What do you think?
Rate this book
The Lost Daughters #1
The Forgotten Daughter
Born a daughter into the kingdom of Jinu, Xiuying knows nothing but rejection and betrayal, even as a young child.
She is left forgotten and raised by maids while her parents, disgraced by her gender, tell the rest of the kingdom that she’s dead, when the only thing she wants is love.
And eventually, her father and king, Qianfan, sends her away to an abandoned island… to die.
But all hope is not lost.
She meets Hua who, along with the rest of the island villagers, welcome her into their home with open arms, and twelve years later, Xiuying falls in love with a handsome prince, Zhang Wei.
Now she finds herself back in royalty, but not without consequences.
She gets a letter from her parents, telling her that they want to meet, bringing back all the fears that Xiuying had spent her life trying to dispel.
She is left forgotten and raised by maids while her parents, disgraced by her gender, tell the rest of the kingdom that she’s dead, when the only thing she wants is love.
And eventually, her father and king, Qianfan, sends her away to an abandoned island… to die.
But all hope is not lost.
She meets Hua who, along with the rest of the island villagers, welcome her into their home with open arms, and twelve years later, Xiuying falls in love with a handsome prince, Zhang Wei.
Now she finds herself back in royalty, but not without consequences.
She gets a letter from her parents, telling her that they want to meet, bringing back all the fears that Xiuying had spent her life trying to dispel.
172 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 5, 2024
3 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Viola Tempest
50 books178 followersViola Tempest is a dystopian fantasy and paranormal romance author who yearns to expose the truth of those in the modern world: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Her inspiration primarily stems from life experiences, those who annoy her, ex-boyfriends, and the crazy dreams that pop into her head every once in a while.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 21, 2024
I had really high hopes for this book especially with the amount I paid for a special Kickstarter edition. I was so so so excited for this. But I was terribly let down. I would have rather all the money the author paid for fan art to have gone to a proper editor.
This is supposed to take place in ancient China but apparently the author would consistently forget that. There were mention of balloons, quill and ink, fluorescent lights??? It would have been so simple to change these things to lanterns, brush and ink, candles, etc. Not only that but there was the celebration of birthdays - so does this imply the introduction of western religion into this world? Chocolate and hot chocolate - so is this world based around the Qing dynasty? In that case why are there chocolate chip cookies being mentioned, something that came post WWI? But wait there's also coffee mentioned which was introduced to China in 1800 by the French - so does this world have open trade with Arabic countries instead? You can make these things work in a fantasy version of ancient China but you have to establish a world where this makes sense otherwise your writing reads like a mess.
It really feels like the author just wanted to take the parts of Chinese culture that suited them and ignore everything else.
Aside from the terrible world building, the writing is just all over the place. No amount of time is spent on any plot point, it just jumps from place to place. There is no beginning, middle, or end, no climax, no build up - it's one note the whole way through. None of these characters have any substance, the only trait any of them have is they all like Xiuying. The romance has no build up at all, it's instalove dialed up to 1000. Everyone is a Mary-Sue, Gary-Sue, or a cartoon villain. There's nothing interesting about them to make us care about them.
The magic in this world is an interesting concept, with the Royal family being connected to the land. Sadly the only thing we ever learn about it is Xiuying being able to make things grow when she feels strong emotion. Don't expect to learn anything more or have any questions answered (there are two other books following this so maybe the author will elaborate more but I'm not exactly holding my breath).
If the author slowed down and took a breath instead of rushing through everything, hired an editor, and did more than 5 minutes of Google research then there could be something here.
I would turn elsewhere if you're looking for a Chinese fantasy. It took me two weeks just to get through less than 200 pages. I'll probably force myself to continue with the series because I paid for the Kickstarter but do yourself a favour and pick up Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan instead.
This is supposed to take place in ancient China but apparently the author would consistently forget that. There were mention of balloons, quill and ink, fluorescent lights??? It would have been so simple to change these things to lanterns, brush and ink, candles, etc. Not only that but there was the celebration of birthdays - so does this imply the introduction of western religion into this world? Chocolate and hot chocolate - so is this world based around the Qing dynasty? In that case why are there chocolate chip cookies being mentioned, something that came post WWI? But wait there's also coffee mentioned which was introduced to China in 1800 by the French - so does this world have open trade with Arabic countries instead? You can make these things work in a fantasy version of ancient China but you have to establish a world where this makes sense otherwise your writing reads like a mess.
It really feels like the author just wanted to take the parts of Chinese culture that suited them and ignore everything else.
Aside from the terrible world building, the writing is just all over the place. No amount of time is spent on any plot point, it just jumps from place to place. There is no beginning, middle, or end, no climax, no build up - it's one note the whole way through. None of these characters have any substance, the only trait any of them have is they all like Xiuying. The romance has no build up at all, it's instalove dialed up to 1000. Everyone is a Mary-Sue, Gary-Sue, or a cartoon villain. There's nothing interesting about them to make us care about them.
The magic in this world is an interesting concept, with the Royal family being connected to the land. Sadly the only thing we ever learn about it is Xiuying being able to make things grow when she feels strong emotion. Don't expect to learn anything more or have any questions answered (there are two other books following this so maybe the author will elaborate more but I'm not exactly holding my breath).
If the author slowed down and took a breath instead of rushing through everything, hired an editor, and did more than 5 minutes of Google research then there could be something here.
I would turn elsewhere if you're looking for a Chinese fantasy. It took me two weeks just to get through less than 200 pages. I'll probably force myself to continue with the series because I paid for the Kickstarter but do yourself a favour and pick up Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan instead.
October 8, 2024
This book is a journey and has so many emotions packed into it. I enjoyed the book as well as the characters, but writing of the book needs work. Since it's a passive form of writing, the narration jumps from one character to another way too fast to understand what's happening at times. Another issue was the usage of modern words like wow, which did not fit the period or people.
I hope that it's better in book 2, since I am engrossed enough to continue the series.
I hope that it's better in book 2, since I am engrossed enough to continue the series.
December 11, 2024
A solid 3.5
Likes: c-drama vibes, found family, overcoming trauma, and magic
Dislikes: felt like a middle grade novel disguised as an adult (closed door) romance, the language sometimes included words/phrases that were too modern, and it could have used more characterization and description. The narrative frequently jumped without much information, making is hard to know who was talking or where in the story we were.
Likes: c-drama vibes, found family, overcoming trauma, and magic
Dislikes: felt like a middle grade novel disguised as an adult (closed door) romance, the language sometimes included words/phrases that were too modern, and it could have used more characterization and description. The narrative frequently jumped without much information, making is hard to know who was talking or where in the story we were.
October 11, 2024
I loved this story. It was such a different type of love story than I am used to reading. My interest was captured from the first chapter until the last. The FMC made my heart both bleed and rejoice with her life and her reaction to it. The MMC was strong, loving and fierce in his loyalty to his love. The FMC's parents were a real mess. I was left with the desire for more. I can not wait for the second book. I highly recommend this book to all paranormal romance readers.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
October 6, 2024
I thought this story was interesting and intriguing. It is the story of Xiuying and basically covers from her birth and how even born into a royal family does not guarantee ease and happiness. But I enjoyed watching Xiuying go from her bad childhood to turning her live around and rising to be her best. It made me laugh at times and really hope some others get what they deserve by the end of the series. Just a really clean and deceptively intriguing story that drew me in.
November 9, 2024
From Amazon the book summary says this.
Born a daughter into the kingdom of Jinu, Xiuying knows nothing but rejection and betrayal, even as a young child.
She is left forgotten and raised by maids while her parents, disgraced by her gender, tell the rest of the kingdom that she's dead, when the only thing she wants is love.
And eventually, her father and king, Qianfan, sends her away to an abandoned island… to die.
But all hope is not lost.
She meets Hua who, along with the rest of the island villagers, welcome her into their home with open arms, and twelve years later, Xiuying falls in love with a handsome prince, Zhang Wei.
Now she finds herself back in royalty, but not without consequences.
She gets a letter from her parents, telling her that they want to meet, bringing back all the fears that Xiuying had spent her life trying to dispel.
**My review**
I love this book so much that I couldn't put it down. It's a nice and quick read, I finished it in a day. I greatly enjoyed seeing how Xiuying was as a child and who she grew up to become with all the struggles she had to face and overcome.
The book may be considered slow for some people, but I really enjoyed reading about the characters and having that character structure. I'm looking forward to reading the next books in this trilogy.
Born a daughter into the kingdom of Jinu, Xiuying knows nothing but rejection and betrayal, even as a young child.
She is left forgotten and raised by maids while her parents, disgraced by her gender, tell the rest of the kingdom that she's dead, when the only thing she wants is love.
And eventually, her father and king, Qianfan, sends her away to an abandoned island… to die.
But all hope is not lost.
She meets Hua who, along with the rest of the island villagers, welcome her into their home with open arms, and twelve years later, Xiuying falls in love with a handsome prince, Zhang Wei.
Now she finds herself back in royalty, but not without consequences.
She gets a letter from her parents, telling her that they want to meet, bringing back all the fears that Xiuying had spent her life trying to dispel.
**My review**
I love this book so much that I couldn't put it down. It's a nice and quick read, I finished it in a day. I greatly enjoyed seeing how Xiuying was as a child and who she grew up to become with all the struggles she had to face and overcome.
The book may be considered slow for some people, but I really enjoyed reading about the characters and having that character structure. I'm looking forward to reading the next books in this trilogy.
September 17, 2025
With the amount I paid for a beautiful Kickstarter special edition of this I had high hopes. And I really tried to like it. But it did not live up to expectation.
It is marketed as an adult book, but read like it was written for middle schoolers (that is being generous). Additionally, the author seemed to pick the parts of Chinese culture she wanted and didn’t appear to have done much research about what things were invented/brought to different parts of the world when. I get the impression she thought magic could explain away any inconsistencies.
The way the dialogue was written did not feel fully developed (hence being generous to say it was written as a middle grade novel) and they would use modern slang and modern words that consistently took me out of the story.
I finished the whole trilogy cause I bought the fancy version and a small part of me was hoping it would get better. It didn’t.
It is marketed as an adult book, but read like it was written for middle schoolers (that is being generous). Additionally, the author seemed to pick the parts of Chinese culture she wanted and didn’t appear to have done much research about what things were invented/brought to different parts of the world when. I get the impression she thought magic could explain away any inconsistencies.
The way the dialogue was written did not feel fully developed (hence being generous to say it was written as a middle grade novel) and they would use modern slang and modern words that consistently took me out of the story.
I finished the whole trilogy cause I bought the fancy version and a small part of me was hoping it would get better. It didn’t.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews