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A review by artemisg
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
There were aspects of this book I absolutely loved, and aspects I just didn’t.
The story follows a young girl who takes her brother's identity as Zhu Chongba and therefore his prophesied destiny of “greatness” after he dies. We never learn her given name which is a decision I really loved. She grows to lead the rebellion against the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. On the other side of the war (kind of - it’s complicated), we follow Ouyang, the eunuch general.
One of my favourite parts of this book were the explorations of gender and its fluidity that stemmed from these characters. Additionally, Parker-Chan does a wonderful job of making us sympathise with morally reprehensible characters and honestly root for them. Admittedly, at the end of this book, I was less of a fan of Zhu than I started. Alternatively, Ma had my whole heart from start to finish.
On the other hand, this story had pacing issues, with some intense battles taking less than a page, and some unnecessary exposition taking up far too many pages. Also, I felt like some of the destiny and fate discussions were too many and too heavy-handed.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and devoured it in one day. I’m looking forward to seeing where this series and story goes, especially after the conclusion of this book.
The story follows a young girl who takes her brother's identity as Zhu Chongba and therefore his prophesied destiny of “greatness” after he dies. We never learn her given name which is a decision I really loved. She grows to lead the rebellion against the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty. On the other side of the war (kind of - it’s complicated), we follow Ouyang, the eunuch general.
One of my favourite parts of this book were the explorations of gender and its fluidity that stemmed from these characters. Additionally, Parker-Chan does a wonderful job of making us sympathise with morally reprehensible characters and honestly root for them. Admittedly, at the end of this book, I was less of a fan of Zhu than I started. Alternatively, Ma had my whole heart from start to finish.
On the other hand, this story had pacing issues, with some intense battles taking less than a page, and some unnecessary exposition taking up far too many pages. Also, I felt like some of the destiny and fate discussions were too many and too heavy-handed.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and devoured it in one day. I’m looking forward to seeing where this series and story goes, especially after the conclusion of this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, and Blood