Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'
Daughter of the Moon Goddess: A Novel by Sue Lynn Tan
106 reviews
lucyatoz's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.0
Xingyin is the daughter of the Moon Goddess Chang'e and has grown up on the moon with Ping'er', her mother's attendant, for company. However, she finds herself needing to flee from her moonlit world to that of the Celestial Emperor and Empress, their immortal enemies. First she becomes a servant in a noble family's household, where she is ostracised until she meets a young man. Xingyin has the opportunity to learn alongside him, inside the Celestial Palace, as companion to Prince Liwei. This starts her journey back to her mother, though not before she masters archery and becomes the First Archer in Captain Wenzhi's army, finding herself in many battles, and then embarks on her most perilous quest, to gain the pearls of the Four Dragons for the Celestial Emperor which will she her mother freed from her imprisonment.
I borrowed a copy of this novel from my local library and listened to it on cloudLibrary. I read this for prompt 15, part of a duology, for the 52 Book Club Reading Challenge 2024.
I borrowed a copy of this novel from my local library and listened to it on cloudLibrary. I read this for prompt 15, part of a duology, for the 52 Book Club Reading Challenge 2024.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Confinement, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and War
Moderate: Death of parent
ctara2123's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Classism, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent and Kidnapping
lennie_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-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? No
4.5
Thank you to Netgalley for my ARC.
Full disclosure, I did listen to the audiobook from the library.
Xingying is the titular Daughter of the Moon Goddess and the book opens with Xingying being forced to flee to moon (a place she has never left before) and make her way in the Celestial Kingdom whilst keeping her identity a secret.
There is a LOT that happens in this book. The events could've comfortably filled more than one book but also, with some light tweaking, this could very easily have been a standalone book.
I really liked Xingying, and whilst some things did seem a bit easy or convenient for her, she still puts in the hard work. And I also appreciated that things took time, like her studying with Prince Liwei or working on her archery. It felt a bit more 'realistic' and it also made the bond between Xingying and Liwei more meaningful (to me anyway!).
This book is very descriptive - it tells of beautiful scenery, lush food and exquisite outfits which really set the scene and help you envisage the very vivid world that Sue Lynn Tan has created. However there is possibly a bit too much focus on outfit descriptions š
From speaking to other people who have read the book, I think it's a good thing that I knew this was a love triangle from the get go because I was already anticipating romantic drama and angst. Although some plots points still came as a surprise and had me gasping out loud š
Despite saying that this could have been a standalone, I do have an idea of what's going to happen in book two so I'm intrigued to find what's going to happen (and if my theory is correct!).
Also the audio narrator was fantastic.
CW: war, injury, imprisonment, kidnapping
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, War, and Kidnapping
madamenovelist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Death, Medical trauma, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, War, Gore, Grief, Forced institutionalization, and Blood
Moderate: Torture and Alcohol
wpapnik's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
I really liked this book! The tone and pace of the book reminded me a bit of The Selection by Kiera Cass. It was a pretty easy read and overall enjoyable. I did find the political systems and history to be a little hard to follow - thus making it more difficult to immerse myself in the book. Regardless, it found it to be a nice read and Iām looking forward to reading the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Physical abuse
lizboyce's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I really enjoyed this story. I have not interacted much with Chinese mythology and was captivated by this story and world. You follow the main characterās heroās journey as she navigates tricky politics, love, friendship, and even betrayal.
At times it was a bit slow but the pacing picks up at the end. There was a twist I didnāt see coming at all, which is always a fun feeling. Overall I would recommend this book and did quite enjoy reading it. The only reason I did not give it a full 5 stars is because I think to fully appreciate the story, you should enter in with some background knowledge of the myths this book is based on. I had to stop more than once to google certain myths so I could better follow what was happening.
At times it was a bit slow but the pacing picks up at the end. There was a twist I didnāt see coming at all, which is always a fun feeling. Overall I would recommend this book and did quite enjoy reading it. The only reason I did not give it a full 5 stars is because I think to fully appreciate the story, you should enter in with some background knowledge of the myths this book is based on. I had to stop more than once to google certain myths so I could better follow what was happening.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Death of parent, Blood, Classism, Animal death, Abandonment, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
alyssajp's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and War
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Death of parent
weareinheritors's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is a very YA book, for decent and for worse.
The world and descriptions of locales and some people are great, I really would've loved to see more. I also liked the magic and, of course, always love me somedragons .
The plot feels rushed and a little too easily resolved, but intriguing all the same. I don't like how *easy* it was to resolve a lot of long-standing worldbuilding issues (dragon pearls, really?! ). Like, I expect a little Mary Sue-ness in a YA novel, that's fine, but it was too easy for the MC. And there is ittle to no character growth, especially for the MC.
I really didn't care for any of the main characters (Shuxiao is a real one, though. I want more of her, please). The sorta-kinda rebound love "triangle" almost made me DNF (specifically theWest Lake Inn and godawful shared room, one bed trope š¤®āthat thankfully didn't follow through ).
I'll read the sequel for the worldbuilding, but I'm not rushing into it.
The world and descriptions of locales and some people are great, I really would've loved to see more. I also liked the magic and, of course, always love me some
The plot feels rushed and a little too easily resolved, but intriguing all the same. I don't like how *easy* it was to resolve a lot of long-standing worldbuilding issues (
I really didn't care for any of the main characters (Shuxiao is a real one, though. I want more of her, please). The sorta-kinda rebound love "triangle" almost made me DNF (specifically the
I'll read the sequel for the worldbuilding, but I'm not rushing into it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Minor: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Misogyny, and Infidelity
meant2breading's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
This debut fantasy from Sue Lynn Tan is inspired by the legend of the Chinese moon goddess, Chang'e. The story is centered around a daughter fighting for the freedom of her mother and I was pleased how this did not change throughout. I had a very difficult time putting this down so Iām not mad I finished it in 2-3 days, but dang it! I wish I could have given myself more time to sit with the pure joy I had from reading this story. This was my first time reading about Chinese mythology and it truly enthralled me from beginning to end.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess had everything I could want in a book: A fierce female main character, lyrical descriptions and world building, a plot twist I didnāt see coming, magic, and friendship (Shuxiao youāre a real one for sure), and dragonsā¦duhš! It also had some romance that didnāt overpower the enjoyable adventures throughout Highly recommend!! š
Daughter of the Moon Goddess had everything I could want in a book: A fierce female main character, lyrical descriptions and world building, a plot twist I didnāt see coming, magic, and friendship (Shuxiao youāre a real one for sure), and dragonsā¦duhš! It also had some romance that didnāt overpower the enjoyable adventures throughout Highly recommend!! š
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual harassment and Death
lavender_chai's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Death
Minor: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment