Daughter of the Moon Goddess is a popular book and I have read it! If you enjoyed Young Adult Fantasy, this is one to pick up. In 2022 Goodreads awards, it was nominated for both Best Debut and Best Fantasy.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
By Sue Lynn Tan | Goodreads | The Celestial Kingdom Duology #1
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 honor, dreams are fraught with betrayal, and hope emerges triumphant.
Content notes include imprisonment, abduction, torture, violence, injury.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess – Review
Daughter Of the Moon Goddess is a fast paced novel about Xingyin who grew up on the moon. I am not generally a fan of Young Adult Fantasy novels but books like The Keeper Night have broadened my reading and given me the confidence to give at least other populars books a try.
World building & Storytelling
Daughter of the Moon Goddess is inspired by Chinese mythology, something I haven’t explored in storytelling before. The world building is breathtaking in this book. Tan is a concise writer that builds beautiful images in just a few words. The celestial kingdom, the demon realm, the moon,… all important places in the story were easy to imagine. For a mythology-based fantasy with magic, there are a lot of stories from the past about gods, goddesses and their fates that play a key role in world building and what the society looks like. Clouds as the mode of transport was new and enjoyable to me!
Characters & Plot
At the core of the plot is Xingyin. She has grown up on the moon, not realizing she has been her mother’s secret for years. At the verge of discovery, she is forced to flee from her home. With little knowledge of her human father, Xingyin’s sole mission becomes to get justice for her mother and end her exile on the moon. Though the mother-daughter are hardly together through the course of the book, their relationship is a close one and Xingyin’s longing for her is an important aspect of her. As she starts to build her own life in the Celestial kingdom, as a study companion and friend to the Crown Prince and then later as an impeccable archer, she naturally wonders if her self-assigned mission is worth the risk. Would her mother be dissatisfied if Xingyin moved on and lived her life? These moments of doubt and perseverance made me like Xingyin a lot. She is not a perfect character. She makes mistakes and is selfish but she is loving in any case.
I liked that the setting is a world that has both humans and divine. It gave a lot of depth to the characters and the friendships are well done in the book.
So much happens within the ~500 pages of this book! Xingyin has to prove herself every step of the way and she isn’t afraid to. It is great to see her problem-solve and find a way to integrate into the society at the beginning of the book. She is a girl of action who believes in being her own saviour rather than waiting for someone else to help her.
Apart from the main plot of Xingyin’s desire to free her mother, there is a love triangle in the story which was a welcome addition to me! It rounded out the characters and made their dilemmas more real as they had to think about themselves but also the person that they love. Liwei is a Crown prince like no other. He is kind and not afraid to stand up for justice. He isn’t always the bravest when it comes to matters of the heart and politics but he tries his best and wants to be an improvement from his parents. He loves Xingyin for her strength of mind and Xingyin loves him for accepting her. There is also Captain Wenzhi whom Xingyin accompanies on many missions. He is a reserved officer but eventually opens up to Xingyin and offers her a refuge from the heartache caused by Liwei. The challenges faced by the three, individually and then in their love for each other kept this book interesting.
Cover
If I was ever to compile a list of beautiful covers, this one would be on it! It gives me a feeling of mysticism and folklore with one central character.
For an in-depth raving review of this book, check out Stephen’s blog and Ariel’s review on Goodreads.
Will I pick up The Celestial Kingdom Duology #2? Loving this one as much as I did, I would have thought yes but considering how widely read this one is and how most of my friends who read book 2 found book 1 as the better one, I will not be continuing with this series. Time to move on to other books!
Thanks for visiting today. 🙂 Have you read this book?
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