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A review by dernichtraucherin
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
adventurous
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
1.0
this had the potential to be a crossover between the poppy war and iron widow- a heroic revenge arc featuring chinese history and a peasant that strives for greatness but it failed so dramatically and for nothing!!! none of the drama in here was worth reading!! i could tell so clearly what the author wanted me to feel that i got annoyed and thats a red flag for a fantasy book thats been praised this highly.
fantasy with a strong historical background is usually so up my alley that i was really disappointed when i realized that shelley parker-chan cant write to save her life and is just a diplomat with a lot of interesting knowledge. im sorry and i wish it were differently but i had more fun reading her acknowledgements at the beginning than i had during the entire book. it was boring boring boring and fast paced at the same time. she build a strong character arc with zhu for the first part of the book and then just flopped entirely and didnt even manage to make me like, relate or feel her pain and anger. i just didnt care about her and changing the pov all the time isnt going to make this work either because you just get confused and less likely to emotionally invest into anyone.
what also stressed me out about zhus entire character arc was that there were a few smart ways to go about this 'peasant to greatness' trope and none of the roads were taken!!! make her go cazy!!! make her go batshit insane, sprinkle a little poppy war madness in here!! or just as well, make her seek greatness for superiour reasons and out of a drive for justice!! but zhu is only interested in the petty fight with the eunuch general and couldnt give to shits about the world before he raided her temple although she had gotten a proper education by then. and its the same with the eunuch, he would have ANY reason to hate the mongols who took over his country but where did he put all his energy and anger?? towards the one man who did him wrong. where is the burning need for justice?!! on individuals instead of the fucking system. i just dont agree with those kinds of politics im sorry.
it's also been advertised as queer rep and im angry about that aswell because i feel like even eona (whoever remembers that ancient book) had better trans rep than a eunuch whos just straight up a horrible person and a main character who is so boring that she isnt even unlikable. there was so much potential for everything and i felt like nothing was exectuted at least okayish. it just got worse.
*add: the cringe i felt when ma had her "bUt iM a wOmAn" monologue... i wanted to kill myself it was so badly written.
the only point im giving is for the fun description of fisting, everything else sucked, even ma and zhus relationship was kinda problematic.
i also have issues with books that constantly put important words or sentences in italics so that the reader will really get it and found myself zapping from one of these sentences to the next because it was possible to follow the storyline this way aswell and it took a lot less time.
most of all im angry at samantha shannon because shalley parker-chan should have just stayed a fucking diplomat and not taken a shot at writing but she did and thats on her BUT samantha shannon wrote the priory of the orange tree - which to me was the best fantasy book i read in 2021 - and then proceeded to advertise she who became the sun?! samantha explain?! you baited me into this bullshit and thats on you (not dnf'ing it is on me but thats my problem).
on a last note- parker-chan says in the notes at the end that she put in at least one likable male character because her friend asked her to and i have no idea who shes talking about. dont waste your time reading this.
fantasy with a strong historical background is usually so up my alley that i was really disappointed when i realized that shelley parker-chan cant write to save her life and is just a diplomat with a lot of interesting knowledge. im sorry and i wish it were differently but i had more fun reading her acknowledgements at the beginning than i had during the entire book. it was boring boring boring and fast paced at the same time. she build a strong character arc with zhu for the first part of the book and then just flopped entirely and didnt even manage to make me like, relate or feel her pain and anger. i just didnt care about her and changing the pov all the time isnt going to make this work either because you just get confused and less likely to emotionally invest into anyone.
what also stressed me out about zhus entire character arc was that there were a few smart ways to go about this 'peasant to greatness' trope and none of the roads were taken!!! make her go cazy!!! make her go batshit insane, sprinkle a little poppy war madness in here!! or just as well, make her seek greatness for superiour reasons and out of a drive for justice!! but zhu is only interested in the petty fight with the eunuch general and couldnt give to shits about the world before he raided her temple although she had gotten a proper education by then. and its the same with the eunuch, he would have ANY reason to hate the mongols who took over his country but where did he put all his energy and anger?? towards the one man who did him wrong. where is the burning need for justice?!! on individuals instead of the fucking system. i just dont agree with those kinds of politics im sorry.
it's also been advertised as queer rep and im angry about that aswell because i feel like even eona (whoever remembers that ancient book) had better trans rep than a eunuch whos just straight up a horrible person and a main character who is so boring that she isnt even unlikable. there was so much potential for everything and i felt like nothing was exectuted at least okayish. it just got worse.
*add: the cringe i felt when ma had her "bUt iM a wOmAn" monologue... i wanted to kill myself it was so badly written.
the only point im giving is for the fun description of fisting, everything else sucked, even ma and zhus relationship was kinda problematic.
i also have issues with books that constantly put important words or sentences in italics so that the reader will really get it and found myself zapping from one of these sentences to the next because it was possible to follow the storyline this way aswell and it took a lot less time.
most of all im angry at samantha shannon because shalley parker-chan should have just stayed a fucking diplomat and not taken a shot at writing but she did and thats on her BUT samantha shannon wrote the priory of the orange tree - which to me was the best fantasy book i read in 2021 - and then proceeded to advertise she who became the sun?! samantha explain?! you baited me into this bullshit and thats on you (not dnf'ing it is on me but thats my problem).
on a last note- parker-chan says in the notes at the end that she put in at least one likable male character because her friend asked her to and i have no idea who shes talking about. dont waste your time reading this.