Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

Lynnie

fantasy, young adult

 

According to the book's description, The Daughter of the Moon Goddess is a story "in which a young woman's quest to free her mother pit's her against the most powerful immortal in the realm." Sounds fantastic, right?

 

I really wanted to love Sue Lynn Tan’s novel, but honestly I was sort of disappointed. 

Inspired by the legend of the Chinese moon goddess, Chang’e, the truth is that Chang’e is the most minor of minor characters in this novel. Chang’e’s daughter, Xingyin takes the lead and while Xingyin is a badass warrior, she’s also a wishywashy, lovelorn teen willing to give up everything anytime a good-looking guy gives her a compliment which is just so.. boring.

First there’s the Crown Prince Liwei, who clearly has feelings for Xingyin even though their romance can never be. Then there is fellow warrior Wenzhi who is strong, handsome, and encourages Xingyin to be her true self. But then there’s Liwei… and back and forth and back and forth and oh my gosh why are we supposed to care?

Oh right, the moon goddess. It’s a shame really because the world that Tan has created is really quite beautiful and I found myself fascinated by the magic and the different kingdoms and the battles… and then we’d go back to the weird forced romance. Sigh…

When the story focused on the action it was great. When Xingyin was dwelling on romantic intrigue and betrayal I was bored to tears. Ultimately, it comes down to what you’re looking for in a book I guess. I may read the sequel, but I don’t think I’ll be in a rush for it.