Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - She Who Became the Sun

Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

30 reviews

kitkatkick's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

In her epic retelling of the rise of the Ming Dynasty in China, Shelly Parker-Chan gives us the story of Zhu, a young girl from a village on the brink of starvation, and her utter determination to not only survive, but to become great.

She Who Became the Sun was a fascinating, compelling read. Not being wildly plugged in to the literary community, I wasn’t aware of all the hype surrounding the book, which was apparently one of the most anticipated reads of the year, which I did not realize until finishing it was a historical retelling, and which is a notably queer read. I picked it up because StoryGraph recommended it and the summary sounded good. Knowing what I know now, I’m not surprised at all. It lives up to that excitement on all fronts.

To me, the most standout aspect of the book was the characters. They are not lovable and to me, few were sympathetic. But each one is so unique, and memorable, and in their own way compelling that I enjoyed reading about them all. Zhu, the main character, is written incredibly. At no point in the story do you stop feeling her sheer determination for her- or her brother’s- fate. From the very first chapter, she proves that she will do whatever it takes to survive, and we see her force of will grow from just feeding herself in the early book to creating her own dynasty. Zhu, however, is not the only character. We’re also blessed with Ma Yingzi, a hopeful young woman who refuses to give up on kindness as she eventually becomes Zhu’s love interest, and Xu Da, Zhu’s best friend from the monastery and the first person to know her secret after she leaves her hometown. Following the secondary storyline we are introduced to Esen, a charismatic Mongolian prince, and Ouyang, an enslaved eunuch who has become the most feared general in Esen’s army. And who also happens to be Prince Esen’s closest friend and confidante, despite the stark difference in their stations that Esen tries to ignore even as Ouyang cannot forget it. Ouyang’s quest to avenge the murder of his entire lineage at the hands of the Mongol king brings him face to face with Zhu across the lines of battle, the two stories intertwined but ultimately separating in a shocking twist. His contempt for the world around him and everyone in it is unmistakable, and his struggle with his feelings toward Esen remains engaging despite how long it takes to resolve itself.

On the topic of Ouyang’s feelings for Esen: is he gay? Are any of the characters? Is Zhu trans? These are questions that the author expertly brings forward without ever answering outright. Zhu continues to think of herself with she/her pronouns throughout the book, but clearly struggles with body dysmorphia and the idea of her gender, in a setting where the concept of being transgender, with or without naming it that way, does not seem to even exist to her. Given all these factors, a reader has the opportunity to form their own opinions regarding Zhu’s identity. Similarly, Ouyang and Esen’s relationship has very clear romantic facets, but the way both struggle with it and their relationships outside of each other leave similar room for interpretation. No question of gender, sexuality, or lack thereof is answered outright, and I feel this is a great credit to the book. It certainly shows off Parker-Chan’s skills as an author.

A brief aside because I don’t know where else to put it: there is one very, very detailed female/female sex scene that came up seemingly out of nowhere at the beginning of Part Three, Chapter 21. Personally, it threw me off and felt out-of-place. It’s probably the number one thing I disliked most about the book. These scenes are typically just fine with me, but such graphic detail so abruptly threw me enough that I skipped over it.

On the technical front, Parker-Chan does a phenomenal job keeping an admittedly long book compelling and well-paced. She does not shy away from the complex issues of the period. Topics including starvation, class struggles, religion, and straight-up war are given attention that I rarely see in books, addressing them without either diluting or needlessly glorifying them. The author uses detail judiciously, alternating between visceral and vague. It kept the setting real without making it sickening. At no point did feel left out for my lack of knowledge of Chinese history. As I mentioned previously, I had no idea that this was a retelling of the life of a real person, proving that the book stands perfectly as it’s own story. The added knowledge and subsequent “Ohhhhh” moment was just a plus.

She Who Became the Sun was, hands-down and no question, a worthwhile read. I will highly recommend it to anyone looking for a deeper and more complex story than the average quick read. It is not, however, a book I fell in love with. Instead, it felt like reading one of the great literary classics. It challenges the mind and inspires deeper thought than perhaps a more modern-style or less technical book would. Woe be to university students whose professors find this, because I can see it becoming required reading for years to come. The historical and cultural background, the opportunities for discussion and interpretation around the characters, and the complex themes of fate and survival could fill generations of book reports, analyses, and theses papers. This book blew my humble expectations out of the water and I’m willing to bet it did the same for people with even greater anticipation. A phenomenal experience to read, I can see it becoming a staple of literary discussion for quite a long time to come.

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qwerty88's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark tense 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? Yes

4.5

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lapis_lazuli's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This book was really great.

I loved the storyline of Eden and Ouyang,

the star-crossed "friends" that hold so much TENSION and pain.

I loved Zhu’s desire for the greatness fate, and how she would never ever get it taken away from her, whatever the cost.

I love how I never knew what was gonna happened, that Zhu would always find a creative way out of things.

My fave character is definitely Ouyang.

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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emotional tense

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

3.75

While I enjoyed the characters and the ways that the author explored gender expressions and identities in this book, the plot lost me several times. I'm learning it's hard for me to pay attention to narratives that revolve around war. I feel like I would have liked this more as a television show or movie. Some aspects were hard to visualize for me. Not sure if I'll read the sequel.

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ye_li's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective tense medium-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

5.0

It's a very speculative story. Fate, desire—it drives them to the ground. The higher they climb, the longer the fall will be.

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serena_hien's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

3.75

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cait's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.25

An act of kindness that had been met with violence. And, in the end, hadn't made any difference at all. It had been the very opposite of pragmatism... The gesture had been pointless but somehow beautiful. In it had been [the] tender hope for the world as it should be, not the one that existed.

I am very happy that we are seeing more and more Chinese historical fantasy novels in recent years. As someone very interested in Chinese history and culture, I really enjoy the very unique perspectives displayed in Chinese fiction vs. Western fiction vs. Japanese fiction vs. Korean fiction, etc.

She Who Became the Sun definitely delivered on everything it promised to. We follow a clever girl from a poor village who has been cursed with a fate of nothingness while her cruel brother is granted the fate of greatness. When her brother dies, though, she decides that the only way for her to escape her fate is to steal his. So she takes his identity and runs away to a monastery, not knowing that this action would be the one that propelled her fate from destiny into reality.

This story delivers on all that it promises. Parker-Chan does not shy away from the brutality of war or ancient China. Everything is ugly and brutal and fatal and cruel. This is an ugly story. The characters are ugly. The terrain is ugly. War is ugly. The writing doesn't waste its time waxing poetic about shit-filled latrines or dismembered corpses.

So why didn't I give it five stars if it did all that? Honestly? I just don't like corruption arcs.

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