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Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Lui che annegò il mondo by Shelley Parker-Chan

55 reviews


The twists, the turns, the death, the life the way that the story interacts with itself. The way it fuels itself and how you can see and sense the characters losing their resolve or failing to achieve their goal. Additionally the Strain that desire puts on the characters and the people around them is just so amazing. This is the first time that I've seen wanting something and having desire pictured as something both good and bad, selfishness that can be wielded into determination.
I love how religion and the belief system of this period mingle in with the story so well how Buddhism is so effortlessly referenced consistently. And oh my God the ghosts I love the way that the ghosts interact with the story being both a conscious member of the plot and a subconscious anchor it is absolutely astonishing.
I absolutely love this book and it's probably one of the best duology I have read.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional 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

If there had been slightly fewer moments meriting a content warning it would've been 5 stars for me, so maybe it will be for you. But yeah - I think it ticked more content warnings than it didn't, so, at your own risk.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I loved the first book, but had a harder time with the second installment (partially because this is much darker--see content warnings). There are more POV in this book, which I wasn't as invested in from the first book, and because of that, I felt like it bogged the story down. I loved that
Zhu and Ouyang teamed up
and I wanted more from Ma's perspective, especially given how instrumental her story is in the last part of the book.

I know this is a duology, but I kind of wish there was a third, so we could see if
Zhu lives up to expectations as Emperor. Was all the sacrifice worth it?
Not knowing anything about the Ming Empire, I was left wanting more and the story feels unfinished.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark tense 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: Complicated

I could not stop thinking about this book. I really took my time with it as I LOVED the first one and knew it would get complex to wrap up all the leftover plot lines. This book is absolutely NOT for everyone, but the political intrigue, the questions of identity and ambition, and the world building was definitely for me. I’m so thrilled with how this series wrapped up and while my only complaint is those last 5 pages seemed to feel a tad rushed, this duology feels like the most epic fantasy from an extremely talented writer. I don’t know how they keep this all in their head, but I’m so grateful they shared their stories with the world. Check content warnings for sure, but if you like Game of Thrones, Mulan, and (dare I say) Avatar the Last Airbender, look into this one. I love it!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
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

WHAT A RIDE!
Honestly, there was so much going on in this book - not necessarily plot-wise, we still follow Zhu and her quest to become the Great Khan to remake the world, but for each individual character who's POV we see or may see as part of another character's POV.
The focus of the book shifts slightly to Wang Baoxiang and his machinations, but we still get a lot of page time from Zhu and Ouyang as well as Madam Zhang - all of them striving for power in different and yet so similar ways. The amount of mirroring and contrasts is amazing in this book.

It's a lot to take in and while it does get dark at times there is still hope, and that hope is also there at the end so that you close the book (still slightly reeling from Part 3) with a positive feeling.

This book is really worth the read - just like the first one - and such an excellent take on what is gender if not what we make of it.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Ouyang deserved better.... I felt so bad for him by the end of this story. The Third Prince also deserved better. I didn't expect that kind of betrayal from Baoxiang at all. Ma ALSO deserved better too instead of doing what Zhu asked of her!! It sounded like she chose to do it in the end but that's... it's still very sad. The one who DESERVED BETTER MOST OF ALL THOUGH IS XU DA. I'M GOING TO BE SAD ABOUT HIM FOREVER. Also go Zhu!! I support women's rights and women's wrongs!!!

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