Heart of the Sun Warrior

Update: bumping down a star. The more I think about the book, the more it infuriates me. And tempted to bump down to 2 stars. This book was a mess and her actions towards Liwei were very disappointing. He deserved better. Wenzhi was toxic. Actually they were all terrible for each other. She should have ended up with the sea realm prince. Or someone from a different realm altogether.


——-

What a wild ride.

I knew it would be hard to follow up Daughter of the Moon Goddess, but this mostly met my expectations.

First, it was great to journey back to the Celestial Kingdom, the Southern Sea and the rest of the immortal realm. It was nice to see familiar characters as well as meet a few new ones.

Now to unpack all the rest. (Apologies in advance for any misspellings)

The first 100 pages or so I wasn't sure I wanted to continue. Xingyin was making some foolish decisions and felt like a different character than the girl in book 1. The introduction of Houyi felt sloppy and rushed. And the introduction of Tao (was that even his name) felt completely unnecessary. The character was introduced as this important thief that even then Celestial Empress was aware of. Yet after his brief bit he fades into complete obscurity. The sole purpose was to bring the sister back into the writing.

Now the sister, what was the point of her introduction? To show that a mortal life is a good one? I thought she'd have a bigger part, like taking over for Liewi so that he and Xingyin could live a wonderful life together. Instead she's also a subtle background character that could have been removed entirely.

Xingyin and Leiwi's defiance of their celestial majesties. It was good to see these two together again defying the odds, but Xingyin's hesitancy for Leiwi felt lacking. Yes he broke her heart but I hoped that year between books would have led to some change.

But that made sense when her heart also belonged to another. Though I never liked Whenzi, he had a freedom to him that Leiwi did not. At least that's how the author portrays it. But in reality they are both trapped by the same issue. Either way, if Xingyin ended up with either man she would be a future empress. Which had me frustrated because Leiwi seemed like the better choice.

But the thing that stood out about everything was the stark difference of priorities for Leiwi and Whenzi. When it came down to it Leiwi put his duties and kindom first and Whenzi put Xingyin above all else. Still, I didn't like Whenzi after all he did to her in Book 1. Lying to her, emprisoning her. Yet her slow forgiveness of all of that.

The emotional rollercoaster of the love triangle was a lot and I was getting frustrated at Xingyin as she let her indecision reign.

But the Celestial Empress was wiser than we gave her credit for. Though I had hoped for a showdown between her and Xingyin where the empress says “Yes, you are worthy to take my place and marry my son.” Then all becomes clear as to why Xingyin was hesitant. But turns out it wasn't the empress at all. It was Xingyin's own indecision.

While the indecision and love triangle play centerfold, we also have the touching reuinion of Chang'e and Houyi. The relationship between father and daughter. And we find some semblance of peace for some characters.

Now to the main point of conflict. I did not like the big bag guy, General Wu. Not that you're supposed to, but the whole character arc itself was meh. It felt a bit like a Disney villian, whereas the conflict in book 1 was more on par with a Pixar tale where the main character must grow and learn a lesson.

Don't get me wrong, it was still good and the ending was.. an ending. It was sad and a fitting conclusion. But again, I felt a bit dissatisfied. As it progressed I thought “Really? Death? Eliminating the choice to pick at all?” That felt like a cheap way to end the conflict. I thought the elimination of one would lead the others to be closer. But in the end the pain persisted and we got a relatively good ending.

BUT did we get a good ending? Because yes they will have time in the mortal world together, but once the next immortal elixer is taken and the other ascends into the sky, isn't there the same issue where that character will once again take on the role of emperor and Xingyin will feel trapped in the empress role?

Overall I guess there was no way to win with either way. And I guess that' the point of story. That even life there are no winners. We just trod on through our decisions an the decisions of the world around us. Though I wish the two characters found their way back to one another, it would have been impossible after all that occurred.

I'm appalled at myself that I waited so long to read this sequel despite having an arc and absolutely adoring Daughter of the Moon Goddess. But what can I say, I fell into a bad slump around the time of the release of this book last year and I'm just trying to get back on track recently. I'm just glad I finally got around to it and it was everything I expected it to be and more.

The writing in this book is ofcourse stunning but that's not new. The author wowed me with her talent in her debut and I can say she has only improved. Every line is gorgeous, the descriptions are a feast for the imagination, and the way she manages to capture every single emotion with so much depth is just stunning. More than just reading, I can say that I felt this book. There's just so much pain and turmoil and sadness permeating the story this time, with some sweet moments in between, that I was completely swept away in those sad currents. And ofcourse having someone like Natalie Naudus narrate the audiobook helps immensely because she makes any book even better with her voice.

What I can say about the characters which I haven't already said in the first book's review. Xingyin, Liwei and Wenzhi are my favorite trio now and I just loved every charged moment between them. Xingyin goes through so much in this book and it was heartbreaking to see her having to make life altering decisions all the time for the purpose of saving her world, even though the world has never shown that compassion towards her.

Liwei has always been a sweetheart and even when things go bad, he is ever faithful in Xingyin's capabilities and their love. Wenzhi on the other hand has a lot to make up for after his betrayal but the change in his character is definitely one of the best parts of this duology and every interaction between him and Xingyin was fraught with deep emotion and conflict, which made for excellent reading.

We also get more development of a new villain, some unexpected heart wrenching troubles, and new characters who made the proceedings even better with their presence - but I don't wanna give out those details. All I can say is that all characters play important and well written roles in getting the story to its conclusion which left me a sobbing mess, but it's our trio who will leave a lasting impression on any reader. The yearning that Xingyin feels, the love and companionship that she desires, and the love she feels for both makes for a very emotional love triangle, leading to a finale which I absolutely did not see coming.

In the end, all I feel is that I haven't written a good review because this book deserves more. It's a stunning, heartbreaking but immensely satisfying conclusion to one of my all time favorite duologies, and if you are someone who loves either YA fantasies or cdramas and haven't checked these books yet, you are absolutely missing out. Also, if you like the audiobook format, you can never go wrong with picking up one narrated by the spectacular Natalie Naudus. Now that it's over, I can only eagerly wait to see what the author writes next.

I feel like Heart of the Sun Warrior did a good job at concluding the romance storyline from the first book, but with that being one of the few things not wrapped up in Daughter of the Moon Goddess there wasn't much left to get this book rolling. As such takes about half of the book for it to feel like something's actually happening, but at the same time it was hard to put it down.

Despite the slow start, this book/duology is a great read for anyone interested in fantasy and Chinese mythology


Disclaimer: book received via Netgalley

We need this to be a series, I know, a very costly series, but non the less, we need to see all of this coming into real characters, real battles!
Now, for me the “Daughter” was a 5++++ this, was beautiful but, in contrary with what others feel, like it lost the plot etc, for me is the opposite, the way the story was going, it needed a third book to wrap everything up. The problem is not that it was too long, its the fact the we missed some very basic elements and battles and we ended up wanting more explaining, more details, more battles.

PS. The ending was the most nice plot twist!

After finishing the first book, I think I raised my expectations of this book a bit too much. I had really high hopes that the fantasy elements I loved so much would continue. Unfortunately, the love triangle in this book brought down the rating by a lot. I'm definitely interested in anything Sue Lynn Tan writes in the future.






Thank you to Avon, Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for providing me with an eBook copy to review.

5/5.
I picked up daughter of the moon goddess of recommendation of the good reads discord, I had thought it would probably not become one of my favorites.

I went in with quite high hopes for this one and oh boy did it not disappoint.

Once again Xingyin is such a strong and well written character, her stubborness, quick thinking and her emotions really stuck to me.
Her feelings and how much she blames herself for the events that happen really resonated with me as well.

Oh dear Wenhzi, how I was so angry at this male character through out the first book but solely I could see the charm with him in this one.

I only started reading books a lot this year but this one will be the very first one that brought me into full crying towards the end, the death of Prince yangming completely shattered me and I think that chapter will forever stay with me.

He acabado el libro un poco decepcionada la verdad.

La primera parte es uno de mis libros favoritos, así que estaba deseando leer este.

Voy a empezar por lo bueno. Me encanta la historia en general, me ha parecido algo súper interesante y me he acabado el libro en una semana. Me gusta mucho la forma de escribir de la autora, los mundos que describe a incluso las escenas de peleas que muchas otras veces se me hacen pesadas.

El problema principal que he tenido ha sido los personajes, sobretodo Liwei. Parece que le hayan cambiado la personalidad para que cambiemos de opinión sobre el y que nos guste más Wenzhi. Puede que sea solo impresión mía, pero parece que en el primer libro la autora quisiese que la protagonista acabase con el pero que en el segundo cambiase de idea.

Esto lo que ha hecho es que me parecese que Xingyin fuese súper injusta con el y que jugase a dos bandas, algo que ha hecho que en momentos no me gustase nada su personalidad.

Repito que puede que sea solo cosa mía, pero es algo que me ha disgustado tanto que es lo que ha hecho incluso que me pensase el dejar de leer el final.

Otra cosa que es totalmente personal pero que no me ha gustado son las muertes de personajes queridos. En el primer libro no recuerdo ninguna (puedo estar equivocada hace un tiempo ya) así que no pensé que en este estuviera llorando tanto cada dos por tres.

En resumen me parece que las "vives" del primer libro y del segundo son muy diferentes, este segundo siendo más duro que el primero.

Personalmente no es un libro que volvería a leer ya que suelo preferir historias más felices y cómicas que me hagan sentir bien.

Aún así he disfrutado de muchas escenas y personajes de este libro así que aunque ha sido algo agridulce no me arrepiento de haberlo leído en absoluto, y si os gustan los enemies to lovers creo que os puede encantar♡

This sequel didn't need to happen. The flowery descriptions do not make up for the cringe love triangle, flat characters, and repeated villainous monologues. The new threat served no purpose. This sequel's purpose seems to have been to give the heroine a final love interest.

Liwei and Wenzhi have been reduced to feuding man children existing only for Xingyin. The moon goddess herself is still a shallow character despite her having more presence here. The main baddie will not shut up in the middle of battles with his incessant backstory monologues. And the entire plot depends on a single item to save the day.

I loved the first installment, but it should have been a standalone.

A sequel I didn't need. Harsh, I know, but this story just dragged on and diluted everything great about the series. I'm disappointed because this sequel had potential to be just as strong as the first book.

There were parts I enjoyed, the gorgeous descriptions, consequences from the first book playing out, and exploration of morally grey choices. The story starts off strong, we face a new villain playing the long game and uncover imperial schemes. We learn the backstory of several characters adding to the richness and complexity of the Celestial Kingdom. 

Unfortunately as the book continued, the plot started to meander and break apart. There were too many side plots each with it's own bad guy, the magic system lost it's logic, and the ending was doubly disappointing. This is the most undecisive love triangle I've ever read.  There's no romantic tension or engaging rivalry (like the first book). The hottest immortal bachelors throw themselves at Xingyin, but she can't accept her “true” feelings or make up her mind until the last few pages, literally.

I still love the Celestial Kingdom, just not this one

Liwei begitu dekat tetapi terasa jauh dari jangkauan. Wenzhi telah membuat kesalahan tak termaafkan, tetapi terus saja menyerbu benteng yang Xingyin dirikan untuk melindungi hatinya.
Namun, tidak ada waktu untuk mengurus romansa ketika pertempuran kedelapan alam untuk memperebutkan semesta sudah mengadang. Sekutu berkhianat, musuh bersiasat.
Beberapa buku memang bukan seleraku termasuk seri Celestial Kingdom ini.
Untungnya sekarang ada tempat pinjam/sewa buku-buku terjemahan, di Perpus Berjalan. Jadi buku-buku yang masih ragu bakal suka atau tidak, bisa pinjam saja, tidak perlu beli, bisa berhemat banyak.

I am so sad to write this review, but I had such high hopes for this book and I just didn't enjoy it at all. I loved The Daughter of the Moon Goddess and was excited to not only delve back into the world, but also have a nice conclusion. I felt really let down. Xingyin was an amazing character in the first book, independent, likable and strong, but in this book it was like she forgot all the things that made her great and became a soppy love-sick teenager who couldn't put aside the ridiculous love triangle to actually DO anything. She was so headstrong in the first one, but here she lets others make the decisions for her. I mean this book is literally hopping from one thing to another, with no rhyme or reason or meaning, just so that Xingyin could debate herself over the romantic interests. One of which, I can't even believe was a love interest at all in this book, I was definitely not a fan of that twist. The magic, adventure and light romance of the first book is completely gone in favour of a cringey love triangle. I had to push myself to finish it in the end and I was positive that if one or other of the guys eyes ‘shuddered' when Xingyin spoke one more time I was going to remove that word from my dictionary. No disrespect to Sue Lynn Tan, but I just couldn't get on board with this one and the choices she made to take the story were just not my taste at all.