A review by spec_tacles
He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

After She Who Became The Sun, I knew I would love this, but i’m still shocked by how much. I was just as immersed in this one, despite different perspectives, and the emotional payoff was huge. 

This is a 5-star read, no question. If I were Shelley Parker-Chan, I would feel so proud to have created such a dynamic work of art.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Chronic illness and Pregnancy

Most content warnings come from the fact that the story is about war, but it’s still challenging regardless, especially the torture.