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 Xingyin's magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.
Alone, untrained, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the Crown Prince, mastering archery and magic, even as passion 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. When treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, however, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream--striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she …
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 Xingyin's magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.
Alone, untrained, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the Crown Prince, mastering archery and magic, even as passion 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. When treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, however, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream--striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos.
This book felt more centered around the romance than the fantasy I usually read,. but I enjoyed the change of focus (I know, I will now do something extremely manly to compensate). The first third of the book feels like a very sweet cinderalla-esque YA romance. Things get more complicated (and more adventure / political) after that. The Chinese (inspired?) setting was nice; the food seemed tempting, and the idea of the immortals as just as petty and vindictive was not exactly new, but their ordinariness felt like an interesting way to connect a fantasy setting with our world.
Incredible adventure based in Chinese lore with a great heroine and a surprisingly sturdy love triangle.
5 stars
About
When Chang'e was banished to the moon, no one knew that she brought her secret daughter with her. Xingyin has lived on the moon all her life, unaware that her very existence is an affront to the Celestial Emperor. When her magic flares and almost gives away her secret, she has no choice but to flee the moon and seek out a life hidden away in the Celestial Kingdom. But when an opportunity to study alongside the prince arises, she finds herself moving ever closer to being discovered. And ever closer to being in love.
Thoughts
I should probably open with the fact that I typically hate love triangles. They are not my vibe for SO many reasons that I won't bother to get into. So when I say that this is a great love triangle, please understand that I am saying it grudgingly, because I can't believe I …
About
When Chang'e was banished to the moon, no one knew that she brought her secret daughter with her. Xingyin has lived on the moon all her life, unaware that her very existence is an affront to the Celestial Emperor. When her magic flares and almost gives away her secret, she has no choice but to flee the moon and seek out a life hidden away in the Celestial Kingdom. But when an opportunity to study alongside the prince arises, she finds herself moving ever closer to being discovered. And ever closer to being in love.
Thoughts
I should probably open with the fact that I typically hate love triangles. They are not my vibe for SO many reasons that I won't bother to get into. So when I say that this is a great love triangle, please understand that I am saying it grudgingly, because I can't believe I actually liked this one. A lot. All three characters involved were well-rounded, fun to read, and the chemistry between the lead and both suitors was genuine. Time moves fast in this book. Months can pass between chapters, or in the span of a paragraph. That leaves the readers to imagine a lot of the space in between, but the scenes we do get make it easy to connect the dots, and none of it feels too rushed. Action sequences are exciting and easy to follow, and Xingyin's growth as a warrior feels very natural. I admit I was kind of disappointed that Xingyin our POV character kept referring to citizens of the opposing forces as "demons" after learning that it was largely just propaganda. Seeing as she has no love for either side of the conflict, it was a strange choice for her character to make. Still, a great adventure with a determined lead and a really believable romance triangle.
A wonderful fantasy variation on the story of Chang'e, or rather of her secret daughter.
4 stars
A wonderful variation on the story of Chang'e. Here, Chang'e is an immortal bound to the moon but what she keeps hidden from the Celestial rulers is her daughter, Xingyin, who lives a free life on the moon hidden from others apart from their servant. But it all ends one day, when Xingyin's magical powers manifest itself and is detected as a magical disturbance by the Empresses. She has no choice but to try to escape, but ends up in the Celestial Kingdom. There, her adventures begin.
She ends up becoming a learning companion of the Crown Prince and a skilled archer in the army. She discovers a possible way for her to free her mother from being bound to the moon. Furthermore, she also discovers herself falling in love and getting her heart broken. Thus, begins her life in the army as she battles monsters and enemies to finally …
A wonderful variation on the story of Chang'e. Here, Chang'e is an immortal bound to the moon but what she keeps hidden from the Celestial rulers is her daughter, Xingyin, who lives a free life on the moon hidden from others apart from their servant. But it all ends one day, when Xingyin's magical powers manifest itself and is detected as a magical disturbance by the Empresses. She has no choice but to try to escape, but ends up in the Celestial Kingdom. There, her adventures begin.
She ends up becoming a learning companion of the Crown Prince and a skilled archer in the army. She discovers a possible way for her to free her mother from being bound to the moon. Furthermore, she also discovers herself falling in love and getting her heart broken. Thus, begins her life in the army as she battles monsters and enemies to finally earn the right to free her mother, but only if she does one final task: a task that she does not really want to fulfil. It is while trying to do the final task that her heart and mind come into conflict, and she has to make life-changing decisions that could result in her death and the death of the people she loves.
Written in first-person, we see the world as Xingyin and live through her emotions, thoughts, accomplishments and failures as she learns skills and make decisions towards her goal of being reunited with her mother and freeing her from the moon.
Now looking forward to reading the second book and the further adventures of Xingyin.
