Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

86 reviews

magicalb1tch's review against another edition

Go to review page

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. 
-----
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. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

leadabird's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious fast-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

4.75

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

literarianrose's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous fast-paced

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

k_fry's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

If I had to pick one word to describe this book it would be “lush”. Tan does an amazing job of bringing the glittering richness of the immortal realm to life without bogging down the story with extraneous description. 

There were a couple of predictable plot points and character types, which I think is because it followed a similar tale to any major YA fantasy produced recently, but overall was done so well I didn’t mind. Even though some things have been done before, it felt fresh in this book because so much else was uniquely done.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

chase0w0's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional inspiring tense 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nclausel25's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-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

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

kaneebli's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

this book made me so angry
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

melist6's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional 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

4.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

riverrliam's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny inspiring reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I was thoroughly entertained! I love a badass, female warrior. I loved Xingyin and her growth throughout the book. There was adventure, romance (including a messy triangle), grief, friendship, and magic. The author does a great job with visual descriptions and the scenery is often jaw droppingly beautiful. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lucyatoz's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Xingyin is the daughter of the Moon Goddess Chang'e and has grown up on the moon with Ping'er', her mother's attendant, for company. However, she finds herself needing to flee from her moonlit world to that of the Celestial Emperor and Empress, their immortal enemies. First she becomes a servant in a noble family's household, where she is ostracised until she meets a young man. Xingyin has the opportunity to learn alongside him, inside the Celestial Palace, as companion to Prince Liwei. This starts her journey back to her mother, though not before she masters archery and becomes the First Archer in Captain Wenzhi's army, finding herself in many battles, and then embarks on her most perilous quest, to gain the pearls of the Four Dragons for the Celestial Emperor which will she her mother freed from her imprisonment. 

I borrowed a copy of this novel from my local library and listened to it on cloudLibrary. I read this for prompt 15, part of a duology, for the 52 Book Club Reading Challenge 2024.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings