She Who Became the Sun

In a version of Yuan dynasty China where magical mandates and ghosts really exist, a “worthless” little peasant girl refuses to accept the fate laid out for her.

At first, I found the prose detached, and somewhat inaccessible, but it grew on me and after reading about 150 pages, I was drawn in, and found it engaging. The setting feels fresh and intriguing, the story is interesting, and the characters are complex and flawed.

A good read about an ambitious protagonist, and now I have to read the sequel to find out what happens!

Vibes of Circe. Driven characters push forward without the book becoming too heavy-handed. An exploration of identity and desire.

Queer rep, smart characters, epic destinies and tragedies. Well worth a read

Das Grundkonzept ist ein bisschen wie bei "The Queen's Gambit", man sieht einfach 400 Seiten lang der Heldin beim Siegen zu. Was ich neulich schon mal über ein anderes Buch sagte, trifft auch hier zu: Ich finde es gut, wenn die ganzen Untaten aus offen zugegebener Rache und aus Wille zur Macht begangen werden, nicht wegen angeblicher guter Taten oder Weltverbesserungspläne. Ich möchte nicht, dass man mir das Böse akzeptabler macht. Wenn gemordet wird, dann sollen alle wissen, was für eine Entscheidung hier getroffen wurde, ohne "tja, es war hässlich, aber notwendig für den guten Zweck"-Ausreden.

Hier stand ursprünglich "1000 Seiten", weil das die Libby-App so anzeigt. Woran man sieht, dass mir über dem ganzen E-Book-Lesen jedes Gespür für Länge in Seiten abhanden gekommen ist, sonst hätte ich das doch merken müssen.

that was... an experience
I've never read anything quite like that before, and the queer rep makes me unimaginably happy about having read this

This book is Mulan x Three Kingdoms with a dash of Baru Cormorant, which is to say, it attempts to encapsulate some of my biggest likes in fiction in a tightly written package and manages to do so with flying colors. I find it funny that right after I finished Three Kingdoms, the next book I happened to pick up couldn't stop talking about the Mandate of Heaven, used li as a unit of length and had characters comparing themselves to Zhuge Liang. I guess it was written in the heavens!

Gender flipping, believable historical fiction.

Reading a bit too much like the Poppy War for my taste. The discussion about destiny in the beginning almost had me, but it wasn’t quite enough. DNFed.

Absolutely stunning, especially for a first novel. The scope with which Parker-Chan writes is phenomenal, yet the subtle and quiet moments are real and true as well. The book balances the colossal subjects it covers, sweeping death and battlefields on fire, with intimate moments between lovers, broken promises between friends.

If you're a fan of big action, big feelings, or historical dramas, you need to read this immediately.

4.5 stars