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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
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
chase0w0'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
wpapnik's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
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? It's complicated
4.0
I really liked this book! The tone and pace of the book reminded me a bit of The Selection by Kiera Cass. It was a pretty easy read and overall enjoyable. I did find the political systems and history to be a little hard to follow - thus making it more difficult to immerse myself in the book. Regardless, it found it to be a nice read and I’m looking forward to reading the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Physical abuse
rachellaroche's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
beautiful story + imagery, I fell in love with the characters, can't wait to read the sequel
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Murder, and War
troldmand's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual assault
kels_18's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
This did not live up to my expectations. I really wish that I liked this more than I did, but there were too many time skips and difference in locations, jumping from one thing to another for there to really be any cohesive thought process from me. I don’t know how this could be turned into a duology. Too much happened in this book, way too much. The only thing tying everything together was Xingyin’s quest to free her mother from her prison on the Moon. That was the only thing tying everything together. Then you add in the love triangle between the two main MMCs, ugh. These two men you jump off of a cliff for all I care.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Torture, Violence, and War
Minor: Sexual assault
anapthine's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
relaxing
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: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Deadnaming
Minor: Death of parent and Alcohol
terrik_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Growing up, I’ve always known the story of Chang’e. The tale of a woman who stole the elixir her husband had been given, floated up to the moon, and for some reason, had a rabbit as a companion (or was that just something my rabbit-loving mother told me?).
Xingyin was a fairly boring character at the start. I felt like she was immature and self-centred especially when things were obviously not all about her. But I chalked it up as it being a fantasy novel - more plot than characters (I have had bad experiences with fantasy novels as you can tell). As the book continued on, however, I grew to really like her. She went through a lot and was resilient. She pushed through the hardships, she worked for her goals, and she did her best whenever she could. One thing that made me a bit ??? was the aspect of her always bouncing between the two male leads. It was low-key frustrating but in a sense it was really realistic. You don’t just forget your love for somebody - loving one person can last a long time. You can love someone while your heart still yearns for another. Even now, my love for some people persist long after they’ve left my life. But still, reading a love triangle is always frustrating when you are cheering for one.
Prince Liwei, the male lead, is my ideal male protagonist. He’s so sweet, caring, mature, flawed, and just… I love him. He made the book a much more enjoyable read bc he was the catalyst for a lot of fluff and angst.
I wish we had seen more of the relationship developments between both the first and second male lead and Xingyin. I felt like the relationships in the book were more of a plot device and weren’t really built up well - but I enjoyed them nonetheless!
The plot was definitely interesting. By interesting, I mean ‘a rollercoaster of emotions’. This book was FAST-paced and such a page-turner. So much happened that had me both squealing and groaning and smashing my face into the book. It’s been a long time since I devoured a book in less than a week and I loved the feeling of flying through it.
The action scenes were particularly fun to read. I’ve never really been a fan of such things but I was hooked while reading all of them. And you could tell that each fight scene meant something to the story. Each of them served as a character building moment, an important turning point, etc without feeling forced.
And there were many scenes that stood out to me between Xingyin and Liwei. From their meeting to the end, every moment between them was filled with emotions - happy, sad, mournful, love, the whole scale. I just love them and how they made me feel.
The reason why this book isn’t a 5 stars for me is because I think the book might’ve been a bit too fast-paced and jumped here and there too quickly without giving us time to properly understand what is going on and how the characters feel. I also thought that the book was very simplistic in its writing style for the first few chapters. It only really started getting really good after Xingyin left the moon.
Overall, really loved this book, especially since I’m not usually a fantasy lover! Cant wait to read more interpretations of Asian classic folklore.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Blood