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

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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kaimetcalfe's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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internationalreads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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clarabooksit's review against another edition

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It’s an interesting story but the way its told isn’t: it’s too simple and repetitive in its themes, things happen too easily, and I really dislike the way the reader is given information as if the author forgot that certain things were necessary until it became too late to continue the story without that information so a random character we know little to nothing about divulges said information to the main character. No, thank you.

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kirstenf's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-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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ruthlessreads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

I liked this book a lot & I look forward to the second one! The characters were realistic and the plot was well crafted. The writing style was a little more simplistic than I typically prefer but I still think the writing was good. There were some pacing issues that I think could have been ironed out before publication but, overall, it was a great book to start off my year!

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txikimandy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring tense fast-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? Yes

4.75

This book was amazing! I couldn’t put it down. The plot was intriguing and the characters were likeable. The only things keeping me from giving 5 stars are the role of the supporting characters, which is where all of the other women in the story were, and Tan’s prose.

The plot of this story was a more complex plot than I was expecting. Every new obstacle was a surprise, but each one contributed to Xingyin’s journey and her growth. I really enjoyed reading each adventure she took!

I’m not someone who is overly familiar with Chinese mythology, though I am aquatinted with a few deities and legends. Tan did a fantastic job with the world-building— she never sounded like she was taking time away from the narrative to explain the mythological roots of the story like the readers were children; instead, she wove the lore of the world into the narrative with the skill of an expert.

The characters were all likeable (and the villains, you liked to hate). Xingyin experiences many traumas and tragedies, and her flaws are apparent, which all lend a wonderful depth and realism to her character. The male leads are interesting and have enough differences to evoke the “pick a side” attitude of the Hunger Games and Twilight franchises. The nostalgia attached to that feeling wasn’t something I necessarily loved, but it added to the complexity of Xingyin’s emotional growth in a respectable way.

My two complaints keeping me from giving the book 5 stars lie with the supporting characters and Tan’s prose. All of the other women in this story are supporting characters, which didn’t sit extremely well with me. I wanted some of Xingyin’s female friends to have a larger role and was left extremely wanting. The supporting characters are also static; even when they have a deep conversation with Xingyin about their lives and futures, nothing changes for them.

While she’s an amazing story-teller, Tan’s prose is lacking. There are many instances of sentence fragments that do not work as fragments, and caused me to read the passage once or twice more. She uses a lot of chiches, including frequently calling eyes “orbs”, which is one of my personal pet peeves.

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