Reviews with content warning for Rape - Lui che annegò il mondo

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Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Lui che annegò il mondo by Shelley Parker-Chan

243 reviews

likeanecho's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

softanimal's review against another edition

5.0

dark hopeful sad tense

Content Warnings

heather_harrison's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book is the sequel to the novel “She Who Became the Sun” and rounds out the Radiant Emperor Duology.

The book picks up shortly after the end of the previous one. The land is ruled by the Mongol The Great Kahn. It very helpfully begins with a synopsis of the standing of armies and alliances in their search for power;
1. Zhu Chongba, (who took her brothers identity after he died and became a monk)
2. General Ouyang, unic and former slave.
3. Lady Zhang is a second group.
4. Lord Wang Baoxiang, the prince of Henan and brother of Esen.

I particularly enjoyed the relationship between Ouyang and Zhu - and the exploration of gender and identity attached to it. They are so different and yet have so many tangents. With the absence of Esen it did really highlight I only appreciated Ouyang as a foil to others characters, and not on his own merits.

On the flip side, the relationship between Ma and Wang Baoxiang practically gave me an emotional breakdown and I still don't know how I feel about it. Wang Baoxiang was a train wreck - in that it is catastrophic and yet I cannot look away.

The ending gave me goosebumps and I know I'll need to organise a re-read once I've emotionally processed just *everything*

Content Warnings

rosieryel's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

truly might be one of the most well-crafter tragedies i’ve ever read holy shit. some chapters were almost unbearable to read (wbx looking at u) but i’m really in awe how there were so many gut-wrenching twists and simultaneously a sense that everything that happened was inevitable which to me is the perfect recipe for a good tragedy. my only gripe is that i wish ma had more page time or was even mentioned more by zhu in the bulk of the book before her pivotal role at the end bc i find her character so fascinating especially alongside the other pov characters. anyway i might never recover from this one

Content Warnings

displacedcactus's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Given the high rating this book has here on SG (4.49 at the time I'm writing this) it has clearly found its audience. That audience does not, unfortunately, include me.

I'll admit that of the Sapphic Saffron Trifecta, I found She Who Became the Sun to be my least favorite. As such, I was really on the fence as to whether to read this one, but I figured hey, it's a duology, I might as well see things through to the end!

This started out as kind of a mid read for me, but I felt like it could get better. The thing is, I do like Zhu as a character. Yes, she does terrible things. But I found her drive and her absolute joy and confidence in her drive to be refreshing. Too often, we have characters who have to be forced to take action, who constantly whine and complain about it...

Like every single other character in this book. Ok, I exaggerate, but I got tired of the constant moping of Ouyang and Wang. Oh, woe is me, life is pain and darkness, I will make the world hate me as much as I hate it, etc etc etc. On and on and on. There were far too few Zhu chapters to make up for it.

At its heart, this is a story about how messed up toxic masculinity is and how people who fail to live up to a culture's idea of manly virtue can be used, abused, despised, and pigeon-holed.

At its heart it's also a book that is just absolutely chock-full of degrading sex, sado-masochism, torturous death, and long internal monologues about anger and self-hatred.

If you like to watch characters suffer, you will enjoy the heck out of this book. The pages are absolutely soaked with suffering. Personally, I just found it exhausting.

Content Warnings