Reviews with content warning for Death - Tales of the Celestial Kingdom

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Tales of the Celestial Kingdom by Sue Lynn Tan

12 reviews

spookyyzoeyy's review against another edition

2.5

emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I usually love a diving into details and behind the scenes book. However, this one fell flat for me because I was not as invested in the characters as I usually am. It was nice to see the background, but I simply wasnt interested.

Content Warnings

natashaleighton_'s review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Breathtakingly dreamy and utterly immersive, I absolutely loved this collection of short stories— which transported me back into the lush and gorgeously descriptive world of The Celestial Kingdom series (Daughter of the Moon Goddess & Heart of the Sun Warrior.)

Capturing the rich emotional depth of some of my favourite characters during pivotal moments— from Chang’e and Houyi’s folklore inspired backstory, to Xingyin, Wenzhi, Shuxiao and Liwei’s POVs. Sue Lynn Tan gives us a glimpse into their inner thoughts, feelings and emotional struggles, that beautifully highlighted each character’s complexity (and flaws) that made me love them even more than I already did (especially Wenzhi and Liwei)

If you haven’t read The Celestial Kingdom duology yet, I definitely advise doing so before starting this. As several of the short stories contain spoilers that may ruin your enjoyment of the duology (should you try to read it afterwards.)

That being said, if you have read them, you’re gonna thoroughly enjoy being back in this world and seeing some of the characters (particularly Wenzhi who’s story I needed more of) in a newer, intriguing and much more introspective light.

There are also some absolutely stunning illustrations throughout (from Kelly Chong) that I’m completely obsessed with—seriously, I need full colour versions of each they’re soo beautiful.

So, whether you’re in the mood for a sweeping romance or a tragically heartbreaking origin story, Lynn Tan’s lyrical prose is not to be missed. Each story was beautifully written and really enriched the series’ mythos (and character development), and has me soo eager to reread the entire series all over again!

Also, a huge thank you to Rachel Quinn and Harper Voyager UK for this gorgeous finished PB copy.

Content Warnings

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

A nice companion book of short stories surrounding the Celestial Kingdom Duology. It is in three parts - before the book, during the duology, and a new epilogue.

Worth reading alone for the epilogue that is sweet and a balm for how the duology ended on a bittersweet note.

Content Warnings

abby_can_read's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

📱
This was an adorable collection. My favorites were the last two.

Content Warnings

dragongirl271's review against another edition

4.75

emotional hopeful reflective slow-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: Complicated

Content Warnings

theycallmebookish's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad 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: No

This collection of short stories perfectly rounds out this duology. All the “I wish I knew happened” moments I had while reading the first two books as cured by reading this one. Not only were the stories beautifully written, per usual for Ms. Tan. But I also love how they were organized in a kind of prequel to sequel order and seemed to flow so well even though they picked up during different time periods. The illustrations were beautiful and matched so well to the imagery that Ms. Tan masterfully wrote. Story to put this duology to bed.

Content Warnings

savvyrosereads's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Rating: 5/5 stars

A short story collection, including prequels, deleted scenes, and the epilogue to the CELESTIAL KINGDOM duology.

It’s a running joke among my friends that I am obsessed with bonus content of all kinds—if there is an extra, an extended scene, or a novella associated with a book or series I’ve read, I must have it. Occasionally, this trait leads to me finding true gems, and friends THIS IS ONE OF THOSE TIMES.

I absolutely LOVED this collection, which I humbly beg you to read if you enjoyed the duology. The final three stories in particular were incredible, and I’m so glad the full-length books exist purely so we could get the absolute WORKS OF ART that those three stories constitute. I devoured them and will never stop thinking about them—genuinely, they elevated what was already an enjoyable duology into what is now one of my favorite series and worlds.

CW: Death/violence; some grief

Content Warnings

hello_lovely13's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This made my heart happy. I was quite disappointed with the second book in the duology, so I was happy to revisit the characters I cared about so much in this collection (and I enjoyed this much more, though you definitely need to finish the series to fully get the most out of this book). The strongest voices were definitely from the first section with the retelling of the legends of Houyi and Chang'e. However, apart from the first stories of both Wenzhi and Liwei, the other stories' narrative voices were nearly as strong. The stories from Wenzhi and Liwei that were set during the first book just seemed to read a bit more YA and juvenile than their other stories. I understand that they were younger and encountered a good amount of character growth in between the two, but the style itself didn't haven't read with as much of a jump in age as it did (the narrative voice is much stronger in the respective second stories; I did prefer Wenzhi's first story to Liwei's as Liwei's felt a bit too short). I really liked that we got a story from the perspective of Shuxiao. She was always such a badass and we never got enough of her. Also, the event that this story centers around was a pretty big deal, and I was surprised it was glossed over in the second book the way that it was. I was not disappointed, though having read the second book definitely influences the reader because we know what direction the story is going to go after it ends (

the fact that the demon general and Shuxiao get together was not quite subtle during this story, and sometimes felt a bit rushed

). The main reason I wanted to read this was to see Xingyin and Wenzhi finally be happy together, and I am so satisfied with the result. It was left a bit too vague (though hopeful) at the end of the second book, so I'm glad that I got to see the resolution (I will admit that I want even more of them, but this time I feel like their story is more complete and I can be satisfied with it ending). Anyone that has read the series should definitely read this. I will definitely be thinking of how much it adds to the series and be wanting to reread it. This has definitely rose my ranking of this series back up (I loved the first book, was disappointed by the second, and enjoyed this one).

Content Warnings