iris_sel 's review for:

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

5.0

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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one of the best sequels ive read in a while—perhaps even ever. with this conclusion to the radiant emperor duology, parker-chan succeeds in doing the incredibly difficult feat of expanding a story with an already massive scope, while somehow still keeping it real, human. 

even as their character commit acts that approach and surpass the monstrous, you keep rooting for them. nothing hurt as much in this book as witnessing ouyang’s murder, the knowledge that he sacrificed everything and everyone he ever loved, fruitlessly, needlessly. that he avenged someone who did not need it, nor deserve it. my god that hurt…

zhu’s growth in grief is also so compelling. we learnt, in book one, that she’d do anything to win, but book two challenges this conviction, again and again and again. it makes zhu so interesting, so captivating, so much more human. 

the biggest challenge, of course, was xu da’s death. i knew xu da wouldn’t make it out of this book unscathed, but goddamn it still was so sad. especially with the fact that zhu’s wanting, her desire, her willpower; all of it was futile in the face of death. 

there was something so satifying in the ending of this book (although it also felt a tiny bit abrupt/incomplete (though I think that was the point, as much as it frustrates me))…and the way that xu da’s death shaped it, made her rethink her actions, made her intentional, and scared and unsure…it just made it so so so much more exciting than just having her kill baoxiang to become emperor. PLUS how absolutely glorious of an image it is to have a maid on the throne, while the old emperor kneels at her feet, powerless! just exquisite...