Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

88 reviews

erinreadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense slow-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

4.5

Wow. A surprising but also seemingly fateful end to this epic duology. There were several moment in this book that made me audibly gasp in horror at the brutality and gruesomeness of the characters’ actions, but nothing felt out of place or inserted for shock value. The events build on each other until the tension feels almost too much and you are wondering if what you felt was fated to happen this whole time might not actually occur. There were some lulls that felt a bit drawn out but overall I was just as rapt and invested as I was in the first book. It didn’t feel like a second book but rather a natural second part to the first, and the ending was satisfying.

Although the story ending with Zhu on the throne feels inevitable and does not come as a surprise, the path taken and the characters you get to know along the way are richly developed and interesting, which keeps the reading experience interesting and worthwhile.

It didn’t seem to matter that I never truly grasped the movement of the armies or the complete geography—the focus on the characters and their motivations and interactions was engaging on its own and the characters’ intertwined arcs were logical, satisfying, and moving. 

Read if you like sweeping  political drama and brutal historical fantasy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, Ableism, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexism, Violence, Murder, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Homophobia, Torture, and Bullying

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, Body shaming, and Blood

shibh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

A bittersweet end to the duology. These books look at gender and the human experience of it in a way that has left me feeling exposed and crying. In a good way though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Physical abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal death, Homophobia, Body shaming, Classism, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual assault, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Murder, Abortion, Confinement, Genocide, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Lesbophobia, Addiction, Misogyny, Child death, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Gore, Infertility, Pregnancy, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Vomit, Xenophobia, Sexism, Transphobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

qito1706's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual violence, Slavery, Death, Sexism, Murder, Self harm, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, War, and Sexual assault

arbyegg's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, Rape, Domestic abuse, and Self harm

galacticpal's review against another edition

5.0

Incredibly gripping. Felt long at times, but definitely worth reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual violence, and Homophobia

thegabecole's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Sexual violence, and Torture

Moderate: Miscarriage and Homophobia

spec_tacles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

After She Who Became The Sun, I knew I would love this, but i’m still shocked by how much. I was just as immersed in this one, despite different perspectives, and the emotional payoff was huge. 

This is a 5-star read, no question. If I were Shelley Parker-Chan, I would feel so proud to have created such a dynamic work of art.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Transphobia, War, Body shaming, Death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Self harm, Child death, Grief, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Classism, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Sexism, Bullying, Murder, Slavery, Torture, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Pregnancy and Chronic illness

Most content warnings come from the fact that the story is about war, but it’s still challenging regardless, especially the torture.

landofkait's review against another edition

adventurous 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

2.5

This was a much darker sequel to She Who Became the Sun.

While it’s a good exercise in the power of grief, some of it feels brutal in its use of sex. Especially Baoxiang and the Third Prince. A few times the language took me right out of the moment. I was still rooting for Zhu and Ouyang but had trouble with their continued character building.

 
While I don’t regret reading, I much preferred the first half of the duology. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Homophobia and Sexual violence

chroniquesdekellen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Murder, Self harm, Pregnancy, Blood, and Outing

shoni's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

If it wasn't for the holiday season and getting into a reading slump I know I would have finished this book a lot quicker. Once I was able to pick the book back up, I could not put it down and always got annoyed when anyone would interrupt me. I love Shelley's writing style as it's everything I love. Especially the dynamic between Zhu and Ouyang.

It was one of my favorite things in book one and I love that we got to see them interact so much more here. They are such great foil characters as they both have the same capacity for ruthlessness and determination even if their goals are slightly different. They both strengthen each other
 but also are the other's weak spots because no one knows their weakness better than someone who's just like you. 

As much as I hated seeing Xu Da and Ouyang die at the end I do think that was exactly what the story needed. Zhu had too many things working for her so it was interesting to see how she would deal with losing people dear to her.

Every single time we were in Zhu's POV you believed in her, knowing she would achieve what she wanted because nothing has stopped and nothing would. Which was an interesting contrast from the other's POV.

I also loved how as the reader you were always with each of the mandates of heaven candidates but it wasn't until it was further into the story you realized so much of what occurred was all due to Baoxiang. GENIUS writing because I seriously did not expect him to just kill the Third Prince, especially since it was a part of his plan all along. GENIUS

I also loved that we had more of Ma, she is such an underrated character that I'm glad they brought more attention to

I also love the scene where Ma lets Zhu know that both she and Xu did what they did because they believed in her. Zhu didn't have to ask things of them because they had the same beliefs and knew that in a world where Zhu would be accepted and loved like they loved her would only be brought by Zhu herself.

I could discuss the dynamics, the writing, and so much about this book nonstop. I know for sure I reread them to properly do a character study as I always imagined my OCs to have a similar dynamic as Zhu and Ouyang who need one another to achieve what they want even if they don't want to accept it. 

I tend to hate endings because I don't want things to end, but Shelley managed to write it in a way that all things were wrapped up in such a nice way but still left a slightly open ending, it gives you an idea of what to come. Especially if you know a little about the dynasties. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Rape, and War

Moderate: Sexual assault, Homophobia, and Child abuse