Book Review
Title: Daughter of the Moon Goddess (The Celestial Kingdom Duology Book 1) by Sue Lynn Tan
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Rating: 5 Stars
The opening to Daughter of the Moon Goddess was interesting and definitely set a fast pace for the book as I flew through the first 50 pages. We are introduced to Xingyin who is the daughter of the Moon Goddess, Chang’e and their attendant and friend, Ping’er. All three live on the Moon and have done for all of Xingyin’s life but she has had to live by strict rules especially regarding the information she can know and to not interact with the glowing lights in her mind. One day, Xingyin does just that and the Celestial Empress arrives at their home. During this meeting, Xingyin learns that her mother was imprisoned on the Moon before she was born and because of her actions she now has to leave her home. Her mother explains that she loved Xingyin’s father, Houyi who earned the elixir of immortality by slaying the sunbirds but didn’t take it because Chang’e was pregnant. However, they learnt that she and the child wouldn’t survive the birth and when Chang’e went into early labour she took the elixir to save her life and the life of her child. She goes on to say leaving Houyi behind was the hardest thing she had to do but she can’t leave the Celestial Palace learn of Xingyin’s existence. Ping’er tries to help Xingyin escape but they are following and attacked by soldiers so Xingyin decides to drop down into the Celestial Palace area in order to give Ping’er a chance to escape. She ends up becoming an attendant to Lady Meiling in the Golden Lotus Mansion and time passes. However, one day after being scolded by her Mistress she meets a young boy who turns out to be Crown Prince Liwei and he takes a liking to Xingyin giving her fight back to her. In response she asks to be allowed to enter the contest to become the Prince’s study partner at the Palace and he forces Lady Meiling’s father to sponsor the pair of them and Xingyin can see an opportunity to return home given time and training.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Xingyin is given the chance to compete and to her surprise ends up winning the competition, this is partly on her own merit but also because Liwei helped her win. Now she becomes his companion and friend and ends up living at the Palace where she meets Minyi and gains another friend. She begins to adjust to life in the Palace and begins her learning alongside the Prince even learning to find and harness her magic. She also finds out she has some skill in archery and fighting where she befriends a female soldier, Shuxiao. At this point, Xingyin has spent two years in the Palace, where she has been learning, training and controlling her magic but she has never lost sight of her goal to return home and free her mother. Both she and Liwei seem to have feelings for each other but this love is impossible as she is meant to be a lower station than him and Liwei is being pressured to assume his duty and marry the Phoenix Princess. Xingyin learns through Minyi that her father killed the Empress’ siblings, the Sunbirds and she holds a grudge against him, her mother and herself if she knew of her existence and she fears what the Empress would do if she learnt of Xingyin’s existence and heritage. More than ever she needs to keep her identity hidden but her place of Liwei’s companion will be coming to an end soon and she needs to figure out what to do next. Xingyin is offered a place in the army and she is considering it but she is also considering Liwei’s offer of help but she doesn’t know if she can completely trust him with the truth. She learns from the General that there is a Talisman a soldier can earn, and if it is awarded to them then they earn a royal favour which she could use to free her mother. The magic system is interesting at it revolves around the elements with the exception of talents. The only talent we are introduced to is life magic but Liwei tells Xingyin about the outlawed mind magic and I have a feeling that Xingyin might have this talent which would be dangerous for her as the royals fear it.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, Xingyin and Liwei do grow closer with them eventually confessing their love for each other but knowing the situation we can see that Xingyin is being naïve and she soon learns a harsh lesson. Despite them having a few blissful days together, at Liwei’s birthday party it is announced that he is betrothed to Princess Fengmei from the Phoenix Kingdom which crushes Xingyin but she does get some support from Captain Wenzhi who she just met at the party. Afterwards, she tries to ignore Liwei but he won’t let her, he tells her that the relationship with the Phoenix Kingdom has been tense and it is his duty to maintain this relationship especially with the threats from the Demon Realm and she knows he has willingly accepted this. While he maintains that she will always have a place there she knows he has nothing to offer but the life of a mistress if she stays so she decides to leave the Palace and accept the General’s offer to join the army. However, she does have some conditions, she doesn’t want any rank and wants to choice her own assignments and be recognised for her achievements as her goal now is to achieve the Talisman. Her first assignment under Captain Wenzhi is to slay the Chinese equivalent of a hydra but it is smart, cunning and well defended so she is going to have a challenge but she is one of the best archers the army has ever seen so I don’t doubt her. Despite everything happening I am waiting for the catalyst, the thing that will either revealed Xingyin’s identity or force her to reveal herself to drive the story forward.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Xingyin is going to face down the hydra like monster and realises that she had never shot anything alive before and doubts whether or not she can do it. While she does manage to kill the creature she hesitates and it gets her and others injured which she immediately begins beating herself up for. However, the creatures hoard contains a Jade Dragon Bow and she is ordered by the Captain to keep it hidden telling her it doesn’t belong the Palace but to a mortal warrior which I believe might be Xingyin’s father. Upon her return she is visited by Liwei who heals her injuries but Xingyin has to beat it into him that what he did wasn’t fair as he didn’t even tell her about the engagement in private and even though the Empress announced it early he still knew about it. This leaves the pair in quite frosty ground and the Captain seems to have a soft spot for Xingyin which Liwei and others have begun to notice. Xingyin’s next assignment is in the Eastern Sea were they are leading aid to the Royals there after merfolk are attacking them. At the Fragrant Coral Palace they are introduced to the royals and banquet held where they are attacked. Xingyin plays her role perfectly in protecting the older prince and when the battle is done they learn that Governor Renyu, leader of the merfolk wanted to kidnap the younger prince, Yanming in order to force the surrender of the Sea Immortals and lead them to their deaths. Together they come up with a plan to use Yanming as bait for the Governor while Xingyin and Captain Wenzhi guard him. This plan works perfectly but no one counted on Governor Renyu’s power of persuasion and despite a fierce battle Xingyin is poisoned and battles herself near to death before Wenzhi arrives but she manages to destroy the Governor’s pendant before slipping into unconsciousness from the poison. During these two assignments, Xingyin has also developed an attraction to Wenzhi and he is attracted to her as we saw in their first meeting and how he comforted her during this time. As we are getting close to the halfway point I was waiting for the larger action to begin outside of the small personal conflicts Xingyin is facing. I want her to dig for information about her mother’s enchantment and start training to break it or to do something about finding her father rather than just taking about it.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, Xingyin is honoured by the Eastern Sea Kingdom for her part in the protection of the Prince and the defeat of Governor Renyu. Afterwards, Wenzhi confesses to Xingyin that he is retiring from the army and returning home to the Western Sea and wants her to go with him and he gives her time to decide. Although they are very quickly informed of the kidnapping of Princess Fengmei, Liwei’s fiancé and Liwei wants Xingyin to go with him on the rescue mission. Although this hurts her feelings badly she does offer to help Liwei as long as he puts their relationship to its end and he agrees knowing what is at stake. Wenzhi isn’t happy with this because he is jealous of Xingyin’s relationship with Liwei and her continued love for him but ultimately accepts his decision. Together with their army they track down Princess Fengmei and rescue her but everything seems too easy and Xingyin realises that the Princess is bound with chains made form the ore from Shadow Peak which binds an immortal’s power and she realises that Liwei is in danger. By the time they emerge, Liwei has vanished and all the soldiers are dead but Xingyin’s Sky Drop tassel leads her to Liwei who has been captured by the former Flower Immortal, Lady Hualing. She explains that she was the former lover of the Emperor and made promises to her but when the Empress learns of this she scarred Lady Hualing and banished her to the forest. Xingyin stalls for time but with Liwei’s power bound she doesn’t have the strength to fight alone. Lady Hualing is also has a mind talent and forces Xingyin and Liwei to fight to the death. Xingyin uses her power to bring Liwei close to death in order to trick Lady Hualing and succeeds and they eventually kill her and escape but she realises that despite loving Liwei still she has to let him go because she doesn’t belong to her anymore and she looks to the future she might have with Wenzhi. However, I was a little disappointed that she didn’t use her mother’s banishment as a way to gain the trust of Lady Hualing and stall for more time rather than enraging her to the point she used them both.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Xingyin is awarded the Crimson Lion Talisman for her role in rescuing Liwei and Princess Fengmei and she finally reveals herself and asks for her mother be released. The Emperor denies this request but accepts her request of allowing her a chance to free her mother through a task of his choosing. He asks her to free the dragons and collect their pearls and bring them back to him not matter the cost and she agrees. She sets off with Wenzhi and Liwei to complete the task, freeing the Long Dragon. The Long Dragon sees that she wields the Jade Dragon Bow and frees the Pearl, Yellow and Black dragons before returning. They decide to give her their pearls as long as she promises to never use their power for violence as it would kill them and she agrees. After the dragons leave she is attacked and kidnapped when Wenzhi as he takes her to him home in the Cloud Wall known as the Demon Realm. He reveals himself to be the second son of the Demon King and he needed the pearls in order to take the title as Crown Prince to save his people from the cruelty of his brother and free them from the Celestial Kingdom once and for all. Through her observation since she is bound without her power Xingyin learns that Wenzhi is planning to trick the Celestial Army into breaking the truce by creating a false border and she is heart-broken for his betrayal and the knowledge that Liwei will be with the soldier and most likely die while she is helpless since rumours have spread that she is Wenzhi bride and her actions have only solidified his position and I have no idea how she is going to get out of this with less than 100 pages to go. I believe since this is the first book in a duology that Xingyin might come up with some plan to prevent or stall a war between the two Kingdoms and the second book will focus on the war and aftermath.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, Xingyin succeeds in escaping the Demon Realm with the Jade Dragon Bow and the pearls but this isn’t the end of her troubles. While she escaped Wenzhi and returns to Liwei this isn’t the end as the only way for her to truly free the dragons is to return their essence to them so they head to the Eastern Sea Kingdom to seek the help of Prince Yanxi. Yanxi explains that the enchantment can be broken but only with a sacrifice and Xingyin does it as the master of the dragons, sacrificing half of her lifeforce before returning to the Celestial Kingdom where she faces the wrath of the Emperor for tricking him. However, with Liwei at her side she manages to get his side of the bargain fulfilled and her mother released and she finally gets to return home. When she does she explains her journey to her mother and Ping’er and begins to heal from her injuries but she isn’t alone as her friends and Liwei frequently visit her and Xingyin allows herself to hope that she might have a future with Liwei especially after he asks to be released from his engagement to Princess Fengmei. However, Wenzhi appears in Xingyin’s dreams and while he maintains he won’t hurt her he is waiting for her to love him again or at least not hate him anymore. Xingyin and the readers both know this isn’t the last we’ve seen of Wenzhi and honestly while I loved him and Liwei for the majority of the novel, I did prefer Wenzhi as a love interest and can’t wait for the sequel to see what happens. One of the best books I’ve read this year so far and I can’t wait to read more from these characters in the future.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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