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culpeppper's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The plot of this story is pretty straightforward and simple on the surface: a pirate captain dies, the world is changing due to aggressive colonial actions, and a tired woman is just trying to survive all the shit that happens between it all. There's a lot going on in the in between. Shek Yeung is a complex character, someone who spent most of her younger life isolated, brutalized, and/or controlled by abusers but soon has a chance at a kind of freedom when her first husband dies in the beginning of the book.
Her agency, or lack therof, sticks out to me amongst all the other topics Chang-Eppig covers in the story. Shek Yeung's whole life is controlled by others, their specters hanging over her and shadowing almost every choice she makes. Her husbands, living and dead, give reasoning for her choices she makes. Notably when she makes choices that harm others, she may recall with a pride and maybe a little guilt that she choices she made would have been the same choices her dead husband would have made. It cheapens her actions; just once, I wanted her to say she wasn't making a choice regarding the fleet without checking it against what He would have done.
Her relationship with Yan-Yan feels particularly imbalanced throughout the narrative in a way that isn't really explored.This is solidified at the end when Shek Yeung leaves a now implied to be disabled Yan-Yan to live a life she has expressed she didn't want previous to her doing this. Though she maybe feels conflicted about it, there's no real interrogation of what Shek Yeung (and Dawa but she's hardly a character) is actually doing by choosing this life of motherhood over employment for Yan-Yan, who has little to say after getting injured for the sake of Shek Yeung's child until she is forced into her new life. Kinda weird.
There are a lot of things that I'm just taking as fictionalized elements of historical reality (as I have very little knowledge on this particular part of time and space) but the lack of meaningful interrogation on what it means for Shek Yeung to have this power, and the continued lack of agency, means a lot of the other elements fall a little short of what I think Chang-Eppig was going for.
On the surface, if you don't look too deep, it's a fine book. Pacing can be weird, there's time jumps back and forth, there's some interesting mythical interludes that add a little depth to the world, side characters are all kinda one dimensional, the lines of leading questions made me roll my eyes, and I don't think it dug as deep as it thought it did— but overall, I eventually got invested and liked the attempts at serious conversations, even if I would have liked it do have gone a little deeper.
Her agency, or lack therof, sticks out to me amongst all the other topics Chang-Eppig covers in the story. Shek Yeung's whole life is controlled by others, their specters hanging over her and shadowing almost every choice she makes. Her husbands, living and dead, give reasoning for her choices she makes. Notably when she makes choices that harm others, she may recall with a pride and maybe a little guilt that she choices she made would have been the same choices her dead husband would have made. It cheapens her actions; just once, I wanted her to say she wasn't making a choice regarding the fleet without checking it against what He would have done.
Her relationship with Yan-Yan feels particularly imbalanced throughout the narrative in a way that isn't really explored.
There are a lot of things that I'm just taking as fictionalized elements of historical reality (as I have very little knowledge on this particular part of time and space) but the lack of meaningful interrogation on what it means for Shek Yeung to have this power, and the continued lack of agency, means a lot of the other elements fall a little short of what I think Chang-Eppig was going for.
On the surface, if you don't look too deep, it's a fine book. Pacing can be weird, there's time jumps back and forth, there's some interesting mythical interludes that add a little depth to the world, side characters are all kinda one dimensional, the lines of leading questions made me roll my eyes, and I don't think it dug as deep as it thought it did— but overall, I eventually got invested and liked the attempts at serious conversations, even if I would have liked it do have gone a little deeper.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Gaslighting
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Islamophobia, Cannibalism, and Abortion
Takes place just prior to the start of the Opium Wars, at the end of the height of piracy. All the topics are what are to be expected, more or less, from reading the inside flap and having a general understanding of how brutal we can be as a species. There are multiple battle scenes, which include blood, injuries, and death. Multiple accounts of sexual violence, including rape, not overly graphic but frequent. Colonization hangs heavy on the narrative. Sexual slavery:ginny_lind's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea is a deep reflection on what one will do to survive, for those you care about, and for yourself. In a deep exploration of the life of Shek Yeung, a Chinese pirate leader, mother, and survivor, follow lyrical and mystical language along a brutal journey. Relatively slow as a read, but interesting and beautifully written with a complex main character and deep immersion into the time period and our character’s reality.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War
Moderate: Torture, Blood, and Death of parent
anniestar's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Listen, I wanted to like this, but I found it incredibly boring. Shek Yeung feels reduce from her historical power, more of a victim than someone who rises above the circumstances she was forced into. The ending was also very abrupt and dissatisfying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, and War
Moderate: Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Chronic illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, and Colonisation
vonya45's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I'm glad I got this as an audiobook instead of reading it. I might have gotten bogged down in trying to keep track of the quick action scenes or understanding the military maneuvers and pirate politics. Instead I was able to catch glimpses of bloody battles and complicated strategems, and see past them into what the story was really about.
The view into the mind of a pirate queen is a striking one. How does a intelligent but regular girl become a master tactician and a cold blooded killer? The author did a marvelous job at answering this question without making the main character into a caricature of a murderous pirate, or on the other end of the spectrum, a one-dimensional "strong female character" with no flaws who is somehow always morally upstanding despite being a dangerous warlord. Shek Yeung enjoys killing those she believes deserves it, in the midst of battle or otherwise. When she slits the throat of suspected spies, she never gets confirmation on those suspicions, and neither does the audience. She makes choices based on what is best for her and what keeps or gains her power. She even becomes a wife and mother in order to keep that power. Yet she still has relateable feelings about her motherhood, wanting what's best for her children and feeling inadequate to care for them. She shows tenderness and care towards her husband despite their marriage being a strategic decision. She is a strong and powerful figure, but still shows empathy and compassion toward strangers. She is looking out for her best interests but she cares about her friends. She uses the patriarchal system to her advantage but her reflections on womanhood are incredibly impactful feminist perspectives.
The book does not give easy answers on any of its themes, but its deep dive into the main character's psyche is to be admired. I gave it a 3.5 because it is not really my kind of book, I am not a fan of having this much darkness or callousness in a story, and I don't like pregnancy/motherhood themes. Yet the book was well written and an enjoyable listen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Grief, and Colonisation
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
mysterious
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? It's complicated
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial
“She hadn’t gotten to where she was in life by not being thorough. The numbers were on their side. Piracy was, more often than not, a matter of convincing the target of the futility of fighting back.“
The premise of this on StoryGraph paints a much different picture than what I actually read. I think this is more of a historical fiction (with a bit of fantasy and Chinese folklore, with the gods like Ma Zou) character-driven story, rather than an action-packed, fast-paced adventure. Sure, there are pirates but mostly, this is about Shek Yeung’s new partnership after her first husband dies, her pregnancy, and birth of a new child (she already has two children with her deceased husband).
I had such high expectations for this book, and something was off about the pacing and narrative style. We’d get little info dumps about Shek Yeung’s past, and then be transported back to the present, which wasn’t exactly jarring, but it certainly felt out of place at times.
Some of Chang Eppig’s writing worked for me, so I will absolutely give them another shot and read what they write next. However, this book’s pacing and plot simply left me a bit wanting.
cw: death, pregnancy, colonisation, murder, sexual violence
“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.”
“Maybe you’re imagining chaos, or savagery. That’s not the case. Men need to be governed, or they become animals. But the governing need not fall to the officials. Rather, it should not, because officials are often corrupt and blind to citizens’ needs. Think about their response to the most recent famine. They grew fat while everyone else starved. Then when the poor got caught trying to steal food and money for their families, they executed them. The only proper response to tyranny is insurrection.”
Heaven pities no one. If you must cry, then cry for everyone in the world. In the end the only thing a person can be promised in life is suffering.
Animals turned against their owners slower than men turned against women in the face of the slightest dissatisfaction.
How full of nothing all humans are, Shek Yeung thought absently, just bits of substance drawn and held stubbornly together by will, animal habit, and the fear of what comes after.
Was this what Ma-Zou had intended for her all along? Was fate always driving her in this direction, or did she bumble her way here, surviving by her stubbornness, wits, and refusal to dwell too deeply on the cost of survival?
“She hadn’t gotten to where she was in life by not being thorough. The numbers were on their side. Piracy was, more often than not, a matter of convincing the target of the futility of fighting back.“
The premise of this on StoryGraph paints a much different picture than what I actually read. I think this is more of a historical fiction (with a bit of fantasy and Chinese folklore, with the gods like Ma Zou) character-driven story, rather than an action-packed, fast-paced adventure. Sure, there are pirates but mostly, this is about Shek Yeung’s new partnership after her first husband dies, her pregnancy, and birth of a new child (she already has two children with her deceased husband).
I had such high expectations for this book, and something was off about the pacing and narrative style. We’d get little info dumps about Shek Yeung’s past, and then be transported back to the present, which wasn’t exactly jarring, but it certainly felt out of place at times.
Some of Chang Eppig’s writing worked for me, so I will absolutely give them another shot and read what they write next. However, this book’s pacing and plot simply left me a bit wanting.
cw: death, pregnancy, colonisation, murder, sexual violence
“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.”
“Maybe you’re imagining chaos, or savagery. That’s not the case. Men need to be governed, or they become animals. But the governing need not fall to the officials. Rather, it should not, because officials are often corrupt and blind to citizens’ needs. Think about their response to the most recent famine. They grew fat while everyone else starved. Then when the poor got caught trying to steal food and money for their families, they executed them. The only proper response to tyranny is insurrection.”
Heaven pities no one. If you must cry, then cry for everyone in the world. In the end the only thing a person can be promised in life is suffering.
Animals turned against their owners slower than men turned against women in the face of the slightest dissatisfaction.
How full of nothing all humans are, Shek Yeung thought absently, just bits of substance drawn and held stubbornly together by will, animal habit, and the fear of what comes after.
Was this what Ma-Zou had intended for her all along? Was fate always driving her in this direction, or did she bumble her way here, surviving by her stubbornness, wits, and refusal to dwell too deeply on the cost of survival?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Pregnancy
Minor: Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Colonisation
cheye13's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This is a wonderful historical fiction story. I'm unfortunately not the biggest fan of the genre.
I had two main problems with this book as a whole. First, I don't know how it's getting a fantasy billing. It grazes magical realism at best, but ultimately, it's a spiritualism apropo to the time/setting. Maybe I missed something huge, but this isn't a fantasy story. Second, I've found I do enjoy political historicals, but this only just scratched the surface. Limited to Shek Yeung's perspective, the reader has to guess along with her at enemies' motives. Either broadening to an ensemble cast to explore every political angle or diving deeper into the emotional character would've fit my personal historical tastes.
That being said, this is excellently written and researched. I would absolutely read more from this author, even about this same topic. The main character is complex, complete, and real. Following her life and thoughts is fascinating and compelling. I just personally wanted more from the narrative.
I had two main problems with this book as a whole. First, I don't know how it's getting a fantasy billing. It grazes magical realism at best, but ultimately, it's a spiritualism apropo to the time/setting. Maybe I missed something huge, but this isn't a fantasy story. Second, I've found I do enjoy political historicals, but this only just scratched the surface. Limited to Shek Yeung's perspective, the reader has to guess along with her at enemies' motives. Either broadening to an ensemble cast to explore every political angle or diving deeper into the emotional character would've fit my personal historical tastes.
That being said, this is excellently written and researched. I would absolutely read more from this author, even about this same topic. The main character is complex, complete, and real. Following her life and thoughts is fascinating and compelling. I just personally wanted more from the narrative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Violence, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Grief and Colonisation
Minor: Rape
elizabeth_lepore's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual violence, and War
Minor: Drug abuse, Torture, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
spacerkip's review
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Trafficking, Murder, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Drug use and Islamophobia
inkdrinkers's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and War
Minor: Addiction, Torture, and Colonisation
readsandsuch's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Rape and Grief
Minor: Colonisation