She Who Became the Sun was one of my most anticipated releases of 2022 and it far surpassed my excitement. I love so much about this book – the writing, the character development, the exploration of gender and sexuality. Set in the mid-1300s, the later years of the Mongol-ruled Yuan Dynasty of China, focusing particularly on the Red Turban Rebellions, the novel follows two storylines – that of Zhu Chongba, who was assigned female at birth and takes on her brother’s identity at a young age in order to claim the greatness predicted for him, and that of Ouyang, a eunuch general in the Yuan army who carries complex motivations of his own. It is a heavy read, full of political machinations and strategies and manoeuvring as well as reflections on identity, fate, desire, and power. I will say that this book reads much more as historical fiction to me – it is thoroughly researched and many characters and events in the book have a historical basis – than fantasy; the fantasy elements in the book consist of the Mandate of Heaven, ghosts, and dynamics of preordained destiny. I very highly recommend this novel + am thrilled that it is the first part of a duology.