This was a fantastical audiobook. A beautiful fairytale retelling with lots of adventures and romance, about the daughter of the moon Goddess. Her mum has been punished by the emperor and the MC hides in his Court and grows through the army ranks in order to win a favour from him and free her mum.

Wow wow wow.
This is my first audio-ARC from Netgalley and I'm so thankful for it!
I loved this story to bits.
The power dynamics, the character arc, the motherly-love everything was very well written.
I felt like the book ended so soon, because I wanted more.
The narrator has did a very good job - everything was playing out in front of me!!
Loved it.

This is not the sort of book I usually tend towards, I have always enjoyed mythology and folklore, but never read anything in this style (usually English or Nordic fairy tale/ horror) and generally avoid ‘romance novels’. 



However I found Daughter of the Moon Goddess utterly captivating and beautifully written, conjuring such wonderful scenes, the whole thing is so well done with many exciting twists and turns in the tale.



I can’t wait for the next book, which I daydream of reading beneath the branches of a peach blossom tree.



4.5 rounded up.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author writes characters well and provokes strong emotions, so that you really root for the characters. The plot is adventurous and compelling, so much so that I found it addictive and couldn't stop listening. The writing style is very whimsical and dreamlike, and perfectly complimented the plot of the book. The audiobook was very enjoyable and I feel that the narrator did a very good job at evoking the whimsical feel of the book.

However, if you read a lot of similar style fantasy novels, you may not find the twist in this book surprising, but that does not spoil the enjoyment of a very strong book..

Overall, I felt like this was an amazing debut novel and am excited to both continue in this series, and read more of Sue Lynn Tan's work. I have already purchased the beautiful hardcover edition because I loved this book so much.

Thank you to the author, Harper Voyager and NetGalley for an advance copy of the audio book in return for an honest review.

The title of this book drew me in immediately, followed by the beautiful cover. I am pleased to say the story did not disappoint.
The story is well written with captivating descriptions of the characters and the world. The heroine is strong and an excellent role and has suitors falling at her feet. The story describes her life as the daughter of the moon goddess and her subsequent journey after she has to flee the moon when suspicions of her are aroused with the Emperor .
The details and depth of the story are just right and lead you into the magnificent world of the dragons.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would be happy to read about her further adventures, of which there are sure to be many.

I really liked the narrator of this book, also I Iiked reading about the Chinese mythology and the listening to the writing was very lyrical. Did not expect there to be a love triangle, but nevertheless I still enjoyed it. I'm very intrigued to read the next book.

If you love fantasy and mythology then this is a must read! This debut novel based on Chinese mythology features a love triangle, betrayal, trickery, magic, immortals and adventure. It is poetic and heartfelt, whilst focusing on a fierce female warrior and hence containing more than enough action to keep you entertained. There is also a strong theme of growth in this book, with the main character evolving from a timid child into a determined and unapologetic woman, ready to pursue at all costs the future she desires.

In this reimagining of the Legend of Chang'e the Moon Goddess, Xingyin, the daughter she has been hiding from the Celestial Emperor, is discovered and must flee, leaving behind both her home and her mother. In the Celestial Kingdom, Xingyin trains in disguise with the Emperor's son (Liwei) and excels in magic and archery, whilst her relationship with Liwei deepens. In order to rescue her mother, who was exiled for stealing the elixir of immortality, Xingyin must earn the Emperor's favour by putting her life at risk and facing many vicious evils that threaten the safety of the kingdom.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Natalie Naudus, though I borrowed the novel from the library as well. I found the narration enjoyable as there was a good flow to it and I was immediately immersed in Xingyin's world. I thought narration was particularly effective for this novel as it was written from Xingyin's perspective and so you really got a sense of her emotional depth through the narrator's tone of voice. Though I highly recommend the audiobook, I'm glad I got my hands on a physical copy because there's a cute map at the front, depicting all the places travelled to and mentioned.

TW: Violence, Blood.

Quote: “A glorious future beckoned on the horizon. Yet I still clung to a shred of my past, as a flowering peach blossom tree yearning for its fallen bloom.”

This book is such a striking counterbalance of soft writing and low stakes, I’m almost a little disappointed by it. The atmosphere is well crafted, and the gentle nature of the protagonist’s voice allows the reader to fall seamlessly into step with her (Xingyin). The writing style is reminiscent of Samantha Shannon’s The Priory of the Orange Tree, and the decadent way the world is built up around Xingyin means this is a story to take your time with.

The plot follows Xingyin over a few years, with massive time jumps and skips to more ‘interesting’ parts of the narrative, which I’m not always a fan of. I’m definitely more of a ‘throw your characters out of the plane, then tell me how they got there’ type writer, so the constant flashbacks to her childhood grew tiresome, especially as we’d spent two full chapters with her mother and companions at the start of the novel. What intrigues me most is the duology element of this narrative. Everything feels wholly wrapped up in this novel, with a few potential questions, but the MC seems happy with the choices she’s made. A few times I thought ‘this will be where the plot twist kicks in,’ or ‘there’ll be a dramatic last page’ and there just wasn’t. Most of the beats of the plot were formulaic.

Now that’s not always a bad thing, and I definitely would recommend this book to those who enjoy Laini Taylor, or thought The Poppy War was a bit too ‘hardcore’. This whole book felt like a Chinese Epic, but with the gentler YA writing style which meant most of the narrative was told to us rather than shown. (Another peeve of mine, but not necessarily a deal breaker.)

There are a few classic YA fantasy tropes, such as a love triangle, chosen one status, magical abilities and internal monologue - but for the most part, it made it a great read which I could enjoy leisurely. Overall I gave it three stars, and as I said, would recommend it to fans of Kuang, Taylor and Shannon.

Disclaimer: I received and Arc of the Audiobook from HarperCollins UK Audio, HarperVoyager in exchange for a review. All thoughts are my own, and the Arc didn't get approved until after I received my physical copy.

Plot
Xingyin, is the immortal, secret daughter of the moon goddess. Her parents were both mortals, when her mother seemingly betrayed the immortal emperor - sentencing her to be the moon goddess as punishment.

Xingyin is forced to flee to the immortal realm. She befriends the emperor's son, and becomes his companion training and being educated alongside him. The book follows her journey to help free her mother, while keeping her heritage secret.

Thoughts
Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars

This book reads very young YA. It is very early YA trope-y. There is a love triangle, and a training montage, and the lead is very much - the girl they are waiting to save them vibes.

Overall, there was nothing to make me DNF the book, but nothing that I really cared about. I doubt I'll pick up the sequel, but I would be interesting in reading more from the author as it was a good debut book.

Audiobook
The audiobook was way too dramatic for me. The narrator practically cries to show Xingyin's emotions. It was a bit much for me. I also don't know if it was a problem with the Arc or the app, but I couldn't put the speed above x2 speed or the audiobook just skipped entire sections of the book.

Breathtaking fantasy debut

Xingyin has lived all her young life sequestered on the Moon with her mother, but when she is discovered by the Celestial Emperor, she must flee alone. In disguise, she embarks on a quest to free her mother from the Emperor’s curse.

Believable characters, rip-roaring pace, dragons and all kinds of magic. This is a tremendous Chinese myth-based fantasy debut.

I cannot wait for the concluding sequel.

The audiobook edition, narrated by Natalie Naudus, is perfectly cast, and captures the thrills, magic and romance of the novel.

When the daughter of the Moon Goddess is forced to leave her home and go on the run, she must do anything she can to get back home and save her mother from imprisonment.

This book has a fascinating premise and interesting characters, as well as brilliant folkloric history. The trouble I personally had with this novel was the pacing, there would be long stretches where little happens and then all of a sudden there would be a dump of exposition. While this exposition was fascinating (and I loved reading about it so much, I would rather they were the main story more often then not) it was unfortunately telling not showing. But I would still recommend this to fantasy fans, especially if they wanted a more diverse story full of elements of other cultures which don't get explored often enough in modern fantasy novels, I'd definitely be interested in seeing what this author does in the future.

I'm hoping for a prequel with the parents story, because that was spectacular!!

With Thanks to Sue Tynn Tan and Harper Voyager for an advance audio copy of this book.

3*

I was SOOOO excited about this one, there was so much hype, the covers on both sides of the Atlantic are beautiful like absolutely stunning. I just wasn't feeling it.

The story is inspired by the myth of Chang'e the moon goddess, who is imprisoned by the Celestial Emperor for being an immortal. When She is threatened by the Celestial Army Xingyin, daughter of Chang'e is forced to flee from the moon palace straight into enemy territory.

The pacing in this book is so slow, I found it really hard to push myself through it and it was an AudioArc. I also found it really juvenile, even for an advertised YA, the main character made some conveniently stupid decisions.

Different strokes for different folks but this one isn't for me.

I absolutely adored this book!

The Daughter of the Moon Goddess is inspired by the Chinese legend of Chang’e which is used as the starting point to tell the story of her daughter, Xingyin. It follows Xingyin as she leaves the isolation of the moon and attempts to navigate the Celestial Kingdom and free her mother.

I still can’t believe how much is packed into this book, it’s incredibly fast moving but somehow it never felt rushed to me. The book gets the balance between action, character development and romance just right.

Xingyin is well developed and has a strong motivation which drives all her actions. The supporting characters are also interesting in their own right and I would have loved some of Xingyin’s friends to feature more. There are two love interests for Xingyin and I couldn’t decide who I liked more!

I loved how much this book drew from Chinese mythology and culture, it really featured strongly and, coupled with the beautiful writing, this story is incredibly atmospheric. The Celestial Kingdom and Immortal realm is a wonderful setting, different areas are explored along with their history and politics resulting in the the world building feeling truly epic.

I really loved that the book was narrated by an Asian American and they did a brilliant job bringing the story to life. I did find that they’re accent was a little too American for me, which at times yanked me out of the beautiful, otherworldly setting.

This is such a strong debut fantasy and I’m so excited for the second part of this duology!

Was excepted to listen to this book and then was archive straight away so I didn’t have chance to read the book I have emailed HarperCollins and have heard nothing in response

Oh my gawd sweet Jesus.

Sue Lynn. My girl. I love this book, love would be an understatement of the year. Never have I been so interested in a book about love, magic and secrets.

Before I go any further Natalie Naudus did an amazing job in narrating this story and I hope she does the next book as well. I also hope I get to listen to next book too.

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for letting me listen/ read this story. I sincerely hope you consider me for the next one too!

Anyways on with the review!

Xingyin is the daughter of the moon goddess beloved by all or we hope till we find out she's actually imprisoned in the moon by the celestial empire.... And they don't know about Xingyin's existence untill a Xingyin tryied to use her magic. Xingyin has to flee her home and start a new in the Celestial kingdom.

I love Xingyin character. She isn't too annoy about her situation and her determination and intelligence is amazing. Not including the fact she's an excellent archer.

The supporting characters are also well written and well fleshed out which means you love them a lot more. Sue did an amazing job making the supports stand out for their own reason which a lot of writers forget to do.

It's a beautiful debut and such a captivating start to a series. a great book to look forward to if you are wanting to fill the void from ‘six crimson cranes’ earlier this year.

I wish I could give you more star. You have done an Amazing job!

Although this is said to be Adult Fantasy, it read extremely like a YA book. The fantasy and magical aspect of this book is really entertaining. The adventures were interesting, but it felt like each adventure was quite short. Could have done with out the romance, because the romance in this book left a lot to be desired. Both of the love interest had potential but they did end up falling flat.

As one of my most anticipated releases this book definitely did not disappoint. The mythology and worldbuilding drew me in from the beginning but the best part of this book was its main protagonist—Xingyin. I admired her fierceness, strong will and maturity. The romances didn't quite work for me but I enjoyed the interactions between characters nonetheless. Overall, I really enjoyed the story with all of the twists and turns, and can't wait to find out where it goes next in the sequel.
The audiobook was very good.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

So I got approved for this book this morning, but it got archived before I could even listen. Still giving it 5 stars tho as I have the book. 😂

This was a very interesting book. I enjoyed the concept and I really liked the narrator. I was shocked at the Moon Godess. There are many twist and turns in this book some that shock me and some that I'd actually expected. It's a jam packed fast paced book. Its a great debut novel and is
recommended to all who love fantasy. What a journey to go through to save her mother the journey is not an easy path and many obstacles get in the way and are there to overcome.

A well written, beautiful myth/ legend. The characters are surreal, and have an elegance only mythical people could have. The story, although complex, drifted smoothly and contained enough excitement to keep the reader interested.
Dragons, demons, goddess and special powers- everything you need to make a great read. The audio version was excellent- narrated superbly, characters brought to life and story pace maintained well.