She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Hi reader, thank you for dropping in. Today I'm here with the review of one of the most anticipated books of this year, none other than She Who Became The Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. You can find the whole list here. A huge thanks to the publisher and netgalley for providing me and e-ARC, in exchange of my honest review.

Let's get into the review, shall we?

Book Name : She Who Became The Sun (add to goodreads)

Author : Shelley Parker-Chan (she/they) (author website)

Genres  : Fantasy, Historical Fiction, LGBTQIA+, Asian Literature

Release Date : 20th July 2021 by Tor Books

Trigger Warnings :  Dysphoria, Pre-existing non-consensual castration, Misgendering, Internalised homophobia, Life-altering injury (amputation), Ableist language, Non-graphic depictions of death by torture, Major character death, Offscreen murder of a child, Scenes depicting extreme hunger/starvation, Graphic depiction of a person burning to death

Plot  : Mulan meets The Song of Achilles in Shelley Parker-Chan's She Who Became the Sun, a bold, queer, and lyrical reimagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty from an amazing new voice in literary fantasy.

To possess the Mandate of Heaven, the female monk Zhu will do anything

“I refuse to be nothing…”

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother's abandoned greatness.

Review :

Rather than a review, let me tell you why you should read this book?

1. A Monk dressed under a grey robe but would do anything to win what she wants, a general, shamed and stripped of his family looking for revenge, even if its his heart at stake :

Zhu Chongba was left alone by her father after the bandits attacked her village, but she was the only one who survived the attack, taking this as a signal from the heaven she took on the identity of a person who she never was, but from on will be. Zhu Chongba destined for greatness. General Ouyang had seen his family get killed and erased out of existence, he lived and breathed for a single purpose, revenge. These two are my favourite characters out of the story, they have so much complex emotions, so many layers in their characters, the moment you think you've figured them out, you get to see another layer of them, it was unpredictable and kept me on the edge for the entirety of the story.

"achieving greatness in the outside world was beyond any person’s individual control"

2. Rather than just plain fantasy with only magic, the book provides so much more :

When I read fantasy book, I thought it would be full of lots of magic system and new world which is governed by it. But NO! If you're thinking the same you're so wrong, yes there is magic but not like the whole world governing, it plays a small yet very important part in the story. Rather than magic I should say it's fate that plays a very important role in the story. 

As long as I keep moving towards my great fate, and keep doing what I need to do, one day I’ll have it.

3. Lots of Politics, battle planning, war and blood : 

The book is brutal and blood soaked, there is no kind covering of words or sugar coating, it's raw and real. Despite having fantasy elements the story did not fail to show me that in a battle there is no such thing is right or wrong, both sides are fighting for their honor and would not hesitate in killing for it. War is brutal which takes sacrifices, sometimes it's worth it and many times it's not. I am not a person who generally enjoys politics or anything political, but this book was a gem, it kept me so engrossed that I really felt anxious in discussions of war planning, or when the two sides actually met on the field, like literal chills. 

“To win a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the pinnacle of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the pinnacle of skill.”

4. Discussions about genders and how it can truly affect you :

 Shelley discussed so many important things in this book and one of it was gender, Zhu never felt she belonged to the body she was always told she was hers, as Zhu Chongba she felt what she was, as what she identified as. Loved how gravely it was discussed, like it should be. Zhu's questions and confusions  about her identity and gender were real and were something we can all relate to at many extents. Shelley subtly broke so many stereotypes in a single novel. Genderqueer AFAB monk who rose to be a ruler and chose her own path of fate. An eunuch AMAB general with gender nonconforming appearance, happily-ever-after does not exists in real life, and she proved it. 

She saw someone who seemed neither male nor female, but another substance entirely: something wholly and powerfully of its own kind. The promise of difference, made real.

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

5. There is no white or black in reality, its grey, no one is a saint but that does not means they're completely a devil :

Zhu is not your pure, happy, righteous protagonist that you're used to in every book. She is not a saint, she will not save the world on the cost of risking her life. She will use her connections and people to achieve her goal, no matter what the stakes are. She is cunning, ambitious, and a fighter against her predestined fate. She will keep working for the top until she reaches a position where only heaven is above her. She is not scared of betraying people, all that matters to her is she does not wants to end as nothing. She is working so that even after ten thousand years, people remember her name. I repeat she is a grey character, neither white nor black, believable and real. And Ouyang is no different, he took all the risks to fulfil the purpose of his life, no matter what he had to lose, change of character is often observed in most stories where black morals turn white due to influence, but again since here was no fairy-tale story, it did not happen, these two characters in the story lived and worked for their goals, and whatever came between their goal and them would be destroyed even if they loved it.

Look at me and see the person who will win. The person who will rule.

 

You never realized that it wasn’t your name they were going to call, exhorting you to reign for ten thousand years. It was mine

6. It's brutal, blood soaked, thrilling and keep you at the edge until the last page  :

This book is not a young adult fantasy/fiction, it's an adult book and that means, there are adult themes like gore, blood, war, violence, war. It kept me screaming inside until the edge and I'm definitely going into a book hangover, y'all I'm not going to get over this book soon. She Who Became The Sun will definitely going to stay with you for a long time.

there are no kind solutions to cruel situations 

That's it, thank you so much for reading. Do let me know if you plan on adding this book to your tbr, I'm dropping my socials below.

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