Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


The Outsiders

She Who Became the Sun: The Radiant Emperor Duology Book One by Shelley Parker-Chan

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Beginning in 1340s China, She Who Became the Sun opens with a 10 year old girl, never named, living in utter poverty in a small village. She has already lost her mother and several siblings to starvation. The girl, her father and an older brother named Zhu are the only survivors. Zhu was meant to be sent to a monastery when he was old enough, and a fortune teller predicted greatness for him, but for the little girl he predicted, literally, nothing. Yet the girl […]

‘I claim my place. And if the pattern of the world refuses to let that place exist, I will change it. ‘

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

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There will be spoilers from She Who Became the Sun here, be warned.  He Who Drowned the World was one of my more anticipated reads this year, and Emmalita was so very kind and sent me a copy. So, I owe it to squeeze this review in before the year’s end.  She Who Became the Sun was an absolutely fantastic book that really put Shelly Parker-Chan on the map. But it was also a book that was eager to give you a gut punch. Or […]

Getting caught up on reviews

Frankenstein, or: The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

The Sunset Limited by Cormac McCarthy

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Frankenstein, or: The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley (5 stars) As I slowly make way through books most of you read in grade school, I’m learning that these books have staying power for a reason. I’ve liked the vast majority of them. Sometimes, I don’t know how I made it through school without having read them before, but my ability to avoid school work should never be underestimated. This book was phenomenal. Melodramatic, and the prose, though beautiful, was a bit antiquated and florid, but […]

Willpower alone won’t guarantee survival.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

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Shelley Parker-Chan and Natalie Naudus (narrator) kicked my head in with She Who Became the Sun. It took a bit to get into the book, listening for 20 minutes here and there, but by the time I hit the 3 hour mark I had a hard time stopping so that I could sleep, and even then I dreamed about Zhu Chongba, General Ouyang, and Ma Xiuying (I am reliant on Wikipedia for spellings because I don’t have the text). The unnamed girl who takes over […]

I’ll make a man out of myself (Bingo!)

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

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CBR14 Bingo: Star (Zhu might be described as something of a rising star within the Chinese power structure of the day, and also the sun is literally a star. I’m so very clever). Back in the 14th Century, the Mongols had conquered and ruled Imperial China. In a small village, drought and famine have killed the majority of the population. A nameless girl (one of the few children left in the village) has managed to stay alive thanks to her ingenuity. When her older brother, […]

No One to Really Root For but It’s Still Somehow Pretty Good

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

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She Who Became the Sun definitely lived up to the hype; the characters are interesting and complex, and there is plenty of action and plot. What bothered me was that there was really only one character who stood up for general human decency, not just “I must take charge of my destiny no matter what I have to do (including murdering innocent people and not so innocent people)”. The basic premise is pretty well known already: in a quasi historical early medieval China, a nameless […]



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