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laguerrelewis's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Animal death, Abandonment, Child death, Misogyny, Blood, Murder, Violence, Vomit, Colonisation, Medical content, Classism, Excrement, Homophobia, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, and War
throwback682's review against another edition
- 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
“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.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Colonisation, War, Alcohol, Ableism, Misogyny, Sexual content, Medical content, Murder, Blood, Death of parent, and Violence
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Grief, Animal death, Excrement, and Outing
The sex scene involvesbashsbooks's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Xenophobia, Ableism, Violence, War, Homophobia, Transphobia, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Classism, Death, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Child death, Alcohol, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Excrement and Vomit
julesadventurezone's review against another edition
- 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
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
jessiereads98's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The most compelling part of this story was the character of Ouyang and his relationships. That being said, I would still cut Ouyang’s story from the book entirely. I see how he works as a mirror to Zhu’s character, but him and his story aren’t necessary. This book is too long with too many POVs that are wholly unnecessary and while technically they come into contact occasionally, they really aren’t that relevant to each other. No POV adds anything to the others. The jumps between POVs are also extremely jarring at times. Overall, I found it difficult to care about any character due to a lack of consistent characterization and constant jumps.
There’s no real payoff from the magic here. This is heavy on the military and light on the fantasy to the point where for me it drops to more magical realism than true fantasy. This was really disappointing since it had potential. However, almost every time
I can recognize the writing in this book on its own is objectively, technically very well done. However, it still reads very dry and drags for about 300-350 pages. The ending was good, but it wasn’t worth the rest of the book. This ended up feeling like an excessively elaborate and unnecessary set up for whatever is going to happen in the sequel.
Graphic: Violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Ableism, War, and Transphobia
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Blood, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Sexism
Minor: Excrement, Vomit, Animal death, Slavery, Racism, Sexual content, Alcohol, and Colonisation
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Death, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Sexism, Murder, Grief, Classism, and Gore
Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Torture, Slavery, Sexual content, Child death, Ableism, Racism, and Xenophobia
Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Excrement, Homophobia, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Cannibalism
augustar14's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
It's difficult for a book this long not to feel slow paced. There was plenty of action that got me through, but it still overall felt a little slow.
I also struggle with the main character and her actions/choices at times. I understand her motivations and that her situation is complex, difficult, and influenced by significantly different cultural beliefs. And, at the same time, it is painful to see her grow into the person she becomes. The parallels with the eunuch general are fascinating, and I do plan to at least try to read to sequel to see where that thread goes. His story and decisions are painful to follow, though, too. Overall, it is a difficult read, one that offers little reward for the suffering and pain it puts the reader through. It is not a happily ever after story.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Death, Infertility, Torture, Blood, Abandonment, Murder, Homophobia, Bullying, Child death, Xenophobia, War, Child abuse, Genocide, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Sexism, Misogyny, Violence, Physical abuse, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Medical content and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Vomit and Excrement
quaint_reader's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny and War
Minor: Excrement
rbeccamaec's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Classism, Gore, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Sexual content, Torture, Grief, War, Ableism, Colonisation, Death, Violence, and Child death
Moderate: Body shaming, Abandonment, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Racism
Minor: Animal death, Excrement, and Vomit
meganparfitt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, War, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Cannibalism, Torture, Vomit, Excrement, Medical content, and Sexual content