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natashaleighton_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
A breathtakingly immersive and utterly thrilling conclusion to Sue Lynn Tan’s phenomenal Celestial Kingdom duology that sees even more heart-stopping, high stakes action as Xingyin battles to save her family—and the Celestial Kingdom from ruin.
It follows directly on from Daughter of The Moon Goddess and follows Xingyin reunited with her childhood home having won her mother (the moon goddess, Chang'e) freedom from the Celestial emperor’s exile.
But that fragile peace is threatened when a strange new magic is discovered on the moon, and a traitor—with a dangerous thirst for power and vengeance— sets their sights on the Emperor’s throne.
Forced to flee her home once more, Xingyin and her companions encounter legendary creatures, scheming monarchs and formidable foes as they search for aid in destroying the evil—and put a stop to devastation before it’s too late.
This was an absolutely stunning sequel that I genuinely couldn’t put down! It’s so gorgeously crafted and even more detailed than in DOTMG— a feat in and of itself as I absolutely loved the lush and descriptive the world building in book one and thought every eloquently wrought (and lyrical) detail was perfect.
The action; which includes plenty of gossipy courtiers, backstabbing and political intrigue was pretty much non-stop and Sue Lynn Tan’s atmospheric, lyrical writing had me completely hooked!
I did feel that unlike Daughter of The Moon Goddess, Heart of The Sun Warrior was a little more character driven—focusing on the emotional aspects of the characters and adding more depth and dimension to their arcs. This was especially true for our endearing protagonist, Xingyin who’s still recovering from the fallout (and Celestial Emperor’s ire) after the events of DOTMG (and the conflicting feelings she has surrounding Wenzhi and Liwei.)
I definitely felt she’s matured since the last time we saw her—there’s definitely less impulsive decisions being made this time around and it was it was interesting to see how that affected Xingyin’s problem solving abilities. The romance aspect too, was a little more cautious though I still really enjoyed the love triangle aspect. I have to admit I’m a sucker for a morally grey bad boy, so I couldn’t help but root for Wenzhi as he tried to redeem himself and win back Xingyin’s trust.
And though I may not have been rooting as hard for him to end up with Xingyin, I did absolutely love Liwei as a character and the complex emotional journey he faces—having to tread the fine line between his loyalty to his family and his love for Xingyin whom they despise. It’s not an easy decision and one Liwei doesn’t make lightly which I really respected him for.
I also loved that we got the see more of Xingyin’s family and delve into her parents’ history a little more, it was also really interesting to hear more about her father—the famed mortal archer Houyi.
The ending was absolutely perfect even if it did have me sobbing uncontrollably, the prose was just soo georgoeusly magical and immersive—I didn’t want it to ever end!
Overall, Heart of The Sun Warrior was a visual (and emotional) feast for the senses—an addictive and utterly immersive fantasy that fairytale or mythology lovers absolutely must read.
Also, thanks to Harper Voyager and Netgalley for e-arc.
It follows directly on from Daughter of The Moon Goddess and follows Xingyin reunited with her childhood home having won her mother (the moon goddess, Chang'e) freedom from the Celestial emperor’s exile.
But that fragile peace is threatened when a strange new magic is discovered on the moon, and a traitor—with a dangerous thirst for power and vengeance— sets their sights on the Emperor’s throne.
Forced to flee her home once more, Xingyin and her companions encounter legendary creatures, scheming monarchs and formidable foes as they search for aid in destroying the evil—and put a stop to devastation before it’s too late.
This was an absolutely stunning sequel that I genuinely couldn’t put down! It’s so gorgeously crafted and even more detailed than in DOTMG— a feat in and of itself as I absolutely loved the lush and descriptive the world building in book one and thought every eloquently wrought (and lyrical) detail was perfect.
The action; which includes plenty of gossipy courtiers, backstabbing and political intrigue was pretty much non-stop and Sue Lynn Tan’s atmospheric, lyrical writing had me completely hooked!
I did feel that unlike Daughter of The Moon Goddess, Heart of The Sun Warrior was a little more character driven—focusing on the emotional aspects of the characters and adding more depth and dimension to their arcs. This was especially true for our endearing protagonist, Xingyin who’s still recovering from the fallout (and Celestial Emperor’s ire) after the events of DOTMG (and the conflicting feelings she has surrounding Wenzhi and Liwei.)
I definitely felt she’s matured since the last time we saw her—there’s definitely less impulsive decisions being made this time around and it was it was interesting to see how that affected Xingyin’s problem solving abilities. The romance aspect too, was a little more cautious though I still really enjoyed the love triangle aspect. I have to admit I’m a sucker for a morally grey bad boy, so I couldn’t help but root for Wenzhi as he tried to redeem himself and win back Xingyin’s trust.
And though I may not have been rooting as hard for him to end up with Xingyin, I did absolutely love Liwei as a character and the complex emotional journey he faces—having to tread the fine line between his loyalty to his family and his love for Xingyin whom they despise. It’s not an easy decision and one Liwei doesn’t make lightly which I really respected him for.
I also loved that we got the see more of Xingyin’s family and delve into her parents’ history a little more, it was also really interesting to hear more about her father—the famed mortal archer Houyi.
The ending was absolutely perfect even if it did have me sobbing uncontrollably, the prose was just soo georgoeusly magical and immersive—I didn’t want it to ever end!
Overall, Heart of The Sun Warrior was a visual (and emotional) feast for the senses—an addictive and utterly immersive fantasy that fairytale or mythology lovers absolutely must read.
Also, thanks to Harper Voyager and Netgalley for e-arc.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, War, and Grief
Moderate: Murder, Child death, and Death of parent
lastblossom's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
- 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? Yes
Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an advance copy.
tl;dr
Equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful, a strong follow-up to the previous book. Romantic endgame might be divisive.
About
After winning the Celestial Emperor's pardon (although not his favor), Xingyin thought she'd be returning to her quiet life on the moon with her mother. But political turmoil rages in the Celestial Kingdom, churned on by her previous actions. With her home on the moon threatened by old enemies and new magic, Xingyin must once again take up her bow and fight for the ones she loves. And maybe even the ones she thought she gave up loving.
Thoughts
The first book of this series was largely an adventure punctuated with romance. This one is definitely a romance punctuated with adventure. Xingyin is already an accomplished fighter, and so we see very little by way of her development in that area, with more time spent on her growing emotionally and learning how to process different kinds of grief. There's a lot more at stake here, with several deaths, and the loss of potential lives lived, with no one coming out entirely faultless in the process. The moral depth and complexity definitely outshines the first book in this space. The romantic triangle from the first book takes front and center here, with Wenzhi, Liwei, and eventually Xingyin all being way more honest about their feelings than the first go-around. There's a clear endgame this time around, and your enjoyment will probably hang entirely on who you cheered for in the first book. Action scenes move quickly, with fewer "epic" set pieces and more subdued fights (on average). There's also more time spent on Chinese lore, which I really enjoyed. Overall, I feel like it's a really good conclusion to the previous book, and it ties up all the loose ends really well.
Also, I am aware there wasn't really time for it, but I am devastated thatthe entire enemies-to-lovers romance between Shuxiao and Menqi happened off screen. I would have loved to see that develop.
tl;dr
Equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful, a strong follow-up to the previous book. Romantic endgame might be divisive.
About
After winning the Celestial Emperor's pardon (although not his favor), Xingyin thought she'd be returning to her quiet life on the moon with her mother. But political turmoil rages in the Celestial Kingdom, churned on by her previous actions. With her home on the moon threatened by old enemies and new magic, Xingyin must once again take up her bow and fight for the ones she loves. And maybe even the ones she thought she gave up loving.
Thoughts
The first book of this series was largely an adventure punctuated with romance. This one is definitely a romance punctuated with adventure. Xingyin is already an accomplished fighter, and so we see very little by way of her development in that area, with more time spent on her growing emotionally and learning how to process different kinds of grief. There's a lot more at stake here, with several deaths, and the loss of potential lives lived, with no one coming out entirely faultless in the process. The moral depth and complexity definitely outshines the first book in this space. The romantic triangle from the first book takes front and center here, with Wenzhi, Liwei, and eventually Xingyin all being way more honest about their feelings than the first go-around. There's a clear endgame this time around, and your enjoyment will probably hang entirely on who you cheered for in the first book. Action scenes move quickly, with fewer "epic" set pieces and more subdued fights (on average). There's also more time spent on Chinese lore, which I really enjoyed. Overall, I feel like it's a really good conclusion to the previous book, and it ties up all the loose ends really well.
Also, I am aware there wasn't really time for it, but I am devastated that
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: War, Blood, Child death, Classism, Confinement, Infidelity, Murder, and Violence
Minor: Deadnaming and Death of parent
ezwolf's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
I really loved Daughter of the Moon Goddess and I was so excited to be able to read its sequel!
Two things from DOTMG carry over in that I still really disliked the love triangle plot and didn't expect the ending that we got (which over all I was actually really pleased with given the dislike of love triangles). I'm going to start with the negatives like I did for the first book. The first is that I also still really with the story had focused more on Xingyin and her family rather than her being torn between her feelings for Wenzhi and Liwei. But on that same note, even though Xingyin has spent two books trying to protect her mother and doing so much for her mother's sake, I just feel like her mother was very flat in personality and character.
(SPOILER...sort of?)
There was also an excessive amount of character deaths, it almost felt like the author was trying to make up for the lack of them in the first book by killing off quite literally everyone.
I know those were a lot of negatives but I still enjoyed this book. Shuxiao and Xingyin's friendship was wonderful and I'm glad we got a bit more of it this time around. There was also so many female characters who were seen as strong and capable leaders and they weren't seen as less for their gender which I really appreciated (the same for Shuxiao and Xingyin being in the military). I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the ending! It wasn't a straightforward, tied neatly with a bow kind of ending and while that's usually what I prefer, in this case I'm glad it didn't end that way.
Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
Two things from DOTMG carry over in that I still really disliked the love triangle plot and didn't expect the ending that we got (which over all I was actually really pleased with given the dislike of love triangles). I'm going to start with the negatives like I did for the first book. The first is that I also still really with the story had focused more on Xingyin and her family rather than her being torn between her feelings for Wenzhi and Liwei. But on that same note, even though Xingyin has spent two books trying to protect her mother and doing so much for her mother's sake, I just feel like her mother was very flat in personality and character.
(SPOILER...sort of?)
There was also an excessive amount of character deaths, it almost felt like the author was trying to make up for the lack of them in the first book by killing off quite literally everyone.
I know those were a lot of negatives but I still enjoyed this book. Shuxiao and Xingyin's friendship was wonderful and I'm glad we got a bit more of it this time around. There was also so many female characters who were seen as strong and capable leaders and they weren't seen as less for their gender which I really appreciated (the same for Shuxiao and Xingyin being in the military). I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the ending! It wasn't a straightforward, tied neatly with a bow kind of ending and while that's usually what I prefer, in this case I'm glad it didn't end that way.
Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Blood, and War
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Grief
Minor: Infidelity and Death of parent
leahharlann's review
adventurous
emotional
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
5.0
This reviewer received a digital ARC from Netgalley.
I loved the first book (Daughter of the Moon Goddess) and was thrilled to be able to read Heart of the Sun Warrior before official release! The sequel has just as many fantastical adventures as the first, with Xingyin traveling across the immortal realm to stop a new evil that threatens her loved ones. As someone who's enjoyed a few Chinese wuxia and xianxia dramas in my day, this story sits with the best of them. There's interpersonal drama, a despicable villain with a power that threatens even immortals, choosing between duty and love, making the honorable choices, and the raw honesty of the toll being a hero can take.
The early events of the book that set up the eventual plot that drives the majority of the book felt a little disjointed in pacing, but as someone who enjoys CDramas it fell within the kind of storytelling I've seen before so it didn't feel that out of place to me. Tan continually references and connects back to the first book, weaving the two together to make it feel like one long and continuous story where the characters grow even further.
Regarding the romance: I'm not going to lie, I was a little disappointed with the love triangle in DotMG. It felt like Wenzhi was introduced just as a tool to hurt Xingyin before being discarded, with Liwei as the de facto endgame despite the glaring issues.So when Tan brought back Wenzhi with INCREDIBLE character growth and put him on even footing with Liwei for real this time, I was thrilled. I cried when he died. I cried when his rebirth was revealed. I cried a lot. His redemption arc is right up there with Prince Zuko from ATLA for me. Tan did an excellent job presenting doubts and conflicts to Xingyin's relationships; not just trials to overcome, but very real differences in values and responsibilities that make you question if love really is enough to overcome everything. I normally dislike love triangles, but I give HotSW the award of 'Only Love Triangle I Will Ever Recommend' even though it generally ran alongside the main plot instead of being part of it.
I loved the first book (Daughter of the Moon Goddess) and was thrilled to be able to read Heart of the Sun Warrior before official release! The sequel has just as many fantastical adventures as the first, with Xingyin traveling across the immortal realm to stop a new evil that threatens her loved ones. As someone who's enjoyed a few Chinese wuxia and xianxia dramas in my day, this story sits with the best of them. There's interpersonal drama, a despicable villain with a power that threatens even immortals, choosing between duty and love, making the honorable choices, and the raw honesty of the toll being a hero can take.
The early events of the book that set up the eventual plot that drives the majority of the book felt a little disjointed in pacing, but as someone who enjoys CDramas it fell within the kind of storytelling I've seen before so it didn't feel that out of place to me. Tan continually references and connects back to the first book, weaving the two together to make it feel like one long and continuous story where the characters grow even further.
Regarding the romance: I'm not going to lie, I was a little disappointed with the love triangle in DotMG. It felt like Wenzhi was introduced just as a tool to hurt Xingyin before being discarded, with Liwei as the de facto endgame despite the glaring issues.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, and Grief
Moderate: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Murder, and War
readwithria's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
Heart of the Sun Warrior was a beautiful, gut-wrenching conclusion to this enchanting duology. It made my heart sing, only to split it in two and heal it over.
This book was not perfect, but it captured the essence of war, betrayal, and love so incredibly well. I did find the first half to be a bit slow and easy to put down, but as the plot picked up I noticed everything that had been laid down in the groundwork of the book coming back and playing its part in the conclusion. The stakes were real, this was a war story and war has its casualties, but the losses were surrounded by an incredibly well written story of grief, forgiveness, vengeance, and love strong enough to defy the odds.
I was more than a little surprised that I didn’t hate the love triangle. I often find that love triangles feel contrived and unnecessary, but Xingyin’s feelings for both Liwei and Wenzhi are so real and complex that I could feel as her love shifted between betrayal, deep love, friendship, and all the stages in between. Love was a theme explored throughout the book, not only romantic love but also familial and platonic love. Having this balance helped to keep the love triangle from overwhelming the book.
Sue Lynn Tan’s writing was just as beautiful in this book as in her debut, the story even more tightly woven, and the characters increasing in complexity. I will definitely be buying myself a physical copy of this book when it is released. 5 beautifully imperfect stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.
This book was not perfect, but it captured the essence of war, betrayal, and love so incredibly well. I did find the first half to be a bit slow and easy to put down, but as the plot picked up I noticed everything that had been laid down in the groundwork of the book coming back and playing its part in the conclusion. The stakes were real, this was a war story and war has its casualties, but the losses were surrounded by an incredibly well written story of grief, forgiveness, vengeance, and love strong enough to defy the odds.
I was more than a little surprised that I didn’t hate the love triangle. I often find that love triangles feel contrived and unnecessary, but Xingyin’s feelings for both Liwei and Wenzhi are so real and complex that I could feel as her love shifted between betrayal, deep love, friendship, and all the stages in between. Love was a theme explored throughout the book, not only romantic love but also familial and platonic love. Having this balance helped to keep the love triangle from overwhelming the book.
Sue Lynn Tan’s writing was just as beautiful in this book as in her debut, the story even more tightly woven, and the characters increasing in complexity. I will definitely be buying myself a physical copy of this book when it is released. 5 beautifully imperfect stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and War
Minor: Confinement and Fire/Fire injury
hilwithonel's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
fast-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
4.5
Thanks to netgalley and Avon and Harper Voyager I received an arc of the sequel to one of my favorite books this year, Daughter of the Moon Goddess.
It had some issues with pacing in the first third of the book. I think there was just ALOT to get to that would matter by the end of the book, but the way it was presented felt clunky. The love triangle was a primary plot point and as a hater of love triangles first, I had some issues with the plot.
Although I didn't enjoy it as much DOTMG, it still delivered ethereal prose with enchanting settings and that magical fairy tale feel of the first.
The ending had me SWEATING but I ended up really like the ending.
It had some issues with pacing in the first third of the book. I think there was just ALOT to get to that would matter by the end of the book, but the way it was presented felt clunky. The love triangle was a primary plot point and as a hater of love triangles first, I had some issues with the plot.
Although I didn't enjoy it as much DOTMG, it still delivered ethereal prose with enchanting settings and that magical fairy tale feel of the first.
The ending had me SWEATING but I ended up really like the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: War and Child death
Minor: Violence
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