Reviews with content warning for War - Heart of the Sun Warrior

“The ground now glittered like stardust, and in the world below, the mortals would be lifting their heads to the curved wedge of light in the sky, its face partially hidden.”

Much like its predecessor, Heart of the Sun Warrior created a beautiful world that celebrated family. The world was full of rich and vibrant courts, and there were legends aplenty. I liked the “new” magic in this - even if it wasn’t on the heroes’ side - because it added some mystery to this.

I really enjoyed Xingyin’s celebration of family and those she loved. I wish I’d reread Daughter of the Moon Goddess because there were moments in this that I think would have hit harder having read that more recently.

I think Xingyin was a good main character - brave and loyal. But I probably could have done without so much love triangle-ing.

I did enjoy this book, but I didn’t get as drawn in as I had with the first book. Whether that’s down to not rereading or because of the story, I’m not sure, but I did still have a nice time with it.

Content Warnings

kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-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? Yes

3.0

… I’ll admit to being a bit disappointed at the turn this romance took.

The plot was otherwise exquisite, if a little trite bc of the dad thing. The stakes were high, the battles and magic were fun: small details from the first book pulled into large plot points in this one; all good stuff. Xingyin’s narrative voice was a bit more grating in this one, but to be fair she’s dealing with a lot. Tan knows how to truly fill 500 pages with riveting content and a lot of authors should be taking notes!

That being said, the romantic subplot was 100% death as redemption bullshit. Wenzhi’s entire char this book was “im so sorry I violated your human rights, caused you immense pain, and tried to lock you into a relationship. I’m going to harass you every day until you forgive me” ?????? it’s been a minute since I read the last book but ultimately I thought Xingyin had learned her lesson about how little he seemed to respect her opinions when it came to something he wanted??? like what the fuck kind of “oh but he LOVES me” handwaving??? Sure, he risked his life for her a ton in this book…as he should have, as payment for literally trying to imprison her!!… how is that a declaration of love? He dies and Xingyin just… magically realizes she does forgive him, despite being torn apart about it the whole 500 pages? The turmoil was pretty realistic up until that point, then it felt like a switch was flipped bc of a grand gesture. it was so forced I can’t even wrap my head around it. If this was going to be the outcome, it could’ve been much more organic than “maybe i don’t hate him… let’s kiss… okay let’s spend the rest of our lives together”

And don’t get me wrong I wasn’t rooting for Liwei by any means, he is extremely oblivious to Xingyins feelings in this book and did not at all need to be the endgame. Also, his being the secondary love interest was telegraphed a while back. Personally, neither of these men redeemed themselves enough to deserve Xingyin, but I guess the author had to choose one to avoid pissing off the romance-obsessed camp?

I can’t put my finger on why this felt like such a letdown. Maybe because Xingyin was such a strong, independent character in the last book, fighting for her family and her home; here it feels like her story ends with her waiting for scraps of a guy who very easily manipulated her for months (years?) and then fucked her over, with very little atonement or time alone …. it could’ve at least been a slower burn so it didn’t feel so foolish for her to jump into waiting for him as a mortal… eh. this is the second sequel to a beloved book that disappointed me this year, maybe it’s a me problem

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kirstenf's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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thequeeraunt's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful tense 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? Yes

4.0

I am reviewing this audiobook after receiving a complimentary ALC from Libro.fm

There are many, many things that I loved about Heart of the Sun Warrior, and only a few things I disliked. I'll start with the dislikes, first.

The love triangle took up far more space than it needed in this novel. I'm an avid romance reader, so I don't mind romantic subplots in other genres, but what bothers me is when the romantic subplots eclipse the bigger narrative taking place. Such was the case with Heart of the Sun Warrior. There's a really cool, fascinating conflict that Xingyin and her family must navigate, but so much page space is spent on Xingyin's divided feelings between her two beaus.

I didn't love the way the triangle resolved, either. Xingyin made a choice by not making a choice, and I feel that it detracts from the supposed strength of her convictions.

We got some LGBTQ+ representation... tacked on to the very end of the novel like an afterthought. This is one of my least favorite ways to introduce queer characters. It feels like Tan may have gotten to the end of the novel, realized she had only heterosexual romances represented, and smashed two characters with barely a hint of chemistry (and certainly no page space to develop feelings for one another) into a relationship. Cool. It's not quite as bad as certain writers proclaiming characters to be gay long after books have been published with literally no supporting evidence for their gayness. That said, it was disappointing.

Those two major complaints aside, a lot of what I loved about Daughter of the Moon Goddess was present here in Heart of the Sun Warrior as well. The worldbuilding is exquisitely done without falling into the habit of being overly-descriptive. The different immortal kingdoms have unique identities that set them apart from one another. Natalie Naudus' performance of the audiobook was enjoyable from beginning to end. And, in spite of the fact that I was disappointed by the amount of pining taking place throughout this whole apocalyptic conflict, I would still recommend this novel (and of course, its predecessor) to anyone in need of a vivid and delightful fantastical romance.

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deedireads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.

TL;DR REVIEW:

Heart of the Sun Warrior is a fun, adventurous sequel to Daughter of the Moon Goddess. While it didn’t blow me away (mostly because the love triangle didn’t quite work for me), I did enjoy it.

For you if: You like an adventure, and/or want to read more fantasy based on Chinese mythology.

FULL REVIEW:

Heart of the Sun Warrior is the sequel to Daughter of the Moon Goddess and the conclusion of the Celestial Kingdom duology, a Chinese fantasy drama (epic fantasy rooted in Chinese mythology). Although it didn’t blow me away, I did enjoy it and the duology overall.

I won’t give spoilers for the first book, but suffice to say that this one picks up only a short time after that one ends. From there, a new adventure quickly begins. That’s one thing I liked about this duology: Each book feels like a complete story. This time around, Xingyin knows herself and her strengths better; she’s still headstrong, and she still rushes into situations a bit too quickly, but it was nice to get to know her as a more confident person.

One strength of this duology is the prose. Sue Lynn Tan writes gorgeous sentences, and these books are lush and cinematic. That matches up nicely with the kind of action-packed, something-for-everyone story. I also loved getting to know the legend of the Moon Goddess through this lens!

The reason this fell a bit short for me, however, is just that I don’t like love triangles. Sometimes I can be convinced, but I never quite got there on this one. I think it could have benefited from more character development for the secondary characters in the book; they’re all sort of flat except for Xingyin herself. Although part of this may also be my own inexperience and naive reactions to a more Eastern storytelling style.

Still, if you find yourself drawn to this one, I’d say definitely give it a shot!

Content Warnings

emolr's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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icapturethecastle's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.5

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