Scan barcode
A review by liteartha
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
adventurous
challenging
dark
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? It's complicated
3.5
desperate to escape her destiny of nothing, zhu assumes her brother's identity upon his untimely death, setting herself unwaveringly on the path to greatness once foretold to him
it's a deeply queer alternate historical fantasy featuring characters so entirely consumed by ambition and desire that i've rarely seen the likes of them. dark and brutal, thick with strategic and political machinations, complex relationships, ghosts, yearning, and betrayal, she who became the sun is an epic take on the costs of pursuing destiny and personal convictions no matter what it takes
a note on it being pitched as mulan meets the song of achilles: while i can see where it's coming from with both comparisons, i think they do a disservice to the book and don't really capture its essence, especially where tsoa is concerned. there's extremely little room for or time spent on romance, so don't expect that. as for the mulan tie: zhu is afab and does claim the destiny of another in taking on a male identity, but she does this for entirely self-serving reasons and grapples with gender in ways very different (and much more interesting, imo) from mulan
i will also quickly mention that something felt missing in the connective tissue of this book for me, leaving me feeling a little unmoored from the emotional and strategic core of the plot. some sequences just felt hard to follow and i failed to connect as much as it seems to me other reviewers have done. maybe this was a me problem and maybe it's something that had everything to do with the timing with which i read this book, but it's something i'll be curious to reexamine as i continue on with the series (which i'm very keen to do)
it's a deeply queer alternate historical fantasy featuring characters so entirely consumed by ambition and desire that i've rarely seen the likes of them. dark and brutal, thick with strategic and political machinations, complex relationships, ghosts, yearning, and betrayal, she who became the sun is an epic take on the costs of pursuing destiny and personal convictions no matter what it takes
a note on it being pitched as mulan meets the song of achilles: while i can see where it's coming from with both comparisons, i think they do a disservice to the book and don't really capture its essence, especially where tsoa is concerned. there's extremely little room for or time spent on romance, so don't expect that. as for the mulan tie: zhu is afab and does claim the destiny of another in taking on a male identity, but she does this for entirely self-serving reasons and grapples with gender in ways very different (and much more interesting, imo) from mulan
i will also quickly mention that something felt missing in the connective tissue of this book for me, leaving me feeling a little unmoored from the emotional and strategic core of the plot. some sequences just felt hard to follow and i failed to connect as much as it seems to me other reviewers have done. maybe this was a me problem and maybe it's something that had everything to do with the timing with which i read this book, but it's something i'll be curious to reexamine as i continue on with the series (which i'm very keen to do)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Transphobia