Hi friends, happy Monday! I hope you’re all well. Today I’m going to be posting my review of Shelley Parker-Chan’s novel She Who Became the Sun.

She Who Became the Sun by: Shelley Parker-Chan: Set in 1345 China under Mongol rule at the rise of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Zhu is the eighth born son and destined for greatness; but when he succumbs to starvation, his younger sister, who is desperate to survive, steals his identity in order to escape. From there she enters a monastery to train as a monk and to do whatever it takes to survive. This novel started off really slow, but the writing was so engrossing that the reader didn’t mind as they enjoyed getting to know the main character, Zhu, and where she came from. Plots started to pick up after part two and really took off. Throughout the course of this novel the pacing went back and forth between fast and slow, but it really seemed to work; Parker-Chan’s writing was phenomenal that nothing could be happening, yet the reader was still extremely absorbed in everything that has happened or what was going to happen. There was so much betrayal that happened and the way the characters interacted with one another, it was all so well planned out and meticulously calculated. It was such a good slow burn that we can’t wait to see where this story is going to go. This ended where some of the dust has settled, but there is still so much to tackle and the reader anticipates big things to come. As for the characters, our main character, Zhu, is such a strong force to be reckoned with. She endures so much, but she also gains a lot too. Her struggle to figure out who she is and who she wants to become was powerful to read and really proved that you don’t have to have everything all figured out at once. The support she gets from the people around her too was also remarkable to read. The secondary characters were just as memorable as Zhu; Ma and Xu Da were such lovable characters that the reader enjoyed reading and see interacting with Zhu. Ouyang was also a really well constructed character who played a great role in Zhu’s life. The queer representation in this was also stellar, bold and really well integrated. This novel was full of action, good heart and amazing writing.