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

This book got a little tiring as it progressed, partially because of the love triangle that I found a bit boring and predictable, but it was also because I found the protagonist, Xingyin, somewhat exhausting to deal with due to her incredible naïveté. There was something left to be desired in her character development (as well as others, to be honest), and I felt that Tan could have gone more into worldbuilding than she did. (Though, perhaps this is addressed further in the second book of this duology.)

And yet, I found myself making my way through this book rather quickly because I enjoyed how wonderfully Tan described the world this book takes place in, drawing out all the senses. In addition, I really enjoyed how it is grounded in the xianxia genre. It’s one I’m not entirely familiar with, but it’s so refreshing when so much of fantasy is Eurocentric.

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samchase112's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

3.5

This vivid fantasy is the definition of a whirlwind! It raced through (and I mean raced) Xingyin’s development from naive teenager to confident, powerful warrior. Her transformation was wonderful to witness, but I wish time was allowed to stop down and explore how she was feeling in each moment, and what built the changes to her character — not just the big moments that define her life, but the little things that made her who she is by the end of the book. I’ve seen many comparisons to Chinese historical dramas, and that definitely tracks. I enjoyed the adventure, romance, coming of age, and incredibly well-done world building — and flipping the pages became compulsive — yet I’m also still reeling a bit by how fast everything happened. All that to be said...I’m looking forward to book 2 to discover how Xingyin’s story wraps up!

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amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional 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

4.0

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clairew97's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

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solarel's review against another edition

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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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ong's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Reading this feels like reading poetry. How Sue Lynn Tan describes everything is just 100/10 spectacular beautiful amazing stunning. As one of chinese descent, it’s nice to finally read a fantasy book with familiar lores. From the tales to the food, the dresses and action scenes which I can easily picture in my head from years of watching asian dramas, my heart was filled with warmth the entire time.
Now onto the characters. Xingyin. Our 小星。At first so untouched by the realities of the cruel world out there, now a warrior, survivor, savior and more. Very in theme too that she was never shown what healthy love & relationships looks like so when she was thrown in a ‘love triangle’ she couldn’t made up her mind ever and felt unworthy.
Liwei. What can I say. 10/10 best of all of us.
Fuck people in power by the way.

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