Reviews with content warning for War - Daughter of the Moon Goddess

Reviews tagging 'War'

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

164 reviews

kaywhiteley's review

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adventurous 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

5.0

I love a girlboss

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ctara2123's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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zinn24's review

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adventurous inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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lennie_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-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? No

4.5

Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC.

Full disclosure, I did listen to the audiobook from the library.

Xingying is the titular Daughter of the Moon Goddess and the book opens with Xingying being forced to flee to moon (a place she has never left before) and make her way in the Celestial Kingdom whilst keeping her identity a secret.

There is a LOT that happens in this book. The events could've comfortably filled more than one book but also, with some light tweaking, this could very easily have been a standalone book.

I really liked Xingying, and whilst some things did seem a bit easy or convenient for her, she still puts in the hard work. And I also appreciated that things took time, like her studying with Prince Liwei or working on her archery. It felt a bit more 'realistic' and it also made the bond between Xingying and Liwei more meaningful (to me anyway!).

This book is very descriptive - it tells of beautiful scenery, lush food and exquisite outfits which really set the scene and help you envisage the very vivid world that Sue Lynn Tan has created. However there is possibly a bit too much focus on outfit descriptions 😅

From speaking to other people who have read the book, I think it's a good thing that I knew this was a love triangle from the get go because I was already anticipating romantic drama and angst. Although some plots points still came as a surprise and had me gasping out loud 😂

Despite saying that this could have been a standalone, I do have an idea of what's going to happen in book two so I'm intrigued to find what's going to happen (and if my theory is correct!).

Also the audio narrator was fantastic.

CW: war, injury, imprisonment, kidnapping

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madamenovelist's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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jess_tries2read's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

The world of this book is so magical. It has a mythological setting, but it's not really a retelling so much as a framework.

The daughter of the Moon Goddess grew up sheltered but happy on the moon. Her life is uprooted as she is forced to leave to the Celestial Kingdom. You get to go with her on her journey has she meets odd characters, learns skills and magic, and becomes a more powerful immortal. The characters are good, their motivations strong. The setting is perfect for a dramatic yet classic adventure story.

I am so stoked I own the sequel (thanks, daily deals!l

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alyssajp's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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moon_peach's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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

4.0

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weareinheritors's review

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adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is a very YA book, for decent and for worse.

The world and descriptions of locales and some people are great, I really would've loved to see more. I also liked the magic and, of course, always love me some

dragons

.

The plot feels rushed and a little too easily resolved, but intriguing all the same. I don't like how *easy* it was to resolve a lot of long-standing worldbuilding issues (

dragon pearls, really?!

). Like, I expect a little Mary Sue-ness in a YA novel, that's fine, but it was too easy for the MC. And there is ittle to no character growth, especially for the MC.

I really didn't care for any of the main characters (Shuxiao is a real one, though. I want more of her, please). The sorta-kinda rebound love "triangle" almost made me DNF (specifically the

West Lake Inn and godawful shared room, one bed trope 🤮—that thankfully didn't follow through

).

I'll read the sequel for the worldbuilding, but I'm not rushing into it.

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meant2breading's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

This debut fantasy from Sue Lynn Tan is inspired by the legend of the Chinese moon goddess, Chang'e. The story is centered around a daughter fighting for the freedom of her mother and I was pleased how this did not change throughout. I had a very difficult time putting this down so I’m not mad I finished it in 2-3 days, but dang it! I wish I could have given myself more time to sit with the pure joy I had from reading this story. This was my first time reading about Chinese mythology and it truly enthralled me from beginning to end.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess had everything I could want in a book: A fierce female main character, lyrical descriptions and world building, a plot twist I didn’t see coming, magic, and friendship (Shuxiao you’re a real one for sure), and dragons…duh🐉! It also had some romance that didn’t overpower the enjoyable adventures throughout Highly recommend!! 🌙

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