Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
Review of Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan (2022). Published by Harper Voyager.
Something I’ve been really amazed at in the past couple of years, as someone who has been religiously going to the library ever since I was four years old (such a privilege—I’m grateful my mother always took us every week to get a stack of books), is the amount of diversity that has been coming our way in terms of book selection.
Not only do we have access to books from all over the world, giving a glimpse into different lifestyles and modes of thinking, but we’re getting more perspectives from people in the United States as well. As someone from here and a writer myself, I really appreciate reading Asian American and general BIPOC stories.
It’s why I started this blog, too! I love sharing my love for BIPOC literature and the voices involved with making these processes happen in film and the literary industries. I expanded it into television and theater later, which has been quite the journey as I transition into this more as a career.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess, to get more on topic, has been a book I’ve been meaning to pick up. I’m really interested in Chinese mythology in general, and I’ve been watching a lot of Chinese mythology based shows and wuxia on the Asian drama channels lately.
I was procrastinating on this book though out of stubbornness. Until recently, I kind of refused to read more young adult adjacent novels, or what I perceived to be in that genre. It was quite narrow minded, and I’m trying to branch out more. So this book was a great start!
Let’s get into the review before I ramble too much.
The daughter of the moon goddess Chang’e goes on a journey to save her mother from her prison on the moon.
Our main character in this novel is Xingyin, who is the daughter of a mortal archer and the moon goddess Chang’e. She’s raised with her mother and the family servant in their residence on the moon, where her mother has been forbidden to leave for a long time now. Xingyin has no idea that the Celestial Emperor has no idea that she exists.
However, Xingyin has powerful magic, and the trio realizes that her existence is about to be discovered. In order to protect her daughter, Chang’e tells the servant to smuggle her from the moon, leading to the servant to almost be killed. Xingyin is separated from her, and now in the Celestial realm, she wanders through the kingdom.
She doesn’t tell anyone who she is, as she is becoming aware that she shouldn’t exist in this universe. Eventually, she becomes a servant herself, but catches the attention of the emperor’s son. Brought further into the imperial household, Xingyin begins playing with fire as she learns more about magic and the talents she can utilize for her own causes.
There’s also sparks flying between her and the emperor’s son, which could lead to even more problems down the road. But when something big happens, Xingyin decides to leave behind life in the palace and become a part of the army.
There, she will gain a lot of respect, but she has left behind the prince that once captured her heart. Good thing this novel has implemented a rather complicated love triangle, as the general of the army is also someone that she’s going to notice as a potential romantic interest.
Eventually, there’s a deadly quest that Xingyin is going to take on in an effort to save her mother, which makes a lot of sense for her character. However, it’s when things start to get really serious really quickly, and it feels like this section of the novel is what the rest prepared us for.
I usually don’t care for romance at all, so it comes as no surprise that I did not care for the love triangle in this book at all. I wanted the romance to end at some parts even, as it felt a little forced, and it was a little too trope heavy for me. I don’t read these kinds of books usually, but I’m confident there are tropes fans love judging from what I’ve heard about TikTok popular books and young adult in general.
Overall Thoughts
I didn’t hate this novel! I didn’t love it either though, but I can seriously appreciate how much love and care it took to create these characters and the world they live in.
The world building in this novel is incredible though! I felt like I was truly getting immersed in what the author wanted us to see about its world, and because of that I could really appreciate the novel and what it had to say. I think it was the romance that sucked me out of the world the most, as I didn’t care for it.
I’d say if you’re interested in its premise and have not read the novel, go for it. I read it on a free trial with Kindle Unlimited, but I’ve seen it grace the shelves of my local library quite a few times.
I will eventually read the second book, but it’s going to take me a while considering my backlog of books.
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