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Hate me then, for I would rather have your hatred than indifference.” His eyes were the shade of wintry rivers, glints of light traveling in their depths. “The past can’t be undone, but my hope lies in our future. Trust me with your heart again and you will find the truth of mine. For you are the reason I rise each day, for you I live and breathe.” The love triangle could win an award for the daftest of all time. Even YA love triangles aren't usually handled as poorly as this. Liwei is pushy, impatient and ignorant to Xingyin's feelings, especially where his parents are concerned. Wenzhi is a creep and stalker who chases Xingyin around begging for forgiveness while she reprimands him but doesn't do anything to stop him.
Heart of the Sun Warrior: A Novel (Celestial Kingdom Book 2)
I had the highest of hopes for this book, and after finishing it I can safely say that I wholeheartedly trust Sue Lynn Tan to continue writing beautiful stories that make me connect to the characters so much that I cry my eyes out. DOTMG had some instances where Xingyin was aggravating, but it was in stride with her character development for the most part. In HOTSW, Xingyin was down-right disgustingly aggravating, selfish, self-involved, immature, arrogant, and stupid. She pushed me to the point of not caring about this story on multiple parts. Throughout the book, every character, including Xingyin, points this out, but she arrogantly ignores them all. She’s always placing herself in the middle of every situation because she’s selfish and only cares about the one problem that’s in front of her. Problems arise because she doesn’t care about anyone or anything else during that time, and she has no foresight to see how this decision may impact quite literally anything else. Book one had her learn how to work with a team and depending on someone doesn’t make her weak. In book two, she forgot all of that. Filled with magic and mythology, friendship and love, these stories intertwine through the past, present, and future of the two novels, told from the perspectives of multiple characters, including Chang’e, Shuxiao, Liwei, and Wenzhi.
Review
Maybe Xingyin is the recognition of my healing, and the next part of her life can be a reflection of what I have to look forward to. That said, there were some things that I didn’t love about this. Some of which I will put in spoilers.
The Celestial Kingdom Series by Sue Lynn Tan - Goodreads
What in the Disney? What about the original tale of Chang'e, where Houyi took his own life in despair? Who is this grouchy old man too cowardly to approach his wife and cold to his daughter?
As for the arcs that weren't romance related. I felt that one of the arcs related to Xingyin's family wasn't quite as strong this time around. It had to compete with a different plot and so it didn't get quite the same level of care and attention that a similar plot in the first book got and that felt pretty unfortunate given how little these characters really knew each other. The other non romance arc, this government coup situation... that... that really didn't need to be here. I see why it was, because aside from what will happen with the romance it was the only part of the story that had any firm footing in the first book, it makes this feel more like a direct sequel than just a companion to the first book. Still though, with how the family plot was sort of used as a parallel it really took away from some of the time spent with the larger plot... It also didn't help that the larger plot was spearheaded by a character that had pretty valid reasons to be doing what they were doing... and like... the government was already questionable so I'm not sure what this little plot really had going for it? Tan is a fantastic storyteller. She introduces a new threat and amps up the dread with every chapter. It seemed as if Xingyin was up against impossible odds, and every choice was a bad one. I thought book one tested Xingyin but nothing can compare to what she must go through now to protect the realm. She did everything in her power to avoid political games, but Xingyin’s entire journey makes her confront the situations she tried so hard to avoid. Xingyin is brought low in this book and it hurts. A lot. Yet, so many new facets of her character are revealed and I loved every new part of her. Tan constantly puts Xingyin in difficult situations and her questionable decision-making had me on edge throughout the entire book. This story was great! I enjoyed the read and audiobook. Love is more complicated in this book as well as family. I loved the twists at the beginning and at the end. I enjoyed the men fighting for love. There's more actions and adventures in this story I believe. The ending was good but I was hoping the new Celestial King would also get a happy ending. After finishing the first book of the series, I was thinking how the sequel will exceed its perfection. Let’s not forget there was no cliffhanger at the end if you don’t count the unresolved love triangle. I enjoyed the character dynamics, even though I didn't really like a certain prince being "Damsel in Distress" at one point instead of doing something heroic for his lover. But as I finished the book, I LOVED each one of the main characters. The sacrifices they had to make gave me all kinds of emotions. The last 10% was hurting me SO MUCH I couldn’t stop sobbing until hours after I finished reading it. Everything was beautiful. Wouldn’t ask for anything to be done differently. No criticism from me. Absolutely epic. But I’d like to have an extended epilogue please… I didn’t want the story to end:(
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