Reviews tagging 'Blood'

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

219 reviews

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

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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

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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

river_jean_sterling's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Homophobia, Slavery, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Classism

ivi_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.75

Beautiful world building and storytelling. If you like characters who make questionable decisions and like to learn about Chinese history this book is for you.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Grief

dreadspawn's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death and Slavery

alexbirdreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

5.0

M'kay. I can't really put my finger on WHY I rated this one five-stars. It doesn't exactly have what I usually rate a book five stars for. I think I just really love the characters and the drama. I love how morally gray almost everyone is, and how tragic the one morally good character's situation is. Actually, there is an underpinning of tragedy for everyone. The story puts emphasis on the ways that desire can be the root of suffering, and asks what kind of actions are justified when characters are trying to do more than survive in extreme circumstances. I love that betrayals we see coming still hurt your feelings. I also love just how fucking WILD this book is. Zhu in particular is a special kind of crazy. The tragedy that comes from gender nonconformity in a rigidly gendered society is sprinkled throughout the book in ways that you'd expect, but also in corners here and there that you wouldn't. 

I liked that there was room for joyful queer love and joyful gender exploration amid the queer tragedy, because we have a lot of stories of queer suffering. I get that it's important and that there's a place for it (and it certainly had it's place in this book!) but it's nice to have some GOOD. It feels more authentic when a whole spectrum of experiences is represented, and, if anything, the moments of joy make the moments of tragedy feel that much worse afterwards. 

It's a little long and convoluted, and the story is really more about character exploration than direct action, so it might not be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it for some reason. 

It really was kind of crazy, though. Like, 'one-armed dingo ate my heaven-ordained baby' crazy. You gotta love Zhu. But someone get Ouyang a therapist, my god. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Murder, and War

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, and Transphobia

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

leannanecdote's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Slavery

crystalisreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense

• 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

5.0

Intense.  well written. Compelling.  Wonderful audio narration. Incredibly morally grey characters. Brutal. All the feels. not for the faint of heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

strawberrybooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-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? Yes

4.75

Absolutely loved this book! The prose was amazingly written and the plot had me hooked from the start. The pacing was great, though did get a little slow in between fights. And the two main POV characters were so riveting. I borrowed this book from the library but I’ll definitely be buying it now and immediately reading the next book. I can’t wait to see where it goes. 
I will say this was more historical fiction than fantasy, I think it was a little mis-marketed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

there’s a fisting scene for those who don’t like that

cass_cgallegos's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury