Don't read on if you have not read Daughter of the Moon Goddess! Or, honestly, if you are still reading the second installment. Spoilers (with warnings) abound.
Okay, I really, really, really wanted to like Heart of the Sun Warrior as much as I did Daughter of the Moon Goddess. The world-building Tan achieved in her previous installment was enthralling and ethereal, and it felt like I was reading an elevated fable (with a little romance on the side to spice things up). And Xingyin was just the right mix of steadfast heroine and bumbling, young adult trying to sort out her place in the world. But three key elements fell flat for me in this concluding installment of Tan's duology:
Xingyin's inner monologues were a bit basic at best, and redundant at worst. Case in point: Following a vicious battle between the manic Wugang and Xingyin's followers in Chapter 22, our heroine studiously notes that "He [Wugang] was mad, I thought." Umm. I mean, yes, you aren't wrong Xingyin. But I had come to expect more of our introspective protagonist.
!!SPOILERS!! While I've been on team Wenzhi since the beginning, I was more than a little shocked that after almost two whole books of describing Liwei's merits, charms, and backstory with Xingyin, our heroine miraculously comes to her senses and decides Wenzhi is her one true love. Ummmm (part two). I love a good friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers trope, but it is a delicate switcheroo to pull off. Not to mention that Xingyin supposedly only realizes her true feelings after Wenzhi's demise. In my opinion, their reuniting is a bit of an overly dramatic rendition of the cliché, "You only love something once it's gone." In short, I wish Tan had crafted a more compelling build-up for Xingyin and Wenzhi's love story, instead of cramming it into a few chapters at the end of the novel.
!!SPOILERS!! So many characters, so many plot points, and unfortunately, so little time. Tan's sequel to Goddess of the Moon Daughter is no small feat, coming in at a whopping 456 pages. I expected the same level of world-building and thoughtful character development from Tan's first novel in this duology. I was sadly underwhelmed by the plot and character development in Heart of the Sun Warrior. In fact, I was overwhelmed by the amount of new characters, side plots, and details Tan decided to include. Sometimes, less is more. We barely get to engage with Liwei's estranged half-sister and her sidekick, Tao, and we keep hearing about the Phoniex kingdom, but are we ever going to actually see it beyond the errant, firey royal? Also, what of Wenzhi's mom, who overtakes an ENTIRE KINGDOM but is only given dialogue when she is still pandering to the whims of her husband? My questions, while intended as critiques, also show the possibilities this universe and story possess. Perhaps this mythical duology is better suited as a trilogy. Another installment would have given Tan ample room to sufficiently world-build and explore the new characters introduced in Heart of the Sun Warrior.
With all that said: I still enjoyed reading this sequel, because Tan did such an amazing job getting her readers to care for the protagonist of this duology. That is no small feat, but such caring also creates certain expectations for the unfolding of a beloved character's story in subsequent installments.
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