Me, trying to figure out what the hell the Houyi plotline was trying to achieve outside of protagonist wish fulfilment: 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. 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.

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. Next is this goddamn love triangle. I love morally grey bad boys, so I completely understand the draw to Wenzhi. Personally, he was my favorite. I appreciated how he recognized his feelings early on and didn’t shy from them like Liwei did. He truly embodied the “I will burn down this entire world for you” energy that I love. Overall, I felt Xingyin and Liwei were a better match. Even the title of this book has you believeing the same thing, so we didn’t need 80% of this book focusing on who she was going to choose. Ultimately, I think Wenzhi and Liwei deserved better than Xingyin. She was totally in love with Liwei, but she didn’t want to deal with palace life and empress responsibilities, so she took every out she could to avoid it namely breaking Liwei’s heart. While I don’t agree with what Wenzhi did in DOTMG, the way Xingyin prosecuted him throughout this ENTIRE book was just overkill. While the book wants you to believe, it took Wenzhi literally dying for her to realize this; I think it was her first tasting her life as an empress. Do I believe she has love for both? Yes, but I also strongly believes she’s not IN love with either. I think they’re both better without her.

Discussion

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. Yes the writing is still very nice, lyrical and beautiful but it had hardly any action and the little it had was mediocre. This is essence is just a romance with a hint of fantasy. This story was great! I enjoyed the read and audiobook. Love is more complicated in this book as well as family. I loved the twists at the beginning and at the end. I enjoyed the men fighting for love. There's more actions and adventures in this story I believe. The ending was good but I was hoping the new Celestial King would also get a happy ending. This series started out as a retelling of the Legend of Chang'e and ended as a terrible fanfiction of the Legend of Chang'e. In fact, I might actually have to rate the previous book an extra star for wasted potential. I can't wait to see where Xingyin's choices take her next. I already can't wait to read this again.

Shelley Parker-Chan, #1 international bestselling author of She Who Became the Sun, on Daughter of the Moon Goddess Just as, "A life without love was a night without stars" a world without books is a dream without words. Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)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 That said, there were some things that I didn’t love about this. Some of which I will put in spoilers. There was a love triangle in this book which I don't mind but it felt like that was the only story it was trying to tell - everything else felt like an after thought. It almost felt like the author decided on a whim to expand this series. Action is all that matters, in the end. Action and follow through. While they both do all they can to do both, only one is there every step of the way. I told myself I wouldn't choose, but by the end I think it was impossible not to admit I was swaying one way over the other.