K.J. Charles's Reviews > She Who Became the Sun

Absolutely tremendous alt-historical epic with a touch of magic. A nameless unwanted peasant girl takes on her dead brother's name to become a monk, a warrior, a leader. Tremendous sweep and narrative drive with a beautifully drawn cast, especially the profoundly fucked-up eunuch general Ouyang, who is heartbreaking, and a lot of pure rage at patriarchy and misogyny, and a great deal on what power really means, and is worth, and is for. I should have waited to read this before doing my Best of 2021 book list: it would have been on it. A barnstormer.