Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

45 reviews

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

zozo_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Physical abuse, Genocide, and Violence

Minor: Death of parent

abnormal_shadow's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious 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

5.0

I absolutely love this book I went into it not knowing what I would get not really expecting anything but it was so good. The characters their motivations the way that the story represents their motivation not only physically but mentally and spiritually also is just so amazing I love the format of the book. The way that characters genders and sexual orientations influence the plot and the way that they speak to not only themselves but others is absolutely stunning.

in the book The main character adopts the name of her dead brother by proxy also adopting the state that a fortune teller gave him which was greatness and renouncing the Fate that the fortune teller gave her which was nothing . Throughout most of the book the main character struggles coping with the fact that she was not born a man and that the heavens May recognize this and see what she had done and renounce her fate and kill her. I love the after the main character gets her arm cut off she becomes a new person . She is no longer in the mental space of I need to be someone I am not or I will die instead she sees herself as a different person entirely not the little girl that was subsequently buried that day not the dead brother that she stole the life of instead she is something else entirely not a man not a woman . I love that her wife except her as who she is physically but has a hard time accepting the fact that she will have to sacrifice the empathy that the main character loves so much so that she can stay with the main character who is just going on a killing spree.

It is challenging and amazing and I love it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Murder, Gore, Transphobia, Blood, Violence, Death, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual content, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Child abuse

Minor: Death of parent, Outing, Child death, and Emotional abuse

spootilious's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-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

3.0

 Read: December 17, 2023
 Title: She Who Became The Sun 

Series: The Radiant Emperor #1 

Genre: Fantasy / Historical Fiction / LGBT 

Rating: 3 / 5
 Review: 

I went into this book looking to expand my reading to other cultures and in that aspect I wasn’t disappointed. 

From the beginning this book had an entirely different feel than the fantasy novels I have been used to. There’s such a beautiful cadence to it and the cultural aspects from names and titles to imagery are breath taking. Shelley Parker-Chan is a stunningly talented artist! 

With that being said there were some ups and downs with this book. First and perhaps my biggest complaint is the marketing (which has little to do with the book but) it was pitched as Song of Achilles meets Mulan. If you go into this book with the hope of that kind of story you be SORELY DISAPPOINTED. This is no love story, there are no ‘feel good’ moments. This is pain, sorrow, duty and ambition. There is no sugar or softness. 

That isn’t to say there isn’t a romance, simply that the romance in the book is in the background and has very VERY little to do with the story. 

Now, the thing I loved most about the novel is the exploration of the gender spectrum and the comparison and contrasting roles of the two main characters. I found it intriguing and something I haven’t seen in many books. Being cis I am curious how individuals that identify with these characters feel about their representation. I for one and simply happy to see it in a (for the most part) positive light. 

I also feel that while Parker-Chan’s writing is what had me turning the pages, the plot was inconsistent and left something to be desired. The beginning and the end were certainly a meal but the middle felt like a fasting that lasted far too long. The book became very politically focused and with so many names to characters that weren’t very distinguishable that it all just formed into one incoherent blob I was forced to trudge through. 

Again, that is not to say it was bad, simply that it was a struggle. 

In fact, most of the characters were a bit formless, fading into the background until something important happened and I was forced to try and recall who they were. This also left the feeling of a disconnect with the characters. I never really warmed up to anyone or felt on edge. I don’t think I would have shed a tear if either of the main characters or their loved ones died and for me that it a tragedy when examining how stunningly well written this book is. 

I hold out hope that book 2 will change my mind but regardless I recommend this book for anyone looking for stunning writing, multi-culturalism, beautiful imagery, and LGBT representation. 

 

QUOTES: N/A 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, Vomit, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death of parent, Gore, Child death, War, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Confinement, Cursing, Classism, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Suicide

andtheywereroommates's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, War, Violence, Homophobia, Torture, Blood, Misogyny, Death, Physical abuse, Dysphoria, Ableism, and Grief

Moderate: Racism, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Child death, Animal cruelty, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, and Death of parent

death, mutilation, trauma, tourture, death of a perant/offscreen death of a child, animal death, violence, abelism, war, PTSD, even more death, misogyny, homophobia- internal and external,

biobeetle's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Death, Child death, and War

Moderate: Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Physical abuse

teriodvarkova88's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

forget the whole song of achilles crossover with mulan its more like the poppy war - she will do whaever it takes to get what she wants
there is a little bit of romance tho 

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 zhu and ma have my heart<33

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Child death, Torture, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Blood, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Grief, and War

abitbetterbooks'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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, War, Torture, Alcohol, Blood, Child death, Medical content, Misogyny, Vomit, Gore, Violence, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, and Murder

Minor: Slavery

mnkeemagick's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-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

What a cool read. A dark reimagining of the birth of an empire, holding no punches as it informs along the way. 

There's a substantial amount of cultural and historical information, the harsh realities represented beautifully and without pause, with just enough fantastical elements to make it shine the brighter. Can't wait to check out the next one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child death, Child abuse, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Sexism, Misogyny, and Physical abuse

bibliomania_express's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic friendship, Grief, Genocide, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Torture, Racism, Gore, Xenophobia, War, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Sexism, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Death, Child death, Body horror, Blood, and Ableism