Reviews with content warning for Vomit - She Who Became the Sun

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She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

55 reviews

verysillygoose's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-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

3.5

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chimichannika's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

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

I… I feel so conflicted about this book. I want to simultaneously give it a 2.5 and like a 4.25. I may come back to this review when my thoughts on it are more organized because I definitely do have A Lot of thoughts on this one.

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jessiereads98's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

This was a huge disappointment. I’ve seen this book hyped so much and it’s not even close to the best sapphic fantasy I’ve read or the best Asian inspired military fantasy I’ve read.

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

Zhu’s ability to see ghosts

comes up, it goes nowhere. It’s only really used once, and does very little to further plot, characterization, or themes in my opinion. I felt like I smelled the mouth-watering aroma of baking bread only to walk into the bakery and find they didn’t sell bread at all, just used the scent to attract customers.

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.

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madiiilm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

3.5

I have some conflicting feelings about She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. On one hand, I really enjoyed the overall story, the characters, and the theme of gender. On the other hand, the middle portion of the book got a bit dull and a lot of action happened off-page, making this feel like a much longer book than it actually is. I also wish we did less head hopping and just stayed in the POVs of Zhu and Ouyang in order to keep the story and themes more in focus.

Going more in-depth, I thought Zhu and Ouyang in particular are very well-developed and interesting characters. I really enjoyed reading about them and the connection they have due to their gender non-conformity. Despite this common experience, their individual histories have led them to see the world very differently. For Zhu, her choice to present as a man is what freed her and allowed for not only her survival,

but also her rise to power in the Red Turbans. Ouyang, however, was raised with masculine ideals before he was castrated, making his gender non-conformity a curse in his eyes. This made their relationships with women very different. Zhu, who was AFAB, has an understanding of women that male characters never could. She uses this understanding not only to find an ally and lover in Ma but also to convince Lady Rui to help her and the Red Turbans. Ouyang, however, despises femininity in all forms, since he believes it exemplifies all that he hates about himself. In interested in seeing how his allegiance with Madam Zhang affects him in the next book. I think their differences are best exemplified when Ouyang cuts off Zhu's hand in a dual. Ouyang sees this deformity as a worse punishment than death, while Zhu is just happy to be alive and carries on despite this. In the end, Zhu learns to accept herself as neither a woman nor a man, which is what finally allows her to receive the Mandate of Heaven and rule with Ma by her side. Ouyang, however, holds on to his anger and seeks vengeance against those who not only castrated him but killed his family. Unfortunately for him, this vengeance includes killing Esen, the man he loved most in the world. Ouyang's ending is tragic, but I also understood why he took this stance and really felt for him.

The comparisons, contrasts, and interactions between these two characters were the most compelling part of the book to me.

Despite how interesting I found these characters and their stories, I did find the middle portion of this book hard to get through. There was a lot of dialogue and politics without any action in between to keep me engaged. In fact, there were two battles that happened completely off-page, which I found very frustrating. I wanted to know what happened to the characters in battle. What part did they play? How did they grow and change during them? We don't really know. For a book that takes place in wartime with commanding officers as lead characters, there is very little emphasis on the battles that can change the tides of war. I also didn't love all the head hopping. It is definitely not the most egregious example, but I wish we stuck with just Zhu and Ouyang since they are the character that encapsulate the story and theme. The other POVs just dragged on for me. Despite my critiques, I did enjoy this book and look forward to reading the sequel.

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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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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augustar14's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.5

This book had been on my tbr list for a while before I read it. While I had high hopes for it, it ultimately didn't live up to them.
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.

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