This book is a fictionalized retelling of the rise of the Ming Dynasty, so it is like a more fun version of reading an actual history book. She Who Becomes the Sun focuses on a girl in 14th-century China who takes on the identity of her brother, Zhu, after her father and brother are killed. When the siblings were young, a prophet told the girl she was destined for nothingness. He told Zhu he was destined for greatness. In assuming Zhu’s identity, she hopes to assume his destiny, as well. Zhu keeps her head down and joins a monastery, where she grows into a young adult. For a while, there is only one other person who knows Zhu is a girl, her best friend Xu Da, but the two are separated after the monastery is burned down. The monastery is burned down by the other main character, Ouyang, who is a general of Mongol Prince Henan’s army. Throughout the book, there is a war between the current ruler, Prince Henan, and a rebel group, The Red Turbans. Zhu quickly becomes acquainted with the rebel group after she accidentally causes a landslide that takes out an entire royal army. 

The personality of Zhu is slightly confusing. She puts up a front that she is just a silly little monk who cracks jokes, but her narration is so serious and melodramatic that it is like reading about two different people. The main goal of Zhu throughout the first three-quarters of the book is to survive. This quickly gets boring since Zhu is safe at a monastery and then safe with the Red Turbans. Like, congratulations. You are alive. You have met your goal. There were a few exciting moments where Zhu was almost found out to be a girl or new characters were introduced, but mostly it was just boring. The most interesting aspect of Zhu’s character is her relationship with gender. Zhu believed that, by pretending to be her brother and taking his destiny, she was hiding from Heaven itself. This was a super interesting concept that heavily impacted the way Zhu thought. This was mostly because she tried to do, say, and even think the way her brother would have to trick Heaven. She tried to make herself believe she was the original Zhu so Heaven could not see her thoughts and take the destiny of greatness away. This led Zhu to some complicated feelings regarding her gender. She hated the weakness that came with being a woman, and heavily rejected her femininity, but it was ultimately her femininity that led her to a position of power. A great example of this is how every woman Zhu interacted with was either able to tell Zhu was a woman or had some inkling of that fact. As Zhu meets capable and powerful women --in their own right-- she begins to realize her femininity is something she can use to her advantage. 

The writing style ruins the book. She Who Became the Sun is so overwritten that it is difficult to understand. A frequent description of an emotion is that it is like someone was tugging on a string attached to Zhu’s liver. First of all, where even is the liver? Second of all, what emotion is supposed to be conveyed through that description? At times, the book is abstractly written, which makes it very distracting and hard to read. It is truly a struggle to try to decipher whether or not Ouyang is also a woman dressed as a man, a trans man, or has been castrated. Spoiler: it is the latter. Ouyang is just an annoying character all around. This impression is not even regarding his personality, but the way the author writes about him and how others interact with him feels so much like a self-insert. It is hard to enjoy Parker-Chan as an author after reading this novel. It is constantly referenced how he is so small, petite, and has a woman-like beauty. Basically, he is just the stereotype of a gay man including the undertones of misogyny.

She Who Became the Sun currently has 3.87 stars on GoodReads with just over 71k ratings. Another important note is that it was nominated for the 2021 Best Fantasy and the 2021 Best Debut Novel, which is funny, considering it should not be considered a fantasy or the best in any category ever. Clearly, many people enjoyed the book, including Goodreads reviewer Emma, who rated it five stars and wrote, “The novel's greatest power is in its unforgettable characters, each crafted with complexity and stunning individuality. Their authenticity flows from their refusal to be any one thing, each pursuing their own agenda, each brilliant and flawed in their own ways.” It is clearly a very thoughtfully written review, which just comes down to difference in taste. Books are subjective and what constitutes a great read is different for everybody. This again can be shown in the review section by Nicole, who rated it one star and wrote, “The main character was barely in the story. Zhu ended up with no personality... She never really faced any big disappointments.” Nicole is very much correct about Zhu barely being in the story but, of course, the personality discussion is up for debate. While the majority of people enjoyed She Who Became the Sun, it is clear it was never a Goodreads favorite.