A review by madiiilm
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.5

I have some conflicting feelings about She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. On one hand, I really enjoyed the overall story, the characters, and the theme of gender. On the other hand, the middle portion of the book got a bit dull and a lot of action happened off-page, making this feel like a much longer book than it actually is. I also wish we did less head hopping and just stayed in the POVs of Zhu and Ouyang in order to keep the story and themes more in focus.

Going more in-depth, I thought Zhu and Ouyang in particular are very well-developed and interesting characters. I really enjoyed reading about them and the connection they have due to their gender non-conformity. Despite this common experience, their individual histories have led them to see the world very differently. For Zhu, her choice to present as a man is what freed her and allowed for not only her survival,
but also her rise to power in the Red Turbans. Ouyang, however, was raised with masculine ideals before he was castrated, making his gender non-conformity a curse in his eyes. This made their relationships with women very different. Zhu, who was AFAB, has an understanding of women that male characters never could. She uses this understanding not only to find an ally and lover in Ma but also to convince Lady Rui to help her and the Red Turbans. Ouyang, however, despises femininity in all forms, since he believes it exemplifies all that he hates about himself. In interested in seeing how his allegiance with Madam Zhang affects him in the next book.  I think their differences are best exemplified when Ouyang cuts off Zhu's hand in a dual. Ouyang sees this deformity as a worse punishment than death, while Zhu is just happy to be alive and carries on despite this. In the end, Zhu learns to accept herself as neither a woman nor a man, which is what finally allows her to receive the Mandate of Heaven and rule with Ma by her side. Ouyang, however, holds on to his anger and seeks vengeance against those who not only castrated him but killed his family. Unfortunately for him, this vengeance includes killing Esen, the man he loved most in the world. Ouyang's ending is tragic, but I also understood why he took this stance and really felt for him.
The comparisons, contrasts, and interactions between these two characters were the most compelling part of the book to me. 

Despite how interesting I found these characters and their stories, I did find the middle portion of this book hard to get through. There was a lot of dialogue and politics without any action in between to keep me engaged. In fact, there were two battles that happened completely off-page, which I found very frustrating. I wanted to know what happened to the characters in battle. What part did they play? How did they grow and change during them? We don't really know. For a book that takes place in wartime with commanding officers as lead characters, there is very little emphasis on the battles that can change the tides of war. I also didn't love all the head hopping. It is definitely not the most egregious example, but I wish we stuck with just Zhu and Ouyang since they are the character that encapsulate the story and theme. The other POVs just dragged on for me. Despite my critiques, I did enjoy this book and look forward to reading the sequel. 
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