Daughter of the Moon Goddess

First off, the cover is absolutely stunning. I was super excited to have gotten an ARC for this book - a romance fantasy inspired by Chinese mythology?

Follow Xingyin, the daughter of Chang'e, who has to flee her quiet life on the moon when the Celestial Emperor discovers her existence. In order to save her mother from exile, Xingyin embarks on dangerous quests across the Celestial Kingdom.

I absolutely loved the worldbuilding in this book. The descriptions of each location were stunning and the various adventures Xingyin went on gave us a great picture of the various kingdoms in their world.

I enjoyed the romance at first, although I wasn't a fan of the love triangle, mostly because like most love triangles, there's a clear preference in how the main character behaves between the two love interests, and there wasn't much chemistry between the Xingyin and the other love interest, which made it feel a bit unnecessary. That is a personal preference though and was mostly resolved in this book. I did enjoy the way that the question of what to do when love and duty get in the way of each other, and the angst that resulted because of that.

I also was a bit jarred by the time skips in this book, which made the pacing feel a bit off. Sometimes it would feel a bit slow, while other times I'd turn the page and see that two years have passed and feel a bit confused. The great thing about the story taking place over years was the full exploration of these realms where immortals, mythological creatures, and monsters live, I just wish some of the transitions were a bit more smooth.

Overall, a great debut that was fun to read. It stands alone nicely, although I'm incredibly excited to read the sequel.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the ARC.