From the Bookshelf of Turn of a Page…

She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1)

Shelley Parker-Chan

Start date: March 9, 2022

Finish date: April 9, 2022

Discussion: Buddy Reads 2022

Why we're reading this: March Buddy Read
[close] March Buddy Read

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 56 topics — 1,183 comments total

Buddy Reads 2022

This topic has been closed to new comments.

* December Buddy Read Requests
By Patti and Deb… , The Dream Team · 21 posts · 111 views

last updated Nov 23, 2022 12:38PM

* Buddy Read 2022
By Patti and Deb… , The Dream Team · 13 posts · 328 views

last updated Nov 25, 2022 11:46AM

showing 9 of 9 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Dec 16, 2021 Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, lgbt, 2021, f-f, was-expecting-more, 3-stars, fantasy, historical, nothing-but-hype, borrowed-from-library

3 stars. Gorgeous writing but I will admit that I was not that engaged with this story as I was hoping to be. I’ve heard nothing but such amazing things about this book and I guess I can see it but it was overhyped. I was mostly bored while reading this even though there were some points that I found entertaining. It just felt inconsistent with the pacing. The characters were fine but again, I had a difficult time getting attached to any of them so I didn’t really care. This was fine but I think ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Feb 18, 2022 Lauren Stoolfire rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbt, historical-fiction, audiobook, popsugar-2022, fantasy

She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor #1) by Shelley Parker-Chan was very, very nearly a five star book. It's one of those books that I know I won't be able to do justice to, so instead I'm just going to tell you that you absolutely need to read this historical fantasy novel that has been compared to Mulan as soon as possible, especially the audiobook edition as Natalie Naudus is a fantastic narrator. I can't wait to see what's coming next in the upcoming the sequel! ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

May 11, 2022 Laura ☾ rated it really liked it

“Destroying what someone else cherished never brought back what you yourself had lost. All it did was spread grief like a contagion.”

Described in the blurb as Mulan meets the Song of Achilles - I don't really see the reference to the latter, and I feel like the former was more just the whole 'passing as a man' thing, but beyond that the similarities stop.

While I did enjoy this - I feel like it had a somewhat similar style to the Poppy War, however I feel like the characters were not quite as ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 06, 2023 Chris Kauzlarich rated it really liked it

What would you do to obtain the destiny of greatness? That is a question answered by Zhu Chongba as she takes the opportunity to become her brother after his death and change her fate from nothingness to that of the divine right of heaven.

At every twist and turn, I was enthralled by this story, from its Mulan-esque beginning as Zhu cloaks herself as a monk living among men and moves forward throughout the book, keeping that persona as she shifts from monk to commander to marriage and a complica ...more

Like · see review