Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

15 reviews

natashalg's review against another edition

adventurous emotional relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

It feels as though everything happens in the last half of the book, but otherwise I really enjoyed the story and characters. The ending is satisfying, but leaves room for the sequel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, and Classism

Moderate: Physical abuse and War

Minor: Bullying, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Torture

magicalb1tch's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 TLDR; Mostly good pacing, improvement of some common tropes, refreshing heroine that is fierce and compassionate, and world building that is beautiful and illustrative. 

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Tan’s duology takes place in the Chinese depiction of heaven, where Immortals dwell separated from the Mortal realm. I don’t personally know much of anything about Chinese mythology, so I was really excited to get such a beautiful, intricately woven image of this world through the authors illustrative descriptions. By chapter 4 I was like, I need a comic version of this story. I need to see this world in full color! Imagining an entire series illustrated like the cover art sounds amazing to me.

Anyway, for the storyline we are following the life of Xingyin, the secret daughter of the Moon Goddess Chang’e. It starts off a bit cliche in that she’s chased away from the safety of her home and into enemy territory, but I do feel that our heroine’s drive and personality make her so much more than the typical “deposed princess” trope, and I do feel that the unique world building does elevate some of the other tropes used as well.

As someone who gets really, really frustrated by the “Advances Quicker Than Everyone Else” trope, the pacing for this book is really well executed. Our main characters do not progress solely because they are main characters, they’re actually working tirelessly every day for years to get to where they are, and they are trained by professionals with hundreds of years of experience (literally). Yes, their ability to access magic also helps them, but they struggle to learn that effectively as well. The timeline is well balanced in that some months just pass right by in the story, much like how real life is, and it removes the pressure of the story to invent interesting things to happen every week and then feel forced. The romantic plot in this book advances in a similarly slow, realistic pace that isn’t overdramatized.

I don’t want to spoil too much about Xingyin, but she is a fierce and sincere character who fights for herself while still showing compassion to others, even Mortals who some would see as “beneath” her. She wants to be her own champion, and live up to her own ideals. I think she’s a really beautiful character to follow in the narrative. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, Violence, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Sexual harassment, and Classism

polaris1117's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Kidnapping and War

Minor: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

lizboyce's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I really enjoyed this story. I have not interacted much with Chinese mythology and was captivated by this story and world. You follow the main character’s hero’s journey as she navigates tricky politics, love, friendship, and even betrayal. 

At times it was a bit slow but the pacing picks up at the end. There was a twist I didn’t see coming at all, which is always a fun feeling. Overall I would recommend this book and did quite enjoy reading it. The only reason I did not give it a full 5 stars is because I think to fully appreciate the story, you should enter in with some background knowledge of the myths this book is based on. I had to stop more than once to google certain myths so I could better follow what was happening. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Misogyny, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

weareinheritors's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is a very YA book, for decent and for worse.

The world and descriptions of locales and some people are great, I really would've loved to see more. I also liked the magic and, of course, always love me some

dragons

.

The plot feels rushed and a little too easily resolved, but intriguing all the same. I don't like how *easy* it was to resolve a lot of long-standing worldbuilding issues (

dragon pearls, really?!

). Like, I expect a little Mary Sue-ness in a YA novel, that's fine, but it was too easy for the MC. And there is ittle to no character growth, especially for the MC.

 I really didn't care for any of the main characters (Shuxiao is a real one, though. I want more of her, please). The sorta-kinda rebound love "triangle" almost made me DNF (specifically the

West Lake Inn and godawful shared room, one bed trope 🤮—that thankfully didn't follow through

). 

I'll read the sequel for the worldbuilding, but I'm not rushing into it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

amandaboyer's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

lusheeta_toel's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I really enjoyed how strong, women were central to the story, and appreciated that the romance was not the primary focus. Great imagery and provoking characters and situations as well. A lot of twists and turns which was fun, but sometimes made the events less impactful. Overall, I enjoyed!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Misogyny, Racism, Violence, War, and Classism

taroroot's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

i really liked the descriptions of setting and the battle scenes however, i was mildly annoyed with Xingyin's actions especially in the first 2/3rds of the book. the writing felt very ya at some parts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Misogyny

bea_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, War, and Classism

clairew97's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Confinement, Misogyny, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Classism