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A review by k80mae
He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
"You could only hurt that much — hurt enough to turn the whole world into a reflection of your pain and misery and despair — if you had, once, loved."
I had the absolutely unreal honor of being able to read this before publication thanks to NetGalley.
He Who Drowned the World absolutely spits in the face of the idea that a sequel cannot live up to the original. Not only does it absolutely live up to She Who Became the Sun, but it manages to do the oft-unheard of — stick the landing on the ending.
When I first read She Who Became the Sun, I was most struck by how effortlessly and magnificently Parker-Chan managed to entwine queerness with the character's arcs and narratives. While those themes certainly still hold true here, I found I was most struck by the fact that it was no longer queerness that was the driving force of the narrative — it was grief and womanhood. This novel is a journey about ghosts and how your actions and the people in your life will haunt you even if you cannot see them. This novel is an exploration into how having power within an established system can ultimately come to nothing because it is still only power within a cage.
I don't know what I expected to find in this novel because I was so thoroughly blown away by She Who Became the Sun. But it certainly wouldn't have been this wonderful gem filled with hope and despair in equal measure. I cannot wait to purchase a physical copy and read it all over again.
I had the absolutely unreal honor of being able to read this before publication thanks to NetGalley.
He Who Drowned the World absolutely spits in the face of the idea that a sequel cannot live up to the original. Not only does it absolutely live up to She Who Became the Sun, but it manages to do the oft-unheard of — stick the landing on the ending.
When I first read She Who Became the Sun, I was most struck by how effortlessly and magnificently Parker-Chan managed to entwine queerness with the character's arcs and narratives. While those themes certainly still hold true here, I found I was most struck by the fact that it was no longer queerness that was the driving force of the narrative — it was grief and womanhood. This novel is a journey about ghosts and how your actions and the people in your life will haunt you even if you cannot see them. This novel is an exploration into how having power within an established system can ultimately come to nothing because it is still only power within a cage.
I don't know what I expected to find in this novel because I was so thoroughly blown away by She Who Became the Sun. But it certainly wouldn't have been this wonderful gem filled with hope and despair in equal measure. I cannot wait to purchase a physical copy and read it all over again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Murder
There are certainly a lot of heavy themes, but in my opinion they are handled with care.