Sue Lynn Tan

Once upon a time the moon goddess was a mortal woman in love with the man who used his impressive bow skills to do the Celestial Emperor a big favor and win a vial of immortality elixir. But when he was away and she was dying in child birth, she took the elixir to save herself and her child and was punished for it by being banished to the moon. And so Xingyin – the child – has grown up knowing only the moon, her mother, and a servant. All that changes overnight when the Emperor’s servants pay a surprise visit and nearly discover Xingyin’s existence, so her mother sends her away to seek her fortune. This is the story of how Xingyin works to find a way to free her mother from the Emperor’s curse, becoming a skilled fighter in his army along the way, as well as getting herself involved in a messy love triangle, of course.

I enjoyed this romantasy for the most part. I love the mythical retelling, of course, but the love triangle gets too angsty and the star-crossed aspect gets tedious.… (meer)