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sirkeili's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
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
4.5
I kind of stumbled upon this book series by accident, but I vividly remember looking at the sequel and the book store clerk excitedly gushing that these books were amazing.
From the beginning, Xingye wormed her way into my heart. Her sheer bravery in the face of impossible odds, to her devotion to those whom she loves, just made her more and more appealing as a main character.
I also love how she is always looking at the bigger picture, rather than a blind focus on her end goal, and will take sacrifices that she knows will save more than just herself. She sees the machinations of her world, and the rules she's forced to abide by, yet she has them bend to her own desires with a fair compromise.
As someone who loves mythology and fantasy, this is a really refreshing and engaging take on it, and Xingye is an absolute delight to share it with!
From the beginning, Xingye wormed her way into my heart. Her sheer bravery in the face of impossible odds, to her devotion to those whom she loves, just made her more and more appealing as a main character.
I also love how she is always looking at the bigger picture, rather than a blind focus on her end goal, and will take sacrifices that she knows will save more than just herself. She sees the machinations of her world, and the rules she's forced to abide by, yet she has them bend to her own desires with a fair compromise.
As someone who loves mythology and fantasy, this is a really refreshing and engaging take on it, and Xingye is an absolute delight to share it with!
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Torture, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
lpdx's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism
Minor: Alcohol
woolerys's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Writing - 3/5
Plot - 4/5
Characters - 4/5
World-building - 4/5
Personal tastes - 3/5
TOTAL: 3.6
Started slow, but then had multiple moments where I was holding my breath and racing over the page to see how a close predicament turned out. I didn’t ever quite trust Wenzhi but the extent of his betrayal still took me by surprise!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Grief, and War
Minor: Sexual assault
krumanda's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, and War
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Confinement
avrija's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This was a good book. Longer than my usual ones but good nonetheless. I really liked Xingyin as a character. She was very different from the typical “strong female character” stereotype in a way that she never downplayed other women or was against femininity. She was strong in every way and not only because she was a soldier. I love that her honour and pride is so important to her and really does shape her character in an interesting way. I also loved Liwei as a character and their interactions; their interactions felt so tender and comforting to read about and I just love them together. Wenzhi also was an interesting character and felt so different to Liwei in that love corner that it made for interesting interactions. As for the side characters - i felt a lot of them were quite similar. Shuxiao had a nice backstory that could have easily added to her relationship with Xingyin and how they interact but it wasn’t very utilised as the story did focus on the romance. As for the plot — it’s there, definitely, but saving her mother often did take a backseat to the love story. Considering this is a romance book not too surprising but it was mentioned often enough and played into Xingyins characterisation and choices in a believable way that made it interesting to read even when a scene technically didn’t advance the plot.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Death of parent and Sexual harassment
hue's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
The writing is a bit much. It's so heavily floral it sort of ruins the course of the story. I'm not a fan of the passage of time within the story either. It's rather clunky, and the sudden 2 year time skip by chapter 9 was rather strange.
The romance seemed rather. . . forced. They like each other because??? They were close? It didn't really work as well as the Author might've wanted, which was a shame because individually Liwei and Xingyin were interesting enough. Together? Not so much.
And then the addition of a rather awkward love triangle. Yeah, no.
However, I really did like Xingyin as a main character. She's strong willed and fierce, gentle and soft, and she stands up for herlsef and her choices. When she finds out about Liwei's political marriage, she chooses herself rather than a position where he'd be more comfortable than her. As abrupt as it was, it was a good choice. She also keeps her goal in her mind, and her want to save her mother is her driving force throughout the book which I really liked.
It is a bit like the story itself doesn't know where the plot is going and why, which was why it felt so stilted and . . odd at times. The "missions"(?) she was sent on were so detached from the main story I wondered why they were there at all.
All in all, not a bad read just rather clunky and boring at times. I might still pick up the next volume since there is only the two. I'd like to know what happens next, especially with the Moon Goddess and Xingyin.
The romance seemed rather. . . forced. They like each other because??? They were close? It didn't really work as well as the Author might've wanted, which was a shame because individually Liwei and Xingyin were interesting enough. Together? Not so much.
And then the addition of a rather awkward love triangle. Yeah, no.
However, I really did like Xingyin as a main character. She's strong willed and fierce, gentle and soft, and she stands up for herlsef and her choices.
It is a bit like the story itself doesn't know where the plot is going and why, which was why it felt so stilted and . . odd at times. The "missions"(?) she was sent on were so detached from the main story I wondered why they were there at all.
All in all, not a bad read just rather clunky and boring at times. I might still pick up the next volume since there is only the two. I'd like to know what happens next, especially with the Moon Goddess and Xingyin.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and War
katewhite77's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
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
5.0
A Gentle Coming Of Age Fantasy Novel
The story is based on Chinese mythology, and Xingyin is our heroine. She has to leave home quickly one day when a representative of the celestial kingdom comes knocking on the door.
Xingyin is also the daughter of the moon goddess who is under house arrest for drinking an elixir of immortality when she was pregnant. Years later, unauthorised and uncontrolled magic is discovered emanating from the moon goddesse's palace, and Xingyin has to leave in a hurry lest she gets discovered. A big adventure begins.
Along the way, she meets Liwea the heiir to the celestial kingdom itself, and Jianyun, the enigmatic senior soldier in the celestial army, who spots her talent for archery.
I would recommend this for people like me who don't read a lot of fantasy as it is slow to medium paced overall. and the world is not that dissimilar to our owm. This is part of a duology, and I definitely want to read the next one. If like me, you like big long books you can fall into, then this one is for you, and it had a fabulous twist. I did not see coming.
The story is based on Chinese mythology, and Xingyin is our heroine. She has to leave home quickly one day when a representative of the celestial kingdom comes knocking on the door.
Xingyin is also the daughter of the moon goddess who is under house arrest for drinking an elixir of immortality when she was pregnant. Years later, unauthorised and uncontrolled magic is discovered emanating from the moon goddesse's palace, and Xingyin has to leave in a hurry lest she gets discovered. A big adventure begins.
Along the way, she meets Liwea the heiir to the celestial kingdom itself, and Jianyun, the enigmatic senior soldier in the celestial army, who spots her talent for archery.
I would recommend this for people like me who don't read a lot of fantasy as it is slow to medium paced overall. and the world is not that dissimilar to our owm. This is part of a duology, and I definitely want to read the next one. If like me, you like big long books you can fall into, then this one is for you, and it had a fabulous twist. I did not see coming.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Violence, Kidnapping, and War
maraavillaa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, War, and Injury/Injury detail
loquaciousleon's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
This book has my heart.
Additionally: I got to page 100 and events were unfolding that I assumed would be stretched out over the course of the 500 page book. Sue Lynn Tan took me on an entire journey throughout it all.
It was wonderfully unexpected to have so much more packed into the story, and to have been done in a way I literally could not have imagined. Every 100 pages felt like a completely new foundation for the story to continue building upon.
Additionally: I got to page 100 and events were unfolding that I assumed would be stretched out over the course of the 500 page book. Sue Lynn Tan took me on an entire journey throughout it all.
It was wonderfully unexpected to have so much more packed into the story, and to have been done in a way I literally could not have imagined. Every 100 pages felt like a completely new foundation for the story to continue building upon.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
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