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

I loved this book so much! The author writes in such a beautiful way, especially the descriptions (through it felt a bit slow at times!). I loved the love triangle, it felt really respectful and the main character wasn't simply throwing people around! It honestly felt like the perfect YA book.

The only thing I wish was for the pace to be a bit quicker at times, it felt like there were too many descriptions of how things looked that were fitted between scenes making me really impatient to find out what's happening, I stopped caring about the ceiling when we are at a moment full of suspense and my eyes ended up skipping the descriptions to get going! It just felt a bit winded, HOWEVER, the book is so amazing that you honestly can very easily ignore these parts. There is so much story, the characters are so well written and there is a good amount of plot twists that you'd never expect. Another thing I congratulate the author for is closing all the plots so well in the end, the book would be great as a stand alone (not fully sure if I will read the sequel, it ended so well!) and I was left without questions. If you love fantasy, romances with princes, light and respectful love triangles with strong female leads without gore and unnecessary bloodshed this is for you!

This NEEDS to be turned into a TV show or something! It deserves the praise.

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chrisljm's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

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

2.0

Another book that didn’t live up to the hype. The writing is flowery and pretty, but that’s it. The plot and characters lack depth and it felt like 400+ pages of just trying to fit every plot point the author had planned.

The characters were so boring. Xingyin the female main character, is two-dimensional and lacks growth, but the worst thing to be done to her character was to end up having her centered around her love interests. The romance was definitely the worst thing about the book, and I could not have cared less. The characters had no chemistry, the two male leads had no personality, and the development in their relationships came off even worse because the pacing in the story was poorly done.

This book had me apathetic at best. The romance? Didn’t care. Xingyin only likes these boys because they’re there and the male leads. The plot? Also didn’t care. It’s hard to feel bad for any of her issues when there is no emotional impact in the writing, and so much telling and no showing.

This book just lacked in so much: personality, depth, climax, tension. The only thing it has going for it is pretty words but at the end of the day, who cares.

And you know what. You know how ridiculous it felt, reading about how hurt Xingyin was that Lingwei chose another woman, only for her to tell Wenzhi she wants to leave the army with him and be with him in the next fucking line. And then for Lingwei to come back in the next scene and have her be depressed over him again. Girl stfu.

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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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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