Put this one on your TBR shelf immediately. A fantastic start to a series: every character had depth and contributed to the story. It felt rich and well drawn. It was brutal and ugly and triumphant and beautiful and heartbreaking all at the same time. I can not wait for the next book in the series. The "mulan + song of achilles" description is perfect (Song of Achilles is a huge favorite of mine). All the stars!

Beautifully written and vibrant. When fate assigns her to "nothingness," Zhu does everything in her power to make sure that doesn't happen, even stepping into the part her brother should have played.

She Who Became the Sun is a literally epic historical fantasy debut. I loved the morally grey characters who primarily care about their own ambitions, and seeing how conniving they are. I've immersed myself in historical fantasy lately, especially when it comes to historical periods I'm somewhat unfamiliar with and this definitely stacks up as one you don't want to miss. The world building is fantastic and comprehensive, though I would have liked more context into the conflict- it doesn't touch much on why there's this massive rebellion, I do feel more involved having read about the period afterwards though. Regardless Parker-Chan really grabs the reader, I just love to know the answer to "why"!

Upon finishing She Who Became the Sun, I gently placed my e-reader down, laid down on the ground, and just let gravity and the implications of the story’s ending bear its crushing weight upon me. What a book, She Who Became the Sun is. I cannot adequately express my pleasure over the fact that She Who Became the Sun was one of my most highly anticipated books of 2021 and, in its phenomenal storytelling and unforgettable characters, delivered, and more.

She Who Became the Sun is a queer reimagining of the life and ascension of Zhu Yuanzhuang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty. In a poverty-stricken village, two children are given fates: the boy, named Zhu Chongba, is ordained a destiny of greatness, while the girl is fated to become nothingness. When tragedy strikes, the girl survives; determined to defy her fate, she takes her brother’s name, thus claiming his fate of greatness to be her own.

Inspired by real events in history, She Who Became the Sun is a deep dive into 1300’s China, following the person who would become the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Except, in She Who Became the Sun, Zhu Yuanzhuang is reimagined as a female monk who endeavours to claim the Mandate of Heaven. She Who Became the Sun succeeds in its reimagining not simply because Zhu is not a man, but more because of how Zhu’s gender is deeply intertwined to the story’s exploration of identity. The push and pull of two specific characters explore how the intersections of gender and identity can be transcendent but can also limiting, empowering but also a cage. The gender and queer themes are a fascinating undercurrent to the story and the characters’ journeys, culminating to a choice that will determine their paths and also their identities – and isn’t it incredible that there is choice and clever that it is reflective of their identities?

In the title of this book review, I describe She Who Became the Sun as a story about ambitious desires – while I think this is what the story encapsulates to some degree, I also feel like Zhu Chongba’s story is more than just desire. To say that Zhu’s story is primarily about desire, in which she wants and therefore she takes, would be diminishing the depth of this story. Rather, the momentum of this book is Zhu’s understated fear of her fated nothingness; a fear so visceral that it is at the core of her every decision, her every action, and thus the book’s every twist. And yet, Zhu isn’t hapless, evading fate by a hair’s breadth. Rather, Zhu is cunning, intelligent, astute, and agentic in her goals. As such, we witness a story where there is no higher cost than losing oneself to their fate. How far is someone willing to go to fight fate? What lies before the path of greatness in a time of war?

Though She Who Became the Sun is largely Zhu’s story, we also follow the perspectives of a few other characters. Most notably, we also follow Ouyang, a eunuch general of the Great Yuan army, Esen, a Mongolian prince, and Ma Yingzi, an empathetic woman engaged to a merciless and cruel man. All three characters are well-realised, different in their motivation, defiant in their own ways in a time of blood and power. The way that the four perspectives come together is seamless and takes the story to new - sometimes terrifying, sometimes tender - heights.

She Who Became the Sun is a story that unravels slowly, and therefore needs to be enjoyed slowly and patiently. The writing in this is exquisite; thoughtful, deliberate, and precise, we are fed tiny morsels of foreboding which, by its end, you will feel fed and satisfied. In saying that, the story can be grim and heavy (which is not a criticism of the book), and even the small moments of joy are, though joyous, feel in a way that joy feels in wartime. The ending isn’t explosive in a ceremonious, but is a gentle knife through the heart. By the end, I felt drained yet fulfilled. Take my advice: it’s easier to scream in your head because you don’t need to pause for breath.

She Who Became the Sun did not disappoint, and I am excitedly waiting to see what happens next yet solemnly anticipating the pain that awaits me with the sequel. Glorious yet brutal, She Who Became the Sun is a tour de force that will elevate the historical fantasy genre, a beacon of what all historical imaginings should aspire to be.

[digital arc provided by the publisher]

‘she who became the sun’ is a masterfully crafted reimagining of the rise of the rebel leader—and the founding emperor of the ming dynasty—zhu yuanzhang to power in 14th century china. the story follows two captivating and prominent characters on opposite sides of the spectrum. although this book is based on historical events and figures, the author’s creativity in creating a whole new unique world is stamped upon every page.

it may not come as a surprise to some that this is one of my highly most anticipated books of the year, and i am here to report: it lived up to my soaring expectations and may have even exceeded them! everything about this book is simply worthy of obsessing over; starting from the themes, characters, plot, historical references, and—my favorite—the writing.

the themes of love, war, destiny, desire, gender and duty were prominent in the book and delivered with much impact. i loved the exploration of following faith, breaking away from it, and taking your own fate in your hands to achieve great things. identity, duty, fate, conflict, family and competition are also prominent aspects in this novel that add intricate layers of motivation and deception for the reader. the importance and freedom in power to choose were spectacularly elaborated. and this was definitely most shown through zhu’s character arc, whom i was enraptured to read from the perspective of since the very beginning.

zhu chongba was undoubtedly the most interesting character to read from in my opinion. her faith, resilience and desire to not just live, but achieve greatness was so inspiring to me and it gave me some kind of rush to see a perspective so refreshing from a character suffering amidst all that was happening to them. her determination to achieve greatness regardless of the cost is mesmerising in its intensity. that being said, i definitely did not agree with all her decisions; she’s a character that only saw what she wanted and drew ways and methods to achieve it, no matter the consequences and losses she might have to endure. but something about the way the author captures zhu’s motivation in her absolute determination to succeed makes me can’t help but understand her and her actions—that were too cruel to forgive at times.

zhu is a pragmatic character who is willing to do everything in her power to defy fate, fight and live. she strives for greatness and refuses to become nothing. needless to say, i loved her morally grey character arc; she was cunning, resilient and infinitely clever and i loved seeing her character dynamics with the rest of the cast, who did not fall far from how greatly written zhu is as well.

aside from the heartrending yearning in the romantic ships, i also loved xu da and zhu’s friendship, yuchun’s undeniable loyalty to zhu, baoxing and esen’s rather complex brotherhood, ouyang and zhu’s rivalry, ma xiuying’s incredible arc, and much, much more. all the characters are unforgettable. they leave a mark, every single one of them is complex and individual in their own and each authentic in pursuing their own agenda, and brilliant and flawed in their own ways. they significantly improved the depth and emotions of the novel and their development and characterizations felt so realistic and well-realized.

now to my favorite part: the immensely stunning writing. this novel is truly, undoubtedly, written so wonderfully that it took my breath away. shelley parker-chan has a beautiful writing style for storytelling and i found myself highlighting at least a line or two in every page. they conveyed emotions and atmosphere so efficaciously, and the pacing of the narrative and dialogues flowed naturally without hindrance. it is so stunning that i had to pause every here and there to appreciate the pretty words on a page.

as i mentioned, this novel is more of a historical fantasy fiction and i do recommend you check out the author’s website if you’d like to learn more about the historical figures the characters were based off of.

i already miss these characters that have truly grown on me and i can’t wait to go back into their world. shelley-parker chan has easily earned a spot in my favorite authors of all time with this stellar debut and i am so excited for whatever they put out next!

tw: violence, mass murder, amputation, famine, gender dysphoria, misgendering, ableism, homophobia, misogyny, mentions of death by torture, murder of a child.

This is the queer epic fantasy we all needed.

Before reading, I didn’t know what exactly to expect with “Mulan meets The Song of Achilles” but it is just that, while being so painfully aware of it’s own setting. Accompanied by a unique perspective, charming yet complex cast, lyrical prose, and immersive writing style that hits all the right emotions.

This did still feel like it was opening to a broader world and I honestly cannot wait to see where Shelley Parker Chan goes with the rest of the books. If you are looking for an in-depth and intricate magic system, I should say that you won't really be getting that for this first installment at least. There's still a magical/fantastical element to it but it's more on the backdrop and used to propel character development.

She Who Became the Sun is a character-driven story that explores the internal politics of a ruling body and economics of war that highlights the journey these characters experience and while it does deal with heavy and dark themes— this read like a historical c-drama (in the best way possible) packed with a truck load of thought provoking moments that was brilliantly tied together while being so unflinchingly queer

At it’s core, it’s about people trying to believe in their own fate in a society that sees them different ⚔️ The way discussions on gender roles and gender identity were weaved into a plot about war was just *chefs kiss* with nuanced conversations that will keep you reading

The dual POV was incredibly intriguing since you get to see the conflict progress from both sides progress. One of my favorite aspects was the fact that our two main characters weren't each other’s love interest. Shelley Parker Chan could have so easily made it a star-crossed lovers scenario and I’m so happy they didn’t. It benefitted the war narrative and made for way more interesting romances anyway.

some other details you can find:
-14th century china
-yearning generals
-forbidden romance
-platonic relationships
-complicated relationships
-family drama
-ghosts

↣ If you're looking for a fast-paced, emotional, and dark fantasy that revolves around war (just the way I like it) that is built on solid themes, high stakes, and will keep you turning the page while entrancing you the whole way through... here you go ☀️ I have too many words and I don't know if I got across how much I loved this book but I can’t wait to see how the rest of the story plays out 💛 ↢

This was an amazing historical fantasy debut and further deepens my love for this niche of a genre. I already know this is going to be iconic.

She Who Became the Sun is a gorgeous epic, a sprawling and breathtaking adventure spanning several years (so expect some jumps) I found this book utterly addictive and wholly captivating. There are two main storylines in She Who Became the Sun, both following a genderqueer characters. Zhu, the monk, who was assigned female at birth but identifies as neither male nor female and Ouyang, the eunuch general, who identifies as male but is extremely feminine presenting. Because of the two main characters gender plays a very big role in SWBTS. As someone who has recently become comfortable with and vocal in expressing where they fall on the wide and complex gender spectrum this was a very timely read. The author uses She/They pronouns, making SWBTS an own voices novel. The subject of genderqueerness and non conformity is handled exceptionally well. The otherness of it all is really felt. Not only that but Parker-Chan’s writing is exquisite.
Read my full review on my blog: https://wordpress.com/view/msliterarycom.wordpress.com

ARC provided by the publisher—Tor Books—in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 stars

She Who Became the Sun has the bravery to pitch itself as The Song of Achilles meets Mulan and actually live up to it.

If you’re active on bookish social media, you should know that She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan is one of the two most hyped books published by Tor Books this year; the other one being The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman. Both of these books have been received praises from many people for the past few months, and with these kinds of huge praises and buzz, there’s the tendency for them to disappoint. Now, I haven’t read The Blacktongue Thief yet, but the hype for She Who Became the Sun is real and well-deserved. With such a striking cover art illustrated by JungShan Ink—the artist who illustrated the cover art to The Poppy War Trilogy by R.F. Kuang—this historical fiction/fantasy debut managed to live up to all the praises.

“Becoming nothing was the most terrifying thing she could think of—worse even than the fear of hunger, or pain, or any other suffering that could possibly arise from life.”

She Who Became the Sun is the first book in Radiant Emperor duology, and it’s a reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The year is 1345, in a famine-stricken village, two children are given two fates; the boy—Zhu Chongba—is destined for greatness, and the girl is fated to become nothing. However, when a bandit attacks this village and orphans the two children, Zhu Chongba succumbs to despair and dies. The girl, with a burning desire to survive no matter what it takes, decides to take Zhu Chongba’s name and steal her brother’s fated greatness. I loved this book, and I’m genuinely impressed by how well-written this book was, especially remembering that this is a debut novel. The themes of destiny, war, gender, identity, desire, love, and duty were delivered efficiently with much impact; the importance and freedom in our power as an individual to choose, regardless of our circumstances, were spectacularly elaborated. Seriously, I would be lying if I say that I didn’t feel invigorated by Zhu’s resilience.

“Monks were supposed to strive for non-attachment, but that had always been impossible for Zhu: she was more attached to life than any of them could have understood.”

Yes, the main character, Zhu Chongba was undoubtedly the main highlight of the book for me. Her resilience, her cunning, and her desire to live were nothing short of inspiring to me. I’m not saying that I agree with all of her decision, but Parker-Chan’s way of crystallizing Zhu’s motivation to the readers was so superbly-written that I can’t help but felt that I understood Zhu. Zhu is overall a pragmatic character, and she’s willing to do everything in her power to defy fate, fight, live, and most importantly, she refuses to become nothing. I loved her character’s arc; her moral is colored in grey rather than black and white, and her storyline just felt so believable to me.

“So I always knew you had a strong will. But what’s unusual about you is that most strong-willed people never understand that will alone isn’t enough to guarantee their survival. They don’t realize that even more so than will, survival depends upon an understanding of people and power.”

Honestly speaking, Parker-Chan did such an excellent job on Zhu’s characterizations, and it made the beginning of Part II worrying for a while. Here’s the thing, Part 1 of the novel centers entirely on Zhu’s coming-of-age story, and she was the only POV character during this section; the sudden shifts to a multi-POV narrative in Part 2 of the novel took a bit of time for me to get used to, and for a while, I was terrified that this storytelling decision would end up diminishing the quality of the narrative. Fortunately, my worry was unfounded; the novel only became better because of the change to the multi-POV structure. Ma, Ouyang, and Esen are the other three main characters that, in my opinion, significantly improved the depth and emotions of the novel. Similar to Zhu, these characters have character development and characterizations that felt so organic and well-realized. The character’s respective motivations, agendas, and backgrounds that complex their emotions, relationships, and sense of duty further were so incredible that I couldn’t even imagine how the novel would be like if it was told solely from Zhu’s perspective.

“Desire is the cause of all suffering. The greater the desire, the greater the suffering, and now she desired greatness itself. With all her will, she directed the thought to Heaven and the watching statues: Whatever suffering it takes, I can bear it.”

I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the characters and story in this novel won’t be a happy-go-lucky one. As I said at the beginning of this review, She Who Became the Sun is a reimagining of the rise of the emperor of the Ming Dynasty; if you’re familiar with the history of The Red Turban Rebellion and Zhu Yuanzhang, I’m sure you’ll recognize some—not all—characters involved in Zhu’s story. I personally think it’s more accurate to call She Who Became the Sun a historical fiction—or maybe historical fantasy—than a straight-up fantasy novel; rather than having me barraged you with essays and paragraphs of information regarding the inspirations, I think it would be better for me to give you the link to the author’s website—I advise you to check these only after you finished reading the novel—on the subject of the historical figures instead: https://shelleyparkerchan.com/histori...

But regardless of genre classification, there’s one thing for sure about She Who Became the Sun; it is written lyrically and wonderfully.

“Learn to want something for yourself, Ma Xiuying. Not what someone says you should want. Not what you think you should want. Don’t go through life thinking only of duty. When all we have are these brief spans between our non-existences, why not make the most of the life you’re living now? The price is worth it.”

Parker-Chan has an immensely desirable writing style that displays her proficiency for storytelling in practically every scene of the book. Tensions, dialogues, atmosphere, and emotions were conveyed efficaciously, and the pacing of the narrative flowed naturally without hindrance. She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan is a novel destined for greatness, and greatness will be achieved when the publication date has been reached. Although this is the first book in a duology, rest assured that there’s no cliffhanger, and the book worked well as a standalone. There are still 5 months before this wonderful debut comes out, and I’m already so looking forward to seeing how this duology will be concluded. Claim greatness for yourself. Claim She Who Became the Sun.

Official release date: 22th July 2021 (UK) and 20th July 2021 (US)

You can pre-order the book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository (Free shipping) | Bookshop (Support Local Bookstores!)

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

I’m so full of feelings right now! This book just blew me away and I barely have the words to capture its beauty but I’m going to do my best.

She Who Became the Sun is a historical epic set in 14th century China that reimagines the fall of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty and the rise of the Ming Dynasty with a fantastical and genderqueer twist. Based on the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, we follow a young village child who takes on her dead brother’s identity and becomes Zhu Chongba, determined to rise above her preordained fate and make her own path towards greatness, all while in the midst of a rebellion that could change the face of the empire.

What this novel truly excels at is the character work as well as the worldbuilding, both of which are exquisitely done. Parker-Chan has a beautifully visual writing style that does a great job in setting the atmosphere and world of the story – and it never once felt too much. The vivid descriptions are balanced out well with dialogue and action and also help to create a mood and tone that complements the story perfectly. The worldbuilding itself is so well done – I love how the world slowly but surely unfolds in front of us and as Chongba grows up from a peasant child to a monk to a rebel, we see more of the world, its complexities, politics and struggles right alongside her. Despite the scope and complexity of the story, it never once felt overwhelming to me – everything gets introduced at the right time. The military strategies and political machinations were also amazingly done!

The real spotlight though goes to the fantastically written characters – their development, their arcs, their personalities – it was all so brilliantly done, I’m in awe. The way the fates of our main protagonists Zhu Chongba and General Ouyang are intertwined was fascinating to see. I love how their characters are so disparate – they start off on opposite sides and have completely different motivations, which made them brilliant foils for each other. While Chongba is desperate to grasp her fate, Ouyang reluctantly succumbs to his and I loved how this theme of fate meshed so beautifully with their journeys.

The theme of gender and identity is another one that is incorporated in the protagonists’ storylines and I loved how it was explored with such nuance. Ouyang is such a complicated tragic figure, at odds with the world and himself – being a eunuch general with a gender nonconforming appearance in a traditional society that prizes masculinity, his very existence is a contradiction to many. And the way this affects his character is so compelling to see! Chongba and her struggle with her body and identity felt so personal to read – you can really tell the author wrote their heart and soul into this.

The romance/relationship dynamics were really engaging as well – they made for some of my favorite scenes! Ouyang and Esen – the unrequited love, the unresolved tension, the sheer ANGST and YEARNING – stunning! As for Chongba and Ma Xiuying, they made my heart so happy – I just love that trope where the two characters are the only ones to see each other’s true selves. Esen and Xiuying are great, complex characters on their own too! In fact all the side characters, no matter how little page time they get, have a depth to them that makes them come alive. Also, shoutout to my favorite side character Wang Baoxiang – I love him so much!!!

Overall, if you like slow burn character-driven historical military epics with a fantastical twist, I highly recommend this novel! I’m still reeling from those last couple of chapters, genuinely cannot wait for the sequel.

Thank you to Tor-Macmillan and Netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review

This was such a fascinating read about what it means to grasp or escape the destiny handed down to you. All the characters—and I mean ALL of them, had such realistic traits that they very much felt like people you knew. Zhu was hands down my favourite character. She’s such a great exploration of gender non-conformity, societal expectations, and what it really means to have power. She was fun but also cut-throat when she needed to be.

She Who Became The Sun is the stunning debut novel and the first of the The Radiant Emperor duology by Shelley Parker-Chan, and what a way to start. With such an interesting premise and pitch - Song of Achilles x Mulan, this easily became my most anticipated read of 2021 and it did not disappoint.

Set in the 1350s Ancient China, SWBTS is a genderqueer reimagining of the life of Zhu YuanZhang, the rebel leader who helped bring an end to the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty, and later on established the Ming Dynasty. Shelley Parker-Chan does a brilliant job of adding her many creative touches to the story while also weaving in accurate details of the period and culture. Some of the creative liberties taken even provided really stunning visuals that c-drama viewers might recognise and appreciate.

The writing is filled with beautiful, vibrant imagery that paints each scene effortlessly, while also being concise enough to maintain a really fast moving story. The events that happen in this book go by really quickly, often fading to black when it comes to actual battle scenes. Instead, it focuses on the build up, the aftermath and the characters’ justifications. More lyrical but never over written, the writing style was one of things that I noticed and latched onto early into the book. There are a couple of phrases that were practically translated from Chinese idioms/phrases which I found really fun to read and spot, (especially the cursing lol). I appreciate the seamless inclusion of them, I know a lot of authors of colors used to (still do) get criticisms for incorporating ‘strange’ phrases taken from their mother tongue, instead of using more popular/common ones in the English language. Nothing against that as well, as seen with the way characters are referred to - usually by their one syllable last name for convenience, many aoc had to compromise in the process of publishing. It’s just a nice touch to the writing that I personally really enjoyed, and the naming didn’t really deter my reading experience anyways.

The beautiful writing style aside, the novel really lay its claim to greatness in its expert command of characters and their psychology. We follow several characters in this book but mainly Zhu Chongba, a girl who takes on her brother’s foretold fate of greatness after his passing and lives as him, and her foil Ouyang, an eunuch general who serves the royal family who he shares a complicated past with. Both of these characters present such beautiful parallels despite starting out on opposite sides, with one struggling towards and the other struggling against their accepted fates (a theme that shines throughout the book), each with their own well crafted backstory and motivations that make you question who’s side you should really be on. Watching Zhu Chongba start with humble beginnings as a peasant to a monk and progressing to a need for power was such a journey, she has one goal set in her fate and she will chase it till the very end.

“As long as I keep moving towards my great fate, and keep doing what I need to do, one day I’ll have it.” // “He had no doubt that fate would respond. Fate made the pattern of the world, and Ouyang was nothing more than a thread joining a beginning and an end.”

The way this novel manages to discuss themes surrounding identity and gender, showcasing the joy and triumph that comes with discovery, as well as the shame of being denied it. [I can’t stress enough how much I love how Ouyang & Chongba act as foils in so many ways] There was a chapter that genuinely made me tear up cause I felt so seen, it was powerful and cathartic, just chills. The story also heavily focuses on the theme of one’s fate (or 命/命运) in the book. Seriously, take a shot every time you read/ hear the word fate. I wish I could go on further on how convoluted the concept of fate can be in Chinese culture but I’m no expert, I just really loved that it was a theme in this book.

The romance was also a highlight of this book, the other two prominent characters (Esen and Yingzi) have such intense chemistry with our two leads. Zhu and Ma really gave us such tender, precious scenes, same with Ouyang and Esen, nothing beats the “you and me against the world” trope. Even if it brings me to Tears™ :D Both Yingzi and Esen also felt properly developed and were complex in their own right despite not having the same amount of pages focused on them.

As a Chinese reader who’s heard bits of information about history and tales growing up, it was so much fun spotting not just the language but also the prominent historical figures that pop up in the story. (I had a whole discussion with my Dad about it since he’s a huge Chinese history/mythology fanatic) The fantastical elements of the book also serve more as a companion to the plot, which wasn’t a problem for me (this is for readers expecting a The Poppy War type of fantasy). It lurks in the background and is a lot more subtle, similar to the action. It focuses more on the politics and strategies instead.

Anyways, I’m so excited for the sequel, SWBTS really laid the foundation needed for the next book. Okay, I think I’ve gushed enough. Go read it when it comes out!

Thank you to Tor-Macmillan and Netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.

cw: violent depiction of death, amputation, ableist language, misgendering, dysphoria, homophobia

It’s so hard to put my thoughts on this amazing book into words. Every scene, every character and every sentence absolutely shone and the level of research the author has put in is commendable: I felt as if I was immersed in the setting. What I loved as well was how no character was clear cut. I had mixed emotions about all the main characters (except Baoxiang my man) but despite how much I disliked them, I still loved reading about them. That is the sign of a character well written for me. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book!

She Who Became the Sun is a slow burning fantasy. It manages to balance intense and nuanced characterization with action and political intrigue. The characters were, hand down, my favorite element of She Who Became the Sun. Mostly because I felt like I didn't have enough brain cells for all the masterful political maneuvers. Seriously! So many war tactics, alliances gone wrong, and betrayals in broad daylight. The world of She Who Became the Sun is rich and detailed. It unfurls like a banner and Parker-Chan allows us to sink into the tensions, fragility, and conflict.

All of the characters are allowed, even celebrated, for their mistakes and flaws. They felt relatable, even as you're internally screaming. Even within the first book, we can witness the evolution of their histories, desires, and ambitions. How we are trying to chase greatness and the tenuous positions, and security, it can grant us. Talk about a gender queer character whose whole future is changed within the course of the book. Driven by a desire for safety, we can see the seeds of her ambition burning. How, when she steps into a new role, she allows the fire to burn.

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book. Wow – where to start? She Who Became the Sun is about the Red Turban Rebellion: uprisings against the Yuan dynasty that end up establishing Ming dynasty rule in China. A fortune teller tells our “main” main character that her brother’s destiny is greatness, but hers is nothingness. Once he dies, she takes on his identity, determined to take on his fate as well and achieve greatness. This book devastated and wrecked me in every possible way, and I need everyone to read it ASAP. I need to talk about it. It made me want to cry and also write analytical essays, which is a rare combination. Shelley Parker-Chan is one of the best authors I’ve ever read.

The amount of research it must have taken to write this book so thoroughly and so beautifully is astounding. Everything felt alive and tangible and vibrant. The setting, the characters, the plot were all so masterfully executed; I was in there with them. I felt the characters’ fear, their pain, their joy, their desire, their grit, their desperation. The elements of fabulism woven throughout the story put this book on a whole other level. The parallels between characters were subtle, and so many realizations hit me like a truck at the end. I finished the book immediately feeling like I needed to reread it to delve further into the themes and metaphors.

This book is about desire. Wanting. Fate. Morality. Are we all just pushed along by fate? Do we have any agency over our destinies? Can we desire our way out of a destiny we do not want or to one we do? If we want something enough, can we overcome fate? What happens when we don’t question our relationship to fate? Where do morality and ethics come into play? Is it worth sacrificing what is right for what we want? What IS right and wrong? When does ambition go too far? One of my favorite aspects of the book was the subtle and nuanced exploration of the spectrum of gender, gender identity, and sexuality was wonderfully queer and incredibly powerful. Each character we follow is complex and grapples with these questions in different ways, some with better results than others.

She Who Became the Sun is one of my new favorites. It is stunning, powerful, devastating, beautiful, lyrical, philosophical, and gritty. I’ve never read anything like it, and I need more. I can’t wait to see what Shelley Parker-Chan does next!

This was such an interesting book. I found the prose to be quite stoic and straightforward, which was excellent as it really made the more poetic moments shine. In terms of plot, it's not really straightforward, but at the same time it is. It definitely has a plot, but it feels plotless. The book takes you on a journey, one of fate. It's almost as if it teases the reader: "If you want there to be a plot, you have to *want* there to be a plot." It feels both character driven and not. It's...well...in my eyes, not an easy book to classify. And you know what? It really works. There's a political/militaristic edge to the story while also having a more contemplative side. The book addresses the questions of what it means to be a man, a woman, neither man nor woman, a leader, a lover.... The list goes on. Zhu is one of the most ruthless and cunning characters I've ever read. From the get-go, she doesn't accept things the way they are. She takes charge; she makes change. The other characters are also pretty good, though ones such as Zhang and Altan felt a bit one-dimensional to me. I also wasn't too sure on the friendship/relationship between Esen and Ouyang; it didn't feel natural. But at the same time, I'm not sure if it was supposed to?

In the end, this was a great debut, and I can't wait to read more from this author in the future!

This was beautifully written, the type of book where you just want to highlight perfectly constructed sentences. There is so much going on under the surface; I knew less than halfway through that I would need to reread (and take notes this time!) to fully appreciate the smaller movements and machinations going on behind the scenes. This was bloody and exquisite and heartbreaking, and I absolutely can’t wait for the next book.

Perfect for readers who love antiheroes, queer fantasy, gorgeous prose; a great next read after The Poppy War.

I was fortunate to receive an early ARC of <i>She Who Became the Sun</i>, right when I needed something good to read. I devoured it in about one day, and then spent another hour or so just sitting there, stunned at all of the ways in which it made me think.

The novel starts with a poor, starving peasant girl in China. We are never told her name, because no one around her believes that her name matters. Instead, we learn the name of her older brother, Zhu Chongba, who is divined to have a great destiny. When Zhu Chongba dies, however, the girl decides that she will steal his great destiny by pretending to be him.

From here on out, the main character dresses as a boy and takes on the name Zhu Chongba. Because I, the reader, knew that she was not really Zhu Chongba, I tended to think of her as "Zhu." Since the novel is in third-person limited narrator and tends to use the pronoun "she" when written from Zhu's perspective, I'm going to refer to her as "she" from here on out, though there is a very good argument to be made that Zhu is either trans male or else non-binary, even when you strip away the semi-forced nature of her disguise.

<i>She Who Became the Sun</i> drew me in initially with a few truly beautiful lines of prose and with the deeply unjust situation of its main character. Zhu's endless stubbornness and drive to survive endears her immediately to the reader and sets us up to cheer her on as she somehow achieves the impossible, over and over. Zhu's primary character trait is her sheer drive to keep going, no matter the danger; and yet, it's this exact trait that leads her to do questionable things in pursuit of her stolen destiny. Zhu's arc is one of self-actualization--but in a way, the moment that she self-actualizes is also the moment that she becomes more like the villains she's been fighting. Once Zhu's survival is secured, all that's left is her desire for greatness for its own sake. Even this more questionable motivation still feels sympathetic in the moment, though, because of how long the reader has spent cheering her on already.

It was only at the very end of the book that I had to question my attachment to Zhu's success. There is a large battle and a moment when several political schemes all come to fruition at once--but I actually consider one of the following scenes, far more quiet, to be the real climax of the novel. Zhu is faced with a decision between morality and practicality... and the choice that she ultimately makes is both sensible and horrifying. After the fact, I had to rethink many of the ways in which I had excused Zhu's previous decisions, because I wanted to believe that her reasons were more pure than those of her enemies. The end of the novel forced me to think for a very long time, which I consider to be the hallmark of a truly good book.

On a structural level, I greatly appreciate that there are rarely any bloody, in-depth battles on-screen; Parker-Chan often skips over battles entirely and picks up from the moment of their conclusion. I don't have an aversion to violence in books where it's merited, but I find the political and emotional impact of battles to be far more interesting than reading about itemized moments where people swing swords at one another. There are still one or two scenes where fighting and violence happen on-screen, primarily because there's some crucial moment that <i>needs</i> to be on-screen in order for the story to make sense. But overall, this is a book about crucial moral decisions and about the <i>consequences</i> of violence, rather than about glorious battles themselves.

My only real nitpick is one that I have with many epic fantasy novels--I would have preferred for point-of-view changes to be more clearly marked with the POV character's name. Occasionally, I had to read a few paragraphs into a chapter before I realized I was riding along with a different character again, which meant I felt the need to reread everything I had just read with the addition of that context. POV also sometimes shifted in the middle of a chapter, after a scene break, which caught me even more off guard without a marker. This isn't a huge problem, but it would have made the read a bit smoother.

Overall, <i>She Who Became the Sun</i> was fantastically compelling and hard to put down. Until I read this book, my knowledge of the Ming Dynasty was limited to a few dry dates and names--but by the end of the book, I felt like the history was more personal and more interesting, and I wanted to learn more about it. All else aside, I consider that to be the ultimate mark of a good historical novel.

I'd categorize this as Game of Thrones meets Achilles, in China. It combines complex, brutal, political maneuvering with a classic, fantasy, coming-of-age story arc, and brings in queer main characters in a way that manages to feel both authentic to the story and setting and also relevant to modern life. The balance of a large cast of characters, with some you'll love and others you'll love to hate was well done. And, while there is always so much going on (fate vs chance, ambition vs love vs revenge, traditional vs subversive gender roles) it never feels forced or overly dramatic. I flew through this and can't wait to read more from Parker-Chan.

That was the perfect Chinese historical fantasy right there. It doesn't get better than this. Comparing to the Poppy War trilogy (a series I also love) which took inspiration from Chinese history for its own World - She Who Became the Sun is a complete reframing of the actual history of the founding emperor of Ming and her rise to power.

Most characters in this book are actual historical figures, Zhu Chongba (eventually Zhu Yuanzhang) Ma Xiuying, Guo Zixing (Minister Guo), Guo Tianxu (Little Guo) and almost every character that made an appearance in this story are all historical figures we learn in Chinese history growing up. As a Chinese person who read this, it's almost like I'm seeing through a natural spoilery lenses to what will end up happening to each and every one of them. It's probably even more special considering how many times FATE was emphasized throughout the story. We already know everyone's fate, just like how sure Zhou thought her fate was going to be. It's really interesting.

Besides that, this book has some amazing queer LGBT+ representations. This is one of those NO ONE HERE IS CISHET situation and I'm so living for it. I love the two main characters and their retrospective love interest. One is more tender and one is filled with angst. Still both have amazing development and underlining complexity. The author is non-binary and uses she/they pronouns. It really shows in her writing in Zhu's exploration of her gender identify and body disphoria.

The story was slow at first but when it gets going, it just never stops. This book definitely reads like a well crafted War genre C drama, as the phrases used are relatively all direct translations from Chinese idioms (might be confusing for ppl who don't speak Chinese as a language at first, but I don't think it's a bad thing). Also totally R rating in terms of blood and gore and politics brutality, ancient China has some serious way of executing people. So trigger warning for that.

The characters are all so very complex and the journeys they went on are all very satisfying to watch. No one's necessarily good, especially Zhu as a character, but she has a calmness in her willingness to pursue her desire and you just can't help and root for her. All the side characters are also very nuanced and complex. My favorite is probably Wang Baoxiang, can't wait to see more of him next book.

Anyway, guys, read this. You won't regret it! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book. It's been a pleasure and honor.

As I turned the final page of this book, I wondered to myself how I was possibly going to put into words my love for this novel. She Who Became the Sun is a politically driven alternate history about the rise of the first emperor of the Ming dynasty. It features some of the most morally gray characters I have ever read in literature, of which their actions and relationships had me constantly turning the page. It is a bold voice for the LGBTQ+ community. Absolute perfection.