Scan barcode
A review by readwithria
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
- 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
3.0
She Who Became the Sun was a slow, steady journey from nothing to greatness. Here's the problem with that: greatness as a desire doesn't really lead to a strong plot.
Okay, so here's the thing, character stories are not my jam. Slow pacing is not my favorite. Stories baked in religion are my least favorite thing in the world. She Who Became the Sun is all of those things. That makes it a book that is obviously not aimed at me as its primary audience of choice. None of those are things that make the book objectively bad, they're just things I don't like.
What I did find interesting was the exploration of gender, and Ma. Ma is great, she deserves the world, and she's too good for Zhu.
All in all, not my cup of tea. If I read the sequel it will be either for book club or because I've heard it's better than the first book. 3 stars.
Okay, so here's the thing, character stories are not my jam. Slow pacing is not my favorite. Stories baked in religion are my least favorite thing in the world. She Who Became the Sun is all of those things. That makes it a book that is obviously not aimed at me as its primary audience of choice. None of those are things that make the book objectively bad, they're just things I don't like.
What I did find interesting was the exploration of gender, and Ma. Ma is great, she deserves the world, and she's too good for Zhu.
All in all, not my cup of tea. If I read the sequel it will be either for book club or because I've heard it's better than the first book. 3 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Murder, Dysphoria, and Death
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Slavery, Death of parent, Suicide, Body shaming, and Child death