Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Blood
Moderate: Body shaming, Physical abuse, Abortion
Minor: Ableism
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Transphobia, Dysphoria
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Slavery, Excrement, Death of parent
Take a shot every time you read:
- "Hungry ghosts"
- "Trotted"
- "Behatted"
- "Curious"
Also: I think I would have liked this more if the absolute psychological torment undergone by the characters wasn't described so lushly. The prose got a little purple at times, describing people's internal suffering. It was a bit much.
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror
An incredible conclusion to this gruesome, heartbreaking story of resilience, determination, and revenge against all odds (especially when the odds are definitely *not* in your favor).
This sequel hit all of the best notes in character development and continuation of the plot. The interpersonal relationships grew significantly and the action scenes where even better (and more gruesome) than the first book. I really enjoyed adding more POVs and really getting into the heads of our main characters.
The "mandate of heaven" was still not super well explained, which I think was probably intentional. Also Shelley did us dirty with the deaths in this one, and I'll leave it at that.
Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Sexual harassment, War
Minor: Pregnancy
The Radiant Emperor duology is a beautiful exploration of gender, ambition, grief, and hope. Highly recommend.
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Dysphoria, War
Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Murder, War
Minor: Child death, Gore, Miscarriage, Slavery, Torture, Abortion, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, Slavery, Transphobia, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Classism
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, War
Moderate: Homophobia, Pregnancy, Outing
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Pregnancy
Minor: Slavery
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Grief, War
Minor: Domestic abuse, Slavery, Kidnapping, Abortion, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury
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.
Graphic: Ableism, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Miscarriage, Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal death