Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

227 reviews

alexbirdreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective slow-paced

• 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

5.0

M'kay. I can't really put my finger on WHY I rated this one five-stars. It doesn't exactly have what I usually rate a book five stars for. I think I just really love the characters and the drama. I love how morally gray almost everyone is, and how tragic the one morally good character's situation is. Actually, there is an underpinning of tragedy for everyone. The story puts emphasis on the ways that desire can be the root of suffering, and asks what kind of actions are justified when characters are trying to do more than survive in extreme circumstances. I love that betrayals we see coming still hurt your feelings. I also love just how fucking WILD this book is. Zhu in particular is a special kind of crazy. The tragedy that comes from gender nonconformity in a rigidly gendered society is sprinkled throughout the book in ways that you'd expect, but also in corners here and there that you wouldn't. 

I liked that there was room for joyful queer love and joyful gender exploration amid the queer tragedy, because we have a lot of stories of queer suffering. I get that it's important and that there's a place for it (and it certainly had it's place in this book!) but it's nice to have some GOOD. It feels more authentic when a whole spectrum of experiences is represented, and, if anything, the moments of joy make the moments of tragedy feel that much worse afterwards. 

It's a little long and convoluted, and the story is really more about character exploration than direct action, so it might not be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it for some reason. 

It really was kind of crazy, though. Like, 'one-armed dingo ate my heaven-ordained baby' crazy. You gotta love Zhu. But someone get Ouyang a therapist, my god. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Blood, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Transphobia, and Homophobia

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

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

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

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

megnut's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Death of parent, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Child death, and Grief

amazelan's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional slow-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

c'était magistral.

je ne m'attendais pas à être autant transporté.e dans cette histoire, ni à m'attacher autant aux personnages ; pourtant presque toustes sont un peu affreux à leur manière. Zhu en particulier est si intéressante, et son développement est incroyable. c'est l'un des exemples les + magistraux de grey character. pareil pour Ouyang, mais différemment. 
puis même les personnages + secondaires sont tous intéressants, RÉALISTES surtout dans leurs travers et leur cruauté, et leurs relations le sont toutes autant. 
le désir, le destin vs les choix sont trois sujets essentiels à l'histoire et très bien développés je trouve ; ils sont finalement tous intrinsèquement liés et lient ainsi d'une certaine man ère les personnages entre eux, même si les liens se révèlent souvent destructeurs. 
j'ai aussi beaucoup aimé que Zhu soit un personnage assez flou dans son genre, et surtout suivre son développement et sa prise de confiance face à cette non-conformité de genre qui fait partie de sa grande force. on voit assez peu de personnages aussi gnc, et ça fait du bien. 
voir des relations peu cishet et complexes dans un livre comme celui-ci fait du bien. 

les plot twists sont bien placés, l'écriture est magnifique et transporte dès le début - même si elle est assez descriptive et que le début peut paraître vraiment long (moi j'adore les descriptions comme ça donc ça m'a pas rebuté du tout ahah). 
puis le mélange entre historique et fantastique est incroyable.

je pourrais écrire encore plusieurs lignes sur à quel point j'ai adoré ce livre mais j'aurais jamais les mots parfaits je crois, juste lisez-le il est TROP CHOUETTE !!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexism, Violence, War, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, Death, and Torture

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, and Grief

hybridhavoc's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Violence

Moderate: Sexism

themdash's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Violence, Colonisation, Grief, Murder, and Sexism