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

adventurous challenging 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

5.0

Knocked my socks off.  Deeply dark, violent, sad - almost all of the characters carry trauma and inflict trauma on others.  Ma was kind of the first ray of light in many hours of listening.  The deaths and betrayals all felt true to the characters and the direction of the story.  Everyone is flawed.  Zhu’s determination has been admirable for so long, but here she experiences the strongest emotions of her life. Her ability to change and to deeply reflect on who she is and how her actions and decisions align with her identity expanded after those experiences of strong emotion.  Ma’s explanation of the gift of following and the gift of belief in the one you followed was critical, and the changes in Zhu that allowed changes in the direction of fate really saved it all at the end.  Narrator’s pronunciation was sometimes great and other times kind of stilted and distracting, but overall wonderful narration.  Very grateful that the author chose to end Ouyang’s story in this way.  Also Zhu’s and Ma’s.  What a gift this author has, to write at so many miles deeper than Harry Potter book 7 levels of dark, and to make it so compelling to read on and learn what comes next, and next, and then.
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