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unknownportrait's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Something about this book gripped me from the start and pulled me along until the very end. It’s not often that I can spend hours reading to no end, which is what this book enabled me to do - reading on my balcony until the sky turned dark and into the late hours of the night. The feeling is indescribable and exactly what I long for in a book.
The worldbuilding, secret identities, and many colourful personalities and characters complimented with subtle prose, made for a beautiful read.
I look forward to the second novel of this debut duology, which I will definitely start tonight. :)
The worldbuilding, secret identities, and many colourful personalities and characters complimented with subtle prose, made for a beautiful read.
I look forward to the second novel of this debut duology, which I will definitely start tonight. :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death
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.
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.
-----
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.
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.
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
leadabird's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and War
spicycronereads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This fantasy book is deeply steeped in Chinese mythology.
FMC Xingyin is the immortal daughter of the moon goddess and an mortal heroic archer. Her mother is trapped in the celestial territory of the moon due to having offended the emperor of the celestial realm. The novel is Xingyin’s quest to free her mother. It takes place over a traditional, four-part east Asian style storytelling structure, where you have the introduction, development, twist, and then conclusion. So the pacing was a little different from the western fantasy structure that I read more of. Things that I kept expecting to be parts of the quest that would take the duration of the novel and take us even into the second part of the duology were actually resolved fairly quickly. It was kind of refreshing from an angst point of view.
Themes of being the chosen one, found family, and self-love and sacrifice resonate across cultural differences in storytelling style. There are lots of mythical adversaries and action sequences to keep your interest piqued. There are interesting secondary characters. And seeing Xingyin develop into a bad*ss warrior is a lot of fun.
This is a fantasy romance and so we do have a love triangle between Xingyin, and two male characters, Liwei and Wenzhi. I usually hate a love triangle. But I didn’t mind it so much here. I’m still not certain it’s resolved. Especially after I went back and looked over my notes from the earlier part of the book and although it ends with what seems like a clear choice, I’m not convinced we’ve seen the last of the other suitor.
It did take quite a while before we got to anything even resembling a romance plot. And I have to admit it didn’t seem like a slow burn so much as a friendship that suddenly erupted into love. Maybe it’s because Xingyin was not picking up on the signs of the love interest, but for me, it kind of came out of left field. From then on there are many swoony moments, including Xingyin’s journey to self-love. 💖💖💖
Normally, in these reviews, I talk about diversity. But that’s a little bit complicated here. By the strictest definition of diversity, the novel is not all that diverse. The characters are all of one race and they are all cis gendered and hetero. They all even come from relatively high class stations. However, the novel does feature mythology and characters (written by an author who is) underrepresented in popular fantasy in the U.S. So while it does not meet the definition of diversity in the strictest sense of the word, it definitely ticks a lot of boxes in the spirit of diverse representation about which I am usually writing.
Oh, and did I mention there are dragons? There are dragons! They play a relatively small role, but they are there all the same.
Overall, it took me a little while to get into this, but once it picked up, I really was hooked. I will definitely be reading the next installment in the duology. And luckily it’s completed so I don’t have to wait! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 / 💖💖💖
FMC Xingyin is the immortal daughter of the moon goddess and an mortal heroic archer. Her mother is trapped in the celestial territory of the moon due to having offended the emperor of the celestial realm. The novel is Xingyin’s quest to free her mother. It takes place over a traditional, four-part east Asian style storytelling structure, where you have the introduction, development, twist, and then conclusion. So the pacing was a little different from the western fantasy structure that I read more of. Things that I kept expecting to be parts of the quest that would take the duration of the novel and take us even into the second part of the duology were actually resolved fairly quickly. It was kind of refreshing from an angst point of view.
Themes of being the chosen one, found family, and self-love and sacrifice resonate across cultural differences in storytelling style. There are lots of mythical adversaries and action sequences to keep your interest piqued. There are interesting secondary characters. And seeing Xingyin develop into a bad*ss warrior is a lot of fun.
This is a fantasy romance and so we do have a love triangle between Xingyin, and two male characters, Liwei and Wenzhi. I usually hate a love triangle. But I didn’t mind it so much here. I’m still not certain it’s resolved. Especially after I went back and looked over my notes from the earlier part of the book and although it ends with what seems like a clear choice, I’m not convinced we’ve seen the last of the other suitor.
It did take quite a while before we got to anything even resembling a romance plot. And I have to admit it didn’t seem like a slow burn so much as a friendship that suddenly erupted into love. Maybe it’s because Xingyin was not picking up on the signs of the love interest, but for me, it kind of came out of left field. From then on there are many swoony moments, including Xingyin’s journey to self-love. 💖💖💖
Normally, in these reviews, I talk about diversity. But that’s a little bit complicated here. By the strictest definition of diversity, the novel is not all that diverse. The characters are all of one race and they are all cis gendered and hetero. They all even come from relatively high class stations. However, the novel does feature mythology and characters (written by an author who is) underrepresented in popular fantasy in the U.S. So while it does not meet the definition of diversity in the strictest sense of the word, it definitely ticks a lot of boxes in the spirit of diverse representation about which I am usually writing.
Oh, and did I mention there are dragons? There are dragons! They play a relatively small role, but they are there all the same.
Overall, it took me a little while to get into this, but once it picked up, I really was hooked. I will definitely be reading the next installment in the duology. And luckily it’s completed so I don’t have to wait! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 / 💖💖💖
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping and Classism
Moderate: Violence and War
Minor: Death of parent
a_novi's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
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? No
4.0
An interesting story with some Asian mythology woven in. If you like the six crimson cranes series this is a very similar vibe!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and War
hazel_oat's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and War
Minor: Drug use and Self harm
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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? No
4.0
Rating: 4/5 stars
Based on the story of the moon goddess in Chinese mythology, this is the tale of Xingyin, daughter of the imprisoned moon goddess Chang’e, and her quest to free her mother.
This was the April pick for my book club and I didn’t finish it until May, so that probably says a lot. I should say up front that I LIKED this book—I thought the story was really engaging, the mythology was interesting, and I was mostly entertained while I was reading. I also really enjoyed the audiobook, which I switched to for the last couple hundred pages.
Unfortunately, I struggled with actually picking up the book because I had issues connecting with both the writing style and the characters. I felt like the style was pretty surface-level, moving through really important events too quickly and without enough depth or explanation. I also didn’t have a sense of the plot arc or where things were headed at any point, which makes it hard for me to feel grounded in a story. Finally, while I liked the characters, I felt like I never really got to KNOW them, except for perhaps the FMC Xingyin.
All in all, I’ll be giving the second book in this duo a try for sure, but I hope it irons out some of the things I struggled with in book one!
CW: Imprisonment; injury/death/violence/war
Based on the story of the moon goddess in Chinese mythology, this is the tale of Xingyin, daughter of the imprisoned moon goddess Chang’e, and her quest to free her mother.
This was the April pick for my book club and I didn’t finish it until May, so that probably says a lot. I should say up front that I LIKED this book—I thought the story was really engaging, the mythology was interesting, and I was mostly entertained while I was reading. I also really enjoyed the audiobook, which I switched to for the last couple hundred pages.
Unfortunately, I struggled with actually picking up the book because I had issues connecting with both the writing style and the characters. I felt like the style was pretty surface-level, moving through really important events too quickly and without enough depth or explanation. I also didn’t have a sense of the plot arc or where things were headed at any point, which makes it hard for me to feel grounded in a story. Finally, while I liked the characters, I felt like I never really got to KNOW them, except for perhaps the FMC Xingyin.
All in all, I’ll be giving the second book in this duo a try for sure, but I hope it irons out some of the things I struggled with in book one!
CW: Imprisonment; injury/death/violence/war
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail
gracielou2000's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and War
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Death of parent
nclausel25's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Grief, and War
Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail