A glorious tale filled with suspense, action, intrigue, and magic. Blackburne's epic continuation of Mulan is a rich tapestry of Chinese folklore, sure to delight every reader who ever wanted to know, "what happened next?"

I've always adored mulan retellings so when I saw that this was based around that I JUMPED at the chance to read this!! Mulan is my favourite Disney MC and this book did her justice 100%!! I adored the romance between Mulan and Shang here it was so sweet and adorable my heart couldn't take it🥺❤

I have to say though that some parts did feel dragged out for me, hence the 3 star rating as I found myself putting this down more often than not. I will say though that the highlight of this book was for sure Mulan's character growth and I would recommend this book a thousand times over just for that <3 (and Shang of course!!🤭)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Feather and Flame is the perfect sequel to Milan, better than the direct to dvd sequels from the 90’s for sure and better than the live action Mulan. This story sees Mulan post war forming her own female militia, enjoying a complicated friendship with Shang and being elevated by the Emporer. It had lots of action and adventure, mysticism and growth. I do miss some of my fave characters from Mulan but it was a strong story.

Can I just say that this was pure joy to read. This year has been a rough year for me and books. I have had so much fun reading this that it made me feel like a kid again. Firstly, when I requested this book I had no idea that it was part of a Duo. That being said you can read this as a stand alone and be perfectly fine I was.

As a longtime fan of mythology, history, and Disney, I was absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to review a great book from Disney Hyperion. The author did such a beautiful job of bringing ancient China to life in such a vivid and magical way. The balance the author struck between the Disney story we know and the historical accuracy. The setting of the narrative felt so alive and the author’s style of writing took on a very cinematic tone, allowing readers to read and bring to life this adventure in their mind’s eye. I can see this as a continued screen play with lots more action to boot.

The character development was outstanding in this novel. The way the author delved into Mulan as a person when confronted with her new reality was amazing, as was her relationship with Shang. Not only did the narrative do a great job of tackling the issues of equality amongst the women warriors and showing the balance one must find between showing strength and courage in the face of adversity without losing who they are inside. This book does such a beautiful job showing me and young readers that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being feminine and strong in equal measure. I will be buying my niece a copy of both books when she is a bit older. All young people should read the strength and beauty within these pages. A 5 Star Read all the way! # I Am Totally Obsessed!

I have tried a handful of times in the past year to pick this story up and can't seem to get into it and would love to try again via audio. My wandering eye kept leading me to reading others instead and I have yet to pick it back up again.
Thank you to Disney Books for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

This is a great read for any Mulan fans! A excellent book, I would definitely recommend trying it!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

I absolutely love this series! I love what Disney has done with it! Mulan definitely needs more love, and I was thrilled to see that this would be the second book in the series.

This book picks up where the first movie leaves off. Mulan and Shang have some questions about their future and are heading to the imperial city when Mulan is requested by the emperor to be his heir. She is thrust into learning what it means to be a ruler and she must make some really difficult decisions on her own. If the movie is Mulan's coming of age, this book is her true heroine's journey.

This book highlights what feminism can look like, and how difficult it has been to be a woman, especially a woman of power throughout different points in time. I really appreciate how this series brings the Disney princesses into a more realized and mature story, showing what life would really have been like for them. I'm really excited for the next book featuring Jasmine.

I started this a while ago and got about a third of the way through before losing interest. I tried to pick it up again, but I really don't like or care about anything happening.

I love the premise of this book, especially since I love Mulan and this is kind of a reimaging of the story, except it imagines what happens after Mulan saves all of China and returns home. Also, I love the cover so much. I like how the story starts pretty soon after the movie ends with China at peace and Mulan at home, though she is now training an all-female militia. She's living a pretty quiet, kind of normal life at home, until the Emperor calls her to his palace to have a private meeting where he tells her that when he dies, she's in charge. Mulan thinks she has time before she'll be ruler, but she does not and soon she finds herself crowned and in charge.
Of course, this is when all the action starts happening with the Huns thinking they can attack again. I appreciate how Mulan is depicted as calm, determined, strong, humble, and kind, like she was in the movie, but I don't like how alone she was. She made friends in the movie, and even had a love interest, yet they seemed to have all disappeared in this book.
Still, I really enjoyed this book and I love Mulan, so this book was a fun, enjoyable read.

While I didn't enjoy this one as much as Rebel Rose the beauty and beast sequel. I did love seeing Mulan after the battle. And seeing her come into her own as a leader.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series and I wanted to continue on! The second book continues to hold up with my expectations and I am hoping they continue this series!

This book is perfect for any Disney fan or fans of the Disney movie Mulan. It follows what happened after the end of the Mulan movie. The novel was adventurous and written well I just wish we got more Li Shang.

As a phoenix rises from the ashes,
And a dragon soars through the storm,
So an empress ascends.

It was a hot summer’s day in 1998 when my mom and I settled into our velour-covered seats, eager for the premiere of Disney’s animated Mulan. We weren’t the only Chinese Americans in the movie theater that day. Who could resist seeing the first East Asian Disney Princess in action, let alone one based on such a legendary female warrior? Yet from the first scenes with the matchmaker to the final fireworks over our new hero of China, my mom kept up a steady whisper about how un-Chinese it was. Disney’s rendition was a far cry from the Fa Mulan she had grown up with. My teenaged self, though, could relate so much to the character’s struggles with identity and belonging. Conclusion: Mulan must be American Born Chinese (ABC) like me! Not Chinese enough for some, yet different enough to stick out in the neighborhood.

Twenty-two years later, with the publication of Feather and Flame (The Queen's Council #2) by Livia Blackburne, we have a new sequel to the animated film that attempts to address some of these cultural gaps while keeping true to the Mulan many of us came to love on screen.

The story picks up a few years after the movie. Village life hasn’t slowed down our hero one iota. Mulan has built up a powerful all-female militia to protect her home region, and their success has reached the Emperor’s ears. Yet he has different ideas about Mulan’s destiny when he makes her his heir. The royal ministers aren’t happy about having a woman on the throne, though. Like vultures, they circle and taunt throughout the book, questioning whether Mulan truly has the Mandate of Heaven, the divine right to rule.

These manipulations prey on Mulan’s insecurities, carrying her into a valley of self-doubt. Much of the story centers on her journey to fully embrace becoming empress of China. Despite being remembered as China’s hero who defeated the Huns, we see Mulan struggling to fulfill a son’s traditional role in family and society, wondering whether a woman and a commoner could really be chosen by both Heaven and the people. Livia develops Mulan into a more complex and even more loveable character. It’s not just about her bravery and wit, but the depth of filial piety towards her family and kingdom, while figuring out where true favor comes from.

This sense of duty and desire for affirmation come with another personal price, though. Not only do we see Mulan struggle with her new role as empress, but we see her grapple with her love for the perpetually handsome Li Shang, now a general of the imperial army. Their romance flies in the face of their ultimate commitment to their people, since royalty are expected to marry for political alliance over love. The whole time I was reading, I kept pleading with them to stop being so utterly noble! The book brings us on a rollercoaster of “will they or won’t they” moments, woven tightly with the story’s many military and political threats. It’s another one of Livia’s slow burning romances, but the tensions are well done, more developed than her previous books, and remain true to Mulan and Shang. Their sweet relationship is all the more meaningful and hard-won by the end.

“Generals, pirates, archers, horsewomen, wrestlers, fencers.
We embroider [these women’s] names on our tunics
so we remember their bravery.
We train every day so our descendants can
sew our names onto their tunics when the day comes.”

As much as I enjoy reading about Shang, though, the strong female relationships, both past and present, kept me coming back to the page. There are strong women everywhere, and I love it. The clever women of Mulan’s militia, particularly her second-in-command Liwen, trust her completely and give her the literal kick in the pants she needs when she doesn’t trust herself. Her ancestors, now including her grandmother (Nai Nai), emerge from their spirit tablets to remind her she is not alone. We also see a mysterious force, the Queen’s Council, come to Mulan’s aid. To say too much about this entity would be a spoiler … so I’ll just say that this figure's mysteries unfold in awesome, endearing, and epic ways (yesss!). There are some deus ex machina moments that raised my eyebrows, but overall, these connections helped Mulan to become the leader she already could be.

The book is further colored by its attention to historical detail, although you won’t see it adhering to 6th century China, the setting for Fa Mulan’s original tale. True to Disney’s classic treatment of time, the scope of the book is vast, encompassing four dynasties from ~200 BC to 900 AD. I’m not a big fan of loose historical generalization, but Livia, who is Taiwanese American, said during one of her launch events that the broadness gave her freedom to bring more details to the page. Many of the clothing and other visual cues come from the Tang Dynasty, the latter part of the time range, while various rituals that appear in the book come from very early divination and imperial rites that evolved through the eras. The novel is still very much written for Western audiences—for instance, Mulan should have been shown way more reverence as the divine representative to the people—but it still brings more of ancient China to life than the movie ever did.

Feather and Flame is the second installation of Disney’s new Queen’s Council series, each a standalone book that reimagines a Disney Princess with the power and responsibility that follow the “happily ever after.” The first book, Rebel Rose (2020), explores Belle’s reluctant reign at the cusp of the French Revolution and introduces a different but compelling rendition of the Queen’s Council. I can’t wait to see how the next in the series, featuring Jasmine, will adapt the Council to its heroine’s needs and context.

After all, if it takes a village to raise a child, then we need more than one enigmatic entity—and a whole host of ancestors and friends—to raise a queen. It was a delight to read how Mulan learns to embrace both the phoenix and the dragon: respective representations of divine favor and imperial rule, yin and yang, female and male. Favor does come from Heaven, but it must also come from within.

Note: I know Livia personally and also received an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Disney Hyperion and NetGalley for the opportunity.

Feather and Flame by Livia Blackburne is book two in The Queen's Coucil series. A YA fantasy that tells the story of Mulan and her new journey. as heir to the throne. It was great to read Mulan's story and what comes after she saves the Empire. Faced with political intrigue, Mulan rises to the challenge and this is just a great book with a loved character. I would recommend.

Do I love Mulan stories? Uh, yeah! She's one of my favorite princesses, a badass warrior who saved all of China. Plus, Shang is pretty great too and they make a perfect pairing. I was excited to see that this book has Mulan training an all female militia and empowering women. I completely believe that Mulan would continue uplifting others and helping them learn to help themselves.

The romance with Shang was great and while we got several scenes of them being adorable, the main plot focused on Mulan surviving betrayal and learning how to be a leader. I thought the balance was good and there was plenty of action to make the story fly by. I'm glad I finally dove into this one!

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for the copy.

If you are a Disney fan or a fan of Mulan like I am, then you will enjoy this book. It follows Mulan and what happens after the movie plot. This was a good retelling with palace intrigue, fighting with the Huns, and a little romance with Shang. I really enjoyed the fast pace of the story, but I wish it had more romance. It is a good book for a younger YA/Teen audience.

This is the story after the Disney Mulan movie!

I love that story and this one was even better. As she is asked to be the Heir to the emperor and all the misogyny with the old ministers that she inherits with the title.

She still trusts and has a tender for Shang who helps her with her new role.

I loved her war committee. She really knows how to make an entrance especially when her ministers go all traitor on her and force her out. Uh uh I don't think so.

There is a rich history of matriarchs and female warriors in China, the ancestors would not let them forget. 

Thank you disneybooks and netgalley for the e-ARC and honest and voluntary review.

Feather & Flame by Livia Blackburne is the second book in The Queen’s Council series. Each book in this series is written by a different author and tells the story of a Disney Princess beyond the end of her film, after she becomes queen. Feather & Flame explores what happens after Mulan is named the Emperor’s heir.

Feather & Flame has a lot of good components, but none of them were fantastic in execution. There’s a romantic subplot with Li Shang, but it only appears sporadically in the story. The book includes a lot of courtly intrigue and political maneuvering, but the story switches gears right when Mulan would come into her own as a political figure. There are some fun action sequences, but only at the beginning and end of the novel. And the magical elements are all tied to the “Queen’s Council” structure of the overarching series, and they feel somewhat shoehorned into Mulan’s story. The inclusion of each of the elements means the story is still fun to read, but I just wish Blackburne had developed one or more of these parts more.

Personally, if you’re looking for a Mulan story, I enjoyed The Magnolia Sword by Sherry Thomas more than this book. But if you’re a huge Disney and/or Mulan fan, this book is certainly worth reading. It’s appropriate for younger YA readers.

Ive really been enjoying this series that empowers the Disney princesses into rulers. Mulan’s story takes place after the events of the movies and moves into a new chapter for her. What comes after is more adventure and sword fighting and of course an old friend to help her. It was a story that delves into the politics of China as well and sees what is next for the country with the help of a ghostly queens council. Plenty of fun for Disney lovers and intrigue to keep the story interesting.