Heart of the Sun Warrior

I loved the end of this story and the internal battle xingyin faced between her love interests. I sobbed so hard at the end and I haven’t cried while reading in years.

Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan is the second book in her amazing new duology, The Celestial Kingdom Duology, and should be read in order. This Chinese mythology-inspired fantasy had me enthralled from the very first page. Story Recap: The story starts as Xingyin is living again with her mother on the moon after she won her mother’s freedom from the Celestial kingdom. Life is back the way she lived it before, except now she gets frequent visits from her friend, Prince Liwei who helped her save her mother. However, all is not well in the Celestial Kingdom as the power has shifted and Xingyin’s enemy, General Wu is rising to power, and even her friends back in the Celestial Kingdom are worried about the changes. My Thoughts: I didn’t know what to expect with this second novel as the first one ended without a cliffhanger. Xingyin was at home with her mother and all was well. But, as soon as I started this book a sense of unease was immediate and I knew something terrible was about to happen, and it did. The love triangle in this continues as both Liwei and Wenzhi fight for her heart. Xingyin has refused to see Wenzhi after his betrayal in the first book, but he continues to beg for her forgiveness and will do almost anything to win her heart. Liwei is by her side, but ultimately must decide between her and his family, and the throne. This book is beautifully written with lovely descriptions and world-building. I also loved that the book comes with a map! I was able to follow the story as it flowed from one realm to another. The battle scenes were exciting and well-choreographed. The intensity of the battle and the extremely high stakes were interspersed with emotional moments of connection and friendships, making this a well-balanced fantasy novel. Recommendation: I highly recommend Heart of the Sun Warrior to anyone who enjoys fantasy. I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.