In this dream-like fantasy romance based on the myth of Chang'e, Tan presents a dazzling story sure to captivate all readers with enchanting narrative and dramatic storytelling.

Xingyin is the daughter of the Moon Goddess, living in hiding to protect herself from breaking the rules of her mother's imprisonment. However, upon testing the limits of her magical powers, Xingyin must flee the threat of the Celestial Empire and live in hiding until she can return home to Chang'e. This journey leads her to meet many different characters - some kind, some cruel and some more secretive than others - as she searches to prove herself worthy of being the daughter of the moon goddess.

I loved the way Tan presented the world of Xingyin on the pages; the blend of magical fantasy and raw, tender emotions made this a compulsive read that had me equally invested in action and drama. Stylistically, the story is whimsical and episodic and I loved that we followed the journey from the first-person perspective through such a gorgeous authorial voice.

Very much a story of growth, Xingyin is both a political and a physical fighter which allows her to persistently reach for her goals, taking the reader across the Celestial Empire and showcasing the magical myths surrounding her. The action sequences in this way had me reading with bated breath and, due to the swaths of beautiful writing and exciting action, it was a compulsive read throughout.

However, ultimately this is a story about love - for a mother, a lover, for friends and country. Even in a world where dragons are real and battles fought, Xingyin's internal battle is relatable for all readers. The framing of Xingyin's loyalty to her mother particularly spoke to me as a differing motivation than some other contemporary novels of the moment. I really appreciated the fact that she tries to not lose sight of her promise to herself, even when potentially better offers become available. It's a beautifully heart-warming story.

An easily given favourite book of 2022, I cannot wait for the next part of this duology!

How is this a debut book! What a brilliant book to kick things off with. The story is beautifully written and the scenery is so descriptive it feels so vivid. I loved the setting and the whole idea around this book. It was jam packed with action, love, friendship, family, betrayal and drama that has me totally absorbed from the off. The ending was a satisfying one and I'm eager to see what the sequel has in store for us and am already excited to get back to these characters. A fantastic read.

A wonderfull retelling of a myth from a debut athor...excellent characters. I'm excited for the next one in the series whenever that may be.

I heard great things about this book and was excited to read to it. The story overall was well written and it kept me listening, to find out what would happen. The main character was likeable and i enjoyed how she developed throughout the story and learnt to cope with the challenges she was given.

I honestly picked this book up because I love mythology and don't know that much about Chinese mythology. I expected this took to be pretty fantasy heavy and a difficult read for me but honestly it's such an easy read I would recommend this to anyone who's not familiar with fantasy and wants to.

I loved the character development in this book. Liwei and Xingyin relationship had me absolutely hooked from the start. I always love a no nonsense character like Xingyin.

Good for people who like: mystical fantasy, stories inspired by mythology, conflicting loyalties.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess is a Chinese inspired fantasy novel with a strong mythological element. The storytelling is gentle, immersive, and has a dreamlike quality. There are fierce warrior females, cruel leaders, tested family loyalties, and dragons.

The main narrative arc focusses on Xingyin, who is the daughter of the moon goddess Chang’e. This element of the book is based on the Chinese legend, where Chang’e is banished to light the moon. Forced to flee her home, Xingyin spends her time in the Celestial Kingdom hiding her true identity and searching for a way to free her mother from captivity. This book reimagines the story of Chang’e, and even though she is not the main character, it gives her a voice and reason for her actions which led her to become the moon goddess.

Throughout her time in the Celestial Kingdom, Xingyin goes on several monster fighting quests. This part of the story reads like traditional epic tales of heroism. Each quest fits together to build on the overall narrative in a satisfying but subtle way, and her relationships with other characters slowly develop.

This book bridges the boundary between Young Adult and Adult Fantasy, and could be enjoyed by readers of both genres. Some of the characters and the romantic relationships lean more towards YA fantasy, but the epic feel of the narrative and the actual age of the characters reads more like fantasy aimed at an adult audience.

There are dragons and artefacts, a magic system that doesn’t come easily to the characters, and different areas of the kingdom to make the world feel sprawling and varied. There is a mortal realm where the magic of the Celestial Kingdom is remembered as mythology, and there is a separation between the two. Despite the fantasy elements, this grounds it to the real world through story and myth in a beautiful and simple way.

Although this is the first part of a duology, the book reads almost completely as a standalone. There are a couple of unresolved threads, but while important, they are detached from the main narrative arc. The second book will likely feel like a comforting return to the world and the characters, more than a continuation of book one.

A magical read, ideal for fans of mythology based fantasy.

This book was reviewed by Cathy.

With thanks to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

Shelves: General Fiction (Adult); Young Adult; Fantasy; January 2022

A very beautiful world with twists and turns on every road.
I've enjoyed this book. It has many tropes which is fine. I prefer my books not to be SO tropey but it was still nice to read. I like that the characters are complex and that the plot was pretty cool, it just wasn't a book to wow me.
We follow the daughter of the moon goddess, wanting to prove her worth to the celestial majesties and free her imprisoned mother from the moon. We see our main character face many trials and tribulations to achieve this, but will her feelings for a certain prince get in the way of her mission? This book gives us fantasy, romance, adventure, magic and even dragons. We get involved in armies, royal courts, beautiful friendships and betrayal.

This is going to be such an unpopular opinion, but I actually had to DNF this one :(

There's so much going on in this book, and I really wanted to enjoy it, but I found large chunks to be fairly boring and I just wanted to skip through most of it.

I don't doubt that a lot of people would really love this book, but it just didn't appeal to me, personally. I was really excited going in and it's a shame that it wasn't my style. I loved hearing about the myths and I enjoyed the first half of the book, but afterwards I just couldn't bring myself to continue reading it.

I first heard of Change'e in relation to the Lunar program, and I found her mythology really interesting. That's why I was drawn to this book - that, and its beautiful cover.

However, I really struggled to get into the story at first. The opening felt slow, even though a lot of time is covered initially, and the writing style wasn't quite right for me. While I enjoyed the mythology and some of the world building, I didn't feel the romance or the adventure managed to fully engage me. BUT I think that's because I was expecting something else from this book, and that's my problem, not the author's. It was well-written, even if it wasn't to my taste, and I can see this finding many fans.

I'm torn about the rating. I think if this book had found me at another time it would have been a 4, so that's what I'm going to give it.

I felt like tye author thought about "less is more" and decided to do the exact opposite. Very disappointed.

This felt very YA for an adult fantasy, the main character seemed a lot more immature than I had anticipated, the story fell a little flat and the dialogue was a bit stiff. I can’t comment on the overall plot as I decided not to continue.

Daughter of The Moon Goddess is a beautiful retelling of the banished immortal Chang’e and her daughter Xingyin. Mother and daughter are confined to the moon for eternity; Chang’e was imprisoned by the Celestial Empress and banished to the moon at this time the Empress did not know of Chang’e’s pregnancy and are not aware of Xingyin’s existence. When Xingyin’s presence becomes known, Chang’e plans for Xingyin to go to The Southern Seas to live with Ping’r’s family (Ping’er is Chang’e’s companion). However their plans are cut short when a unit of soldiers arrive at The Pure Light Palace to investigate, Ping’er and Xingyin are separated as they fight to avoid being captured.
Xingyin awakes in the Celestial Kingdom, unsure of where she is, feeling lost and lonely, she vows that she will find a way to free her mother. Little does she know what a journey this will take her on, after a short stay as a hand maiden for a noble family, Xingyin is awarded a position at the Jade Palace. In her naïveté, she doesn’t realise this is the home to the Celestial Empress and Emperor. This only makes her more determined in her goal.
This book is filled with action from the start, as well as stories of Xingyin’s heroic conquests as First Archer, we also read about friendship, family, love and betrayal.

Sue Lynn Tan has written, with intensity and depth, a sweeping epic fantasy that will stay with you long after it’s last page.
I am so excited to go on another adventure with Xingyin in the next book of this duology.

Such a magical read. I found the writing style takes a little while to click with, but once you’ve spent a little time in the world you get totally drawn in. An incredibly imagined world, and one I’d recommend for fans of Stephanie Garner and Erin Morgenstern. Cannot wait for the next book!

MY THOUGHTS:

I knew that, no matter how much I enjoyed this book, I would definitely love the mythology background to it. I am a mythology lover, and I particularly love exploring mythologies and mythology inspired books from culture that are completely different to mine.

If there’s one thing this book excels at it’s the setting. The world of this book is so rich. The mythology and the magic is incredibly prominent and there’s so much information about mythology I wasn’t familiar with that I ended up researching some of it after reading this book because I was so intrigued by what I had already learned from this book. I also loved how Tan has built things from Chinese culture into the book in a way that feels seamless, but also makes these little things clear enough for readers who don’t know loads about the culture.

One of the things that I also really liked about this book was the plot. It follows the typical Hero’s Journey plot that we are all so familiar with from the ‘fantasy greats’, but it’s written in a way that is poetic and epic and almost reminiscent of epic poems like the Illiad and the Odyssey. What this means is that Tan weaves a complex plot: the basic one being that the main character, Xingyin, is trying to free her mother from her prison on the moon, but there are smaller plots woven together to create the whole story.

I also enjoyed the characters. Xingyin is an interesting main character. She’s determined but not always confident. She develops a lot over the story, going from a fearful girl on the run, to a confident chosen one style protagonist. The two young men in the book are also interesting in their own rights. A Prince and a Soldier (Commander). The romance is super slow burn and twisty but I really enjoyed it.

WHY IT WAS A 3.5-STAR READ FOR ME:

Honestly, the pacing. For me the pacing was just… off. At the beginning of the book the pacing was super fast. As a reader you jump through about 5-10 years in just a few chapters. This slows down in the middle of the book and then speeds up towards the end again. It doesn’t feel very realistic and makes the story feel kind of info. dumpy for me because I never really got immersed in the world or learned to love or care about the characters. It didn’t quite feel like the sweeping mythological fantasy romantic adventure that is promised in the premise.

Despite this, I did enjoy this book. It was a good example of an interesting debut fantasy, and it’s interested me enough that I do want to read the next one to see what happens to these characters.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess, Xingyin must fight for survival and the chance to be reunited with her mother after she is suddenly forced to flee her home. Along the way she must carefully consider who she can trust and those that she must keep her identity hidden from at all costs. With strong, spirited female characters, a love triangle, dragons, romance and betrayal this book has it all and will captivate and draw you into an enchanting world of Chinese mythology that will stay with you long after finishing it.

I love how Sue Lynn Tan has adapted the Chinese legend of Chang’e to create this breathtaking and truly magical book. The world building and imagery is exquisite and I doubt it’ll be long before I find myself re-reading this. A fantastic story to escape into and be swept away by.

It started off well then just went downhill, I was forcing myself to turn the pages. This book gave me the ick, and it felt a bit like Aveyard’s Red Queen x The Selection storylines had been copied a bit. And don’t get me wrong, I love a good soppy romance, but this was a little too cliché and predictable for my liking. It felt a little like a children’s book - a bit underwhelming, but that makes it a lighthearted read I suppose. I didn’t have much an emotional attachment to any of the characters. I almost found the romance a little bit repulsive at times, skimming the parts where it was present - but I won’t lie, I want someone to give MAKE me a hairpin.

Now some might think I am being too harsh, so I will discuss the merits. I think the description was enchanting, adding little details here and there that made it very illusionistic, and I enjoyed the overall narrative of Chinese mythology.

Overall, with mythological retellings, I feel that there is so much potential to make it glow (if that makes sense), but here I think it was unfulfilled.

DAUGHTER OF THE MOON GODDESS is the start of a gorgeously written duology inspired by Chinese mythology. It's so lyrical, with a slower pace that combines with the writing to give it a dream-like quality. I found the book so hard to put down as the writing just drew me in to this glittering world that was fraught with danger and deceit.

There are many different myths woven together into the story as Xingyin learns in the palace then goes to fight various monsters, seeing a variety of lushly drawn lands, and then faces down threats from all sides. The middle of the book is quite episodic in feel, as she heads out on various missions, each including a little seed of the ending in them, all tangling her closer to two men in her life.

The book is the first in a duology, but more or less reads like a standalone, and would have been completely satisfying to read on its own with the removal of about three paragraphs (which basically promise she'll have to face one of the characters again.) I really liked that contained feel. While I do like cliff-hangers that leave me needing to know what happens next, there's something really satisfying about things being wrapped up.

Some, had it been a standalone, might have preferred the romance to be a bit more finalised, but I liked the note it struck of her being happy in herself after working so hard to free her mother. It let the book circle back around to the opening, with her seeing how much she'd changed and yet remained herself. I loved that use of the opening mirrored in the end. No fear, there will definitely be more of the romance in the next book though!

The reason this book isn't 5 stars for me is because of the almost-love-triangle and how it played out. I'm not much of a fan of love triangles because they rarely mean anything more adding romantic tension for the protagonist. The two potential love interests usually don't represent big choices tied to the character's arc, related to the inner character struggle (the personal ones like protecting a kingdom or getting revenge) or overall goals.

And that's what happened here. For a start, it never quite felt like a love triangle as Xingyin always had way more chemistry with one of the men, and some of the scenes with the other simply felt there to add tension between her and the guy with the far stronger chemistry. And neither one seemed to offer genuine choices related to her arc, as both were at odds with her primary goal (freeing her mother) and yet never seemed to conflict with that?

Plus, instead of the book actually making her choose between the two of them, and thus having to make a decision, something happens to take one of them off the board. It was quite a cop-out, and didn't feel well set up as there hadn't been clues layered in that sparked an "oh, that's why that happened." Thus the twist didn't feel satisfying.

I am excited for the sequel when it comes!

Stunning cover and beautifully written story!

I love mythical/fantasy stories so this was right up my street, especially because i have seen very few books centred on Chinese mythology so this was lovely to see!

I will be leaving an in depth review shortly but i will say i highly recommend!

A rich, immersive fantasy.

Daughter of the moon goddess, Xingyin's entire existence is a secret. When she is forced to flee her home on the moon she takes refuge undercover in the home of the celestial rulers who imprisoned her mother. She is faced with a difficult choice - keep her secret, and the life she has built for herself, and accept that she will never see her mother again, or risk everything for the chance to free her.

Xingyin is a great protagonist who is faced with difficult decisions throughout. I loved the warrior aspects of her personality - this is a heroine who doesn't need a hero to rescue her. She's endlessly resourceful, even when it looks like all hope is lost. I also loved her emotional growth.

The world building is rich and immersive, and the story is full of high stakes, magic and action. It explores the importance of family and standing up for what is right. There were also some great twists that I didn't see coming. I get the feeling that the story isn't quite finished yet, and I would love to read book two if there's one in the works.

Unfortunately, this is a DNF for me at 50 pages in.

It doesn't work for me, I find the writing and character to be too passive for my taste. The writing in particular is a bit amateurish and you can tell by how awkwardly structured it is sometimes. What should feel and read like a sequence of events ends up reading like random paragraphs written at different times and put together like an awkward puzzle.

The dialogues are some of the most awkward things I've read to the point it was painful.

There's nothing that makes me want to pick this book again after putting it down and I'm so bummed because I was really anticipating this novel.