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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Blood, War
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-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:
Complicated
Perfect continuation to She Who Became The Sun. This book is so good and devastating that it caused my girlfriend to make an OC to cope, so I'd say it's a good one
adventurous
emotional
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:
No
What a shocking duology that was entirely worth all the hype
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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:
Yes
Liked this one. Thought it was stronger than the first book. Characters better developed, though there could’ve been more backstory given for some of them. Appreciated there being more complexity in the main characters
Thank you so much to Tor for gifting me with a physical ARC and an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 stars
In the sequel and conclusion to She Who Became The Sun, more forces than ever are vying for control of the empire. The eunuch General Ouyang is struggling to keep command of his army and is driven to harm himself. Zhu is intent on destroying others who would take the throne for themselves. Baoxiang is infiltrating the empire, not through military force, but by pretending to be its loyal servant and pulling threads from within.
This series is such an impressive debut. If the first book was about suffering and then grabbing power because of it, this book is about grabbing power and suffering for it. We follow so many depraved characters willing to do whatever they believe they need to secure their power - and everyone goes about it in different ways. Not only that, but they all have parts of them that humanize them, making you empathize with their struggles... and they turn around and commit war crimes. For example, Madam Zhang does some horrible things, but she also severely dissociates from her body because of the sexual and physical violence done against her; then she in turn puts herself in those positions to get hurt again because she sees that as her only way to establish power - with her body. All of these characters are so well-fleshed out and dark and thoughtful in their own ways. Each sentence they say or movement they make has several layers of thought behind it. The discussions around gender and sexuality and the performance of each were so thoroughly and expertly explored. The book is well-plotted and -paced, with lots of violence and hatred and tragedy: Parker-Chan does not pull any punches. Still, I would have liked to see more from Zhu's perspective proportionately. The shift away from her made it feel less personal, or maybe less tied to the first book. That also meant that my favorite character, Ma, got very little screen time. I also would've liked to see somewhat of an epilogue, especially because Zhu is based on a real-life historical figure.
Overall, this series promises a long and celebrated career to come for Parker-Chan. The unnumbered layers of this story make me so excited for their books to come!
4.5 stars
In the sequel and conclusion to She Who Became The Sun, more forces than ever are vying for control of the empire. The eunuch General Ouyang is struggling to keep command of his army and is driven to harm himself. Zhu is intent on destroying others who would take the throne for themselves. Baoxiang is infiltrating the empire, not through military force, but by pretending to be its loyal servant and pulling threads from within.
This series is such an impressive debut. If the first book was about suffering and then grabbing power because of it, this book is about grabbing power and suffering for it. We follow so many depraved characters willing to do whatever they believe they need to secure their power - and everyone goes about it in different ways. Not only that, but they all have parts of them that humanize them, making you empathize with their struggles... and they turn around and commit war crimes. For example, Madam Zhang does some horrible things, but she also severely dissociates from her body because of the sexual and physical violence done against her; then she in turn puts herself in those positions to get hurt again because she sees that as her only way to establish power - with her body. All of these characters are so well-fleshed out and dark and thoughtful in their own ways. Each sentence they say or movement they make has several layers of thought behind it. The discussions around gender and sexuality and the performance of each were so thoroughly and expertly explored. The book is well-plotted and -paced, with lots of violence and hatred and tragedy: Parker-Chan does not pull any punches. Still, I would have liked to see more from Zhu's perspective proportionately. The shift away from her made it feel less personal, or maybe less tied to the first book. That also meant that my favorite character, Ma, got very little screen time. I also would've liked to see somewhat of an epilogue, especially because Zhu is based on a real-life historical figure.
Overall, this series promises a long and celebrated career to come for Parker-Chan. The unnumbered layers of this story make me so excited for their books to come!
Definitely darker than the first book. What would you sacrifice, what would you suffer, to see your destiny through? What would you see others suffer for your sake? A tour de force in this trans variation of the rise of the Ming dynasty.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes