I thought She Who Became the Sun was dark and grim, this was even more oppressive, hopeless, violent and horrifying.

While the characters in He Who Drowned the World, are the same as its previous book, but their characters here are more three dimensional and compelling, each with their own complexity and depth, especially the three main ones.

Zhu Yuanzhang(now the Radiant King), still fighting for the throne, her place, against everyone and against the odds stacked up against her: I don't want to be great, Zhu repeated. Her desire was the radiance of the sun, an immensity that filled every part of her without exception. Who else understood what it was to feel something of this magnitude; to want something with the entirety of their self, as she did? "I want to be the greatest.

General Ouyang, heads deep in executing his blood revenge, in pain, and not wanting to live anymore, his waken body only propelled forward by the desire of revenge before ending it all; Since Esen's death there was never a moment without pain. Under every breath, he felt an unbearable throb of grief rending the qi that knitted his spirit to his flesh and bones and organs, so it felt like the very fabric of himself was being wrenched apart.

Wang Baoxiang: the disgraced Prince, who tried to find his place to belong, but scorned for simply being who he is, in the end just gave up and want to watch the world burn;
"They all look at me and see the worst thing they can possibly imagine. An embarrassment. A mockery of everything Mongols value. But they have no idea how much worse I'm going to be."

In this book, a slow ride to the conclusion, we see the consequences and sufferings of wanting something, and if the suffering is worth it. We are tortured by the moralities of our characters, their decisions, despair, how they break inside, the ghosts that haunts and torments them, and how every action they made takes a part of their humanity away.

I realised that while reading, there is no one to root for, but just to sit and watch the story unfolds itself. The author did such an excellent job, that even when I had about 10 minutes left in my kindle for the book to end, the story is not yet wrapped and tied at all, still keeping me on my toes guessing with bated breath because anything could have happened.

The part I enjoyed most in this book was the dynamic that Zhu and Ouyang shared, not enemies to friends, but enemies to temporary allies in pursuit of the same goal, although it is short lived. Perhaps in another life, both of them could've had real friendship.
For the sake of what he wanted, he'd been prepared to do anything. To give not just anything, but everything. Like me, Zhu thought. The rush of recognition was so strong that she shuddered. She's always known she and Ouyang were alike. But now the truth vibrated not only within her flesh, but the currents of her qi: here was the person who was the most like her in the entire world.

This is an excellent duology, as depressing as it is, but the story was weaved expertly, alternating between POVs, each chapter giving us glimpses inside each characters' minds. It's depressing yes, dark and grim, with loads of trigger warnings, the struggles of being queer in a society that rejects being different; all of that made this story felt real. The characters felt alive and solid.
The ending is not what I was expecting, but somehow I was expecting it. It wasn't a good one, it wasn't a bad one, it's simply just an ending.
Her triumph was muted by sorrow, for everything that had been given and lost for this moment.

It's a brilliant queer historical fantasy, and I can't give anything short of five stars for both books.