Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

41 reviews

ka_cam's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.75

I don’t know if I’ve read a book with so many complex and tortured relationships to gender. Ambition, sacrifice, autonomy, revenge, regret, grief, sadism and masochism, spirits destroyed and indestructible, actual spirits both benign and lethal… plus conquest and war strategy- a lot happening here. Some parts dragged a little for me but all in all a compelling and thought provoking read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Grief, Sexual content, Child death, Death, Pregnancy, Sexism, Blood, Misogyny, Violence, War, Murder, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Torture

throwback682'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

As I’ll mention in the content warnings section below, this book is much more triggering and more violent in specific ways than the first book (She Who Became the Sun) in this duology. 

That being said, I couldn’t put it down. I finished this one much more quickly than the first. It was very gripping. The reason I gave it 1/2 star less than its predecessor is just because of the r*pe scenes honestly. 

Re: the title

I wondered if the title of the second book referred to the main character of the first book just with a different pronoun but this book focuses more on a different character, who was in the first book but didn’t play such a major role.

He sort of comes from behind unexpectedly and becomes a major player in this installment.

The backstabbing really gets kicked up a notch in this book too. 

I kind of thought at one point that the book was getting a bit predictable/tired and then OPE THERE’S A TWIST and then WHOOPS ANOTHER ONE. Hang in there. 

The protagonist of the first book continues to beat the odds in unexpected ways as she did before and again it’s spectacular. Also as before, I found myself rooting for and even loving really cruel, dark, awful characters. The author has a talent for coaxing out empathy for the worst baddies. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Colonisation, Grief, Slavery, Sexual content, Ableism, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Self harm, War, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Violence, Pregnancy, Rape, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Abortion, Gaslighting, Miscarriage, Torture, Animal death, Body shaming, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Confinement

Minor: Vomit

There is a lot more triggering content in this book than in the first installment of the duology, She Who Became the Sun. Specifically there are multiple rape scenes: - one is marital

as a punishment visited on a wife by her husband

- one is sort of in the context of a gay relationship but

first of all the “relationship” starts off as a manipulation tactic and is coercive and abusive

and secondly

the specific rape scene itself is forcible and in anger.

- another is in the context of a king/consort relationship, which already means consent can’t apply because of the power dynamic, and then

he is purposely trying to hurt her emotionally with the specific rape.

There are also numerous incidents of self harm (many of them are actually perpetrated by someone else, but still falls solidly in the “self harm” category in this context). Like the last book, there is a child who dies -

murdered by a soldier.

He also

has his blood let as proof of life to send to his father to gain his army’s compliance.

I marked both miscarriage and abortion but really it’s neither of those exactly.

A woman is happy about her pregnancy and then another woman gives her poison that ends it without her knowledge or consent.

There’s also someone who has been mutilated.

A servant has her eyes and tongue removed

so that she can be used in a specific way to test someone’s magical powers. There’s also a man who is executed by

being cooked alive in a bamboo steamer.

Yes, the first book was violent and about war and cruelty. But I think this book takes it to another level in several ways. Read with caution.

nikenacs's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Rape, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Sexism, Animal death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Self harm, Pregnancy, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Abortion, Miscarriage, and Infertility

saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.5

"The most dangerous person in a game is the one nobody knows is playing."

Absolutely GAGGED!

He Who Drowned the World is how you write a fucking sequel! A darker chapter in this duology, it has higher stakes, beautiful writing, and puts the characters into a metaphorical centrifuge that spins around and shows their rich layers. It's also queer as fuck, especially Zhu and Ouyang are playing some 3D levels of gender. Overall, the Radiant Emperor duology is a layered, nail biting, queer, epic fantasy with a full cast of blorbos!

Some spoiler-y semi-coherent thoughts, including spoilers for the ending:

- Ouyang, my poor little meow meow since book one. His arc was the best in this. Beginning still antagonistic and self hating, the latter of which reflects in how he treats other people, especially his misogyny. But through his relationship with Zhu, he grew so much as person and finally saw someone who had similar gender fuckery to himself, but had a sense of pride. It lead to such an interesting redemption arc that made it hurt all the more when he died.

- Zhu is an icon, she is the moment. I found it really interesting how she could see who people actually were and how part of that is because she understands that gender is a social construct, and so sees people for who they are, not who their genders say they are. This gaze in particular is what changes Ouyang, as she treats him for who he really is. With all that said, she also did get a lot of people killed and her loved ones hurt and it made the ending hit so hard, being her choosing to stop this cycle of violence. RIP Xa Du and Ouyang ;_;

- all the book's commentary on gender is so relevant. Internalized misogyny, the way people in the LGBTQ+ community will hate on less visible identities in a sad attempt to seem respectable, the complexity of gender, the importance of seeing people beyond what society says about them, choosing your own name and destiny, etc. This is more than a book with queer representation, it's a book about queerness!

- Baoxiang was a fascinating antagonist. Taking Ouyang's place from book one, he's now the villain who's in love with Esen. And he is so much worse than Ouyang. Though I understand why he did what he did, I can't quite like him like I do Zhu and Ouyang. He kind of boils my blood actually, especially with how he treated Ma. It was so powerful though how at the end he's told to find a new name and how that fits the theme of finding your own destiny and the way that applies to trans experiences. God this book is so queer I love it!

- Ma deserved more page time. She was so important in book one which ended with the grounds for conflict between her and Zhu. She took a backseat for most of this until the ending, but I never felt satisfied by her arc like I did with the others. And though she does get page time towards the end, the last 80 pages aren't as well paced as the rest of the book. It was like the ending was being dragged out but also not given enough time to settle everything.

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Misogyny, and War

Moderate: Pregnancy

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

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.

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

cheye13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

Cohering my thoughts about this book and the duology together is a herculean challenge. It was not a pleasant reading experience, in that horrible things are happening to all characters at all times. It is one of my favorite books in that a vice was slowly, constantly contracting around my lungs until I finished it.

Even more so than the previous book, the transness in this one is tangible. A number of lines were clearly written in response to current events in our world. The interweaving of the ensemble is just as masterful as the first book. Beginning this book, I was afraid that it would fall short because my favorite element of book one couldn't continue (

that being the ouyang/esen relationship, when one of them is dead

), but my fears were unfounded. Not only did that thread continue, but it was intensified amongst other threads.

My options discussing this book are to break it down entirely and speak at length, or to simply say it's magnificent, and I suppose I'll settle for the latter.

(I strongly recommend checking content warnings. If you would prefer not to, keep the tone and events of book one in mind and know book two pushes a little bit further.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, War, Miscarriage, Self harm, Death, Misogyny, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Sexual violence, Rape, Homophobia, Ableism, Suicide, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Sexual content

Minor: Abortion, Colonisation, Cursing, Dysphoria, Infertility, Pregnancy, and Trafficking

A number of characters rely on dissociation as a coping mechanism. Especially compared to the previous book, there is quite a bit of on-page sex. While technically on page, it is almost never graphically detailed. Additionally (and fitting for the setting), it almost always falls into the dicey consent grounds of transactional sex – e.g. a lesbian actively choosing to sleep with a certain man for money or power. There is a single rape scene, and again, while on-page, it's brief and sparsely detailed.

spootilious's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-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

4.0

 Read: December 22, 2023
 Title: He Who Drowned the World 

Series: The Radiant Emperor #2 

Genre: Fantasy / Historical Fiction / LGBT 

Rating: 4 / 5
 Review: 

I occasionally come across a book that I really struggle rating and I was shocked to find that this is one of those books. 

I came into He Who Drowned the World with very low expectations. I didn’t care for She Who Became the Sun, for a number of reason listed in my previous review. 

However, almost everything that made me dislike She who Became the Sun didn’t make it into the sequel which I am very thankful for. To be honest, I was concerned with the massive amounts of recommendations I received in regard to this series and how many awards She Who Became the Sun has won. I was praying that He Who Drowned the World would make up for what (I felt) was an extremely lacking novel. I was not disappointed. 

Parker-Chan is a beautifully talented writer (Which I knew from book 1) and tends to lean towards the very dark and morose. In fact, a bit too dark for my usual taste which may be why I wanted to give this book (He Who Drowned the World) a 3.5 and not a 4. However, Parker-Chan’s ability to write horrific imagery in a such a simplistic and straightforward manner makes the imagery all the more effective. This includes a number of sexually explicit scene, which paints sex as nothing more than a tool, punishment, or means to an end which, while I once again did not like, I can respect. The reader’s response to a story is just as much of a plot device as the sentences on a page. I was appropriately repulsed. 

I will also say that I didn’t care much for the lack of morality in ALL the characters in the novel. It left me without a ship to sail and was, perhaps, the main issue that I still hold over from She Who Became the Sun. 

All that being said, the fast pace and action-packed plot had me devouring this book, and I could not in good faith rate it lower than 4 simply due to my distaste. (i.e. the 4 star rating is more my personal rating of 3.5 and the acknowledging that some of the reasons it’s a 3.5 is because of my own personal biases against the lack of moral characters, rape, and very dark tones). 

Overall, one of the best books I’ve read this year. I will definitely recommend to individuals who love reading Dark Fantasy and Historical Fiction. 

 

 

QUOTES: 

“The most dangerous person in a game is the one nobody knows is playing.” 

“Nobody would lift a finger to change the world for us. To make a place for us. What choice did we ever have, but to do it ourselves?” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Body shaming, Death of parent, Grief, Pregnancy, Racism, Murder, Outing, Suicide, Torture, Confinement, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Gore, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Classism, Deadnaming, Violence, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Child death, Abortion, Blood, Sexual assault, Slavery, War, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, and Sexual content

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Self harm, Sexism, Murder, Death, War, and Misogyny

Moderate: Homophobia, Infertility, Child death, Miscarriage, Ableism, Pregnancy, Medical content, Rape, Infidelity, Gore, Sexual assault, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, and Slavery

Minor: Death of parent and Vomit