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A review by emilynied
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
4.25
Shelley! You're a genius! I really, really enjoyed this book. It felt like a mix of many of my favorite fantasy books - from "The Poppy War" and the traditional story of "Mulan," yet still managed to stand solely and strongly as its own work.
We open to a young girl with just her father and brother left, starving in 1345 China under harsh Mongol rule. Zhu Chongba, her brother, is given a fate of greatness, while she is given "nothing." The girl is not even given a name in the first part of the story. When bandits attack and her father is killed, Zhu Chongba succumbs to grief and she is left on her own, deciding to assume his identity and enter a monastery through pure will and grit.
This is where the story really begins to pick up, through her assumed identity as Zhu Chongba, one which the reader becomes comfortable with, and her capabilities as a monk and later, so much more. The transition to (what I consider) the third part of the book felt very stark to me and I do wish there was more of a transition there, especially because the reader is just pushed into a different timeline with very different characters. I struggled a bit to adjust and reorient myself with the world and the characters, so I had to bump my rating due to that.
Otherwise, once I got back into it, I GOT SO INTO IT. Our second POV character is Ouyang, a eunuch general (which I know know means a man that has been castrated). It's so interesting as Ouyang and Zhu certainly serve as foils to each other as they face each other in the fight over power - a man stripped of his manhood versus the woman taking power through her sexuality and masculin gender expression. They're not pretty characters and make some tough decisions to read through, but I appreciated the frankness and harshness of the read - it made it so much more powerful -- I MEAN THAT ENDING ZHU HOW COULD YOU.
I really loved Ma and her storyline and also Zhu's brother (who I'm forgetting the name of, whoopsie), who accept her for who she is despite the harsh traditional values of the world they live in. The exploration of fluid sexuality and expression (and gender dysphoria?) there was so, so interesting to me - I found it fascinating to read about and I love that they found love :) ALSO, am I the only one who caught the double meaning of the title?? (This could be stunningly obvious or I've discovered something so amazing all on my own) BUTT "she" who became the "sun" = son (as in the brother who's identity she assumed?! Am I right here? Someone please tell me.
We open to a young girl with just her father and brother left, starving in 1345 China under harsh Mongol rule. Zhu Chongba, her brother, is given a fate of greatness, while she is given "nothing." The girl is not even given a name in the first part of the story. When bandits attack and her father is killed, Zhu Chongba succumbs to grief and she is left on her own, deciding to assume his identity and enter a monastery through pure will and grit.
This is where the story really begins to pick up, through her assumed identity as Zhu Chongba, one which the reader becomes comfortable with, and her capabilities as a monk and later, so much more. The transition to (what I consider) the third part of the book felt very stark to me and I do wish there was more of a transition there, especially because the reader is just pushed into a different timeline with very different characters. I struggled a bit to adjust and reorient myself with the world and the characters, so I had to bump my rating due to that.
Otherwise, once I got back into it, I GOT SO INTO IT. Our second POV character is Ouyang, a eunuch general (which I know know means a man that has been castrated). It's so interesting as Ouyang and Zhu certainly serve as foils to each other as they face each other in the fight over power - a man stripped of his manhood versus the woman taking power through her sexuality and masculin gender expression. They're not pretty characters and make some tough decisions to read through, but I appreciated the frankness and harshness of the read - it made it so much more powerful -- I MEAN THAT ENDING ZHU HOW COULD YOU.
I really loved Ma and her storyline and also Zhu's brother (who I'm forgetting the name of, whoopsie), who accept her for who she is despite the harsh traditional values of the world they live in. The exploration of fluid sexuality and expression (and gender dysphoria?) there was so, so interesting to me - I found it fascinating to read about and I love that they found love :) ALSO, am I the only one who caught the double meaning of the title?? (This could be stunningly obvious or I've discovered something so amazing all on my own) BUTT "she" who became the "sun" = son (as in the brother who's identity she assumed?! Am I right here? Someone please tell me.