Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

17 reviews

livres_de_bloss's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I don’t know if I’ve ever experienced such a rollercoaster of opinions than I did reading this book!

Part One was 5/5. I really enjoyed the beginning of this story when Zhu escapes her village and her years in the monastery. For a while there, I thought this was going to become a new favourite!

Part Two was where it started to lose me. We got introduced to the Mongol characters and those chapters were so dull! I don’t have much interest in war jargon and strategy which deeply impacted my engagement with this. I was skimming those sections toward the end. Zhu was also becoming more and more of a power-hungry twat which cooled my investment in her character. 

Part Three was a train wreck. I lost all remaining support and interest in Zhu. The book reached its gory peak in this section too and, call me a prude or whatever, but I really could have lived without the graphic (and dare I say violent)

fisting scene

. It didn’t add anything to the story, and I really don’t see why we had to spend so many pages on it… It really grossed me out and shock value in a book isn’t my jam. 
I didn’t understand Zhu’s obsession with greatness and power either. Basically, it consumes her and makes her a nightmare. 

So, while this started off great, it spiraled for me from there. I’m unlikely to pick up the second one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, War, Violence, and Murder

jess_always_reading's review against another edition

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 movements 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 the queerness of their characters as 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 they crafted those parts of the story. 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Blood, Violence, Ableism, Body shaming, Death, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and War

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Grief, Sexual violence, Slavery, Animal death, and Vomit

mozaikmage's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring 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

Bro what if we were Narrative Foils... Bro...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Vomit, War, and Ableism

gogglor's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Ableism

Moderate: War, Child death, Abandonment, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Sexual violence, Slavery, Alcoholism, Outing, Alcohol, Bullying, and Vomit

sophiesmallhands's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Classism, Genocide, Grief, Body horror, Colonisation, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Child death, Slavery, and Sexual content

Minor: Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Animal death

julesadventurezone's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Excrement, Blood, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Animal death, Ableism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Sexual content, Vomit, Sexism, Grief, Dysphoria, and Child abuse

Minor: Medical content, Sexual violence, Body shaming, and Slavery

hollowhallow13's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, War, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Grief, Death, Ableism, and Animal death

tbd24's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, Toxic friendship, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Dysphoria, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual violence, War, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual content, Slavery, and Violence

cheye13's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-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

5.0

I think this would make a great book club selection, and I don't think it needs a sequel. There's so much to discuss, both throughout the story and at the end, with some open-ended philosophy questions. I worry that a sequel will cut off further ruminations rather than encourage them or pose new ones.

I also don't think this book was pitched to me correctly. "A fantasy Mulan retelling" is very far from what this actually is. There's very little fantasy (more in the realm of magical realism) and the story is much more in the spirit of intricate political historical fiction. The book itself has a broader scope than just Zhu Chongba's perspective, and I found it riveting.

The nuanced depiction of gender identities as well as cultural identity in a period of colonization was expertly done. The physical proof of the Mandate of Heaven was an excellent choice and offered a significant thought exercise. The various sympathetic perspectives in war time made the story feel full and rounded. An expertly crafted piece of fiction. I plan to read the sequel in hopes that it lives up to its predecessor.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Child death, Death, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, and War

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, Child abuse, Sexual content, and Genocide

Minor: Alcohol, Dysphoria, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Sexual violence, and Slavery

numerous instances of amputation, including genitals

raeb's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, War, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Transphobia, Body horror, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Child death, Ableism, Gore, Grief, Murder, Blood, Sexism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcohol, Colonisation, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Classism, Excrement, Alcoholism, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Genocide