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literarypenguin's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
3.0
After reading Emily X.R. Pan's debut novel The Astonishing Color of After I was expecting the same level of wonder and amazement as that book gave me. Unfortunately it felt very flat, unfinished, and very underwhelming to me.
This book felt very unfinished like it needed more time to develop the plot more and flesh out the characters. The characters motivations didn't line up and in some cases didn't really justify their actions. Also the threat was not that threatening and you could have easily written it out and not noticed a difference. The magical elements of the story, while beautiful and interesting, did not work too well with the contemporary route of the story. Sometimes it worked other times it made no sense. Eventually the characters started to feel one dimensional and could have done with more personality to really make them memorable.
The things I did like were Hunter's bond with his little brother Cody. I love to see positive bonds between siblings especially older siblings to younger ones. It was really wholesome and very sweet to see the two boys bond and love each other. The other thing I liked was the Chinese mythology, I really thought that this interpretation of the myth of Chang'e & Houyi was very clever and could work in a modern setting like this one. The writing and magic itself was also very beautiful it was just a shame that the rest of the story didn't work out that well.
While this book might have been mediocre I still love the author though I recommend you check out her debut novel The Astonishing Color of After first.
This book felt very unfinished like it needed more time to develop the plot more and flesh out the characters. The characters motivations didn't line up and in some cases didn't really justify their actions. Also the threat was not that threatening and you could have easily written it out and not noticed a difference. The magical elements of the story, while beautiful and interesting, did not work too well with the contemporary route of the story. Sometimes it worked other times it made no sense. Eventually the characters started to feel one dimensional and could have done with more personality to really make them memorable.
The things I did like were Hunter's bond with his little brother Cody. I love to see positive bonds between siblings especially older siblings to younger ones. It was really wholesome and very sweet to see the two boys bond and love each other. The other thing I liked was the Chinese mythology, I really thought that this interpretation of the myth of Chang'e & Houyi was very clever and could work in a modern setting like this one. The writing and magic itself was also very beautiful it was just a shame that the rest of the story didn't work out that well.
While this book might have been mediocre I still love the author though I recommend you check out her debut novel The Astonishing Color of After first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Chronic illness
Moderate: Sexual content
steffandbooks's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
I have so many thoughts on this.
Half of the book I loved and the other half I was bored to death. Let’s start with the things I enjoyed.
Loved the short chapters and multiple POVs. Loved the love story between Hunter and Luna. Loved how Luna grew over the time span in the book and became her own person. Loved the writing style.
What I didn’t enjoy that there was so much happening and in the end also not. Like, don’t ask me what the plot was supposed to be of this book, I couldn’t tell you. Then so many things left unexplained and some rather questionable topics being mentioned in the book, but, again not really explained and rather brushed off. As a privileged white woman, I’m the last person to be able to talk about Chinese history, but I would’ve wished for things to be explained more, especially if you‘re covering topics that are not vastly discussed in the general public or school.
Overall, that left the story all over the place and the ending 🤨
Half of the book I loved and the other half I was bored to death. Let’s start with the things I enjoyed.
Loved the short chapters and multiple POVs. Loved the love story between Hunter and Luna. Loved how Luna grew over the time span in the book and became her own person. Loved the writing style.
What I didn’t enjoy that there was so much happening and in the end also not. Like, don’t ask me what the plot was supposed to be of this book, I couldn’t tell you. Then so many things left unexplained and some rather questionable topics being mentioned in the book, but, again not really explained and rather brushed off. As a privileged white woman, I’m the last person to be able to talk about Chinese history, but I would’ve wished for things to be explained more, especially if you‘re covering topics that are not vastly discussed in the general public or school.
Overall, that left the story all over the place and the ending 🤨
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Racism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Racial slurs
Cheatingkbairbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I didn’t really like this book. It get too busy and too cluttered. The characters weren’t likeable and it kinda felt like nothing happened?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Medical content
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Sexual content
betweentheshelves's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
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? No
4.0
A lyrical retelling of Romeo and Juliet with Chinese mythology infused throughout. The short chapters make this book easy to read, pulling you into this mythical place. Despite there being quite a few narrators, I didn't feel like anyone character got less development than others, and the multiple narrators were important for understanding the story.
However, some of the jumping around did make it difficult to follow what was actually happening, plot wise. I think this was just part of the mythological aspect of the story, but there were times where I felt confused.
Loved learning more about Chinese mythology, though! And the central relationship was sweet and well developed. All in all, an enjoyable book.
However, some of the jumping around did make it difficult to follow what was actually happening, plot wise. I think this was just part of the mythological aspect of the story, but there were times where I felt confused.
Loved learning more about Chinese mythology, though! And the central relationship was sweet and well developed. All in all, an enjoyable book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, and Death
Moderate: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, and Infidelity
Minor: Torture, Racism, and Sexual content
madisone's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Bullying
Moderate: Infidelity and Chronic illness
Minor: Torture and Racism
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
An Arrow to the Moon is a modern retelling of the story of the archer who shot down nine suns and his wife, the moon goddess.Over the last couple months, I’ve become very familiar with multiple versions of Hou Yi and Chang’e’s story between this book, Daughter of the Moon Goddess, and researching the Mid-Autumn Festival for work. It’s appropriate, I suppose, because the Moon Festival is in about two weeks, so this is a timely book to be reading.
I wish I liked it more. I really, really wanted to enjoy this book, even before I knew what it was about, because I loved The Astonishing Color of After and Emily X.R. Pan is excellent at weaving the fantastic and unremarkable together into something breathtaking. An Arrow to the Moon had its moments, scenes where Luna’s firefly nests and peach trees and wind bringing money to Hunter sparked that magic. But for the most part, I struggled with this book.
From a technical perspective, there are far too many chapters and they are all too short. If it had just been Hunter and Luna’s POVs, I think it would have been alright. Instead, we had Hunter, Luna, Hunter dad, Hunter’s mom, Hunter’s brother Cody, Luna’s Dad, Luna’s Mom, and Rodney Wong (our mortal villain). That is eight POVs. It was way too much and made the book feel scattered. Many of the chapters were only a page and a half long. I know why Emily X.R. Pan did this, but I think in doing it, the focus on the main plot often got lost.
The main plot of this book is the retelling and Hunter/Luna’s story, but the two subplots easily took over the story. One – the debt owed by Hunter’s parents, pursue by Rodney Wong – felt like the primary plot most the time. Luna’s parents had their own subplot as well. It came on hard in the second half of the book and was mostly just annoying. I forgive Cody’s POV a little because he was telling a second story related to the Mid-Autumn Festival (the story of the Jade Rabbit, though less gruesome here than the original version). Because there were so many distractions, the ending of the book came on like a baseball bat to the side of my head. It wasn’t the good kind of surprise – it was the “what the heck just happened?!” kind of surprise.
If I hadn’t known the myth behind An Arrow to the Moon, the ending would have seemed so illogical and out of the blue. Since I do know the myth, it was somewhat expected but still came on too quickly and dramatically.
Between the scattered nature of the book and the way the ending just exploded after very slow pacing for the entire story… I find myself conflicted between supporting the author and being super disappointed. Emily X.R. Pan’s magical realism is fantastic… but this book felt like a mess to me. I guess I’d say proceed with caution. Prepare for a lot of viewpoints, some plot imbalance, and a really quick ending. Try to enjoy the ride.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Sexual content and Infidelity
libscote's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This story is magical realism and fairy tale like, and the chapters fly by. I love how the chapters from all the different perspectives flesh out the world and reveal the story. Hunter Yee and Luna Chang's family despise each other, for reasons the kids don't entirely understand (and are eventually revealed through the parental view chapters). The two are drawn to each other and don't entirely understand why. All is revealed through time. I didn't want to stop reading. An excellent book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
book_buddy_rob's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
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
Emily X R Pan is officially a favorite author after reading this!
This is a beautiful story about love and family. The writing is beautiful, and Pan is an expert at developing her characters.
This book will give you all the emotions, it will make you laugh, cry, feel joy and sadness and I highly recommend it.
This is a beautiful story about love and family. The writing is beautiful, and Pan is an expert at developing her characters.
This book will give you all the emotions, it will make you laugh, cry, feel joy and sadness and I highly recommend it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Sexual content
maple_dove's review against another edition
It's too tropey and/or YA for my taste.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Minor: Sexual content and Racism
Family manipulation ("Birth family is more important than anything else")wenwanzhao's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
The mythological aspects just didn’t hit for me. I didn’t feel particularly enthralled or drawn into the story. I kept reading mostly out of curiosity, and it felt like a lot of threads ended either in disappointment or nothing at all.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Infidelity