I've read all the Twisted Tales except Ursula's story. I jumped on the chance to read Mulan's story because she's one of my favorites. I like the premise of the story, but I felt like it was story mixed with movie. I could honestly hear the characters in my head, I wish there had been a bit more distinction to draw the main characters away from the movie. There were a few lines and scenes from the movie that just stole from the originality of the story line, I did like the imagery/scenes of the levels in Diyu Mulan, Shang and ShiShi had to pass through. Just like the rest of the Twisted Tales, it's worth the read.

This is the fourth book in the Twisted Tales series and to be completely honest, I never read the other three books. I heard they were terrible and I just had no interest in reading them. However, when I found out that they were doing Mulan, I knew I had to read this. I went into this book terrified that my favorite Disney movie was going to be ruined but found myself falling in love within the first few pages.

The book starts right when the troops are in the Pass and the Huns attack. I'm sure we all remember how it goes: Mulan takes the canon, runs toward the approaching army, and fires the canon at the top of the mountain in order to cause an avalanche. The story diverts at this point; instead of Mulan getting hurt, Shang pushes her out of the way and is mortally wounded by Shan-Yu. Mulan manages to get them both to safety and they survive the avalanche, but it is unlikely that Shang will make it through the night. In order to save him, Mulan travels to the underworld with the Li family guardian, Shishi, in an attempt to retrieve Shang's already departed soul and return it back to his body.

When I first read the summary, I thought this was going to basically be a weird, Chinese-esque retelling of the Orpheus story from Greek mythology. I have never been so happy to be wrong. This story was engaging, full of unexpected twists and turns, and made me fall in love with the characters all over again. I did, however, have one issue: when Shang finds out that Ping is actually Mulan.

If you don't want any sort of vague spoilers (and I say vague because we all knew this was going to happen) then I suggest you skip this bit. So, when Shang finds out that Ping is actually Mulan and was lying about being a boy the entire time they've known each other, he is understandably hurt. It was his reaction that I had a problem with; when he finds out, Shang basically tells Mulan, "We're done here. Good luck getting out of the underworld by yourself. If we ever meet again, I will be following the law a.k.a. I will kill you." Then, he just leaves her in a random section of the underworld totally alone and vulnerable. And yes, I know that he did something similar in the movie when he left her on the mountain while she was still recovering from an injury but there is a HUGE difference between leaving her with her horse and her supplies in sight of a city and leaving her alone in a world where everyone wants her dead. She went all the way down into the underworld to save him and he basically leaves her to die in return. Then, when he eventually comes back to apologize, Mulan instantly forgives him! No reservations, no "I'm willing to forgive you but if you do anything like that again were through", she doesn't even think about what his willingness to leave her says about his character. Just, "Yay! The man I'm falling in love with came back after being totally awful to me!"

I had a really hard time getting past that part because it just didn't feel as true to character as the rest of the book. Would Shang be upset when he found out the truth? Of course. Would he probably say some hurtful things to Mulan? Yes. But I just can't see morally upright Shang, who refused to hurt Mulan in the movie, leaving her to die after she came all the way to save him. I could see him telling her that he never wanted to see her again after they got to the world of the living. I could see him refusing to trust her again for awhile. Just can't see him letting her die. I just can't quite believe that he would be so cruel when he knows that if she had told him sooner she would have been risking her own life and her families honor.

Other than that though, I honestly loved this book. Since this was an ARC, there were obviously a few mistakes here and there but nothing overwhelmingly terrible; I did get distracted by a few plot holes and there were a few too many exclamation marks throughout the book for my taste but that could just be me being a little too nitpicky. I know a few other readers said they didn't like how the author wasn't super descriptive at the beginning of the book but I actually liked that because it meant I didn't have to waste time hearing the description of characters I already knew. This was very clearly based off of the movie so why waste time describing things we'd already seen and known for ourselves?

I would recommend this book to anyone who loved the movie as much as I did and have already suggested to several people to keep an eye out for this book once it comes out!

Reflection A Twisted Tale by Elizabeth Lim explores a “what if” in a Disney movie. In the movie Mulan, Shan Yu, the Hun leader, wounded Mulan as Ping near the end of the movie and Ping/Mulan is discovered as a woman. Instead, it’s Mulan’s leader Captain Li Shang that is wounded mortally instead and is dying.
After the downfall of the Huns and escape down the mountain, the remaining army rests until the morning to march into the Imperial City. There Mulan/Ping stands guard because she feels responsible for Captain Li Shang’s wound. During the long vigil guard, she falls asleep and sees Captain Li Shang’s father asking his son not to die. Mulan/Ping sees what is happening and voluntarily goes into the Underworld to get Captain Li Shang back as his dead father wishes him to live.
There along with the Li family guardian, a lion named ShiShi, Ping/Mulan goes to the Underworld King, King Yama and makes a plea for Captain Li Shang’s life. The king agrees on the condition that she gets him out before the moon is dark, if not she stays forever down in the Underworld. Mulan/Ping agrees to the condition despite the protests of ShiShi.
Then the adventures begin from the Bridge of Hopelessness, to Bridge of Serenity, to the Caldron of Despair, to the River of Forgetfulness, etc. (not in that exact order). Mulan finds Captain Li Shang and they journey back to the world of the living. Along the way, the relationship between Li Shang and Mulan deepens to the point of her confessing that she’s not a man named Ping, but a woman named Mulan. ShiShi is more understanding then Li Shang and the confession splits the trio into Mulan having to go on her own at one point. The book is not just about Li Shang and Mulan’s relationship. Mulan reflects and understands who she really is and who she wants to be. There is a good scene in the book with a room with mirrors. The mythology interjected into the book and descriptions of each different kinds of demons, sprits and levels of the Underworld was well done. I won’t say more about the excellent book but would make a good addition to the main movie.

I am such a fan of the Twisted Tales series and was looking forward to getting into this book. This one starts well into the Mulan story and makes the subtle change of Captain Li taking the hot from Shan Yu to protect Mulan/Ping. From there, to save Shang’s life, Mulan/Ping must venture into Diyu to bring back his spirit.
The beginning was a fast read as I was more and more excited to see where the story would go. Reaching the underworld and meeting with King Yama were wonderfully written and fast paced. Once our three protagonists were out on their quest through Diyu, most of the story became quite flat for me. Mulan/Ping continued to struggle with keeping her identity secret, which became tiresome as the story plodded along. It felt like the middle of the book was not going anywhere. Characters didn’t grow and didn’t progress (somewhat intentionally) through their quest. A second meeting with Meng Po was, I felt, repetitive and unnecessary. There are so many other aspects from the underworld that could have been explored.
The final trial that involved mirrors was a great idea (especially considering the title), yet, like the rest of the book, went on too long. This book would have been much better to read if it was not stretched of so much and filled with so much repetition. It did land on a good note, but by then I wasn’t sold. It will be purchased, since my readers will want the next in the series, but it may be hard to sell the next one.

I had high hopes for this story because I am obsessed with Disney’s Mulan and happily I found it met my expectations. The premises reminded me of Dante’s Inferno mixed with Divergent and Lord of the Rings. It is written in third person although it takes place from Mulan’s point of view. I enjoyed seeing how Mulan fought to keep her promise and not give up despite the many obstacles placed before her. It felt very true to the spirit of the movie.

I received an ARC of Reflection by NetGalley

This book follows the journey of Mulan as she travels to the underworld and tries to save her friend Shang from dying.

This book picks up around the time the movie left off, and to me it seemed like the author used the movie as an excuse to not provide proficient background nor elaborate on the relationship with Mulan and Shang.
The whole book is based on her trying to save her friend from dying, and because the book didn’t build up on their friendship beforehand it seemed like she was going on a wild goose hunt for someone I didn’t know.

I think this book is more of a middle grade book and I was unable to get into it because of that. The writing was so simple, and I think that the form of writing the novels are what makes it the best so this book kind of fell short for me.

At some points I felt like the plot was dragging on and on to make the book longer, because honestly if the plot had been shortened this book would've barely reached 200 pages.

I received this book on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I'll honestly say that until this moment I haven't been able to finish one of Disney's Twisted Tales (which as a former Disney cast member and an avid lover of Disney is saying a lot.) That said, I found Lim's take on Mulan to be a fascinating one! Mixing in a bit of Orpheus and Eurydice I rather enjoyed where the story went! It was a quick read, and your Disney fans will actually like this one so put it in the hands of the reluctant reader and watch them devour it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital ARC of “Reflection” by Elizabeth Lim. The writing is fast-paced and I felt more detail was needed to make the story flow. I did not feel connected to the characters. This book will work better for a younger audience, possibly middle school aged children.

After Shang is injured by Shan Yu, Mulan travels to Diyu, the Underworld, to try and save him. She encounters Shang’s guardian, Shishi, and they both make it their mission to find Shang and make it back to the top level of the Underworld all within a specific time. If she fails, Shang is trapped in the Underworld forever (his soul will either remain in Diyu, he will be reincarnated or he will ascend to Heaven) and Mulan will transform into a demon and be stuck indefinitely in Diyu under King Yama’s rule.

I had high hopes for this story because I am obsessed with Disney’s Mulan, but sadly I couldn’t connect to this story line or the characters. The premises reminded me of Dante’s Inferno mixed with Divergent and Lord of the Rings. It is written in third person although it takes place from Mulan’s point of view. I honestly didn’t care for the Underworld element or ShiShi; the Underworld was modeled after Dante’s Inferno and Shishi was somewhat haughty. I was bored with the story (which was very long) and only finished it because it is an ARC and I wanted to know how it ended.

I received an ARC of Reflection by NetGalley.