Heart of the Sun Warrior: A Novel (Celestial Kingdom Book 2)

Product Information

There is an actual scene in the middle of the book where Xingyin fights with Liwei, putting his engagement to Fengmei on the same level as Wenzhi's betrayal. What. The. Hell? Strikingly evocative, tense, and heartfelt, Daughter of the Moon Goddess is a difficult book to put down. It floats you into the Celestial Kingdom, introduces you to monsters both literal and figurative, and leaves you dreaming of dragons.” Maybe Xingyin is the recognition of my healing, and the next part of her life can be a reflection of what I have to look forward to.

This time around I had a better time more consistently. I think it helped that we dropped the triangle. It was very clear the entire book where the reader was supposed to care about in terms of the romance arc, and the narrative was focused on building that up and so those beats just felt a lot more close to home. Liwei is pushy, impatient and ignorant to Xingyin's feelings, especially where his parents are concerned. Wenzhi is a creep and stalker who chases Xingyin around begging for forgiveness while she reprimands him but doesn't do anything to stop him. I can't wait to see where Xingyin's choices take her next. I already can't wait to read this again.

Discussion

The fakeout at the end was such a cop-out. The way death is portrayed in this series makes me mad to no end. Xingyin and Chang'e both experience terrible personal losses but instead of learning to get over their grief they yearn and sob until they discover that those who died are conveniently alive for no well explained reason and now they are happy again!

I didn’t know what to expect with this second novel as the first one ended without a cliffhanger. Xingyin was at home with her mother and all was well. But, as soon as I started this book a sense of unease was immediate and I knew something terrible was about to happen, and it did. This book is about so much more than a girls choice between two boys. If you're looking for a love triangle done the right way, it's right here. To see Xingyin work through her feelings for Liwei and Wenzhi while also suffering all different kinds of heart break is powerful beyond measure. She believes she can't forgive and trust, she believes she will never be enough, she recognizes that at some point her choice shouldn't be based on words, but action. Simply, it isn't hard to see who the author was rooting for, and apparently so hard that she didn't care about leaving plot holes along the way. It’s interesting that while Liwei never has to struggle or have ambition for his throne, we see that he can’t relinquish it, and even if he did, it just wouldn’t ever fit with the world and who he is, so it’s never REALLY on the table as an option that’s believable. With Wenzhi we see a similar journey to Xingyin that is highlighted even more in HotSW in a way because both have labored with a single minded focus to just take care of their own, and yet both of them realize that that comes with it’s own consequences and is never as neat and satisfying as you might think. And ultimately, through Wenzhi’s redemption, we see that there are some things that are worth everything, worth giving all of it up for the chance at a simple life. With all the beauty and heartbreak of a Chinese fantasy drama, Daughter of the Moon Goddess is an enchanting joy from start to finish.”A gripping adventure inspired by the legend of Chang'e, Daughter of the Moon Goddess explores how far one woman will go for the sake of family, loyalty, and love. Prepare to be swept off your feet by this absolutely magical tale." The entire plot seems based off a what if. The whole thing with Minister Wu was just another version of SO MANY OTHER CHARACTERS FROM OTHER BOOKS who was a courter but wanted more power. It completely butchered Sue Lynn Tan's usual manner of creativity. Nuh uh. Towards the end of the book Wenzhi sacrifices himself to save Xingyin. This of course emotionally destroys her and she becomes an even angstier clone of her mother (which I wouldn't have thought possible). This book is beautifully written with lovely descriptions and world-building. I also loved that the book comes with a map! I was able to follow the story as it flowed from one realm to another. The battle scenes were exciting and well-choreographed. The intensity of the battle and the extremely high stakes were interspersed with emotional moments of connection and friendships, making this a well-balanced fantasy novel. Can’t wait for the next Celestial Kingdom novel! Even though the characters are new, I HOPE Xingyin, Wenzhi, and Liwei will make appearances!

The love triangle in this continues as both Liwei and Wenzhi fight for her heart. Xingyin has refused to see Wenzhi after his betrayal in the first book, but he continues to beg for her forgiveness and will do almost anything to win her heart. Liwei is by her side, but ultimately must decide between her and his family, and the throne. Xingyin feels like a different character. She faces many battles in her quest to save the Celestial Kingdom. However I never really felt she was in any danger. Everything wraps up very conveniently and you just know nothing bad is really going to happen to her. Even when there is a death it never really seems to affect anyone and its more just a plot device to move to the next location. The love triangle between Xingyin-Liwei- Wenzhi is more powerful and reasonable. At the first book, things heated a little instantly and we couldn’t feel true intimacy between characters. But thankfully the author solved this problem at second round. Wenzhi is so adamant to make his wrongdoings right by giving his full protection and working as devoted ally. Liwei already confronts with his parents to choose Xingyin over them. Tan absolutely exceeded my already-high expectations with the conclusion to her story. Not only does she give ample time to resolve every plot thread, but left me breathless with her lush prose and enchanting storytelling. The Celestial Kingdom duology is a stunning debut, and I am excited to see what magic Sue Lynn Tan brings to her next project.” — Locus Magazine Lastly, while I loved that the ending was a bit more drawn out to be realistic — giving Xingyin time to grieve and heal from everything that happens, I did also find that it was a bit too long for the sake of giving us some brief scenes with supporting characters. While nice, i don’t think we needed such neat ‘closure’ so to speak and those interactions don’t do enough tie in with the emotional healing we find Xingyin yearning and striving for in the aftermath. By drawing the true ending out, it also felt like it detracted a bit from the power of the climax which was very emotional, though the last 2 chapters were truly worth it, it might just feel like a lot of moping and aimless wandering until then.

Summary

Liwei had no choice in his engagement. He was forced to accept it for the good of the realm and for his parents. Unlike Wenzhi, who wasn't forced to do anything. He just wanted power. Her debut, Daughter of the Moon Goddess, will be published by Harper Voyager in January 2022, with a sequel to come. It is an enchanting fantasy of love and family, immortals and magic – inspired by the beloved Chinese legend of Chang’e flying to the moon upon taking the elixir of immortality. I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.*** This is a very hard review to write. The Daughter of the Moon Goddess was one of my favorite books of the year, maybe of all time. When I found out about the sequel I was beyond happy. However, I almost wish I hadn’t read this book.

Tao and Leiying are pointless. Xingyin could've figured out how to get the Elixir of Immortality herself. Also, how Tao betrayed her, and how Xingyin accepted to put her life in danger with a stranger?! What?! Sue Lynn Tan made her dumber in this book! In the previous book, she kept a sharp mind even when she was desperate. But now, she falls for the easiest way of fooling someone. Shelley Parker-Chan, #1 international bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun, on Daughter of the Moon Goddess Sue Lynn Tan writes fantasy novels inspired by the myths and legends she fell in love with as a child. Born in Malaysia, she studied in London and France, before settling in Hong Kong with her family. I am so sad to be writing this review and giving this book only three stars. I went into this book with high expectations and I left feeling really let down. I loved the first book in the series and it was only of my favorite books of the year..but this book didn't do it for me. I nearly gave this 2 stars because it disappointed me so much.

Review

This book is not for the light-hearted, nor the hopeful. It's a book testing your ability to withstand anything the world throws at you. Every time my heart felt like it had a break, every time I relaxed, I lost someone new. Someone I didn't think I could ever lose. Tan plays with every emotion, and she doesn't try to heal it. She doesn't make it better. To say I am surprised by the depth of my feelings for this story would be a lie. I could feel the under currents of talent in every word Sue Lynn Tan wrote in Daughter of the Moon Goddess. To still be sitting in awe over what I experienced, that's what I am surprised by. DOTMG had some instances where Xingyin was aggravating, but it was in stride with her character development for the most part. In HOTSW, Xingyin was down-right disgustingly aggravating, selfish, self-involved, immature, arrogant, and stupid. She pushed me to the point of not caring about this story on multiple parts. Throughout the book, every character, including Xingyin, points this out, but she arrogantly ignores them all. She’s always placing herself in the middle of every situation because she’s selfish and only cares about the one problem that’s in front of her. Problems arise because she doesn’t care about anyone or anything else during that time, and she has no foresight to see how this decision may impact quite literally anything else. Book one had her learn how to work with a team and depending on someone doesn’t make her weak. In book two, she forgot all of that. I’m not sure how to rate this book. It’s interesting. The magic is unique, but the dialogue, characters and romance are terrible. The writing in this book is just as lyrical and beautiful as the first, but it’s definitely more fluff than plot in this book. However, some of the dialogue didn’t flow and felt very unrealistic/unrelatable. There were numerous duplicate/repetitive moments and sentences where it made you feel like you were re-reading by accident. There were huge chunks from DOTMG repeated throughout this book. As a result, I felt absolutely no emotions from the characters, and everything felt like it didn’t have any actual weight to the story. My biggest disappointment with the writing is how such dynamic characters as Liwei (Emperor of the Celestial Kingdom), Wenzhi (King of the Mind Magic Kingdom), and her father (Infamous Slayers of the 9 Sun Birds) are depicted as useless, dumb man-children who exist solely for Xingyin’s protection and bidding.