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arysuh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
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
3.75
Un livre terrible qui projette de terribles événements dans le 2e tome.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War
kharlan3's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, Torture, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Outing, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
Minor: Excrement and Vomit
k_aro's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-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
4.0
Very very good historical fiction/fantasy. I really like the way the book handles gender, the separation of the sexes, and the mirrors that exist within that kind of space.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
Moderate: Child death, Outing, and Abandonment
Minor: Ableism and Animal death
Many questions around these content warnings exist because it's a historical fiction book that pretty violently diverges from real life. Is it transphobia if he's a eunuch?bookworm513's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Genocide, Slavery, Grief, Dysphoria, and Classism
Minor: Cannibalism
persephonefoxx's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Torture and Death of parent
burnourhistory's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Misogyny, Blood, and Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death and Child death
hello_lovely13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Slavery, Suicide, and Cannibalism
amberreadsgood's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
There seems to be a slight divide of readers on whether they were more interested in the first half of the book and then feeling it dragged on the second half, or the other way around. For me, I was the latter; I found it hard to get invested at the beginning of the book. The world building felt a little too much like a history book, and I struggle to hold those sorts of facts in my brain. I started to enjoy the book more when we move past all of that and Zhu begins to truly chase the fate she wants. She is an interesting character as she is growing up in the monastery, for sure, but I think we really start to understand and know her and she learns herself who she is and what she wants, and the extent she will go to to get what she wants, after she leaves it.
While I did feel compelled by Zhu's character and her ambitions, I also found her oddly emotionally detached for someone who wants so much. By comparison, all the supporting characters felt extremely emotional - which is not a bad thing, in fact I think it was probably necessary given how Zhu was written. She is not meant to be portrayed as a "good" person; she knows she is not, and she is not trying to be, or saying that she is better than anyone else. She identifies what she needs to do to survive, and then thrive, and then pursues it with her whole heart. I think what's better than writing a character that is (morally) good is writing one that is understood. Besides the emotional detachedness (which I think I will chalk up to an adolescence spent in the monastery, in which they practice detachedness from the material world, etc), I completely got why she did/said the things she did, the conclusions she came to even if it hurt the people she loved, and what drove her.
This reminded me a lot of The Poppy Wars, but on a much less horrifying level. Terrible things still happen and awful choices have to be made - war is war, after all - but it's not as frighteningly descriptive. If you had trouble reading The Poppy Wars for the graphic depictions of war and war crimes, but still want to read something like it, you might do better with this. The depictions of war are matter-of-fact and vaguely described rather than going into extreme detail. This book is also labelled as fantasy however, and I didn't find the fantasy element particularly strong in my opinion. It portrays the idea of fate as something somewhat tangible, proof of the right to rule that you can see with your own eyes. But that is about the extent of it, in this book at least. I think maybe "light supernatural" would have been a better genre tag for She Who Became the Sun, personally.
The queer rep in this book was nice, and done in a way that I didn't think was inauthentic. Zhu and Ma were surprisingly sweet at times, I enjoyed their banter and general interactions, and I could see why they would be drawn to each other as they were. I think their chemistry could have definitely been stronger somehow, but I don't believe that they were chemistry-less either. Also, since everyone is bringing it up as a dislike, I'll weigh in and say I had no issues withthe fisting scene. It was kinda random, sure, but Ma was pretty obviously into it. Zhu made sure she was okay and wanted to keep going, Ma gave her consent clearly and had what seemed like multiple orgasms from it, like what's ya problem?? On the other side of the spectrum, Ouyang and Esen were classic historical tragedy boyfriends. There was a lot of complexity and trauma around them, I'm not surprised or mad it went the way it did. I'm interested in how both Ouyang and Ma will develop in the second book after the events of this one.
While I did feel compelled by Zhu's character and her ambitions, I also found her oddly emotionally detached for someone who wants so much. By comparison, all the supporting characters felt extremely emotional - which is not a bad thing, in fact I think it was probably necessary given how Zhu was written. She is not meant to be portrayed as a "good" person; she knows she is not, and she is not trying to be, or saying that she is better than anyone else. She identifies what she needs to do to survive, and then thrive, and then pursues it with her whole heart. I think what's better than writing a character that is (morally) good is writing one that is understood. Besides the emotional detachedness (which I think I will chalk up to an adolescence spent in the monastery, in which they practice detachedness from the material world, etc), I completely got why she did/said the things she did, the conclusions she came to even if it hurt the people she loved, and what drove her.
This reminded me a lot of The Poppy Wars, but on a much less horrifying level. Terrible things still happen and awful choices have to be made - war is war, after all - but it's not as frighteningly descriptive. If you had trouble reading The Poppy Wars for the graphic depictions of war and war crimes, but still want to read something like it, you might do better with this. The depictions of war are matter-of-fact and vaguely described rather than going into extreme detail. This book is also labelled as fantasy however, and I didn't find the fantasy element particularly strong in my opinion. It portrays the idea of fate as something somewhat tangible, proof of the right to rule that you can see with your own eyes. But that is about the extent of it, in this book at least. I think maybe "light supernatural" would have been a better genre tag for She Who Became the Sun, personally.
The queer rep in this book was nice, and done in a way that I didn't think was inauthentic. Zhu and Ma were surprisingly sweet at times, I enjoyed their banter and general interactions, and I could see why they would be drawn to each other as they were. I think their chemistry could have definitely been stronger somehow, but I don't believe that they were chemistry-less either. Also, since everyone is bringing it up as a dislike, I'll weigh in and say I had no issues with
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Colonisation, War, and Classism
Minor: Child death and Torture
nocturne_21's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Misogyny
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
3.5 ⭐ CW: violence, death of a parent, death of a child, misogyny, ableism, sexual content, war
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan is book one in The Radiant Emperor duology. This book came highly recommended from bookstagram, but I gotta, I was disappointed. This definitely didn't live up to the hype for me, and it makes me nervous to read the other "sapphic trifecta" books.
We follow Zhu, a girl who loses both her father and brother, and assumes her brother's identity in order to gain the fate he was told: that Zhu Chongba had greatness in his future. With that goal in mind, Zhu becomes a monk, and continues to strive for that greatness she believes is her fate. She eventually becomes embroiled in the fight between the rebels of the Red Turbans and the ruling Mongols, using her cunning.
This story is an exploration of gender identity using the historical lens of the Ming dynasty in the 1300s. Zhu has lived almost all of her life as a man, and only really has to confront that after she becomes married to Ma Xiuying. It's also a story about Zhu's ambition and belief in herself. She is stalwart throughout the book about what she wants, and will do anything to get it. I did appreciate the relationship between Zhu and Ma. Ma discovering she is attracted to Zhu, because she is a woman, and Zhu seeming to be asexual and also having a bit of body dysphoria. We get the sense that Zhu is probably genderqueer.
This was a beautifully written historical fiction book, but it was so slow. I thought it would have more action and be more character focused, but I just wanted it to end sooner than it did. We also follow a whole lot of characters and the transitions were a bit jarring at times. I don't think I'll read the second book.
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan is book one in The Radiant Emperor duology. This book came highly recommended from bookstagram, but I gotta, I was disappointed. This definitely didn't live up to the hype for me, and it makes me nervous to read the other "sapphic trifecta" books.
We follow Zhu, a girl who loses both her father and brother, and assumes her brother's identity in order to gain the fate he was told: that Zhu Chongba had greatness in his future. With that goal in mind, Zhu becomes a monk, and continues to strive for that greatness she believes is her fate. She eventually becomes embroiled in the fight between the rebels of the Red Turbans and the ruling Mongols, using her cunning.
This story is an exploration of gender identity using the historical lens of the Ming dynasty in the 1300s. Zhu has lived almost all of her life as a man, and only really has to confront that after she becomes married to Ma Xiuying. It's also a story about Zhu's ambition and belief in herself. She is stalwart throughout the book about what she wants, and will do anything to get it. I did appreciate the relationship between Zhu and Ma. Ma discovering she is attracted to Zhu, because she is a woman, and Zhu seeming to be asexual and also having a bit of body dysphoria. We get the sense that Zhu is probably genderqueer.
This was a beautifully written historical fiction book, but it was so slow. I thought it would have more action and be more character focused, but I just wanted it to end sooner than it did. We also follow a whole lot of characters and the transitions were a bit jarring at times. I don't think I'll read the second book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, and War
Moderate: Ableism