I can’t remember where I heard about this book. I remember wanting to read it, but it came back to my attention recently. I decided to borrow it from the library and am glad I did.
Synopsis
Xingyin, daughter of the moon goddess, is forced to flee her home. When an opportunity presents itself to train with the prince of the Celestial Kingdom, she takes it in hopes that she’ll be able to help her mother.
Book Information
Genre: Fantasy
Category: Young adult
Explicit violence: Some
Explicit sex: No
Content warnings I noticed: None
This is the first in the Celestial Kingdom duology.
Review
The prose is beautiful. It’s accessible and easy to read while remaining poetic. It reminds me of the writing style of Natasha Ngan and V.E. Schwab.
The story is told in first person past in Xingyin’s point of view. The only issue with this POV is that we don’t get to see everyone else’s character arc. We’re only in the main character’s point of view. It’s hard for other characters to be featured in a way that makes them feel like they’ve gone through an arc.
The world-building is fine. I don’t feel we see enough of it. I think more details could have been added to it.
The romance isn’t great. Xingyin and the prince have no chemistry. She and the captain do, but he doesn’t seem to be the final love interest. I don’t like this love triangle. In my opinion, a good love triangle has the character have good chemistry with both love interests.
The pacing is good. Things happen at a medium pace. While everything is built up to, important connective tissue is missing. For example, before the romantic subplot, there’s a two-year time-skip. Then, it comes out of nowhere when the prince confesses his love to Xingyin. She, for reasons not shown well on the page, reciprocates. We see their friendship, but not their romantic chemistry.
Themes are explored somewhat well. I think they could have been displayed better. They don’t have a lot of time on the page. The themes best explored are friendship and familial relationships, at least with Xingyin. I hope these are further explored in the sequel with the prince.
The characters are okay. Most don’t feel like they have an arc, but, as I’ve mentioned before, that’s the issue with a first person point of view. Xingyin barely feels like she has an arc. Everything works out too easily for her. While she doesn’t feel like a blank canvas, she’s too close to it.
Conclusion
Overall, this is a good story. I’m excited to read the sequel. I rate it four stars.
Anexis Matos 
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