Reviews tagging 'War'

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

492 reviews

eclyan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

3.25

J'ai aimé ce roman mais je trouve toute la recherche autour du genre de Zhu assez esquissée - alors que j'y pensais un développement plus fort-. Au final on se retrouve avec un personnage à la Mulan alors qu'on m'a plutôt vendu un roman avec un personnage queer.
Les intrigues politiques sont intéressantes mais j'ai été perdue par les noms a rallonge. Ne pas hésiter à prendre des notes pour ce roman!! Les deux points de vue sont je trouve difficile a suivre et cela impacte sévèrement le rythme du roman.
Le personnage de Zhu, si je l'ai apprécié au début, je l'ai trouvé vraiment détestable sur la fin. Obsédé par sa quête de grandeur, il deviens effectivement un "véritable homme"... Mais a un prix assez faramineux qui le rend assez imbuvable. Je suis par contre curieuse de lire la suite.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, War, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Violence, Transphobia, Sexual content, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Death of parent

bratlingling's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

3.75

Interesting reflection on gender and masculinity outside of western tradition and I liked the characters even though they were morally grey (at best)
Beautiful writing and engaging story but sometimes the pacing didn't feel right
I'm looking forward to thesecond book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Torture, and War

kouya's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Violence, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: War, Child death, Xenophobia, Toxic relationship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Death, and Body shaming

bookmothmav's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Torture

Moderate: Sexual content

jlchabotte's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Death, Death of parent, Sexual content, Misogyny, Murder, and War

Moderate: Outing, Gore, Slavery, Ableism, Racism, Colonisation, Classism, and Child death

Minor: Animal death and Infertility

leannanecdote's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Mental illness, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Blood, Death, Cursing, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Toxic relationship, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, War, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic friendship, and Ableism

Moderate: Slavery

librarymouse'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed the way Shelley Parker-Chan builds characters who are not necessarily sympathetic, in that they're willing to do terrible things to survive, yet familiarizes them in such a way that readers find ourselves rooting for them. I also really enjoyed watching Zhu's journey with gender, and her shift through the identities she embodies. I was invested in this book from start to finish.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Grief, Animal death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, Body horror, Classism, Genocide, Murder, Sexual content, War, Child death, and Violence

Moderate: Medical content and Misogyny

Minor: Pedophilia

megan1002's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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

5.0

You can really tell when the author has genuine love for the historical fantasy wuxia genre. This book is so grand that you can almost hear its own majestic background music. And of course I can't help but love characters who were given nothing in life but decide to take fate by its horns and carve their own path. I'm really excited to see how the characters will grow in the next book, especially Zhu.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Violence

Moderate: Death

branthegremblin's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Minor: Death of parent, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Child death, Violence, and War

crystalisreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense

• 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

Intense.  well written. Compelling.  Wonderful audio narration. Incredibly morally grey characters. Brutal. All the feels. not for the faint of heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Slavery, Torture, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Sexism, Physical abuse, Racism, Ableism, Child death, Classism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Medical content, Misogyny, War, Infertility, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence