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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
amroyer's review against another edition
challenging
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
kaerene's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
I want to give Daughter of the Moon Goddess five stars, and I was going to, until the chapters after Xingyin leaves the Jade Palace (IYKYK). I didn’t feel like Xingyin recapping the previous 14 hours of a 15 hour audiobook to a certain character felt relevant. There were some moments of those chapters that needed it for reconnection but it was too much.
Aside from needing to cut some chapters at the end, I truly enjoyed this book. The writing is beautiful. The way that Sue Lynn Tan describes the places in her book and what Xingyin is experiencing is almost like prose and is extremely profound. I don’t think I’ve read or listened to anything like it before. I also loved the plot and got heavily invested while listening and would make comments to what other characters were doing or saying. AND! Part 4’s plot twist?! The way I screamed when that twist was revealed. Mind blown.
Aside from needing to cut some chapters at the end, I truly enjoyed this book. The writing is beautiful. The way that Sue Lynn Tan describes the places in her book and what Xingyin is experiencing is almost like prose and is extremely profound. I don’t think I’ve read or listened to anything like it before. I also loved the plot and got heavily invested while listening and would make comments to what other characters were doing or saying. AND! Part 4’s plot twist?! The way I screamed when that twist was revealed. Mind blown.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Gore, and Death of parent
lilo000's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
I appreciated some of the inclusions of Chinese tradition/culture in here. I think the adventure was definitely my speed, but I read this book in too close conjunction with one with a few too many parallels, which is no fault of this book's. I appreciate the main character and her strong sense of character + strength in general. I think I got fed up with the love triangle, so (assuming the following book hashes this out more) I'm not sure I'll be reading the second book. Would still recommend, since the ending was ending enough to not need the second book (I say without having read the sequel)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and War
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
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
lillygabriella's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This was very good and I am looking forward to reading the sequel in the future. Love the dragons. Lots of court intrigue in the background and I suspect we will discover in the next book that a certain person is a spy. A torn between two loves book. Not spicy, very PG in that area. I'd be comfortable letting my younger teenager read it. Has fantasy violence and descriptions of injuries and bloodshed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
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