Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - She Who Became the Sun

The biggest plot twist was the twist in the way our hero turned out to be, though perhaps that was my own naievete and ignorance because I've never wanted something so strongly.

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sofiwithaphd's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

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braveprincess11's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional tense slow-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

5.0

I went into this book with no knowledge and no expectations - and it absolutely blew me away. To think that this is a DEBUT novel… Shelley Parker-Chan is a literary genius.

At the end of the first chapter, I still didn’t quite understand what I was in for, but by the end of Part 1, I was HOOKED.

Their ability to write such unique and compelling characters who experience gender, desire, and ambition in such similar and yet opposing ways, all while working in the confines of an extremely patriarchal society…

I’m desperate for the next book already

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maralaene's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging medium-paced

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

4.25

This is a fantastic reimagining with beautiful writing and scenery, that was very artfully created as a perspective of a young girl who takes her brothers place in pursuit of his destiny.

I really loved all the POVs from this book (though Ma was my favorite) and the way that the story unfolded. The most interesting thing to me, that I didn’t really notice until pretty far into the story, is how little fantasy actually is in the writing. Fantasy elements are mentioned here or there, but I kept expecting there to be stronger ties and stronger magic elements the whole time.

I did read this as an audiobook, and while I loved the narrator, the switching of characters mid chapter with little to no distinction except in some cases their pronouns, was a little on the confusing side to follow. I think reading a physical copy would help this quite a lot, but that being said I would still whole heartedly recommend this in any format.

Can’t wait for the second!

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melliedm's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I try to be a bit more eloquent with these reviews, but I really have to be honest: Holy shit this was good.

Zhu is a young girl living in poverty in Yuan dynasty China who has a fortune of nothingness. Her brother, Zhu Chongba, has a fortune of greatness. But when he and their father dies, Zhu decides to take his fortune for herself, and his identity. She joins a monastery which in short time is destroyed by the wronged Eunuch general of the Yuan army, Ouyang, which sets them both on the path to their fate.

For Zhu, that means going to Anfeng and working her way through the complexities and dangers of court politics in an attempt to rise through the ranks and achieve the greatness she has stolen for herself, and encountering surprising (sapphic) love along the way.

For Ouyang, it means accelerating his plans for vengeance against those who ruined him and slaughtered his family...all the while his complex feelings for his Prince, the son of the man he hates, attempt trouble him.

The pacing of She Who Became the Sun is incredible, delivering information, drama, and tense action in such a way that I kept finding it hard to put the book down for any length of time. The court drama was enthralling and frequently left me unsure of how things would end up—no plan could be certain when everyone has their own interests to serve, and they wait only for the perfect opportunity to take what they need.

Both of the main characters, Zhu and Ouyang, are incredibly characterized. Though one is protagonist (Zhu) and one is perhaps the antagonist (Ouyang), it is less that they oppose one another and more that they balance one another, something reinforced many times throughout the book. Even in their identities: Zhu with a female body, but living as a man, and feeling like she is neither; and Ouyang who wants to see himself as a man, but as a eunuch knows the world doesn't share that view, and who internalizes it to a painful level, existing somewhere in between. The story hinges on the push and pull of their sides (not just them individually), and they are incredible foils to one another. The chapters tend to alternate between the two, and I never felt disappointed when we switched, because they always felt like the perfect next step in the narrative.

Both Zhu and Ouyang are saddled with innumerable flaws and exacting ambitions, and their passion makes it easy to care about what they want even if you disagree with the route they choose to try and get it. Zhu may be the protagonist, and she may have many relatable qualities, but she is not a good person. For some, that may be a problem, but I love when female or genderqueer characters can be human--even if it means they do horrible things along the way. Ouyang, as the antagonist, gets more leeway from us with his actions because we accept his role in the story, but also commits truly terrible acts. Like I said: they exist in balance.

All in all, She Who Became the Sun is an incredible feat of storytelling. I devoured every word, and although the end was incredibly satisfying, I was also left wanting more of whatever Shelley Parker-Chan could deign to give me. I cannot wait for the sequel!

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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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rocky41_7's review against another edition

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adventurous tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I liked this book and I do plan to read the next one. There were moments I wasn't sure about it, but I'm glad I stuck with it and I think Parker-Chan crafts some very interesting characters here.

The main protagonist Zhu is fascinatingly driven and unrepentantly ambitious. She is also ruthless in her pursuit of her destiny, which starts to get pretty interesting at the end of this novel, and I expect will feature even more prominently in the next. She also reads, to me, as asexual or something close to it, which as an ace person myself was fun to see, especially because it isn't treated like a problem in her relationships. Neither does it stem from her own complex relationship with gender--it's just how she is.

The deuterogonist Ouyang is every bit as interesting, even though we don't see his POV until the middle part of the book. He is someone who is so viscerally torn between feeling compelled towards revenge and yet not desiring anything that will actually come of it that it's so interesting to watch his fate play out. I think Parker-Chan does a great job getting you into Ouyang's head during his perspective chapters and it was so interesting to me how Zhu leans into their connection while Ouyang is repulsed by it.

Recommend if you:

Enjoy morally gray/amoral protagonists--both Zhu and Ouyang do shady to outright horrifying things in pursuit of their goals.
Want queer relationships--won't give spoilers on this but again, both Zhu and Ouyang have queer experiences ,
Enjoy a historical setting that leans into the contemporary cultures--we get a good look both at the culture of the Mongols and of the southern Chinese.

Do not recommend if you:

Like heavily detailed stories--my only real criticism of the novel is that it often skims over things I would have liked explored in more depth.
Like a happy ending--of course this is only 1 of 2 books, but based on how it's going, I would not hold out hope for a happy end. The end of this first novel was not an uncomplicated victory.
Prefer romance to be a core of the story--as noted there are queer relationships here, but for the most part they are not the central part of the novel.

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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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