She Who Became The Sun is a story of discovering identity and accepting the inner turmoils of oneself – even at the cost of pain. The journey of Zhu from condemning her physical body to seeing it in another light–as a vessel of radiance and power, is astonishing.

"could her body be a woman’s body, if it didn’t house a woman?"

I love how aspects of gender are portrayed and represented in the novel. It is fluid, it is both internal and external, and it is not what defines the characters as an individual. There are many aspects of this novel that attest to gender being 'found' and 'discovered' and not necessarily biological. At least, that's what it seems to me.

"Ouyang’s heart ached. Why can’t you make it easier for me to hate you?"

Ouyang (for me) is a character that portrays the insecurities of being effeminate, particularly, by how people see it as a defining measure of his capabilities. As much as it was painful for me to read, I admire that he doesn't shy away from his resolve, even if it cost him his heart. Betrayal trope just hits different