogged down by so many POVs. Some characters honestly were not so interesting to justify a whole POV. I agree with a lot of other reviewers that I would’ve liked this more if it was split into two books and if some of the more compelling characters’ plot lines were teased out.

I also really struggled with

so many scenes depicting sexual violence or talking about sexual trauma. It didn’t always seem necessary for the plot or the characters, but I will give props to the author bc it wasn’t entirely meaningless dumping (compare to books like GoT).

I think I liked this book because of how much I liked the first book, and this is kinda riding on the coat tails. 3.75-4 stars

Content Warnings

hybridhavoc's review against another edition

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The constant sexual and physical abuse, and just generally had things happening to everybody, sapped from me all interest in picking it up again.

Content Warnings

dreadspawn's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

nick_kucz's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

wheekers's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional

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

tatyanavogt's review against another edition

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OMG! LOVE! LOVE LOVE LOVE!
So invested, so into it! SOOO WELL DONE! The feelings, the emotions, the themes and conversations. The STRUGGLES! this is a favorite for me! Highly recommend!