Welcome to Litsy!

This is a book I admired more than enjoyed. There is a lot of political maneuvering and military battles, almost all of the characters are decidedly morally grey, and there isn't a strong focus on personal relationships or character. The 14th century Chinese setting, with a touch of speculative edge, is majestically rendered. Overall, an excellent book, but not a book for me. It is very queer though, even if you have to wait a bit for some action!

This feels mostly like historical fiction so far, with just a note of the speculative (the main character can see ghosts), so I'm not having any trouble at all figuring out the world reading the audiobook. Phew! I am finding the story quite propulsive and I'm interested to see how Zhu develops as a self-interested survivor kind of character. I'm also wondering how living as a boy might affect her gender... #Fantasy #QueerBooks

Fantasy and science fiction are hit or miss for me on audio since I sometimes have trouble learning a new world in that format. Has anyone else read this already and have any insight? Would this book be hard to orient to as an #audiobook? I don't have much time for print books these days since I have a newborn and a toddler at home!

Zhu is destined for greatness and she will do anything to reach her goals as she moved from near-starvation, living as a monk, joining the rebels, and commanding forces to drive the Mongols out of China.

It‘s a beautifully written book and the internal struggles of gender identity were great. I‘m not a huge fan of morally gray characters and they abound in this book.

Saturday shenanigans. So far so good. I'm listening to an audiobook version while I stitch. 🪡

#LitsyCrafters #currentlyreading

4/5 ⭐️ While I thought this book was beautifully written, the first 2/3 were really slow for me. The last 1/3 was fantastic though! I do wish the fantasy aspect was more evenly spread throughout the book, but still wonderful historical fiction. I heard the sequel is quite dark so I'm probably going to wait a bit to pick that one up.
#FoodandLit China 🇨🇳

Absolutely loved this! It is very much a war epic with complicated characters and plots within plots.

Though there is a fantasy element I would place this as historical fiction over fantasy. It covers Zhu Yuanzhang's rise to power in 14th century China and the eventual establishment of the Ming Dynasty.

This is a bail for now. This has been on and off my TBR since it came out. I finally picked it up and I am so lost! Every time a character is introduced or the perspective changes I‘m not sure who they are.

So I‘m going to try again in print and I think that‘ll help! Since I‘m enjoying the story but it‘s character overload for me.

Had to begrudgingly run up to work on a Sunday. Decided to use it as an excuse to *just browse* for new books at the new-ish bookstore on the street. Found two books on my TBR. Decided to use "supporting a fellow small business" as an excuse to purchase them. ??‍♀️? #noshelfcontrol #bookhaul

What the hecking heck was that?! I think I may be a little traumatized! How do I move on past this? I‘m not anywhere near ready to read the next book but….. huh?

I want to say I love this book, esp since it ticked so many of my kinks, but it fell a bit flat

I love Zhu and everything she does in order to get what she desires. She's very creative and sees the opportunities in everything, while also sowing loyalty. But she also knows what must be done and is willing to do terrible things. I also liked getting into the heads of the other characters and the #queer dynamics in all the MCs was very interesting

A historical fantasy that follows one persons desire and journey to greatness in 1300s China. Heavy themes of fate, desire and what people will do for what they want with a sprinkle of LGBTQ vibes. I enjoyed this book, but I think I would have liked it more as a physical book over an audiobook. Still a pick and I look forward to reading more books by this author!

I‘m finding this is a hard book for me on audio. I wasn‘t ready for the changing POV and time jumps. Honestly I‘m not good with numbers so the time jumps might have been mitigated if I was, but I always look back as I‘m reading a book with dated time jumps to see exactly how much time has passed. I‘m going to keep listening but might bail in favor of reading a physical copy in the future one day.

Starting my next audiobook! Crazy to think just a couple years ago I‘d never consider audiobooks and now it‘s the main way I get my reading done!
Looking forward to the potential feminist vibes. There‘s already been some lines I want to highlight (the downside of audio 😭) so I think if I really like it I‘ll buy a physical copy to annotate.

So far so interesting! It reads a lot like The Poppy Wars in that we're following a girl in China who aspires to achieve greatness, except that in this book it comes at the loss of her being. Loving all the queer vibes, not just from the MC but also the potential antagonist? But I'm esp curious about the history behind this book and others like it. Perhaps I'll be picking up a book on Chinese history soon? Hmm

Lost me at the teapot.

Rebel. Warrior. Hero.🐉

Cleocatra approves, as long as she gets fed.✨

#holidayvibes #exploremore

A friend brought me this as a gift - excited to start it!

Not getting into this one, I may come back to it eventually but dnf for now. But another book off my #Novembertbr and another bingo for #bookspinbingo
#NovelNovember

Here are some choices for #LMPBC #Round16 #GroupF

I tried to keep them under 400 pages, but I think there are a few slightly longer. It‘s hard to have a short fantasy!

Let me know if any of these appeal to you more or if hate them all! 😁 All tagged below.

Loved this book. A fascinating historical fiction where the gender change of Zhu really ups the stakes. Frequently the author takes big risks, having Zhu do objectively monstrous or unlikeable things. Yet this is the novels biggest strength, allowing Zhu to be Zhu in all her unrelenting glory makes her all the more compelling. Zhu is the star of this book but all the other characters are also deeply developed and utterly fascinating.

A truly brilliant piece of writing. Just like The Poppy War by R F Kuang, this fantasy gave me a refreshing experience of the genre.

I also appreciated that the story doesn't solely focus on our main character but also other characters with stories that I loved and want to see more of.

This Mulan retelling does a great job exploring queer desire in ancient China. The story was captivating from the beginning and the characterization was superb. 100% recommend this one.

If I read mostly for plot, I might‘ve loved Shelley Parker-Chan‘s debut. Since I read mostly for character, I‘m beyond disappointed. I never got much sense of who any of these characters truly WAS or what they meant to one another, which made it tough to care about any of the twists and betrayals that should‘ve entranced and destroyed me. I did plow on through to the end, but I wish I‘d bailed somewhere south of page 100 and saved myself this woe.

I‘m about 130 pages from the end of SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN, and I‘ve gotta face the truth: I like the idea of it way more than I like the thing itself. In theory, I‘m all over what Parker-Chan‘s doing here. In practice, I haven‘t become invested in any of the characters and I don‘t love either the world or the prose style enough to compensate for that.

So, I‘m bummed. I‘ll probably finish it, but that‘s all I can say. 😔

I made roasted broccoli risotto this afternoon. It was delish, provided you‘re into broccoli. Now I‘m gonna see if I can sink into SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN.

Shelley Parker-Chan exhibits beautiful prose and brilliant worldbuilding in this epic military historical fantasy full of war, politics, conniving court intrigue, complex characters, and an engrossing plot. Zhu is a powerful queer anti-hero, and I loved the Zhu and Ouyang foiling. The story is full of terrible people doing terrible things, but they're on fire with life. They burn, they desire, they suffer, and because of that, they make history.

This week‘s library haul features a Hugo nominee, a cookbook, a Jenny Colgan novel that‘s finally been released in Canada, and a goodly number of comics.

Got this for just Q9 in Scotland! I‘ve read stories about a woman pretending to be a man to get by, but this book is about a trans man and gender identity - Zhu Chongba becomes a man to earn a great fate, and she goes through many monologues about her gender and how she feels about it. The plot and characters were good, but I didn‘t get the “can‘t put it down feeling” from it. This is the first trans book I‘ve read, and I think I learned from it.

The vibe of this cover completely caught me and so I bought it not knowing pretty much anything about it. It doesn't even have a proper blurb on the back, just author testimonials. Once I looked it up I found out it is the 1st in a duology. This is a reimagining of the rise to power of the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor. It sounds fantastic.

This alternate-history fantasy novel set in 14th-century China was nominated for the 2022 Hugo Best Novel award. A gripping story that explores the theme of gender identity.
#hugo2022 #hugoawards

10.5 hours so far for the #20in4 readathon, with just a little bit more time to go. @Andrew65

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Zhu is one of the most determined and creative heroes I‘ve read. At an early age, her future was to be nothing while her brother‘s was to be great. Zhu takes on her brother‘s name, and hopefully his fate, after an attack kills her family. From an orphan to monk to warrior, Zhu keeps her eyes set on a goal of greatness no matter the cost.

March #bookspin is complete!
Halfway through the #HugoAward finalists list.

Summer Solstice is just behind us, and it‘s time to share my Spring Reads! This spring has been a fairly even mixture of triumphs and challenges for me, so maybe that‘s why I felt drawn to fiction titles which all contain personal reckoning for the MCs. So here‘s a selection of the novels I most enjoyed (and/or wept over). And thanks to my super rad book club friends who recommended some of these excellent titles (credits below)!

Pride Month: Day Twelve! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

This is another one of my favorite reads from last year! I absolutely adored this book about a young woman who steals her brother's identity after his death in order to carve a name for herself! It's truly excellent! 💕📚

#pridemonth #queerbooks #lgbtq

What a sprawling and unexpected epic journey this was. Zhu‘s tale is equal parts breathtaking, persevering, and tragic. Definitely recommend.

War epics are not my cup of tea, but if they're yours you might enjoy this one! Set in ancient China and packed with destiny, epic battles, political intrigue, betrayal, the occasional ghost, and clashes between Chinese and Mongol powers, this book tells the epic story of a girl who didn't starve to death claiming a name and destiny that might not have been hers. #HistoricalFiction #China #AsianHistory #LGBTQ

Knowing the cause of their suffering, the peasants cursed their barbarian emporer in his distant capital in the north. As with any two like things connected by a thread of qi, whereby the actions of one influence the other even at a distance, so an emporer's worthiness determines the fate of the land he rules.

While reading this book, I was quite sure that my final rating for it would be three stars, however, the last few chapters left me speechless and unable to put the book down, hence the higher rating. I really liked the setting of this book but most of all, I loved the writing style and the way it was written. (I am also just a sucker for historical fiction in general, and this did not disappoint)
4⭐️

“Even the most shining future, if desired, will have suffering as its heart.”

The bonfires and drums roared all night long. It was the voice of the end of the world—or perhaps the new one, already come.

Understanding fire doesn‘t mean it can‘t still burn you.

“But that‘s the difference between us. Nobody expected anything of me. Nobody ever cherished me.”
To Zhu‘s surprise, the acknowledgment left her feeling lightened. It had never occurred to her how much strength she was expending on the effort to believe herself someone else. She realized: He‘s made my path harder, but without knowing it he‘s made me stronger—
After a long pause Ma said, low, “I cherish you.”

“Let me tell you my name: Zhu Chongba.”
He answered coolly, “Should I know it?”
“One day you will,” she said, and drew her sword.

Don‘t look down as you‘re flying, or you‘ll realize the impossibility of it and fall.