Forget ‘The Song of Achilles’ comparison you just read in the synopsis/publisher pitch. Just pretend you never saw it because it will be doing you a disservice. This is not that kind of book.

This is more similar to ‘The Poppy War.’ It's a dark, brutal, unforgiving tale about characters who will do whatever they can in order the achieve what they believe is their fate.

There is no soft, wholesome love in these pages. There are antiheroes who use people and connections in order to serve their purposes.

Go into this ready for well-written war-heavy descriptions, dense strategic and political maneuvering, unexplainable ghosts, complex characters, interesting motives, and an emotionally charged plot.

This is the kind of book it truly is. It's one of history and magic and destiny.

A magical alternate history, combining a Mulan retelling and The Song of Achilles? How could I not?

So first, I want to make a quick comment on the cover design, because it grabbed me immediately. The layout is so clean, but striking. Before I knew anything about the plot or the author, I wanted to know the story behind that cover.

Zhu Chongba was an absolute masterclass in a character that I immensely disliked. But I was constantly invested in her machinations, her triumphs, and her betrayals. Her relationship with gender after she assumes the identity of her dead brother was absolutely fascinating.

Parker-Chan is a deft hand at setting the scene. I could feel the stones of the monastery, and the wind on the fields as she described her settings.

I would have liked it if the magical part of the alternate history had had more of an effect on the story. The ghosts were interesting but not very present.

Now, the pacing was a bit odd for me. The first half was very slow, providing a lot of set up for the people, the politics, and the places. I found myself drifting away from this story, but I was intrigued enough to come back every time. And it felt like everything came together very quickly in the last 10%.

But I would unreservedly recommend this book to anyone looking for an intense Mulan retelling, or enjoyed The Poppy War.

Everything you heard about this book, every squee and praise worthy post you've seen- trust me, it's real. She who Became the Sun is sublime.
I've seen all the ways people describe this story by comparison and here is the thing: The Song of Achilles? Yes, it does have strong echoes of that particular heartbreak. Mulan? Sure, cross-dressing is right there in the blurb. The Poppy War? Yup, just like TPW, this story is a heavily pulling from Chinese history.
But.
Those comparisons simply don't give this book a justice. Focusing on single parts of the story is NOT the story. It's not this story. It's the emotional resonance of all of those coupled with some fascinating storytelling and sombre characterization, but with all the exuberance of C-dramas. Quite frankly, this book owned all my time and all my thoughts since I started reading.
First in a planned duology, She Who Became the Sun is a fantasy reimagining of the rise of the Ming dynasty, focusing specifically on its founder, Zhu Yuanzhang. If you are or aren't familiar with that part of the Chinese history, the main events, bullet points if you please, does happen in the book: there is a decline of Mongol-led empire, there is a rebellion led by unlikely person and there are the beginnings of the legendary emperor. Shelley Parker-Chen is using the characters and events history recorded by putting a twist to them.
Like an ode to resilience and goal-oriented decision making, Zhu's character is simply impossible to forget. The book is very low on magic elements, but she is so determined to survive and claim the great destiny I came to think of it as a type of magic in itself. Her metaphorical hunger, born from really well described real hunger in first chapter, was so intricately developed. I mean, I love her to bits exactly because her path is not a heroic one- noble heroes don't start from where Zhu started and end up where she ended up.
But, if one of your thoughts is "oh, it's just another gender-swapped story with a queer twist" I have some things to say.
I'd say that the recurring theme of She Who Became the Sun is actually a question of identity. Bigger chunk of the story is dedicated to Zhu who is a girl, but decides to take her brother's identity and, thus, his fate. At the middle, the story brings more povs, and the other, very important part of the story belongs to Ouyang, the Nanren-born male who is the main general of Mongol army. Their arcs are separate, but they keep intersecting as the story progresses.
Here is the kicker: both of their arcs are so tied up with their identity it becomes the integral element of this entire book. Of course that all the questioning of who and what they are and aren't is constantly running through their heads. And of course emotions get big and dangerous and complicated when they feel differently about someone else. Of course it colours their every choice. Inner struggle always makes for the best characterization. In their own parts of the empire they are mirroring in one and only way: they are in so unique of a position nobody else can understand and they have a destiny to fulfil. I was so taken with them and completely obsessed and the best way I can describe why I want to shout my love for Chen for giving me this book is this: If you take this part, the part that makes it queer, of these characters out of the story or change it in any way, there wouldn't be a story. It's the bones, the crux of every conflict and it's what makes this reimagining so compelling. Now think about how many fantasy books you read lately you can tell the same for.
The writing! That lyrical part of the blurb is certainly true because Chen has a way with words. I was entirely emotionally invested in these characters so I devoured the words to see what will happen, but there were parts I reread just because they sounded very pretty. The saddest parts were the prettiest, which seems oddly fitting, especially in Ouyang's (that precious spitfire of selfhate and loathing) scenes.

I don't win many arcs, but somehow I had a luck to win this one. It's nothing short of spectacular. Can wait to see Zhu Yuanzhang dance with Madam Zhang in the next book. :)

An in-depth exploration of gender identity, human ambition and the inevitability of revenge.


She Who Became The Sun introduces us to a sweeping historical fantasy world through a re-imagining of the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.



We meet Zhu who refuses to bow to her fate of nothingness and whose ambition will shape the lives of everyone she meets on her journey to greatness.
Our cast also allows us a glimpse inside the mind of a delightfully dark and vengeful villain, a pure hearted prince and a wise and uncowed general’s wife who discovers there is more to life than others have decreed for her.

I really loved the way relationships developed between the characters, it felt very nuanced and realistic and more often than not, heartbreaking too.

The writing is lyrical and often sharply humorous in unexpected ways and paints a rich historical landscape of the world our characters traverse.
Plot wise this story flows along smoothly, encompassing a vast expanse of years across our character’s lives.
She Who Became The Sun reads like a historical recount of events rather than a moment by moment story which prevented me from connecting with the characters as much as I’d have liked too. But this is not a fault so much as a personal preference.

Overall this is a thoroughly enjoyable foray into ancient China, survive the epic battles, angst and heartache, political maneuverings and assassination plots alongside a richly diverse cast of characters whose every desire and motive drives them further into the morally grey landscape of their chosen fates.

She Who became the Sun is what a expect of The Song of Achilles when mixed with Mulan.

The main character Zhu, does everything she can to survive even disguising herself as her brother and is well fleshed out like the majority of the characters (even the Villains). However each character has some type of underlying issue/s. Not a bad thing but it is always there.

The writing itself was very good, but just as a general sort of warning some of the topics are heavy in the sense of the intensity of murder, sex etc. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a new voice of the historical fantasy genre.

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book.

MY REVIEW: 4.5 Stars ⭐️

I loved the main character, Zhu! She does whatever she has to do, disguising herself as her brother, to survive and make her claim to fame so to speak. (Turns out the seerer was correct, read the book)

There are other wonderful characters in the book, even the villains are fleshed out nicely. And everyone in the the book has some kind of underlying issues.

Some would say Zhu is a villain of sorts but she just does whatever she has to in this world and to me, I just can’t not like her!

There are battles, I mean obviously. I would just recommend reading this book so you can meet some great characters for yourself. You just might find your next gem!

*I would like to thank Tor for offering me to read this book through, Netgalley. I’ve never been offered to read a book from Tor so I greatly appreciate it and that you to Netgalley.

Mel

Absolutely remarkable. One of my top books of all time now, not just in SFF. I loved Shelley's way with words, the utterly compelling emotional through-lines of the two main characters, and the rich historical landscape the story is set in. This book is a must-read for anyone who is craving something truly epic.

Review for She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

A huge thank you to Tor and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an early copy!

Summary:
“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”

My Thoughts
This book starts off with a bang. We follow a girl in the middle of a famine, along with her dad and brother, at what appears to be a mealtime. We are told that the boy will become great, while the girl is fated to be nothing.
I was instantly glued to the page.
When the village is attacked by bandits, the girl’s brother and father are killed, so she decides to grasp onto her brother’s destiny and takes it as her own.

”Zhongli village lay flattened under the sun like a defeated dog that has given up on finding shade.”

For me, this book piqued in the first part, following Zhu as she struggles to survive so that she can achieve her stolen destiny to become great, as she impersonates her brother.
I absolutely loved watching her time in the monastery and seeing her friendship with Xu Da develop. We’re also shown just how ruthless she can be in order to keep her station in the world while she is there.

However, when we switched to a multi-perspective in part 2, I began to feel myself losing touch with the character development that we got in part one. Don’t get me wrong, I really do enjoy Ouyang and Ma’s perspective. We get to see Ouyang, who is a eunuch general, struggle with his body image, and we get to see the flip side to the same coin in Zhu, who was assigned female at birth but seems to be grappling with her gender identity throughout the book. I really loved this aspect, we get these two characters with their similar struggle, and they’re on opposite sides of the war fated to loathe each other, what could possibly go wrong?

”Destroying what someone else cherished never brought back what you yourself had lost.”

We also get Ma’s perspective, as she grapples with the fact that she is soon to be married to a man she really doesn’t care about and is coming to terms with accepting her lot in life and what is expected of a wife at that time. However, we get into spoiler territory here so here is your warning…(view spoiler)

This book is steeped in politics and military moves, as it is based in the middle of a war, and I really enjoyed how the author developed the mounting struggles throughout. Where this book lost me was after showing just how well done the character development for Zhu was done in the first part, we immediately lost that personal touch for the rest of the book. I say this often, but I’m an incredibly character driven reader, and if I can’t come to truly care about the characters, the plot cannot save it for me. I desperately wanted that level of care and attention to fleshing out Ouyang, Ma, and others and would have happily read a 700-page book with that added character development.

Objectively it is stunningly written, and I will definitely check out the sequel, because I know I am in the group with the less common opinion on this book. If we have similar tastes for other books, most of my friends will end up loving this book, and I think that is awesome!


Overall (TLDR)
I am so incredibly thankful to Tor and NetGalley for letting me read and review an early copy. I think that so many people are going to absolutely adore this book, and it just missed the mark on a few points for me personally. It lives up to the Mulan x Song of Achilles, which is definitely hard to do! I’ll definitely check out the sequel, and plan to keep up with this author as they publish new books, because this was a well-done debut!


All quotes are taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication!

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I received an arc of this book from netgalley and the publisher, but honestly I did not finish this book.
I was really excited to read this novel because so much of what is seems to be about is content I typically like and the book also has such high reviews!
Unfortunately, I really couldn’t connect with it. I had a hard time engaging with the characters and as soon as I started to get with the perspective of the first character (the first arc I guess when they are just monks) the perspective ended up switching and I had a hard time following everything it was trying to introduce. I also felt like I didn’t really see a lot of a fantasy aspect in the novel? Seemed more similar to historical fiction to me.
So yeah I stopped reading after about 150 pages, I couldn’t connect with the content and it was a bit too dense for me.
Reviewed at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3768955314?book_show_action=false

This is an absorbing, suspenseful and very well written novel - really more historical than fantasy, although there are some supernatural elements. I learned from the author's website that her characters are based on historical figures, and the story is a reimagining of the rise of the Ming dynasty in China. The one crucial change is the re-gendering of one main character, in a way that makes total sense within the context of the plot. Overall, I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in the period, in Chinese history, or who likes the novels of Guy Gavriel Kay.

This is definitely a case of this book being not for me, not it being a bad book. Some of the scenes from this will stick in my head for days, but I just found it lacking as a whole.

It's hard to put my problem with this into words. It wasn't the pacing, because there was almost always action or a plot going on. It wasn't the length, because this is a fairly short book. I wouldn't even say that it was the writing, because it didn't bother me. This book just felt <i>long</i>. I honestly thought it was 700 pages, not 400. Big plot points had very little impact on me, and it felt like too much time was spent on minor incidents.

I did love the way that parts of this wove together. Some of the betrayals and twists had me gasping, and immediately rereading the segment to try and understand. Other scenes had me highlighting and annotating.

I really wasn't a fan of the perspective changes in this. The first quarter was told solely from Zhu's perspective, and I loved it. My interest started waning once Ma, Oyoung, and Esen's perspectives were introduced. The ending of this definitely had me interested in Oyoung, but it wasn't enough to save the rest of the book.

This book will definitely make a splash in the publishing industry, it's an amazing novel. Sadly, it just wasn't for me.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Shelley Parker-Chan for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!</i>

Thank you to the publisher for both an e-galley and a physical ARC.

I love the comparison of this to Song of Achilles as it really talks about finding yourself and becoming the person you know is true to your heart.

Also love the characters in this. They feel heart-achingly real and left me wanting to slap some and hug others. Shelley Parker-Chan has a way of creating realistic characters and I'm blown away.

This is a fictionalized telling of the founding of the Ming Dynasty. I really enjoyed the history elements to it, in the same way I also enjoyed The Poppy War.

If you like fantasy based on history that shifts the narrative a little, pick this one up.

This was a great, thought-provoking read that reminded me a lot of The Poppy War by RF Kuang. I loved Zhu as a character. I loved her drive to escape her 'nothing' fate and become greater than her brother ever would have been. I loved seeing Zhu grow from an emaciated, silent, and unwanted child to a strong, intelligent adult. Zhu's gender identity is complicated and explored consistently throughout the novel, which I also really enjoyed.
However, my only complaint is that the book was not focused on Zhu the entire time. The first fourth of the book followed Zhu, and no one else, and that was my favorite part of the book. Once the perspective started shifting between Zhu and some other characters, I was less interested. The other characters had less interesting plotlines, in my opinion, and I just wanted to read about Zhu, The first fourth was amazing, and I would have been happy reading about Zhu's exploits at the monastery the entire book. I'm rating this book 3 stars, because I did enjoy it, but my interest waned a lot after the perspective started shifting to the point where I was speeding through the other chapters just to get back to Zhu's POV.

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"!

She Who Became the Sun was advertised to me as Mulan meets Song of Achilles, and Shelley Parker-Chan delivered all of that and so much more. Giving strong LGBTQ and a history of the Ming Dynasty, this book was a rare gem and the must read book of 2021.

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.