A review by anpan
Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan

4.0

“The past can’t be outdone, but my hope lies in our future. Trust me with your heart again and you will find the truth in mine. For you are the reason I rise each day, for you I live and breathe.”

RISE WENZHI NATION RIIIIISE OMFGHFJDKF WE WON WE WON WE WON that was the best possible ending ever i'msosososohappyyyyyyyyy
i'm usually feel pretty meh about love triangles but I was sooo invested in this one - love how we were left guessing until the end abt who xingyin would pick, tan did such a good job with narrating the ambiguity in her heart

compared to the slow-paced nature of the last book in which there was so much character- & world-building (<3), this one felt so jam-packed and a little too fast-paced. wish it went slightly slower and focused on the romance more throughout the story rather than mainly just at the end (this is just a cry for more xingyin x wenzhi moments).

such a gorgeous duology, the perfect focus on such important themes - family, love, perseverance, honour, forgiveness. ty slt for helping me fall back in love with fantasy & mythology ♡(｡- ω -) / 4 stars

To be home again with my mother and Ping’er, to have love in my life … these were the things that made me whole. It was what I had dreamed of, what I had fought for, what I had earned.

“Sometimes, by treating others with mistrust, you invite it upon yourself. By refusing to see the good in them, you might lose something precious that you never allowed yourself to find.”

Family, whether through blood or bond, who gave a place its heart.

“This pain you feel … you might believe that you will never recover. And while it might always hurt, the pain will fade a little more each time—until one day, there will be no more tears. Just the memories and the hope, that you might find some joy in them again.”

A frightening thing to surrender a future, to plunge alone into the unknown. But this was my life, and I would claim it … the darkness, hurt, and all. Once you had looked death in the face, every moment after was a victory—a new hope, a new beginning. And I was no longer afraid.

His intelligence and indomitable will, his ruthlessness and tenderness, the softening of his expression when he looked at me. And most of all, how he had loved me and then died for me.

Only in the terrible moment of his death did it dawn upon me that he was the one who could make me whole, even as he had been the one to tear me apart.

He was not my first love, but he would be my last.

No longer would I shut love from my life, in all its wondrous yet devastating manifestations—the greatest power in the world, capable of moving the hearts of mortals and gods to both evil and good.

Some might think us weaker for our love, but it gave us strength we did not know we possessed. No longer would I flee, no longer would I doubt. I would step out from the shadows of my past and turn my face to what lay ahead. To live a life with love, was to live without regret.
At last, I was home.