A review by momo916
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

4.5

I had a hard time getting into this book at first but by about 1/3 of the way in it had me. I had a hard time keeping track of all the characters at first, but eventually my brain caught on. It was interesting that the author included some Chinese idioms translated literally into English as a way to make the book feel more **authentic** but also I doubt those idioms were the same hundreds and hundreds of years ago when this book takes place. Points for giving some easter eggs to the Chinese speakers, I guess. I did appreciate how the two main characters, Zhu Chongba and Ouyang were crafted so well as foils for each other, and it was interesting to see how their characters became more complex and morally ambiguous over time.

As someone who knows absolutely nothing about Chinese history prior to 1900, the fantasy aspects of this book appealed more to me than the historical aspects, and for me the book was able to capture that fantastical atmosphere despite the fact that there isn't a whole lot of actual paranormalcy or superhuman abilities, just a lot of woowoo about fate and destiny. Kind of confusing since
by the end the conclusion we're meant to come to is that we can manifest our own destiny but ok
. Agree with another reviewer that there is a sex scene that kind of came out of nowhere and felt like things had ramped up to 100 with no warning and no buildup.  

All that being said will be on the lookout for the next book.
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