Scan barcode
spicycronereads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
4.25
This fantasy book is deeply steeped in Chinese mythology.
FMC Xingyin is the immortal daughter of the moon goddess and an mortal heroic archer. Her mother is trapped in the celestial territory of the moon due to having offended the emperor of the celestial realm. The novel is Xingyin’s quest to free her mother. It takes place over a traditional, four-part east Asian style storytelling structure, where you have the introduction, development, twist, and then conclusion. So the pacing was a little different from the western fantasy structure that I read more of. Things that I kept expecting to be parts of the quest that would take the duration of the novel and take us even into the second part of the duology were actually resolved fairly quickly. It was kind of refreshing from an angst point of view.
Themes of being the chosen one, found family, and self-love and sacrifice resonate across cultural differences in storytelling style. There are lots of mythical adversaries and action sequences to keep your interest piqued. There are interesting secondary characters. And seeing Xingyin develop into a bad*ss warrior is a lot of fun.
This is a fantasy romance and so we do have a love triangle between Xingyin, and two male characters, Liwei and Wenzhi. I usually hate a love triangle. But I didn’t mind it so much here. I’m still not certain it’s resolved. Especially after I went back and looked over my notes from the earlier part of the book and although it ends with what seems like a clear choice, I’m not convinced we’ve seen the last of the other suitor.
It did take quite a while before we got to anything even resembling a romance plot. And I have to admit it didn’t seem like a slow burn so much as a friendship that suddenly erupted into love. Maybe it’s because Xingyin was not picking up on the signs of the love interest, but for me, it kind of came out of left field. From then on there are many swoony moments, including Xingyin’s journey to self-love. 💖💖💖
Normally, in these reviews, I talk about diversity. But that’s a little bit complicated here. By the strictest definition of diversity, the novel is not all that diverse. The characters are all of one race and they are all cis gendered and hetero. They all even come from relatively high class stations. However, the novel does feature mythology and characters (written by an author who is) underrepresented in popular fantasy in the U.S. So while it does not meet the definition of diversity in the strictest sense of the word, it definitely ticks a lot of boxes in the spirit of diverse representation about which I am usually writing.
Oh, and did I mention there are dragons? There are dragons! They play a relatively small role, but they are there all the same.
Overall, it took me a little while to get into this, but once it picked up, I really was hooked. I will definitely be reading the next installment in the duology. And luckily it’s completed so I don’t have to wait! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 / 💖💖💖
FMC Xingyin is the immortal daughter of the moon goddess and an mortal heroic archer. Her mother is trapped in the celestial territory of the moon due to having offended the emperor of the celestial realm. The novel is Xingyin’s quest to free her mother. It takes place over a traditional, four-part east Asian style storytelling structure, where you have the introduction, development, twist, and then conclusion. So the pacing was a little different from the western fantasy structure that I read more of. Things that I kept expecting to be parts of the quest that would take the duration of the novel and take us even into the second part of the duology were actually resolved fairly quickly. It was kind of refreshing from an angst point of view.
Themes of being the chosen one, found family, and self-love and sacrifice resonate across cultural differences in storytelling style. There are lots of mythical adversaries and action sequences to keep your interest piqued. There are interesting secondary characters. And seeing Xingyin develop into a bad*ss warrior is a lot of fun.
This is a fantasy romance and so we do have a love triangle between Xingyin, and two male characters, Liwei and Wenzhi. I usually hate a love triangle. But I didn’t mind it so much here. I’m still not certain it’s resolved. Especially after I went back and looked over my notes from the earlier part of the book and although it ends with what seems like a clear choice, I’m not convinced we’ve seen the last of the other suitor.
It did take quite a while before we got to anything even resembling a romance plot. And I have to admit it didn’t seem like a slow burn so much as a friendship that suddenly erupted into love. Maybe it’s because Xingyin was not picking up on the signs of the love interest, but for me, it kind of came out of left field. From then on there are many swoony moments, including Xingyin’s journey to self-love. 💖💖💖
Normally, in these reviews, I talk about diversity. But that’s a little bit complicated here. By the strictest definition of diversity, the novel is not all that diverse. The characters are all of one race and they are all cis gendered and hetero. They all even come from relatively high class stations. However, the novel does feature mythology and characters (written by an author who is) underrepresented in popular fantasy in the U.S. So while it does not meet the definition of diversity in the strictest sense of the word, it definitely ticks a lot of boxes in the spirit of diverse representation about which I am usually writing.
Oh, and did I mention there are dragons? There are dragons! They play a relatively small role, but they are there all the same.
Overall, it took me a little while to get into this, but once it picked up, I really was hooked. I will definitely be reading the next installment in the duology. And luckily it’s completed so I don’t have to wait! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 / 💖💖💖
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism and Kidnapping
Moderate: Violence and War
Minor: Death of parent
a_novi's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
An interesting story with some Asian mythology woven in. If you like the six crimson cranes series this is a very similar vibe!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and War
hazel_oat'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, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: War, Alcohol, Child death, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse
Minor: Self harm and Drug use
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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? No
4.0
Rating: 4/5 stars
Based on the story of the moon goddess in Chinese mythology, this is the tale of Xingyin, daughter of the imprisoned moon goddess Chang’e, and her quest to free her mother.
This was the April pick for my book club and I didn’t finish it until May, so that probably says a lot. I should say up front that I LIKED this book—I thought the story was really engaging, the mythology was interesting, and I was mostly entertained while I was reading. I also really enjoyed the audiobook, which I switched to for the last couple hundred pages.
Unfortunately, I struggled with actually picking up the book because I had issues connecting with both the writing style and the characters. I felt like the style was pretty surface-level, moving through really important events too quickly and without enough depth or explanation. I also didn’t have a sense of the plot arc or where things were headed at any point, which makes it hard for me to feel grounded in a story. Finally, while I liked the characters, I felt like I never really got to KNOW them, except for perhaps the FMC Xingyin.
All in all, I’ll be giving the second book in this duo a try for sure, but I hope it irons out some of the things I struggled with in book one!
CW: Imprisonment; injury/death/violence/war
Based on the story of the moon goddess in Chinese mythology, this is the tale of Xingyin, daughter of the imprisoned moon goddess Chang’e, and her quest to free her mother.
This was the April pick for my book club and I didn’t finish it until May, so that probably says a lot. I should say up front that I LIKED this book—I thought the story was really engaging, the mythology was interesting, and I was mostly entertained while I was reading. I also really enjoyed the audiobook, which I switched to for the last couple hundred pages.
Unfortunately, I struggled with actually picking up the book because I had issues connecting with both the writing style and the characters. I felt like the style was pretty surface-level, moving through really important events too quickly and without enough depth or explanation. I also didn’t have a sense of the plot arc or where things were headed at any point, which makes it hard for me to feel grounded in a story. Finally, while I liked the characters, I felt like I never really got to KNOW them, except for perhaps the FMC Xingyin.
All in all, I’ll be giving the second book in this duo a try for sure, but I hope it irons out some of the things I struggled with in book one!
CW: Imprisonment; injury/death/violence/war
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and War
gracielou2000's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
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: War and Blood
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Death of parent
nclausel25's review against another edition
adventurous
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Grief, and Confinement
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Kidnapping
rissaread's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Gore
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Kidnapping, and War
leligavi's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
WHAT THE FREAKING HECK. I THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE A WIN. BUT WHY THE HECK MY MAN WENZHI HAS TO GO AND BETRAY OUR GIRL LIKE THAT? I was all for them from the very beginning. Liwei was done because he made his choice and hurt her. I thought that this would be Xingying's true, supportive match. A sweet love that conquered all. Where they would be all BA together. BUT THEN HE BETRAYED HER? At this point in my life, I am not in a state of mind where I find those kinds of plots enjoyable. The betrayal is not fun and games for me. It ends the game. Finito. I literally skimmed the last 15% of this book but I'm counting it as a book read if it's going to make me go through all of that. And I read spoilers that it was going to be about WENZHI and her in the next book but honestly I don't even think I can recover from that. I truly loved them. It feels unredeemable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Colonisation, War, Death, and Toxic relationship
melist6's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Moderate: War, Murder, and Confinement
Minor: Sexual harassment and Kidnapping
ijustreallyliketrees's review against another edition
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Death
Minor: Sexual harassment