Good morning, evening, afternoon, or night wherever you might be! Today’s Tea of choice is Cherry Blossom white tea by David’s Tea. It’s currently not in season, I stocked up when it went on clearance this spring. But it is amazing and definitely one of my current favorites.
I finished She who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan, and oof! Was it good. If you enjoy political, battles, underdogs, and sneakiness this one is for you! We follow a young girl, who after her father and brother are killed assumes her brother’s name and fate. She crawls from the bottom of society to the top (without giving any spoilers for the last half of the book). We see the LGTBQIA+ aspect of history explored in this book! And as a person with a Bachelor’s in History, people have been gay for a long time and it’s just been written out of highly circulated history. Ma is probably my favorite character out of all of them and she marries Zhu (remember the young girl from earlier, this is her) and with Ma’s caring and Zhu’s willingness to do what ever is required to make sure she lives her brother’s fate. They conquer the world.
Now on the flip side of it, I found it a little slow to get into. It wasn’t until Zhu left the monastery that I really started to be sucked into the story. But I also tend to lean towards books that have a lot of action in the first 3rd of the book, then slow down a little, and final race to the finish. So I am 100% saying that the slowness to get into it was on me and probably not the book. And with this being Parker-Chan’s debut novel, good lord was it good!
If it has been on your radar and you have just been wondering if the bookternet has been overhyping it. I don’t think so, I think it is definitely worth picking up and exploring the amazing Asian inspired fantasy world that Parker-Chan has built.
Till next time Book and Tea Lovers!
Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn's Literary Teahouse 