Thank you Netgalley! I had a lot of fun with this book. I enjoyed the first book, and I think this one wrapped up the duology nicely! The romance and love triangle were very well done and fleshed out. Normally, I hate a triangle but this one makes a lot of sense and works well.

Much like the first book, very slow, but a rewarding experience. It took me a while to read this one because it is quite a thick tome.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Heart of the sun warrior it was beautifully written and I really enjoy all of the characters and the love triangle kept me invested and it was a fun and fast read for me since I didn’t want to put it down. If you enjoyed Daughter of the moon goddess you’ll definitely enjoy this one as well.

Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan is a difficult book for me to review since I absolutely adored the first book in the duology. I came into its sequel wanting to love it equally as much, but what I was met with instead was a frustrating read.

I think my main issue is that the sequel feels more meandering and haphazardly strung together as if some of the sub plots detract from rather than support the main story. For instance, Xingyin continuously entrusts strangers with her life while, on the other hand, she’s still reeling from Wenzhi’s betrayal in the first book. This is inconsistent character writing to me. It doesn’t add up. I would presume that Xingyin would be more distrustful of others at this point and her poor decision-making feels more artificially set up to create unnecessary conflict than staying true to her character arc.

However, the story does finally pull it together and redeem itself in the final third act, and, I’ve got to say, the ending is beautifully bittersweet and left me misty eyed.

It just was a bumpy road getting there.

5/5 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

This book picks up a little while after Daughter of the Moon Goddess and it is the second and final book on the duology.

This book is just as fast paced as the first one and every chapter adds something to the narrative. We are following all the same characters from the first book. The love triangle is still there from first book, but it is more of an underlying theme that assists some of the story line in its progression. This story is higher stakes than the first one, but just as fun and entertaining.

We get to learn more about Xingyin's father. There is more exploration of this world and world building. We get a clearer view of some of the politics and how all the neighboring regions get alone.

The writing is lush and beautiful.

This is one of those books I thought would be a bit more predictable, but the ending really surprised me.

This duology is aimed at adults, but it is also good for people who are transitioning from Young Adult to Adult.
Love love love this entire duology!

Ever since I read The Daughter of the Moon Goddess last year and fell in love with Sue Lynn Tan’s enchanting prose, Heart of the Sun Warrior has been one of my most anticipated reads of this year. And it absolutely did not disappoint. Tan’s writing was just as beautiful and I found it easy to fall back into the world of immortals and Chinese Mythology. We are back on the moon, where we left Xingyin at the end of book 1, recovered physcially, but still trying to come to terms emotionally with betrayals she faced. But her and her mother’s peace is again disrupted by others. Xingyin is drawn again into court intrigues, power struggles and epic battles, as she fights to saved her loved ones and the innocents of the mortal and immortal world. I found the plot to be completely immersive, and as one particular story arc that I was hoping for started to come into fruition I was loathed to put the book down! The character development in Sun Warrior was more nuanced and I didn’t even mind that Xingyin took time to sort out her true feelings for those around her. I also loved seeing certain characters redeem themselves, only made me love them more. This was a brilliantly imagined, beautifully vivid fairytale fantasy, with a wonderfully pleasing conclusion. Highly recommend to all.

I’ll be honest, I loved book 1 and didn’t feel it needed a second book. That said, I loved revisiting this amazing world that Sue Lynn Tan created and revisiting with all the characters. As a Chinese born American raised on all the mythology, I adored reading a story with my people.

Exquisitely, epic, romantic, fantasy! Heart of the Sun Warrior is an enthralling sequel to Daughter of the Moon Goddess as Sun Lynn Tan delves deeper into the powerful Chinese mythological tale of Xingyin—the daughter of Chang’e and the mortal archer Houyi.

Tan is a vivid, lyrical writer who brought the realm to life and evoked many emotions - grief, heartache, joy, hope, and love. The ending was a perfect and, not entirely expected, resolution of all the threads of the story - the love triangle, the immortal versus the fantasy world, the battle within the fantasy realm.

I loved this duology. Both Daughter of the Moon Goddess and Heart of the Sun Warrior are top reads for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC.

sue lynn tan just writes so beautifully, the imagery, the characters. i really loved this as a conclusion to moon goddess. can't wait to see what she writes next

Amazing book, props to Sue Lynn Tan.

Will say more when the demands of the strike have been met. I support the Harper Collins Union Strike.

ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR.

I loved every single PAGE of this book.

I absolutely adored the characters m, world, and plot.

I can’t recommend this duology enough.

This book, along with the first, are incredible. The mythology and world building are wonderful. The characters are beautiful. And Sue Lynn Tan's writing... her writing is nothing short of GORGEOUS. The way she weaves her words is masterful, making this duology a true epic. And that ending... it was crushing and hopeful at the same time. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I am so upset this was only a duology. I desperately need more of this incredible world, and I can't wait to see what Tan comes up with next.

Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan is an intriguing 2nd installment in this series. Great characters, well-plotted sequencing and gorgeous lush world-building made this book a very enjoyable read.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Loved this sequel to The Daughter of the Moon Goddess. After getting through the first little bit of the book got hooked right back in. The love triangle was delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It was nice to have a fantasy be a duology and not go on forever.

4.25/ 5 stars.

I devoured this book. What I love so much about Sue Lynn Tan's books is her writing style and how easy it is to slip into the story and get swept away with it. In most fantasy books it always takes me a while to find the rhythm of the story as the world building takes time to get used to. Not hers though. As soon as I started this book I did not put it down until the very end. The magic, world-building, characters and writing has easily made this duo logy become one of my all time favorites.I will say though despite how much I loved this book, I did end up enjoying the first book a little bit more than the second. I felt a little more connected to the story in the first book, and felt the stakes were higher. Nonetheless I absolutely love this duology and highly recommend!

Omg. My heart hurts. This was beautiful and breathtaking and captivating. The writing is so good, the story was thrilling, and I almost cried a bunch so that’s fine. Just gorgeous. I hope there is another book! I’d love to read more!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great ending to the duology. It took me a little while to get back into the story and remember what had happened since the first book, but once I did, I was sucked into the story. I loved following Xingyin and loved the ending. I will definitely be reading from Sue Lynn Tan in the future.

(4/5) Heart of the Sun Warrior was a beautiful follow up to Daughter of the Moon Goddess. I was initially curious with where Sue Lynn Tan would take this book, since the first book seemed to function as a standalone, but I thought that the sequel was just as engaging as the first book. I thought the first probably 75% of the book was more plot driven (though we do get some character development), but where this book stands out from the rest is the resolution. I loved that Tan didn't succumb to the typical YA resolution (i.e., [I know I just experienced some trauma but I don't really need to process that and I'm immediately ready for my happily ever after cue epilogue where everyone is happy (hide spoiler)]). I thought the character development and relationship building was stronger in this book than the last, too. I will say that at some points it kind of felt like I was reading multiple short stories clipped together (some without resolution) but that didn't deter me. Great book for you if you liked the Six Crimson Cranes series!

Hi my name is Veronica, and I've been emotionally wreck by Sue Lynn Tan's conclusion to the Celestial Kingdom duology.

As much as I enjoyed Daughter of the Moon Goddess, I think I liked the sequel even more. Much of DOTMG was spent laying out the groundwork for the duology as a whole. Between introducing characters and kingdoms and realms and setting foundational blocks for world building, Tan gave us a story that was more of a sprawling epic than a traditional three-act play. HOTSW, in contrast, is a much tighter story. Having established who's who and what's what, we're able to spend more time delving deeper into the heart of the story, and there's a whole lot of feelings to deal with. I'm not a crier, and I've never cried over a book. But I think HOTSW might have broken me. If I didn't want my parents to see me bawling on the couch and freak out, there might have been some legit tears the night I read the last few chapters.

Heart of the Sun Warrior is a stunning conclusion to the Celestial Kingdom duology filled with adventure, heart and tears. Lots of tears.

I truly don’t know if I have the words to speak about the way this duology has left me feeling. Both books were pure works of art. After finishing the audiobook, I am left feeling so many emotions. I’m both aching and so happy at the same time.

From here I will be talking about BIG HUGE SPOILERS!
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This book had so many moving parts and layers and I was so surprised with how much the author was able to move and change my feelings from the beginning of this book to the end. When I first started reading, I thought there was absolutely no way I would ever forgive Wenzhi after what happened in book 1. And I was so proud of her resolve every time she shut that door and kept her boundaries strong. When he died, the author did such an amazing job of me completely justifying every feeling Xingyin went through. It made complete sense to me and I wasn’t mad at her at all. She did what she thought was the right thing and it was my judgement he would change too. I remember being so mad at his betrayal because I thought that meant she would end up with Liwei and I had just never felt he loved her in the way she truly needed. I had thought we were going to be convinced to love him instead. Even after Wenzhi died, I thought she was going to be tossed back to Liwei. I should’ve trusted the author more than that because she’s never let me down so far! I truly didn’t know how this triangle was going to develop and I cannot imagine a more perfect way than how it did end up unraveling.

I just love how realistic and complex every character was. Their feelings were multifaceted and dimensional. Not a single character fell flat. I was hoping she would get to find her father, but when they met we were really able to walk through the newness of their relationship and love him as well. I WAS SO SUSPICIOUS OF HIM AT FIRST THOUGH. I kept thinking he would take the elixir and then end up being someone else or evil or something! I’m very grateful he didn’t as I think Xingyin had enough to deal with.

Xingyin is one of my favorite characters I’ve read about to date. Her thoughts were so mature and the way she processed things was beautiful to watch. I struggled with certain decisions right alongside her and I felt her character was so realistic. Her conversation with her father before the last battle had me sobbing. Seeing her admit her fear, have someone she felt safe sharing it with, it was so beautiful.

I have so many more thoughts, but this duology is going to take up my mental space for quite some time. Love it!