Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

15 reviews

hmunger's review

adventurous emotional reflective 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

4.25

While there are valid critiques of the pacing and some plot choices, this novel never failed to enthrall me and envelope me in the world. I love the characters, as they each hold an important role in the plot and the messaging. I was truly torn between Xingyin’s choices and thought her inner dialogue, while at times extensive, was vital to the understanding of how she grew as a character and how she made sense of the world she did not grow up in. Highly enjoyed, excited to get the sequel! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Blood, War, and Murder

Minor: Emotional abuse, Classism, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Death of parent, and Death

fiercereadsfiction's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Torture and Confinement

Minor: Emotional abuse

bea_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Kidnapping, and Violence

Minor: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Animal death, War, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

solarel's review

adventurous emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

At the end of part 2 I was ready to say this fell in a 2 star range. The main character reads like a YA heroine, quick to swoon and quicker to anger. Her perspective was repetitive, and this grew very little as the book went on. She stars out angry about her mother and her own honor disrespected, and she ends that way too. 

I loved the world, though. It was fun and I found it immersive. It felt rich and saturated, though at times repetitive. 

What bumped it up to 3 stars for me was a twist that I had misread the signs for as overused tropes. I was delighted about this turn in the plot and it was a lot of fun to see it play out. 

Overall I think this book is very charming and worth a read. Parts of the plot felt like they floated by without enough weight, and others felt as if they were drawn out far too long. I’m looking forward to the second one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Classism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Confinement, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Murder, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity

mayhem9683's review

adventurous inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Torture

Moderate: Emotional abuse

sofiazee's review against another edition

adventurous 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

Notable quotes:
Some scars are carved into our bones - a part of who we are, shaping what we become.

Being an attendant doesn’t mean I don’t have my pride. The work I do is not a reflection of who I am.

…when winning would transform my life, not just gild an already bright future.

Not everyone’s path was a path through sunlit fields. We each had our own corners that we preferred to leave in the shadows.

There was no end to love - it was something that grew and renewed endlessly, expanding to encompass each new horizon. Family. Friends. And other lovers, too - none of them the same - yet each precious in their own way.

The best lies were indeed those steeped in truth.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Violence

beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

It's been a long time since I started reading this and I just don't really feel like doing so anymore. Hardly any of the characters have much depth to them, the love triangle is unnecessary, and the plotting feels too episodic in nature. All the obstacles that Xingyin faces feel too easily overcome before she moves on to the next one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Murder

booksthatburn's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective 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

The worldbuilding unfolds slowly, with early mentions of the various kingdoms supplemented later on by more detailed descriptions once Xingyin actually travels there. The descriptions are evocative but not overwhelming, tending to focus more on her thoughts about what she observes. There’s a strong focus on Xingyin’s internal life, as her relationships get more complicated but she’s still keeping her parentage a secret. She’s the daughter of the moon goddess, having grown up in secret since her mother was exiled to the moon after claiming the immortality meant for her husband, Xingyin’s father. 

I like the first third and I love the second half, in between those sections the pacing gets a little weird though it’s still pretty good. Mid-book events which in some other story might be a training montage instead are collapsed into a very brief mention as several years are skipped at once. Xingyin ends up in the Celestial palace, surrounded by people who despise her for her class and who would detest her if they knew who her mother really was. After spending several years as the prince’s companion, she tries to make her own way by excelling at arms, becoming a formidable archer. Her goal is to earn a favor from the emperor in order to request her mother’s freedom. 

Once place where this excels is in relationships, specifically the way that Xingyin’s relationships with Prince Liwei and Captain Wenzhi change over time. It is a love triangle, but one which at each stage feels like there are good reasons for the choices Xingyin is making. She proceeds as well as she can while figuring out who she wants, if anyone. I love the ending, it pulls things together in a fantastic way and lays the ground for what the sequel might cover while still letting this first book feel complete.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Confinement, Blood, Animal death, Violence, Death, Toxic friendship, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Vomit, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, War, Alcohol, Grief, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Torture

Minor: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Sexism, Sexual harassment, and Pregnancy

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Violence, War, and Torture

Minor: Sexual assault

rnbhargava's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

This book is a very fun and emotional adventure. My biggest gripe with the book is that the protagonist has the most abundant plot armor around, even in situations that should be seriously harming toward her. Minor quibble I guess for essentially a chosen one type fantasy action adventure.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, and Vomit

There is violence throughout this story but the characters are immortals so that can undercut some of the tension a tiny bit. The author specifically has to write in that something is limiting their natural resilience but then there are healing magics to help characters recover. It leads to more emotional tension when paired with the action. I quite liked this novel and will read the follow up. That said the protagonist’s plot armor is abundant and strong. If that bothers you perhaps stay away. It’s a fun mythological adventure otherwise