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hfieldin2796's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Murder, Death, Violence, and Death of parent
elizas'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
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Child death, Gore, Abandonment, Murder, and Death of parent
eener'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
4.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Dysphoria, Abandonment, Body horror, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Death, Child death, Classism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Ableism, and War
Minor: Cannibalism
zozo_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
3.25
Graphic: Torture, Physical abuse, Genocide, and Violence
Minor: Death of parent
itisnatal'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: Death of parent, Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, 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 involveswhatevertheysay'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: War and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent
sundayfever's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexism
Moderate: Dysphoria, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual content, Child abuse, and Death
Minor: Transphobia and Fire/Fire injury
lis4so'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
5.0
Moderate: Alcohol, Racial slurs, Violence, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Slavery, War, Blood, Dysphoria, Sexism, Body horror, Gore, Classism, Racism, Sexual content, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Grief, Misogyny, and Murder
river23'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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Colonisation, Violence, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and War
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Slavery and Torture