Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

96 reviews

chelseanaylor's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

A good read, if a little slow at times. I really enjoyed the overarching theme of one's ability to shape their own fate.  

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jess_always_reading's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

I absolutely loved this story. The writing is beautifully done, evoking emotion in even the meanest description. Parker-Chan was able to conveying so much with each character's portrayal and the plots, machinations, and political toomovements were intriguing. I truly had no idea where this would end up when I started. 

The queer themes added a wonderful complexity to the storylines. Parker-Chan treats them like an added dimension rather than a heavy-handed all-encompassing character trait. Though there's a place for that too, I really appreciated the way it was handled. It fit well and felt realistic. 

The story does depect violence,  death, and dark themes but not in a gratuitous way. 

10/10 would recommend!

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galexy_brain's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective 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

Such a beautifully written epic about fate, desire, identity, ambition, and duty. 

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hue's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0


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waqupi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0


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throwback682's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

From the publisher:

“Mulan meets The Song of Achilles in Shelley Parker-Chan's She Who Became the Sun, a bold, queer, and lyrical reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty from an amazing new voice in literary fantasy.”

Phew. This book was so good and I’m ready to immediately dive into the conclusion of the Radiant Emperor duology - He Who Drowned the World. 

This book is about human suffering - due to war, patriarchy, religion, etc. It’s not an easy or lighthearted read. I liked so many of the characters in spite of them all being pretty bad people - some of the best characters are power hungry, blood thirsty, and ruthless - and it gets worse from there. 

But I’ll be damned if I wasn’t rooting for them!

This book has some very queer elements (both in terms of sexuality and gender) but very much in a way that’s framed by its setting - you won’t be able to neatly cram these characters into 21st century western boxes and labels, though you might be tempted. 

Although the bulk of the “adult” content in this book is the violence of war, there’s also one graphic sex scene, FYI. See also the content warnings. 

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gogglor's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

Good book, but not my kind of book. Very Game of Thrones-y in the ambition and backstabbing and political maneuvering, which is fine but not my cup of tea. Still glad I read it, it was a dope super queer fantasy novel.

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sundayfever's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I went back and forth on this book. At times it really engaged me, at other times it bored me. It was easier to love and empathize with Zhu as a main character than Ouyang. A stellar world of historical fiction, with queer romance, very well written. Lots of themes of fate, desire and identity. Maybe details of military campaigns just aren't my thing. 

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danielnski's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark 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

3.75

A bit long, but more rich than dense. If you are into sprawling fantasy tales, this is an excellent one.

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blakeandbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad 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

I’m so excited to start book 2!!! I feel like it will emotionally destroy me and I am soooo ready.

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