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A review by bonriki
He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Mild spoilers included:
This is the grim follow-up to She Who Became the Sun. The main POV cast is expanded to four people: Zhu, Oyuang, Baoxiang, and Madam Zhang. Oyuang and Baoxiang were the characters I found to be the most compelling from the first book (I love those tragic, self-hating, revenge-seeking dangerous characters) so I really enjoyed them having a larger part of the narrative.
One of the things I really appreciate is how very queer this book is, Zhu is an asexual nonbinary person. Oyuang is a (possibly gay) cis man considered by others to be Not A Man because he’s a eunuch. Baoxiang is a flamboyant cishet man who nevertheless regularly sleeps with a man to further his goals. It a messy sort of queer rep that doesn’t fit into the neat boxes I’m used to seeing in other books.
On the other hand, just like in the first book, I found Zhu to be something of a weak point. The way she views the world as though success is a forgone conclusion, her optimism, her blind determination just isn’t particularly interesting, it often feels one-note. The far more angsty, sacrificing, and self-destructive paths that Oyuang and Baoxiang take is really what I most enjoy about this series. It looked like Zhu was going to become a clear villain type character at the end of the first book but she took on more of an anti-hero role in this book which I felt was a bit of a letdown. In contrast, Oyuang really stole the show, he’s at his best when he’s being his worst and I loved every scene he was in.
Overall I did enjoy this more than the first book, it’s an Everybody Makes Bad Choices type book. Sometimes it’s fun just to watch bad people do bad things. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this audiobook ARC.
This is the grim follow-up to She Who Became the Sun. The main POV cast is expanded to four people: Zhu, Oyuang, Baoxiang, and Madam Zhang. Oyuang and Baoxiang were the characters I found to be the most compelling from the first book (I love those tragic, self-hating, revenge-seeking dangerous characters) so I really enjoyed them having a larger part of the narrative.
One of the things I really appreciate is how very queer this book is, Zhu is an asexual nonbinary person. Oyuang is a (possibly gay) cis man considered by others to be Not A Man because he’s a eunuch. Baoxiang is a flamboyant cishet man who nevertheless regularly sleeps with a man to further his goals. It a messy sort of queer rep that doesn’t fit into the neat boxes I’m used to seeing in other books.
On the other hand, just like in the first book, I found Zhu to be something of a weak point. The way she views the world as though success is a forgone conclusion, her optimism, her blind determination just isn’t particularly interesting, it often feels one-note. The far more angsty, sacrificing, and self-destructive paths that Oyuang and Baoxiang take is really what I most enjoy about this series. It looked like Zhu was going to become a clear villain type character at the end of the first book but she took on more of an anti-hero role in this book which I felt was a bit of a letdown. In contrast, Oyuang really stole the show, he’s at his best when he’s being his worst and I loved every scene he was in.
Overall I did enjoy this more than the first book, it’s an Everybody Makes Bad Choices type book. Sometimes it’s fun just to watch bad people do bad things. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this audiobook ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Homophobia, Violence, Death, Transphobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Torture
Moderate: Pregnancy