Title: She Who Became the Sun
Author: Shelley Parker-Chan
Series: The Radiant Emperor #1
Genre: Historical Fiction/Fantasy/LGBT
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: July 20th, 2021
Edition: Kindle Edition, US Edition, 416 pages
Source: Library
Synopsis:
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.
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This is a tough book to review. I really loved the first third of the book, following Zhu after she takes on her brother's identity and joins the monastery. I was enthralled with her character and her character development. I was suspecting that this was going to be a new favorite book. Then the second act came on... and my interest started to wain a little.
The narrative shifted away from Zhu and started following Ouyang, a captive and a general to the Mongals. His character on its own was very interesting, and I think I would have been more invested in his character had we gotten glimpses of his story before the second act. I just wasn't as invested with what was happening, in part because Zhu lost all sense of personality. And Zhu was the character I thought we were going to follow, witness them come into their greatness. But, largely, we didn't get to see any of the battles, only a recounting of the aftermath. Until the last third.
I liked the last third. By this time most of the book has followed Ouyang, and I became more invested and interested in their character than Zhu. I think Zhu and Ouyang's stories are supposed to mirror each other, but as I mentioned I would have cared more about that had we gotten anything of his backstory before meeting him briefly halfway through the first third of the book.
I'll likely read the sequel, even if it is to see where Ouyang goes since I don't care as much about how or if Zhu reaches her "greatness".
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