I went into The Heart of the Sun Warrior guarded. I had high hopes for Daughter of the Moon Goddess, and I was gravely disappointed in December of 2021. It was still a three star ranking, which isn't bad by any means, but I thought DOTMG was going to be one of my top reads of the year. My biggest issue within the first book was the chaotic pacing, especially because of the shift between Xingyin's youth and adulthood. I still believe this duology could've been a trilogy and that probably would've fixed my pacing issues. We did not get that much time with Wenzhi when both he and Xingyin were working for the army, especially in comparison to Liwei and Xingyin's youth, so again, I think a meaty part of the first book was lost in not exploring that period of Xingyin's life. Anyway, I went into The Heart of the Sun Warrior hoping that pacing was a bit more natural since the time frame is smoother than the time jumps in the book before. And I am incredibly excited to say that it was!

To elaborate more on the pacing—I loved that this whole book revolved around Xingyin's loved ones, specifically the villain's vengeance being tied to Chang'e. The plot wove together seamlessly and drove the story the entire time. One of my critiques of the first book was the lack of scenes between Chang'e and Xingyin, and in this sequel, I didn't have that problem one bit. We actually get to see both of them in an individualized lens because Xingyin has been on her own for so long in contrast to Chang'e's emotional pain from losing both her husband and daughter. Xingyin actually babies her mom in a couple scenes, which was an interesting and realistic take due to her trauma in having to become an adult at a young age to protect her mom, but Chang'e actually rejects Xingyin multiple times in response to Xingyin's babying actions. Chang'e asserts herself as her own individual, and I really liked that because we've only really talked about Chang'e as this mythical figure and never once as a person herself. There's a part of me that wishes we could've had even more time with Chang'e because she's just an interesting character. You'd assume she'd feel vengeance for being trapped on the moon for so long, but she's actually the most empathetic character, which is a great contrast to Xingyin.

Now if you're curious about the romance, you're either going to groan or be super excited. Me personally? Love triangles are not a trope that I typically like, but in this instance, I was a ride or die for it because Wenzhi; need I say more? Ever since Xingyin left Liwei to pursue the Celestial Army, I've never wanted them to be together. Xingyin deserves to be with someone who will choose her above all else, and sadly, Liwei cannot do that due to his responsibilities as the heir to the emperor. I've known that since the first book, and I still readily agree that Xingyin needs someone that will pick her first because nobody ever has besides her own mother. Therefore, to see the tension between Liwei and Xingyin in this book only solidified my previous book opinion. It wasn't fun to see them argue because both deserve to be happy, but it's interesting that Xingyin continues to deny Liwei via marriage proposals. The even more interesting aspect of that is Xingyin cannot ever voice what feels wrong (besides the fact that she'll be abused by the Celestial court lol) about her relationship to Liwei. *cue Wenzhi strutting in because she can't get over him even after his betrayal BAHAHA* If you aren't a fan of love triangles, you'll probably get annoyed by this since Xingyin is very indecisive and confused about both men throughout the entirety of this finale. But I'm ultimately very happy with the end results because it felt realistic and genuine.

The best part to this finale is the final 50-ish pages. Basically, once the climax scene begins, I could not put this book down. Xingyin is forced to make an extremely hard decision, and the ramifications change the outcome of her life forevermore. It was also poetic to return to the moon for the climax because it's a reminder that this book began on the moon and will end there too. A full circle moment if I ever saw one. Everything has culminated to this moment, and it was fantastic. Moreover, the fallout events of the climax were also my favorite scenes. Sue Lynn Tan is a master at the personable moments between characters during this period, and I was near tears reading those final few pages. I don't think this book could have ended in any other manner, and I'm so happy to find this as the ending for Xingyin. It's open ended but beautifully hopeful.

My main critique for this finale does fall back in line with one of my critiques of DOTMG—a lot of unnecessary scenes and disruptments take place. While I can see the reasoning behind the Elixir of Immortality scene, I still don't get why that couldn't have been in the previous book as the final scene or the VERY first scene of this book. I was certain that Xingyin's father wasn't actually him because I was convinced someone was pretending to be him to steal the elixir. Then, when that wasn't the case, I had to quickly switch gears to figure out "okay, why is this included" and disrupting the tension with Wugang. It felt random to have it thrown in the midst of the book's tension with the actual villain, and it disrupted the flow of the villain arc. I had to reposition myself as these new plot points revealed themselves, and I would've liked for the scenes to flow together better.

Overall, I am very happy with this finale. HOTSW definitely redeemed the Celestial Kingdom duology in my eyes, and I'm honestly going to consider bingeing the duology sometime next year to really experience this world. Maybe I'll enjoy DOTMG
Thank you to Harper Voyager and Netgalley for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

10/27: Maybe I’ll change it to a full four stars. I have to sit on this rating a bit. But if there’s one thing I know for certain—it’s that this sequel was superior to the first book.