Daughter of the Moon Goddess – A Review

A massive thank you to Harper Collins UK for providing me with an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A young woman’s quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm, setting her on a dangerous path where those she loves are not the only ones at risk…

Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the powerful Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when her magic flares and her existence is discovered, Xingyin 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 train in the Crown Prince’s service, learning to master archery and magic, despite the passion which flames between her and the emperor’s son.

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, where she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos.

My Review:

This book is excellent. I don’t think I’ve stopped recommending or talking about this book since I finished it. Daughter of the Moon Goddess follows Xingyin, the secret daughter of the Moon Goddess , who flees her home and travels to the Celestial Kingdom, where she meets characters such as a prince, a Queen, and soldiers. Xingyin grows throughout the book, taking on creatures, quests, and enemies, all the while always thinking of her mother left behind on the moon.

The characters were brilliantly written in this book, I haven’t stopped thinking about them since turning the final page. I loved Xingyin as a main character: she’s strong, clever, and full of ideas and love. I loved seeing the various relationships she had with other characters throughout this book, and how they changed as she grew older. There were so many emotions flowing throughout this book, with every character feeling really fleshed out and ‘real’. I loved how loyal Xingyin was, and how driven and determined she was all the way through the book.

I adored the worldbuilding, settings and descriptions throughout this book. I planned on taking so many notes when I was reading this and completely forgot because of how engrossed in it I became! One of the only notes I remembered to make when reading just says: “The description of the Jade palace omg” and then loads of heart eye emojis. If that doesn’t tell you how much I loved it, I don’t know what will. The colours were so vivid and I could really picture each place mentioned all the way through this book. Everything in this book was described so beautifully and so magically, and I am already so excited for the sequel.

Overall this book was (unsurprisingly) 5 stars. I am so excited for my preorders to arrive, yes multiple – Waterstones special edition and standard edition from Blackwell’s, and I can’t wait to reread this one already. Sue Lynn Tan has written an excellent debut novel, which is the first in what I think will be an all-time favourite duology of mine.

Again, a massive thank you to Harper Collins UK for this eARC, I am so grateful that I got to read one of my most anticipated books early!!

Daughter of the Moon Goddess is out now in the US, and is out in the UK on 20th January.

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