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  • Daughter of the Moon Goddess

  • A Novel
  • Written by: Sue Lynn Tan
  • Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
  • Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (137 ratings)

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Daughter of the Moon Goddess

Written by: Sue Lynn Tan
Narrated by: Natalie Naudus
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Publisher's Summary

A captivating debut fantasy inspired by the legend of the Chinese moon goddess, Chang’e, in which a young woman’s quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm and sets her on a dangerous path - where choices come with deadly consequences, and she risks losing more than her heart.

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.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess begins an enchanting, romantic duology that weaves ancient Chinese mythology into a sweeping adventure of immortals and magic, of loss and sacrifice - where love vies with honor, dreams are fraught with betrayal, and hope emerges triumphant.

©2022 Sue Lynn Tan (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

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What listeners say about Daughter of the Moon Goddess

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

DNF

I gave this audiobook a good effort - I was almost an hour in - but I just find the narrator too distracting. Her intonation is not normal, like as if she’s reading the book pretending that it’s spoken word poetry.

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3 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Reads like a basic YA novel

Not super impressed. The summary of the book sounded much more exciting. This book reads like a basic YA novel with shallow characters and an unimportant plot line. There is no depth of emotion or reason to feel connected to these characters. Wont be finishing or reading the second book.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Get it

If you are looking for a story rich in culture with dynamic characters and a strong female lead, you need to get this novel. The main character is so honest and real in her struggles and feelings. The story fits in so much without feeling rushed. Everything is so purposeful and small details make an impact as the story unfolds. There is nothing negative I can say about this book.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Amazing!

Absolutely wonderful listen. Captivating story of romance, adventure and magic. The author does an incredible job of painting a mystical picture of the Celestial Kingdom. Highly recommend.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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So enjoyable

What an enjoyable read! It’s like a very intricate fable/folktale with so many twists and turns. Looking forward to book 2.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful writing!

Really captivating story and read very well! I can’t wait to hear the next book in the series.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A very pleasant surprise!

Bought this as part of an audible sale and wanted to listen for some “light listening”… but ended up really getting swept away by the story! Some great plot twists, strong female character, and mouthwatering food descriptions lol! Looking forward to the sequel. Highly recommend.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Truly A Masterpiece

I loved this book, I'm almost at a loss for words because of how captivating it was. I forgot I was reading, it sent me into the world with such vivid images and detail constructed by the word. the narratoration was good. Its hard to encapsulate that many voices. It was a bit rougher in the beginning, but I found it got better as it went along.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

adore this story!

loved it. the narrator was alright, not bad, but her voices could use work.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A majestic journey of growth challenge and love

Story 5 stars. Narration 5 stars.

It's hard to add a review for this with so many well-written ones already stated. It is just masterful and beautiful and the aesthetic of this book is absolutely incredible. For those of us who have a visual mind and also those who don't, you are going to be transported into this world. It is a challenge as an audiobook though because you do have to be present for it or you miss so much detail. New paragraph definitely not something I would put on when cooking lol. I loved the journey and her evolution from a girl who has no idea how incredibly strong and powerful she is into the young woman that is beginning to take stock and understand what she needs versus what she thought she needed or was told she needed.

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  • Patrick Egry
  • 2022-01-17

Yawn. Unable to Complete this Snoozer.

Insipid, sophomoric romance for 13 year olds.

Constant rants of guilt then longing and more guilt followed by more longing. It started out promising but swiftly devolved. The author managed to turn what-could-have-been a fantastical setting of an opulent oriental heaven of immortals, magics and demons into something forgettable and uninspired replete with one-dimensional, character types and a protagonist that I just didn’t believe but, worse, did not like.

When I hate the lead character in a novel, like I do this one, I can’t go on. I used to force myself to read to the end but I don’t do that anymore.

This is a book for which I took a chance on and lost. Oh well, it happens sometimes.

I feel bad for leaving a review like this. I don’t think it is very nice. Maybe, had I read it when I was very young, my review would have been better. Actually, I am positive that it would have been.

This should be marketed as a young teen/adolescent romance with fantasy overtones so that it makes it to the right audience and not to a middle aged, currently grumpy queer man like myself who hates romance novels of every stripe and who wonders if it might be past time he move on from the fantasy genre.

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23 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2022-01-15

modern fairy tale

The Narrator was fantastic and has a very soothing voice. I have enjoyed her reading before in other books.

I admit I have a special love for modern fairy tale and this has it all: mythical creatures, valiant struggle in battle, love interest, and a goal that binds it all together.

The only thing I wonder is if I would have liked it better with a little less love interest and more focus on the main character's own goals. She often protests that she has goals and interests outside that of her pursuer, but so much of the plot revolves around the powerful men who show an interest in her. She never treads into what I would name silly girl weakness where a once strong female character becomes subservient to a man deferring to his greater intelligence or experience, but I did worry about that at points.

That being said, it is a very good book just shy of being truly great. 5 stars.

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11 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • sol
  • 2022-01-21

Amazing performance, meh-ish story.

Too much emphasis was placed on the MC and her struggle that it made the world & its supporting characters feel two-dimensional towards the end. It had a great start though! Wouldn't have made it through without Natalie Naudus amazing performance.

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5 people found this helpful

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  • Arao
  • 2022-02-04

beautiful descriptors, repetitive prose

narrator can sound a bit over-done at times and constant repetition of phrases (guilt pricked me) can get a bit irritating. found myself waiting for it to be over

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • CellarDoorReads
  • 2022-03-08

Just what I needed

Adventure, good thought out characters, fantastical lands and creatures, and simply an absolutely lovely story. I cannot wait to read it again. Great job narrators!

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3 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Bammerok
  • 2022-01-27

I don't like to give negative reviews. . .

I just could not get thru this book. The narration was okay, not annoying. The story is so slow. I like myths and legends books but this one just didn't get going. I think maybe there just wasn't enough interaction or enough characters to interact with. I didn't get anything to connect with the mother or the nurse/nanny/aide. It seems like the main character falls into a job, falls into a choice reward position due to an interested boy/man and then is highly competitive! I know this sounds like it is moving along but it didn't. I am confused by the good reviews.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Finn
  • 2022-05-23

Great writing! Lovely reading! But could be better

(Warning for some spoilers)

Daughter of the Moon Goddess is a solid book. I love the concept, the characters are fun to read (or listen to in my case), and at surface level I did not have any problem with the over arching plot. It was an enjoyable read though long as it was and my 3 star review won't stop me from getting the next title I think.

The Good
Natalie did a great job at giving life to the characters moreso than perhaps what I may have found in the page. While her range wasn't super diverse I still enjoyed the voices she did and the emotion she brought to both the lines and prose.

Outside of that, contrary to many of the opinions of some more negative reviews I actually enjoyed the three titular characters of this book. I'm not sure how to write their names but I would like to say at the least the prince character was an enjoyable friend to our main character and I could easily see through his ease with her where a love could easily bloom. I also like how the other male lead had ended up being a foil to our main character in some way. Perhaps it will be more discussed in the future (though maybe I hope not given the ending of the story). Anyway on the triangle side I guess I'm team sun prince!

I would also like to say that I really enjoyed the prose, the book was well written and the word usage really wove me an internal tapestry of mysticism and wonder. The celestial world seemingly more ethereal and aged, seemingly ancient and the mortal world young and natural and lively. that's the vibe I got.

The not so Good
Though I genuinely enjoyed the book I cannot say it is not without its flaws. This rears its head the most in the plot. While the main character does have a goal and motivations I think by the end of the first act (her time with the sun prince) the lack of interwoven plot threads seems to rear its head. It feels like each sequence could be cut off from each other into a separate book rather than the read it together. This book is 15 hours long on audible, while I don't mind long books at all, by the end of just the second act you start to feel that the story is getting drawn out. This is only the first book after all, and yet it feels like every conceivable plot thread is jampacked into one story but then ultimately separated. I feel like this book could have benefitted with blending specific goals together to enrich the experience and not make every objective seemingly separate from the other.

I think the goal of the story issue is perpetuated by the love triangle that inevitably took place in the book. While I do not mind love triangles, the YA staple, they do tend to be an eye roll and this is no different. The biggest issue I think however is that it feels like there while the Captain was in love with MC the MC never really felt like she loved him. The story TOLD us a lot of her having feelings for him but never, even when it was being shoved down our gullets, did I ever feel like she did. it made the difficulties of her decisions confusing to me as I knew clearly who she loved more. Even more so did this make me question the need for this petty love triangle nonsense and the resulting in story drama if the romance could have stayed focused on her and the sun prince and their struggles with one another.

Lastly, the Captain turning out to be the demon prince was completely out of left field. There was no foreshadowing or anything the pick up. The idea just didn't feel fully implemented and only served to be part of the 'climax' of the book. Especially since everything was so jam packed into the book I feel like his whole entire plotline should have been a different book. Not only would it have allowed a lot more development but time to dwell on the rest of the story.

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2 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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  • Becky
  • 2022-02-12

Really good so far, though only just started

This was the first audible I've ever enjoyed, the voice acting in this holds a lot of emotion and it feels very natural for the story.

Even when she does the male counterpart of this story it's enjoyable. Her voice is very soft and kind on the ear and the way her voice trembles and is filled with such emotion. Not to mention Joe wonderful the story is written, its nice. The descriptions and comparisons they use feels very real and easily pictured.

I, bring autistic find it very hard to enjoy some of the voices they use on audible. So I'm very picky about what I get and what I listen to.

So as a real review, I'd probably give it a solid 8.5/10. The reason for this score, is because I've only gotten 1/4th of the way through this story. but so far I'm impressed and really enjoying it so far. I'll probably edit this post or reply to it once o finish and give a more in depth review.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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  • Corinthia
  • 2022-01-14

The story is good just not the reader

Its just a personal preference, the book is still good. I will probably just buy the book.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Alison Caldwell-Beers
  • 2022-05-26

A must read!

I never leave reviews but I was so moved by this story that I just had to. Hands down, the best book I’ve read in a very long time— and I am an avid reader. I kept rewinding sections just to listen to them again because the writing is so beautiful.

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1 person found this helpful