i received a copy of daughter of the moon goddess from harper collins nz in exchange for an honest review.



star rating

daughter of the moon goddess review

the daughter of the moon goddess is a magical book, inspired by chinese mythology. as it’s not something that i’m familiar with, there was a lot of learning involved in reading this book. i found it completely refreshing compared to a lot of other retellings as it’s not something that i’ve read about before.

the world building was on point. it was perfect and well developed. the writing was also very well done. i breezed through this book in two sittings. the plot was intense and non stop – there were no “boring bits” whatsoever.

despite all this, there was one point that let me down during my reading experience. the characters weren’t particularly likeable. while they did have moments that were interesting, i felt they weren’t memorable. not to mention we had two love interests. (which i usually dislike, but because i didn’t seem to care about any of the characters, i also didn’t really care who xingyin ended up with).

all in all, although i didn’t find any attachment to the characters, i still found the book to be well written and intriguing. i look forward to reading the sequel, and hope that the characters become a little more developed.


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mighty ape | the nile | paper plus | whitcoulls

18 Comments

  1. avatar

    I hate when I can’t connect to the characters especially when the writing is good. Great review!

    1. avatar

      same! it’s quite frustrating. thank you!

  2. avatar

    Great review! I’ve been so curious about this one, mainly because of that gorgeous cover. It sounds good, although I tend to struggle with books if I don’t find the characters likable. I’ll probably still try it though because I do like that it doesn’t sound like anything I’ve read before.

    1. avatar

      it’s not that they were unlikeable, they just weren’t likeable. (i felt rather meh about them, if that makes sense!) hopefully you enjoy it more than i did!

  3. avatar
    WendyW says:

    Nice review. I read this also, and loved the writing. I think I connected with the characters a bit more than you did, but I understand your points.

    1. avatar

      i’m glad you enjoyed it! plot wise, it was an excellent novel.

  4. avatar

    I’ve been curious about this, and the cover is so pretty. I’m glad you enjoyed it enough to read the next book:-)

    1. avatar

      hopefully you enjoy it when you get around to it! i’m hoping the second one will be enough to form a proper attachment to the characters.

  5. avatar

    Loved reading your honest thoughts on this one Chelsea, I understand what you mean when it comes to the characters. But, great to know you loved the worldbuilding so much! <3

    1. avatar

      the world building and plot really pulled through on this one!! have you read it?

  6. avatar

    Ohh this looks beautiful!! I’m sorry that you couldn’t connect to the characters that well though! Hoping to pick this up soon!

    1. avatar

      i hope you enjoy it! i’ve heard a few mirror my feelings about the flatness on the characters, but i’ve heard many more love them. i think i’m the minority here — either way, i hope you have an enjoyable experience reading it!

  7. avatar

    I haven’t heard of this book but the cover looks so pretty! Unfortunate that the characters weren’t likeable – they’re so important for any story.

    1. avatar

      wow!! i’m surprised you haven’t heard of it yet! it’s all over instagram at the moment, lol! it’s truly stunning though.

  8. avatar

    i agree with you about the two love interests. i was not fan.

  9. avatar

    Sorry to hear you couldn’t connect with the characters. I agree that the writing was gorgeous though. Definitely looking forward to the sequel.

  10. […] you can read my review of daughter of the moon goddess (book one) here. […]

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