Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Daughter of the Moon Goddess

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Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

36 reviews

melethwi's review against another edition

adventurous reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Overall review (spoiler free:)

Before I get into the review, I do want to say that I think this is a great fantasy book, especially considering the author says in her acknowledgments section that she had very little writing experience. I did enjoy this book, though at some points I felt lost and like I was dragging myself to keep reading.

I admit that I picked up this book because of the beautiful cover and title. The book did not disappoint, and the author showed her mastery of imagery in her beautifully elegant writing throughout the story (she has a really good vocabulary of great words, but has the tendency to repeat them to a point that is very noticeable..... I'm looking at you, "magnanimous.") This book was enchanting in its premise, and really dazzled me with the prose. I also really loved Xingyin as a leading lady. She was strong, smart, and reliable as a narrator.

Unfortunately, where this book lost stars with me was with the "romance." I did not feel particularly attached to any party, and most of the romantic development occurred "off-screen," so to speak. It felt like we were missing a whole book between a few of the chapters. For that reason, this book really failed to capture my attention for the first half because I was just trying to keep up. This could be explained by 99% of the characters being immortal and not really having a good sense of time, but the main relationship just felt really forced and then left me feeling really unsatisfied with the ending. I get that the author is setting up for a second book, but I was really hoping that after 500 pages of a book with "romantic" on the back cover, we would have a little more. :,(

Overall, I wouldn't let that deter you from reading this book. If you're a big fan of lush writing, of Chinese mythology, and VERY strong female leads, this book would be for you! Just... dampen your expectations for the romance, maybe?

More spoilery stuff:

For me, this book started off really fast. I barely had any time to get to know the characters before we were fully delving into the meat of the plot. We then met the main love interest, and their relationship took off really fast.

After a two-year time skip,</> our main guy and girl had basically established their entire relationship off-screen. I feel like I didn't know the main guy at all, and didn't find the budding romance very convincing at all, as we went from barely knowing each other to being head over heels in just a few pages.

I got really interested again when

Wenzhi, the second love interest

came along, but unfortunately, he had even less chemistry and word count dedicated to relationship building with Xingyin than the other guy. His character felt very flat and unconvincing, and then

he was suddenly in love with Xingyin and asking her to marry him and have his kids or something??? I was also incredibly disappointed when he turned out to be ~evil~ because I felt that Xingyin would have a better story with him. His arc felt really forced and completely out of nowhere, almost like a late addition.

I also felt like the reunion with Xingyin and her mother was a little bit anticlimactic... Though I am very happy they got reunited!!!

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momma_needs_to_read's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I absolutely loved this book! This is such a beautiful story. It’s the perfect combination of fantasy, romance and action. I loved all the Chinese mythology, it was so fun and interesting to read about. This book is also full of magic, which is a huge selling point for me. I love magical books and this was exactly what I wanted.

The writing of this was done fantastically. I felt like I could close my eyes and see exactly what she wanted us to envision. The characters were also so well written and developed throughout the story. Xingyin is such a fierce badass, not only because of the way she always fights for what she believes in and never gives up hope of helping her mother, but because she literally went from nothing to becoming a phenomenal warrior all through incredibly hard and exhausting work. Her personal character development was amazing. I was very torn over her romances. I won’t spoil anything but I will say I have a clear favourite who I want her to be with.

This is definitely a story of love. Love of a mother. Love of a daughter. First loves. New loves. From the very beginning, you know, this is a story driven by love. What Xingyin is doing for her mother and what her mother did for her.

I definitely recommend this book. If you love Chinese mythology, or any mythology, a friends-to-lovers-to-enemies trope, or a fierce female warrior and magic, this book is for you!

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samchase112's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

3.5

This vivid fantasy is the definition of a whirlwind! It raced through (and I mean raced) Xingyin’s development from naive teenager to confident, powerful warrior. Her transformation was wonderful to witness, but I wish time was allowed to stop down and explore how she was feeling in each moment, and what built the changes to her character — not just the big moments that define her life, but the little things that made her who she is by the end of the book. I’ve seen many comparisons to Chinese historical dramas, and that definitely tracks. I enjoyed the adventure, romance, coming of age, and incredibly well-done world building — and flipping the pages became compulsive — yet I’m also still reeling a bit by how fast everything happened. All that to be said...I’m looking forward to book 2 to discover how Xingyin’s story wraps up!

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clairew97's review against another edition

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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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ong's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

Reading this feels like reading poetry. How Sue Lynn Tan describes everything is just 100/10 spectacular beautiful amazing stunning. As one of chinese descent, it’s nice to finally read a fantasy book with familiar lores. From the tales to the food, the dresses and action scenes which I can easily picture in my head from years of watching asian dramas, my heart was filled with warmth the entire time.
Now onto the characters. Xingyin. Our 小星。At first so untouched by the realities of the cruel world out there, now a warrior, survivor, savior and more. Very in theme too that she was never shown what healthy love & relationships looks like so when she was thrown in a ‘love triangle’ she couldn’t made up her mind ever and felt unworthy.
Liwei. What can I say. 10/10 best of all of us.
Fuck people in power by the way.

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asahome's review against another edition

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3.75

To free her mother, a woman challenges societal expectations while two men fight for her love because she's the most awesomest ever.

I love learning about new cultures and mythology. It makes my little heart pitter patter. This world was rich and beautiful, full of complex structures and breathtaking imagery. I loved that she fought for everything she had both with her strength and her strength of character.

I was surprised to find I enjoyed the main character as is frequently not the case with first person narratives, especially from a female perspective. While she was arrogant/naive at times, she tried to be honorable in every way she could. I especially enjoyed the way she honed her skills and took advantage of every opportunity she could to advance herself without stepping on others. I felt for her when she was betrayed by her love. I rooted for her in battle and laughed with her as she played with her friends.

I also enjoyed her love interests. They weren't ridiculous in courting her nor overly solicitous as if she was incapable. They respected her wishes and supported her decisions. They sought her guidance and asked rather than demanded. Each relationship was allowed space to blossom and, while not liking each other, the men never got in a direct pissing match.

I cannot say which one I preferred as at times they both betrayed her and stood for her when she needed it.

Content Warnings by Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan - Book Trigger Warnings

I was disheartened when her second love was willing to sacrifice their love to enslave the dragons. I don't know how to spell the names of the characters because it was an audiobook, but I thought she could be free of her ill-fated love for the Celestial Prince and be happy with the Cloud Prince. The resolution to the dragons' problem was genius though she paid a steep price for it.

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