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

adventurous dark 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

4.0

She Who Became the Sun is a captivating story of defying expectations and creating your own destiny - no matter the cost. Amid the brutal backdrop of war during the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there is a fascinating exploration of gender through characters whose experiences are never shoe-horned into 21st century understandings of queerness. It's dark, its witty, its sexy, and its written so beautifully that you will almost be distracted from the moments of stomach-churning violence as these characters stop at nothing to claim their fate. If you love tragic period epics (Song of Achilles) and morally dubious anti-hero/ines this one is for you!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Murder, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Torture, and Suicide

If you are squeamish about violence, stay away from this book! There is not any sexual violence which is really refreshing for this kind of dark period epic.