Book Title: Daughter of the Moon Goddess (The Celestial Kingdom Duology #1)
Author: Sue Lynn Tan
Genre: Fantasy retelling
Target Audience: Young Adult
Publication date: January 20th 2022
Format: Kindle
What its about
A captivating debut fantasy inspired by the legend of Chang’e, the Chinese moon goddess, in which a young woman’s quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm.
Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the feared Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin’s magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.
Alone, powerless, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the emperor’s son, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the prince.
To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies across the earth and skies. But when treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream—striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess begins an enchanting, romantic duology which weaves ancient Chinese mythology into a sweeping adventure of immortals and magic—where love vies with honour, dreams are fraught with betrayal, and hope emerges triumphant.
About the Author
Sue Lynn Tan is the author of Daughter of the Moon Goddess, a romantic fantasy inspired by the beloved legend of Chang’e, the Chinese moon goddess. Born in Malaysia, Sue Lynn studied in London and France, before moving to Hong Kong with her family.
Her love for stories began with a gift from her father, her first compilation of fairytales from around the world. After devouring every fable she could find in the library, she discovered fantasy books – spending much of her childhood lost in magical worlds.
Sue Lynn can be reached on Instagram or Twitter @SuelynnTan, or on her website www.suelynntan.com.
What I Thought
In the last twelve months or so I feel like I have read a fair few Chinese myth retellings and several of these have mentioned Chang’e so I was looking forward to reading a book that might delve a little bit deeper into the legend of Chang’e but no.
Yes, I was aware that Xingyin would leave her mother when danger arises but I thought we might get a bit more behind the legend.
Anyway, speaking of Xingyin I thought she was a little boring and predictable. We start off with her being in her teens but throughout the passage of time during the book she doesn’t seem to age. However, given her predicament, it’s understandable why she would be a little stunted. She has only ever had two people to talk to prior to her departure from the moon and then goes straight into a job where she is a glorified dogsbody who happens to meet the crown prince.
Liwei is the love interest and a jealous one at that. I thought he was sweet at first but then he’s the kind of sweet that would give you toothache and your just waiting for him to grow a bit of a backbone.
Wenzhi is the other love interest and he is more interesting than the other two as there is a mystery around him. Later on in the book, you can definitely see why but I don’t understand what Xingyin has done to earn the affection of these two men.
The book was a bit all over the place, and at times I felt it was rather slow. I have been known to push through books and then enjoy them because of the final part and this is certainly one of those books. It’s split into three parts and it was the third part where things started to happen. It was almost like a trilogy in this one book with the different things that happen.
I still plan on reading book two as I would like to know how this ends but this wasn’t as great as I was expecting it to be considering all the hype around it.
Star Rating
Have you read Daughter of the Moon Goddess? Let me know in the comments
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