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

dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.75

I feel very torn about this book. I really enjoyed swbts, it was not a favorite or anything but I liked reading it enough. However i was greatly disappointed reading this book.

I did find the writing to be better, and I was sucked into the story way more than i was in swbts. But there were so many great story flaws (to me) it left me entirely disappointed. I enjoyed reading it, and i hated it at the same time. 

One thing i really disliked was when

wang baoxiang planned to rape ma (it wouldve been rape, and it was actually.  she didnt have a choixe to say no, she could only comply to it. like any other concubine would/have) violently to make her suffer and hate him, but ma is such a benevolent, sweet, strong willed and empathetic character that he's unable to do it to hurt her. but he stills have sex with her, with her only choice being to accept it. And the whole scene is frames to make the reader feel pity toward wang baoxiang? for what ?? his character was really interesting to me until this happened. i have no regard for a man instillingmore violence upon women, especially sexual violences. I of course do not ask for morally pure characters, however this is a line i personally cant cross.

another thing,

ouyang's character development being completely thrown out of the window was truly disappointing.  he, unfortunately, is my favorite character. His struggles and hatred for women and feminity make perfect sense for his character, but he had room to grow from that. And he seemed to be, when he entered that pirate women tournament to win a favor, he recognized women's abilities and differences, and prior to that, he had a, not exactly positive but at least not negative,  encounter with women, right after being disrespected by men(well zhu was, but he wouldve been disrespected the same way if not for the mask, and he took it as an attack for himself). With all of these, i'd assumed his hatred for women had diminished. Even just a bit. But no, who cares, all these things happened for nothing and meant nothing. He learned zhu, the person he'd grown close to, had the body of a woman, and left immediately. You'd think that after what he's been through his whole life he'd be able to sympathize with her a little more. But that's subjective. The point is, it felt like his character was evolving, or on the path to, only for it to stop suddenly and then for him to die. okay.

A few other parts in it did truly turn me off, like

madame zhnag's end, zhu and ma sleeping with men, and how little we saw of ma's and zhu's relationship. zhu's and ouyang's relationship was written in a more beautiful, moving and compelling way than ma's and zhu's ever was. Until the end, ma never really felt like her own character. She was just zhu's wife. Oh and the end was a bit... anticlimactic to me. All of the actions, schemes, battles and struggles only for the end to be.. so easy and benevolent? Like all the blood shed and sacrifices and cruelty never happened. I dont know, it was not too bad an ending but just... yeah.

I did really like ouyang's and zhu's relationship.  Also enjoyed the politics and scheming a lot. It just felt too simple and straightforward.


i do recognize that my criticisms are very personal and subjectives, but it is simply how i felt.