this book was everything i expected and more. there were plot twists i didn't see coming, and as always the prose was beautiful that i forgot that i was reading an actual book again. the descriptions of the kingdom and its minor locations made it easier for me to delve into the world which helped a lot since it was a while since reading daughter of the moon goddess. wenzhi will remain my favorite male character forever and xingyin's character development in this book was so strong even though there were some points where she was unsure, but in my opinion, added more depth to her character. there was more action from the first book, which i loved and the inner battles with loyalties was wonderfully woven into each part of the book.

Thank Netgalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for giving me an ARC of Heart of the Sun Warrior.

I loved the Daughter of the Moon Goddess and was thrilled to receive and ARC of Heart of the Sun Warrior.

Sue Lynn Tan once again weaves a beautiful story that is filled with loss, love, family, and friendship. Xingyin has been living on the moon with her mother in relative peace for a year. However new issues arise within the Celestial Empire that threaten her peace and those she loves.

We once again are reunited with Whenzhi and Liwei who both vie for Xingjin's affection. I will say I am not a huge fan of love triangles and this was a little more in your face than the previous book. Both Whenzhi and Liwei frustrated me at points as they were more focused on obtaining Xingjin's affections and less on the immediate threats.

This book finishes the duology perfectly. I loved seeing Xingjin grow as a character across these two books. She learned a lot about herself and the world and how to face challenges. The ending is filled with hope for a better future and it was such a beautiful ending.

I thoroughly loved this duology and can't recommend it enough.

“Unclouded by emotion, instinct can be a powerful guide.”

Sue Lynn Tan strikes once again with Heart of the Sun Warrior, the anticipated sequel to the number one best seller, Daughter of the Moon Goddess. Book two of the Celestial Kingdom Duology picks up where book one left off. Our main character, Xingyin, has been reunited with her mother, Chang’e, the moon goddess, and has returned to her childhood home on the moon. However, things are not the same as they once were. As the tender peace between her family and the Celestial kingdom begins to break down, Xingyin must once again overcome obstacles that stand in the way of her and her families freedom. As new enemies emerge and old allies reappear, can Xingyin protect her loved ones from harm?

Heart of the Sun Warrior is just as well written and engaging as its predecessor. Full of charm and action, this sequel is the perfect companion to wrap up the Celestial Kingdom Duology. Combined, both books feel like two sides of the same coin. Where Daughter of the Moon Goddess is the naive younger sibling unaware of the world around them, Heart of the Sun Warrior is the hot tempered elder sibling who knows the true nature of the universe.

What sets this book apart from Daughter of the Moon Goddess is how we see the evolution of Xingyin’s character. In Daughter of the Moon Goddess, we see Xingyin as the naive and abrasive protagonist trying to find her purpose in the world. As well as having one singular goal, to free her mother from her imprisonment. In this book we get to see Xingyin in a whole new light. Who is Xingyin, and what are her aspirations? These questions are more than answered as the plot unfolds.

The Celestial Kingdom Duology is the first duology that I have ever read that I actually enjoyed. Both books are the perfect companions to each other. Extremely compelling reads from start to finish. The romance elements of this book, while not the main focus, do not leave you underwhelmed. One of the best love triangles I have ever read. This book does a great job expressing love, and how what your brain conveys can war with what you feel in your heart. I would recommend this book, and it’s predecessor to every person I know. One of the highlights of 2022 so far.

I would like to thank netgalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for giving me an ARC of Heart of the Sun Warrior before its official release on November 10, 2022.

I quickly devoured Daughter of the Moon Goddess, and was so thrilled when I received an ARC of Heart of the Sun Warrior. I really enjoy the way that Sue Lynn Tan can weave her storytelling into delightful and harrowing tales that read like childhood myths and legends. Tan's vivid descriptions provide the reader with stunning visuals and immersive world building that whisked me away into the Celestial Kingdom. Unusually, this is maybe the only instance where I wasn't constantly annoyed by the love triangle between the three main characters. It doesn't feel quite as juvenile as Twilight's Edward/Bella/Jacob scenario, and didn't take away from the main story. Heart of the Sun Warrior was an epic conclusion to the Celestial Kingdom series, and I'm so satisfied with how Tan drew the duology to a close. It's always hard to say goodbye!

Wow where do I even begin. Daughter of the moon goddess is one of my all time favorite fantasy books. So I was very excited to read this one and also dreading the ending of the duology. I read this book slow because I didn’t want to reach the end! I cannot even put into words how beautiful this book is. I love it just as much as book 1. This one did have me sobbing in several parts though. I won’t say anything that ruins anything in the book. Everything that happened was so unexpected to me. I couldn’t have guessed what was coming next and I absolutely loved that. I am a huge fan and I have already ordered several copies and I can’t wait to read it again! The story will not be leaving my mind any time soon. Thank you Sue Lynn Tan for the beautiful conclusion.
*thank you so much to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful sequel to Daughter of the moon Goddess. This was enticing and magical just like the first book of this series. I did find it kind of lacking in the action aspect unlike the first one, but still amazing.

I adored this just as much as the first. The characters are so well-written and rounded out. The story built and improved upon the first one. I really look forward to reading more from Sue Lynn Tan.

5/5 stars
Recommended to people who like: fantasy, Chinse mythology, epic fantasy, star-crossed lovers, magic

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 8/28 and has been posted to Instagram and my book blog as of 8/30.

Once again I was completely swept away by Tan's writing and was wholly immersed in the book from start to finish. I will 100% be reading her future books (and I'm very curious to see who the companion novel is going to be about since there's a number of contenders).

The book opens a year after the ending of Daughter, and while Xingyin is largely recovered from her encounter with the Celestial Emperor, she sees danger and potential betrayals wherever she turns. Unfortunately for her and those she cares about, there is danger. This time, though, when Xingyin goes on the run, she's accompanied by the people she treasures most. I enjoyed getting to see more of the relationship between Xingyin and her mother. Their love for each other came through clearly in the first one, but Chang'e gets more page time in this one, so we get to see more of their relationship. Likewise, Ping'er's relationship with Chang'e and Xingyin is more visible in this one, and it's clear the three of them have made their own little family.

We once again get to venture across the Immortal Realm, though we get to see some different settings this time. The Southern Sea, Ping'er's homeland, is featured and I greatly enjoyed getting to see the underwater city. We also get to learn more about the sunbirds and the role both Xingyin's father and the Celestial Emperor had in their demise. The role of the sunbird and the Sun Goddess is relatively brief, but Xingyin does venture to their garden, so we get to see where they reside as well.

After the events of the last book, Xingyin is content to remain on the moon with her mother and Ping'er and, when that isn't an option, to try and find a place where they can reside peacefully away from Celestial Kingdom politics. While it is somewhat of a change from the last book, I feel like it's very consistent with the things Xingyin wanted (i.e., her mother to be free and to go home). She does still have that spark in her that gets her to stand up and fight back, so even though she wants peace, she also knows that sometimes it isn't an option immediately. A lot of her growth in this book is about understanding and accepting loss, in more ways than one.

Liwei makes a return in this book, though he's a more minor character due to everything going on in the Celestial Kingdom and the royal (haha) mess that everyone has found themselves in. He's still remarkably sweet and he's gotten better about standing up to his parents, particularly in regards to Xingyin. I did enjoy seeing him go head-to-head with his mother, though I suspect/know some of his 'win' is due to Xingyin. I still would've liked to see him more in this one.

Wenzhi is also a returning character, and he's someone that Xingyin is, understandably, not pleased with. He comes in claiming that he's changed over the past year and that he realized his victory is 'hollow' considering how much he hurt Xingyin to achieve it. It's definitely hard to trust him and, like Xingyin, I'm skeptical. But he does prove that he's someone who's interested in helping the group and in defeating the new antagonist. By the time I was 60-75% through, I was pretty convinced Wenzhi had changed, or at least regretted his actions.

I was pleased to see Shuxiao again as well. She's a good friend to Xinyin and it was good to see her be able to step outside the bounds of the Celestial Army for a little bit. She has a good perspective on things and is both good at providing fighting support and moral/advice support. I'm definitely glad that she was able to resolve things with the military and go back to her family.

There are a handful of new characters that come into this book as well. For the most part they don't get a ton of page time, but it was good to see some new people come into the bunch. Some of the new characters have interesting implications, both for the world and for some of the characters we already know (and I should note, not all the 'new' people are new to the characters we've already met, they just weren't present in the first book).

I do feel that this book is more action driven than Daughter, though there's still character development. I enjoyed how fast-paced it felt and how there are several moments of impending danger. There are multiple moments when allies and enemies have a chance to appear and/or change sides. I liked how the shifting alliances part of this book worked out, and think it does a good job of showing how a common enemy or goal can unite people, for good purposes and bad ones.

Admittedly, I don't ~love~ the ending, but I do think it makes sense. I would've preferred it to go a slightly different direction, but with everything that's happened in this book and the way the main characters have grown and changed and matured over both books, I don't really see how there could've been a different ending that was still satisfying (and it is happy!).

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and loved getting to see more of the Immortal Realm. I thoroughly liked the intense planning the antagonist in this one went through, and they definitely felt like a heavier/worse antagonist than in the last one. I also really liked seeing the character relationships and their development, especially with the returning characters. I definitely can't wait to see what Tan's next book holds, for this world or a different one!

Thank you to Harper Voyager and Netgalley for providing me an e-arc.
I just finished this book and I'm still in awe of the storytelling in this book. Sue Lynn Tan knows exactly how to keep me engaged in a book and keep me wanting more with every page. I'm a huge fan of mythology and Chang'es story happens to be one of my favourite so the fact there was more to this story was amazing for me.
In this book Xingyin faces another peril situation with new enemies after just regaining peace with her mother. There were trials of the heart, trials of adventure and lots of action. We meet new characters as well as revisit old ones and everyone has amazing development. The romance side to this story had me enthralled, Xingyin being stuck between her two princes, Wenzhi and Liwei. I loved the love triangle in this story and trying to decide who I thought Xingyin would pick. Also throughout this story we got to explore new places of the Celestial Kingdom and the world building is delightful.
Overall I'm truly happy with how the story ended and wouldn't of asked for any other ending.
I can't wait for whatever Sue Lynn Tan decides to write next.

This is an action packed conclusion to a beautiful duology. You definitely have to strap in and hang on for the ride, but what an amazing ride it is. My emotions were all over the place and tears were shed.
I loved the world that was created and the setting I got to live in whole reading these books. The magic is beautiful and there is so much depth to the characters and their relationships.
If you've read the first book, you'll be happy to know that we finally get answers as far as the love triangle is concerned. Though for me, I wish there was a bit more emphasis on the romance in this book. It's there, but it for sure takes a back seat to all of the action. The ending both (mostly) left me satisfied and yearning for more at the same time.
If you love ya fantasy, make sure this duology is on your list to read!

Daughter of the Moon Goddess blew my expectations away and I was worried about how the sequel would live up to it, but Heart of the Sun Warrior did not disappoint.

The writing in this series is so vivid and immersive, creating such a lush world for readers to imagine. The author brings us on a magical and emotional journey, meeting new characters and adding more depth to the characters' stories. There was a greater focus on the romance in this book and while I usually don't like love triangles, it was done so well in this series (especially in Heart of the Sun Warrior). It didn't feel forced or rushed and was rather compelling. The connections between all the characters were definitely a lot stronger and more prominent in this book. I was indifferent during the first book but I definitely fell in love with both Liwei and Wenzhi in this one. Sue Lynn Tan did a phenomenal job with the character arcs and developing Xingyin's relationships with the others. Xingyin stayed true to herself despite all the new challenges thrown her way and I loved seeing her growth throughout the book. All the unexpected events, betrayals, and sacrifices had me crying by the end of it all, though I am very satisfied with the ending. Overall, even with all the bittersweet moments, this duology definitely became one of my favorites.

After finishing the first book in the series, Daughter of the Moon Goddess, I wasn't sure how Sue Lynn Tan was going to be able to top it. The first book wrapped everything up so nicely, and there was no cliffhanger, I was was excited to see where Tan was going to take the series, and I'm happy to say that I was not disappointed.

While Heart of the Sun Warrior is not as action packed as the first book, there are still many moments of adventure when Xingyin's newfound peace and freedom are threatened. This book focused more on the characters themselves and their relationships with each other. I loved getting to see how Xingyin's relatinoships with other characters grew and evolved.

There were several parts of this book that absolutely ripped my heart in two. It has been a long time since a book made me cry so much. Heart of the Sun Warrior is a beautiful end to the duology and I look forward to reading more of Tan's work in the future.

"I am not courageous; I am afraid. I am no hero."
"You are," he said with feeling. "For the fools do not fear the odds, the reckless do not care-and only the truly brave proceed regardless."

Wow...I am absolutely blown away. Where do I even begin?

I delighted in reading Daughter of the Moon Goddess, so when I found out there was going to be a sequel, I was interested to find out what would happen to Xingyin next. The cover of this book is stunning and the words within were no different.

A new evil is threatening the immortal world and Xingyin and her companions from the first novel are back to aid her. I believe it is best to go in to this book blind, as it makes all the twists and turns much more enjoyable. I was glued to Sue Lynn Tan's words from the first page and I found it hard to put this book down. I was intrigued and curious to see what would happen with Liwei and Wenzhi as well. So many unexpected surprises occur and also some serious emotional damage. I don't remember the last time I shed so many tears over such a magical story. I highlighted so many quotes in this book and am devastated to leave the Celestial Kingdom behind. Tan definitely did not suffer from the sophomore slump with this book and I may have enjoyed it even more than the first one.

Overall, I would HIGHLY recommend this book as it has become one of my favorite duologies. If you enjoy magical fantasy, epic adventures, mythological retellings and emotional romance, this is definitely the book for you.

Unmistakable 5 stars! I would give it more if I could.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC.

Heart of the sun warrior
This book was such a nice installment to this duology but I feel like the story dragged on a little. Towards the end I felt like it was a bit unnecessary especially in regards to the battle prep and how long some of the action scenes are. In general action scenes are harder to visualize but for me some of them came off so intricate that I gave up after a while and ended up skimming the page for anything important. I liked how everything was wrapped up and how we truly got to see a lot of growth and development from our main character. From the first book we meet this scared timid girl but by the end she’s fully come into her own and is learning how to deal with hard topics like death, grief and finding peace once it’s all been don. What this book does well is develop intricate dynamics and truly make you feel the pain of loss, there were several deaths accros this book and they all felt like different losses that dramatically shaped decisions and how we felt about the story. I kinda felt like the deaths were a little unnecessary but they do work as a way for out main character to grow in a sense. The death is used as a way to motivate action and change. But all in all there were a lot of deaths in this book but they were all addressed appropriately in a way that makes you as a reader grieve with the main character. I liked the ending more than I thought just because it was more realistic and isn’t a generic happily ever after. We went past the happily ever after part and then had to sit in this pocket of grief and death. Which is maybe not something I expected coming into this book but it is something I respect. Overall fantastic book and I would rate anywhere from 3.5-4 stars

This book picks up a year after Daughter of the Moon Goddess ends. After returning to her mother and their home on the moon, Xingyin has regained her strength and finally feels at peace. When a new threat comes to disrupt that peace, Xingyin must look for new allies to save the fate of the immortal realm.

I loved DOTMG, and I think this sequel absolutely lived up to it. Sue Lynn Tan is so incredibly talented at creating vibrant worlds and bringing them to life on the pages. The characters are so well written and there's excellent character development throught the book. I felt invested the entire time, and it was an emotional rollercoaster to say the least.

I'm not normally a fan of a love triangle. However, I think this one was written well enough that I didn't hate it. (still didn't love it, but it was fine)

It did physically hurt me when I realized there wasn't an epilogue though.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read and review this book early. So grateful for an ARC copy.

I loved the first book and I was kind of nervous for the second one because let’s face it, it’s hard to top the first book in a series sometimes. In this case, I was surprised by how much more I liked it more than DOTMG.

The story was amazing and those fights scenes…JUST WOW. I love the way Sue Lynn Tan writes. She can really pull a story together to were it’s so easy to visualize what’s going on.

This duology is amazing and I truly recommend it to anyone who loves mythology and great story telling.

I want to give a more in-depth review but I’m going to wait until it releases because I don’t want to give anything away to anyone hasn’t read it yet.

5 flippin stars. If I could give it more then I would.

Side note: THIS COVER IS STUNNING!!!

3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

To begin with, I will preface my review by saying that I did not love the first book. My love for Chinese mythology and culture had me checking out this book. That being said…….

I did not enjoy this book much more. The pacing was decent, I will say that. Just when I thought there was some really good character development happening, our MC would do something, say something or react in some way that really bothered me. To me, she showed very little growth. She was stubborn, unforgiving and bull headed and clearly very easily emotionally swayed that I found it difficult to enjoy her character. The character I saw the most development from was Wenzhi, but then, I thought he got the short end of the stick.

Again, as in the first, I hated the love triangle. It was way too drawn out and didn’t come to any conclusion until the very end and then seemed rushed and half-hearted. Although as a test to the author’s easy and lovely writing style (despite my lack of enthusiasm about the story), the ending still brought some tears.

Change’e was another character I didn’t love here. She seemed to need taking care of a lot, and sometimes it seemed Xingyin and her roles were reversed as mother and daughter. I did find Houyi’s aspect in the story surprising and interesting, though.

Overall, this book was not my cup of tea, but it was paced well and kept the story moving.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book for an honest review.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read an advanced e-readers copy of this book!

First and foremost in my review I would like to say that I wasn’t entirely happy with the first book. My biggest issues was the romance and love triangle felt dragged on to me, and took up too much of the story compared to the actual action, fantasy, and world-building. That being said, that is something more of a typical personal preference for me and I don’t tend to favor romance stories. I also often got caught up with how wordy it could get when describing something. While the prose was beautiful, it was harder to keep focus for and actually paint the images in my head, personally. I did, though, enjoy the ending and the last part of the book the most once it got into the action and I was satisfied with the ending.

Heart of the Sun Warrior follows Xingyin now that she returns home and is reunited with her mother. However, it’s not long before things got rocky. There’s a shift of power within the Celestial Kingdom, we learn more about Houyi, Xingyin’s father, and suddenly it’s up to Xingyin to save the Immortal (and mortal) realm. This is of course a very brief idea to what happens, but it's hard to grow on it much without spoilers.

Compared to the beginning of Daughter of the Moon Goddess, I definitely preferred the beginning of this book. I found it easier to start and get into as it had more action in the beginning than all the introductory stuff of the first book. That being said, it didn’t last long and it honestly felt like somewhat of a chore to read after a little bit. While there was definitely a central plot, there felt like many side/sub plots completely separate from the main plot that took the story everywhere and made it hard to stay on track and interested.

One thing I really hoped for in this book was more focus on the world-building and magic. After all, this is a fantasy. I was disappointed to feel like there was hardly much added. If anything, I feel like there was less of a focus on the fantasy in this book than the first. While some aspects of magic were introduced or added on, it felt almost like the magic of the world was a secondary thought to a lot of parts of the story. In contrast, though, the world politics felt interesting and grown on more as we learn more about the Celestial Emperor and other royalties.

And again while I am generally not a fan of romance, the romance aspect of it felt like so much more of a drag in this book than the first. And ultimately, it felt as if the love triangle had too much of an impact of the main plot and outcome of the book than if it were just a subplot and which I personally really didn't care for. Maybe if you enjoy romance, you may be able to appreciate it, but even aside from finding the romance a drag throughout the whole story, the ending of it felt very unfulfilling to me personally which I realized made so much of this story feel anticlimactic.

In some ways, the story also felt repetitive at times. Although the actual events or actions that the characters went through varied, the way characters interacted (especially in regards to the love triangle), the outcomes of events, and character’s thought processes of things felt somewhat similar through a lot of it. I think I ended up wishing the author took more risks. While Xingyin definitely went through her share of pain, it felt that it felt obvious the author tried to make the losses smaller than what they could be, and then the effects on Xingyin felt almost exaggerated. While of course I wanted Xingyin to be happy, growing and working past these losses is a big part of any hero’s journey and it fell short from my perspective.

Some things I did enjoy throughout this book, though, were some of the themes it touched upon. I enjoyed the exploration of how things are hardly every black and white, it’s always much more nuanced. Xingyin acknowledges how this reflects herself, but also acknowledges how its prevalence in other situations. While something someone does may have been justified, that doesn’t mean that the person who suffered from it needs to accept it. That person can equally be as justified in their feelings as the person who committed the act was.

In the end, I’m glad I read the book, and I’m very thankful to have the chance to read it in advance. If you really enjoyed the first book, I think it’s likely you’ll like this one as well. I admit it wasn’t my particularly cup of tea, but I still feel like I gained something from reading it, and that doesn’t mean that it won’t be enjoyable for others.

A million out of 10. The daughter of the moon goddess is one of my favorite books, and this sequel and ending to to duology is just as incredible. These books feel like home. They're incredible.

5/5 ⭐

This was a fantastic sequel! Typically I find myself getting a bit more bored in the second book of a trilogy, but this book was definitely and exception to that pattern! It was action-pact, emotional, romantic, and had lovely writing. The prose was so beautiful that I kept re-reading my favorite phrases in my head, even writing a few of them down in my journal as I read. That's how you know it's a great read!