Community Reviews
Originally reviewed on Cyn's Workshop
Immortal takes place in the same world as Daughter of the Moon Goddess, but you don’t need to have read that book to understand this one. The characters from Daughter of the Moon Goddess aren’t mentioned; the celestial kingdom is the only connection you need to be aware of.
So relax; you can enjoy this book without prior knowledge of the other one. I liked it and read it for my book club, Read with Cyn’s Workshop. Despite loving the book, I unfortunately didn’t love it as much as Daughter of the Moon Goddess.
Characterization
The main character, Liyen, differs significantly from those in the previous duology, but I appreciate that uniqueness. She has a ferocity about her.
Immortal begins with Liyen being poisoned, and her grandfather sacrifices a lotus meant for the immortals to save her. He breaks his oath and then dies from a heart attack. Her kingdom, Tianxia, is ruled by celestials, who use their soldiers for protection, ultimately taking advantage of the kingdom.
Liyen is determined to do what her grandfather was unable to: use the magic of the lotus to free her kingdom from the immortals. Enter Zhangwei, the ruthless God of War, who is charming. Significant tension exists between them, along with a complicated history.
Liyen is a fierce character, but she often second-guesses herself, which leaves me with conflicting feelings. While there were moments I loved her, there were times I felt annoyed because she didn’t listen to her instincts.
This is one of my pet peeves with how strong female characters are often portrayed—they can come off as hard-headed, sometimes leading them into situations that undermine their strength. I think Tan did that here, unlike in her previous duology. I understand why she chose to portray Liyen this way for this story, and by the end, as more plot twists are revealed, things start to make sense. Still, it didn’t make those annoying moments any less frustrating. There are better ways to write strong female characters than making them entirely stubborn.
That said, I appreciated that Liyen undergoes significant character development, and Tan did a fantastic job developing the side characters as well.
The tension between Liyen and Zhangwei evolves in a way that makes sense as the story progresses. I enjoyed the plot twists and reveals; they were well executed within the novel’s scope and contributed to a fast-paced read, especially when Liyen enters the Nether Realms.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed Immortal. The moments where Liyen’s hard-headedness annoyed me were few and far between—only about three or four instances in the total 300 pages. This minor annoyance didn’t prevent me from loving the book, but it is why I don’t love it as much as Daughter of the Moon Goddess.
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Immortal is an Asian-inspired romantasy following Liyen, the heir to the Tianxia throne, as she tries to free her kingdom from the clutches of the Celestial realm.
Immortal takes place in the same world as Daughter of the Moon Goddess, but you don’t need to have read that book to understand this one. The characters from Daughter of the Moon Goddess aren’t mentioned; the celestial kingdom is the only connection you need to be aware of.
So relax; you can enjoy this book without prior knowledge of the other one. I liked it and read it for my book club, Read with Cyn’s Workshop. Despite loving the book, I unfortunately didn’t love it as much as Daughter of the Moon Goddess.
Characterization
The main character, Liyen, differs significantly from those in the previous duology, but I appreciate that uniqueness. She has a ferocity about her.
Immortal begins with Liyen being poisoned, and her grandfather sacrifices a lotus meant for the immortals to save her. He breaks his oath and then dies from a heart attack. Her kingdom, Tianxia, is ruled by celestials, who use their soldiers for protection, ultimately taking advantage of the kingdom.
Liyen is determined to do what her grandfather was unable to: use the magic of the lotus to free her kingdom from the immortals. Enter Zhangwei, the ruthless God of War, who is charming. Significant tension exists between them, along with a complicated history.
Liyen is a fierce character, but she often second-guesses herself, which leaves me with conflicting feelings. While there were moments I loved her, there were times I felt annoyed because she didn’t listen to her instincts.
This is one of my pet peeves with how strong female characters are often portrayed—they can come off as hard-headed, sometimes leading them into situations that undermine their strength. I think Tan did that here, unlike in her previous duology. I understand why she chose to portray Liyen this way for this story, and by the end, as more plot twists are revealed, things start to make sense. Still, it didn’t make those annoying moments any less frustrating. There are better ways to write strong female characters than making them entirely stubborn.
That said, I appreciated that Liyen undergoes significant character development, and Tan did a fantastic job developing the side characters as well.
The tension between Liyen and Zhangwei evolves in a way that makes sense as the story progresses. I enjoyed the plot twists and reveals; they were well executed within the novel’s scope and contributed to a fast-paced read, especially when Liyen enters the Nether Realms.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed Immortal. The moments where Liyen’s hard-headedness annoyed me were few and far between—only about three or four instances in the total 300 pages. This minor annoyance didn’t prevent me from loving the book, but it is why I don’t love it as much as Daughter of the Moon Goddess.
See more reviews at Cyn's Workshop and follow me on Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Twitter | Tumblr | Spotify Podcast | YouTube | BookBub | Goodreads+ | LinkedIn
This was my first Goodreads giveaway win and my first accidental arc. Not only were these those first this was also my first Sue Lynn Tan book and I was not disappointed
This was just such beautiful story wrapped into and even more beautiful cover. This was so well written and the characters had so much depth. Everyone's relationship was perfect. Liyen and her bestie, Chengyin had the best banter that kept me laughing and smiling. Liyen and Lord Zhangwei slow and I mean sloooow burn had me ready to scream, kiss already. I adored their banter and the ferocity of Liyen. The world building was amazing and made me jealous I can't go visit them and see the beauty of the land or the mythical creatures. I was not expecting some of the turn of events or the heart wrenching emotions I was spun through with this book.
This was just such beautiful story wrapped into and even more beautiful cover. This was so well written and the characters had so much depth. Everyone's relationship was perfect. Liyen and her bestie, Chengyin had the best banter that kept me laughing and smiling. Liyen and Lord Zhangwei slow and I mean sloooow burn had me ready to scream, kiss already. I adored their banter and the ferocity of Liyen. The world building was amazing and made me jealous I can't go visit them and see the beauty of the land or the mythical creatures. I was not expecting some of the turn of events or the heart wrenching emotions I was spun through with this book.
My book club chose this novel, and it's my first romantic novel (I may change this review/rating later after I've read more from this genre). Going into this, I knew it was a romantic novel, but I didn't know what that could entail. I found the story to be cliché or stereotypical of romantic movies, romantic comedies, chick flicks, etc., which isn't bad (I enjoy those kinds of movies and shows). The writing was great. It wasn't too simple nor convoluted. I appreciate that it's a love story without spicy scenes (I'm irritated when a thriller or mystery novel has more spicy scenes in it than the actual plot). There were a couple of things that didn't make sense, but I don't think the targeted audience is expecting everything to be logical. I wasn't eager to continue the story each day, but i didn't loath it either. Even though I knew it was a romantic novel, I wasn't really in the mood for such a story. I would recommend it to people who like romantic stories, and I would love to hear/read their input
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