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A review by braiths_book_thoughts
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
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
"Don't go through life thinking of duty. When all we have are these brief spans between our nonexistences, why not make the most of the life you are living now? The price is worth it"
This quote describes the entire book quite nicely I feel. It follows Zhu, a child dying of starvation and becoming something great.
I really enjoyed the book, right up until the last chapter. Zhu performs an act that, even though was glossed over greatly, broke my heart. And left a sour taste in my mouth.
The majority of the book I found was excellent. There was some parts in the middle I felt were boring and a lot of the major events that would have been enjoyable to read, were just skipped, which feels like an odd choice as it left the world feeling sort if flat.
However, I greatly liked all the characters. To Zhu struggling with gender identity to Ouyang dealing with his mutalation and self hatred. There was a lot of heavy sub plots here and the sapphic romance was a surprise and welcomed.
What we must remember is that Zhu, though the main character, is not the hero of this story. She is definitely an anti-hero with incredible drive and she will do anything to get the destiny she believes is rightfully hers. Even when the cost is her loved ones suffering.
Ouyangs ending was a little bit if a surprise, not because of how it ended, he makes it clear throughout what he intends to do (even though it broke his heart and mine!), but a lot of the build up was removed. There was no mention of acts like, gathering the generals to him, which was a pretty significant detail! It felt like a disservice to his growth and and plot line.
I definitely preferred Zhu's story line to Ouyang'm s, I still greatly enjoyed Ouyangs story. I just read his parts faster to get back to Zhu.
The book doesn't wrap up everything, because obviously there will be a second book. Even though I doing completely connect with either Zhu or Ouyang and there heaven made connection felt a little forced, I cannot wait to see how their story ends.
This quote describes the entire book quite nicely I feel. It follows Zhu, a child dying of starvation and becoming something great.
I really enjoyed the book, right up until the last chapter. Zhu performs an act that, even though was glossed over greatly, broke my heart. And left a sour taste in my mouth.
The majority of the book I found was excellent. There was some parts in the middle I felt were boring and a lot of the major events that would have been enjoyable to read, were just skipped, which feels like an odd choice as it left the world feeling sort if flat.
However, I greatly liked all the characters. To Zhu struggling with gender identity to Ouyang dealing with his mutalation and self hatred. There was a lot of heavy sub plots here and the sapphic romance was a surprise and welcomed.
What we must remember is that Zhu, though the main character, is not the hero of this story. She is definitely an anti-hero with incredible drive and she will do anything to get the destiny she believes is rightfully hers. Even when the cost is her loved ones suffering.
Ouyangs ending was a little bit if a surprise, not because of how it ended, he makes it clear throughout what he intends to do (even though it broke his heart and mine!), but a lot of the build up was removed. There was no mention of acts like, gathering the generals to him, which was a pretty significant detail! It felt like a disservice to his growth and and plot line.
I definitely preferred Zhu's story line to Ouyang'm s, I still greatly enjoyed Ouyangs story. I just read his parts faster to get back to Zhu.
The book doesn't wrap up everything, because obviously there will be a second book. Even though I doing completely connect with either Zhu or Ouyang and there heaven made connection felt a little forced, I cannot wait to see how their story ends.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
Moderate: Death of parent and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, and Slavery