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4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
inspiring
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:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a great conclusion to this duology.
I really liked the critiques of gender in this series and how most of the main characters all fall somewhere in the middle of the gender spectrum and how that plays into their lives and their personalities as well as the culture and society around them. I liked how that brought the characters together simply because of their uniqueness.
I also loved getting to watch Zhu achieve everything she was reaching for. She literally wanted to change the world and she succeeded and it was glorious to watch.
I think I said this for the previous book, but it was also amazing to see what she would do in order to achieve her goal. She was not going to let anything get in her way no matter how immoral it might have been and I admired that.
I do think this book kept my attention a little bit more than the first one, but it was still fairly difficult to get through and I think that is mostly due to not being able to differentiate the character's names as well as the many sudden POV switches. The distant nature of the writing probably also contributed to that, but I think most of it was the character names for me. I'm sure it would have been much easier to differentiate them if I was reading a physical copy of the book rather than listening though.
Overall this was a good series. I loved the themes and the critiques, I just wish I felt closer to the characters in general.
I really liked the critiques of gender in this series and how most of the main characters all fall somewhere in the middle of the gender spectrum and how that plays into their lives and their personalities as well as the culture and society around them. I liked how that brought the characters together simply because of their uniqueness.
I also loved getting to watch Zhu achieve everything she was reaching for. She literally wanted to change the world and she succeeded and it was glorious to watch.
I think I said this for the previous book, but it was also amazing to see what she would do in order to achieve her goal. She was not going to let anything get in her way no matter how immoral it might have been and I admired that.
I do think this book kept my attention a little bit more than the first one, but it was still fairly difficult to get through and I think that is mostly due to not being able to differentiate the character's names as well as the many sudden POV switches. The distant nature of the writing probably also contributed to that, but I think most of it was the character names for me. I'm sure it would have been much easier to differentiate them if I was reading a physical copy of the book rather than listening though.
Overall this was a good series. I loved the themes and the critiques, I just wish I felt closer to the characters in general.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Incest, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail
THE ANGER AND HORRIFIC PAIN. The emotion really leaps off the page and I CANT see past it. Just does not resonate with me right now.
I put off reading this for several months because I was worried about how painful it was going to be, but when reached inside my chest and clawed my heart into a bloody pulp, I loved every second of it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
fast-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
This book is EVEN better than the first!!!!! There's more gay sex, pain, betrayal, and unrealized potential. The ending was a little more power-of-friendship than I might have liked, considering how powerfully dark and emotional the rest of the series is, but I know satisfying every reader is an unachievable thing.
This duology was stunning. The twists and turns, the heartbreak, the brutality, all of it. This book felt a lot darker, than She Who became the Sun and I would recommend reading the trigger warnings.
How did Shelley Parker Can make me care for characters I despised? Zhu continues her journey to become the next Great Yuan despite the obstacles in her way and the constant unlikelihood of it happening, she continues to defy the odds. It’s stuffed with sneaky schemes, politics, battles, so much blood, sex as a weapon and grief.
‘Nobody would lift a finger to change the World for us. To make a place for us. What choice did we ever have, but to do it ourselves?’
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.
How did Shelley Parker Can make me care for characters I despised? Zhu continues her journey to become the next Great Yuan despite the obstacles in her way and the constant unlikelihood of it happening, she continues to defy the odds. It’s stuffed with sneaky schemes, politics, battles, so much blood, sex as a weapon and grief.
‘Nobody would lift a finger to change the World for us. To make a place for us. What choice did we ever have, but to do it ourselves?’
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.