I am the problem, it’s me.
For real though. Highly appropriate Taylor Swift references aside, Daughter Of The Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan is hit-or-miss; you’ll either love it or you won’t. And I…am not quite fond of it. That’s not an issue with the book itself, it’s just a very personal preference.
Sounds ambiguous? Here’s my explanation for those who care to read.
Table of Contents
~ Synopsis: Daughter Of The Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan ~
Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the feared Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin’s magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.
Alone, powerless, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the emperor’s son, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the prince.
To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies across the earth and skies. But when treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream—striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos.
Ratings
~ Daughter Of The Moon Goddess Book Review ~
As a person who is a big fan of Fantasy and loves stories based on mythology, I had a lot of high hopes for Daughter Of The Moon Goddess, and for the right reasons too. This book is an extremely lush, vibrant fantasy, and from page one I was blown away by the gorgeous world-building. The story is deeply rooted in Chinese mythology and the legend of Chang’e, and anyone who enjoys high fantasy and adventure would be absolutely mesmerized by the story.
However, I had a lot of trouble with the narration style, and, after plowing through the first quarter of the book, I had to admit that this is just not my cup of tea.
I think the biggest issue for me with the storytelling here is that for a book that is set in such an exciting, fantastical, dreamy setting, we spend too much time inside the main character’s head. The lack of dialogue was off-putting and even the way our protagonist expressed her thoughts was difficult for me to get into.
Definitely, I do not expect the daughter of a moon goddess to think and speak the way we do in the real world, but I also was not expecting her sentences to be so….dry. It felt like the author was trying too hard to make her character speak formally, which only becomes an issue when the tone does not feel truly conversational or immersive.
That being said, I will admit that the plot of Daughter Of The Moon Goddess is very intriguing, and if the long monologues do not bother you much, then this is definitely a vibrant, gorgeous fantasy story that you can pick up. For myself though, there was a disconnect between me as a reader and being in our protagonist’s thoughts, which was very off-putting while reading the book.
I hate giving up on books, but if I am going to complete my goal of 50 books this year, I cannot keep pushing myself to read a book where I cannot enjoy a minute inside the main character’s head. So for me, Daughter Of The Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan was unfortunately not a great experience.
This was a really fun read; makes you want to read the book!