Reviews with content warning for Torture - Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea

Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang-Eppig

18 reviews

elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective 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

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spacerkip's review

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challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This was a very character-focused novel, with flashbacks and tales of Chinese mythology interspersed throughout the main plot. As a result, the story is slow-building, and it takes a while for the conflict with the emperor's pirate hunter, Pak Ling, to manifest. Even still, the bulk of the novel deals with the politics of commanding a fleet and navigating alliances with other pirate leaders, rather than daring adventures or fearless yarns.

The story's introspection serves well to explore the many themes it introduces. Ambition vs love (romantic, platonic, or maternal). Pragmatism vs cruelty. What it means to take power and control for yourself when the only way is to steal it from those around you.

I'm not entirely sure why it didn't click with me, but there were quite a few things I liked. The setting at sea, for one. My experience with age of sail novels lies almost exclusively with stories about the British navy, so this was a refreshing change of pace, and I eagerly took in all the details about sailing in this part of the world. The historical backdrop was very interesting to me as well. Not only in the events taking place, but in the descriptions of each port Shek Yeung and the other characters visited, from the construction of buildings to the clothing worn to the different religious practices. I also enjoyed the firmly grey morality of the main character, Shek Yeung. She was not shown to be right or wrong or always justified, simply a person who lived (and learned to thrive) in very difficult situations.

If you are interested at all in Chinese piracy, I encourage you to give this a try!

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inkdrinkers's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

"She would not mourn him."

Shek Yeung, legendary pirate queen of history, is embattled in a fight with the Chinese Emperor and European forces seeking to eliminate piracy from the seas. As her story is told, she navigates motherhood, love, and the price of power.

This is an interesting book - but its not the "riveting, roaring adventure novel" that the description led me to believe. From the first page I felt like I was reading an academic paper rather than a novel, the tone caught me off guard since I assumed going into it that it would be more of a dramatized, fictional spin on the life of Shek Yeung.

Shek Yeung was a real person, and lived an absolutely bonkers life, but I feel like we got her story too late into the interesting parts. I would have LOVED to see this novel embrace the beginnings of her story, to show the rise of her into power and then leave the bulk of what the novel's current plot is - as the ending. I think the overall story would have painted a better picture than this one. It wasn't bad, it wasn't boring, and it wasn't skippable, but it was literary, character driven, and historical - which, for many readers picking up based on description alone - might not anticipate or enjoy.

Content warnings: Violence, Death, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, War, Torture, Colonisation, Addiction

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for providing me a copy of this book for an honest review.

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laurareads87's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea follows Shek Yeung, a pirate captain who, after her husband and co-captain dies, marries his second in command to maintain her position and goes on to lead the fleet through a series of clashes with both the Emperor's fleet and those of Europeans set on dominating trade in the South China Sea.

I will say, this book was not at all what I expected. I have no idea why this book is being shelved as fantasy - it is 100% historical fiction. While there are religious practices depicted (uttering prayers to deity, fortune telling, etc.) and brief chapters detailing stories of the ocean goddess Mazu (whom the main character petitions), this does not make the book fantasy. While the book is described as a "riveting, roaring adventure novel" and does certainly include some battle scenes and plenty of strategizing, I most appreciated the novel as a portrait of one individual woman: the protagonist's traumatic past, her relationships with other characters, and her strategizing and at times brutal actions undertaken to maintain her tenuous hold on the power she has while not sure what she ultimately wants.

Content warnings: violence, murder, blood, death, torture, sexual assault, rape, kidnapping, colonialism, sexism, homophobia, human trafficking, addiction, war, grief, slavery

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starrysteph's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A slow-paced, thoughtful portrait that gives a legendary Chinese pirate real dimension & humanity.

After Shek Yeung witnesses the death of her ferocious pirate husband, she steps into his place and fights to maintain her power. But the seas are unforgiving, and the larger world is cracking down on piracy. She has to lead through shaky alliances, a clever nobleman purging pirates on behalf of the Chinese Emperor, and European enemies planning something terrible.

Shek Yeung is a real person, and in Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea, Rita Chang-Eppig pulls apart legendary feats and hyperbolic statements to show a thoughtful portrait of a leader. She’s clever, and she makes mistakes. She uses her power to alter the world, and she abuses her power in times of fear. She’s intent on forging a different path than the ones before her, but their ghosts haunt her.

I’m bummed that this book has been mismarketed - for instance, “riveting, roaring adventure novel” from the blurb isn’t quite accurate. There’s some action, and definitely tension, but this is not a fast-paced swashbuckling adventure. It’s a slow and sometimes-dense portrait.

Shek Yeung’s story is quite captivating. She’s ripped from her family and powerless at the beginning, and absorbs different styles of leadership as she grows up and takes control over her life back bit by bit. And when she has opportunities for freedom - she can’t quite give up all the power she has fought so desperately to have.

Chang-Eppig explores suffocating gender roles & societal expectations, love & family, leadership, and so much more. And that underneath legends - there are simply humans.

CW: murder, death, blood, violence, pregnancy, rape, trafficking, sexism, colonization, slavery, addiction, torture, war, grief

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elenasperoni's review

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I very much enjoyed this book. I was drawn to the cover and i enjoy historical fiction so i figured i would like it. Following shek yueng throughout her life makes her a lovable main character, despite her crimes. Seeing into her head makes the reader forgive her for everything she does almost as she does it. My favorite part of this book however is how she weaponized her sex and all the trauma she had endured because of it. It wasnt trauma porn, it simply insinuated most of what has happened to her and there were no graphic descriptions of rape or violence. Of course these occured but almost behind a curtain of what needed to be shared and what could stay vague.

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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective 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? No

4.0

I hadn’t heard of this until a few months ago when I randomly came across it on NetGalley. It was the title and cover combination that really caught my attention. Then I read it was about a pirate queen?! And there was no going back. (Also, note: Libro.fm offered it as an ALC a month or so ago and honestly, I loved having both the ebook and audiobook while reading.)

When Shek Yeung’s husband is killed in a battle, she takes immediate action, marrying his second in command (with the promise of bearing him a child, a son, to be his heir, despite having thought herself past the time in her life), in order to maintain her power and position within the fleet. But even with that quick thinking, the fleet remains on the edge of disaster in the face of myriad outside threats. Shek Yeung must navigate through a Chinese Emperor who seeks to eradicate all piracy in the most brutal manner, European powers who are tired of losing resources to the pirates, and an inter-fleet alliance that is shaky at best. Plus, as she faces the vastly different challenges of new motherhood, she begins to question what price she is actually willing to pay to retain control and leadership.

I am not sure why, but I thought there was going to be magic in this story…and there is not. I want to set that out to start, as, since I didn’t know where that impression came form personally, maybe other people are thinking that too. That has no bearing on my enjoyment of the overall reading experience whatsoever, I just felt it necessary to clarify. I will say though, there is a definite vibe that supernatural forces *could* be in play, through fate and fortune-telling and the influence of gods (similar to books like The Fortunes of Jaded Women, The Last Tale of the Flower Bride, The Cloisters, Plain Bad Heroines, etc.). So, it kind of reads like a magical historical fiction in vibe, if not in actuality. And that’s a style I can get behind.

Plot-wise, this was spectacularly written and paced. There was, absolutely, all the ruthlessness and violence one would expect from a novel about pirates, but as it was sprinkled in with stories about Ma Zhou and mythology and beliefs around her godhood, that was balanced out in a way that made it feel less intense or overwhelming. This was aided by the background on Shek Yeung’s life that was developed as the story went, giving us context not only about her own journey to piracy, but for the greater world within which her story takes place. It was tragic, as I believe all “I didn’t set out to become a pirate, but ended up here anyways” tales must be, compounded by her role as a female during this historical time period in Chinese history (but also, as a female in any time period ever, if we’re being honest). Getting to experience the story from her perspective, her own decisions, and with insight into her own thought processes and feelings, was exactly what I wanted. Finally, in regards to the plot, I would be remiss if I didn’t’ acknowledge how wonderful the complexity of the political machinations and power maneuvering were. I always love when those aspects are done with the kind of deftness that Chang-Eppig had here.

A few final thoughts. First, I was thrilled to hear that Emily Woo Zeller was narrating – I enjoy her voice talents and this was no exception. I thought it was great, the way Chang-Eppig showed how mythology and folklore take on a life of their own depending on the teller, and how every story is just that because all tales grow and change in the telling. This was demonstrated both though the tales of Ma Zhou and in the ways Shek Yeung chose portray herself and her life.

Overall, what atmospheric and original historical fiction. It was swashbuckling and violent, but also culturally and politically nuanced. Perhaps a slightly slower read than the blurb might suggest, but once I adjusted, it was such a good reading/listening experience.

"Piracy was, more often than not, a matter of convincing the target of the futility of fighting back."

"Women's life stories were written by their men, messily, elegantly, or in the case of violent men, tersely. Now that Cheng Yat was dead, Shek Yeung finally had a turn at dictating the course of things. She might have been born thirty-one years ago, but her story was only now hers."

"But villains waited for no god..."

"There were many gods in Heaven, one for whatever a person lacked (after all, wasn't lack the foundation of being human?)..."

"'Why do you need all this power?' Wo-Yuet had asked her. So that I can have complete control, she should have answered. Because the moment a powerful woman loosened her grip on the reins, even a little, someone immediately tried to wrest those reins from her. This "someone" was usually a man who believed she should never have had them in the first place."

"...acts of disobedience quickly led to unrest, which led to violence, which had to be met in kind. There was no stability without violence, nor was there peace in instability. Where was the line between stability and tyranny?"

"They'd come together to stay alive, which was different from staying together to live."

"In the end, stories were not reality, could not be reality. The storyteller decided where to start the story and where to end it, which parts to sink into and which to skin over."

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thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC

I had expectations for this book, unfortunately Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea is a disappointment. One would expect a novel about a legendary Chinese pirate queen to be quite explosive or at least have some thrilling action - as touted by its blurb - but that is in fact hard to find here, and it has been a while since I have felt so distanced from a story and its characters.

I love the novel's concept and premise, but in Chang-Eppig's hands, the story flounders dully and never really finds its footing: the writing truly more of a 'telling not showing' and scenes are rarely given proper room to breathe, the book so focused on Shek Yeung's character study it renders everything that makes her a pirate - the action and emotional impact most readers expect going in - almost inconsequential. And while the themes of power and being female in a patriarchal society are valid and very much relevant, they are hammered in so constantly while offering nothing new, and there is annoyingly little character development.

My biggest peeve about the book, however, is how distant the story and characters feel to the reader. For a book so focused on a main character, it is alarming how indifferent I feel to Shek Yeung despite knowing her backstory and both internal and external struggles. I declined to indicate here on The Storygraph whether I find the characters loveable, as after some deliberation, I realized it was neither yes nor no because I am wholly indifferent to them. Reading this book was not an immersive experience, so removed I felt from the action, development and characters, and as I am someone who highly values emotional impact in my reading, this greatly hinders my enjoyment of the novel.

To sum up, this book has a great premise that is unfortunately hampered by its execution, making it unable to fully reach its full potential.

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