Veronica

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Veronica is Currently Reading

Veronica is currently reading

The Witch Below the Dreaming Wood

by H.G. Parry (Goodreads Author)

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(page 40 of 448)
— Aug 09, 2026 12:16PM

Aug 08, 2026 02:10PM

Veronica is currently reading

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

by Shelley Parker-Chan (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in August 2021

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Veronica said: " "What someone is means nothing about what kind of person they are. Truth is in actions."

She who Became the Sun was one of my most anticipated releases of 2021. A political military fantasy in which a girl takes the reigns to become more than the n "What someone is means nothing about what kind of person they are. Truth is in actions."

She who Became the Sun was one of my most anticipated releases of 2021. A political military fantasy in which a girl takes the reigns to become more than the nothing fate has decided for her.

I'm going to start this off by saying that I do believe that I significantly overhyped myself for this story. That's not to say it was bad in any sense, I just put too many expectations on it before I really dove into it. The catchphrase "Mulan meets The Song of Achilles" really got me. While I do see the inspiration drawn from both of these comparisons, I would say it leans more towards a queer Mulan retelling and less SoA tragedy. She who Became the Sun creates its own tragedy and I was not expecting it. A sacrifice was made, and it made me so sad for this character. We won't go into that though. It's a sorrow that you should discover on your own.

What I enjoyed:
- I love when military strategy is clever and that is something SWBTS offers.
- The exploration of gender and how one might discover themselves breaking free from the molds others have already created for them.
- The determination to survive. Zhu was cunning, passionate, and would let nothing get in the way of reaching the destiny she so desired.
- Ouyang. Just everything about Ouyang. My favorite character.
- The found family that Zhu was able to be a part of.

What took some of the enjoyment away:
- The pacing. I loved the pacing in part one. I thought there was a lot of character development happening and did not feel lost with where the story was going. Being at the temple with the monks pulled me into the story completely. Then part two started and I felt kind of lost and thrown into something without much direction. Part two dragged the most for me and I got a little confused at some points with timeline jumps and character switches. After part two though, the story picked up again and I felt like I could finally grasp what was happening.

Aside from the pacing, I feel like this author created a beautiful story. I would definitely recommend this and think it would be worth the read if you are in the mood for a military adult fantasy.

Shelley Parker-Chan did create a post under the reviews for this book listing all of the trigger warnings. Please be sure to check those out if you do plan on reading this. ...more "

progress:

(63%)
— Aug 10, 2026 06:53PM

Nov 18, 2021 07:04AM · see review