I love retellings/extensions of favorite Disney stories, and Mulan was always one of my favorite characters growing up. Feather and Flame was very well done, especially in terms of how well Blackburne nailed the characterization of Mulan. I really felt like the Mulan of this book is a seamless continuation of the Mulan from the original movie. This character continuity was something I felt was a little lacking in the first book of the series, with Belle. Fans of the movie will love this quick, exciting read. (Bonus: more Shang!)

Like many people out there, I am a massive Disney fan. I adore many of the films with my entire being, and Mulan is one of them. The idea of this series is one that really appeals to me. Getting to see some of the Disney ‘princesses’ as Queens? Hell yeah! The first book – Rebel Rose – was a Beauty and the Beast sequel, and it just did not work for me. That did lead to me being a little concerned about how this book would read. Turns out I had no reason to be. I’d read Livia Blackburne before, so I knew this would at least be well-written, but it was perfect.

Set several years after the end of the first film, this book introduces us to a Mulan who has been training and leading a female militia in her home village. One day Shang stops by to ask her to come with him back to the Imperial City as the Emperor wishes to see her. As the series is the Queen’s Council, you can guess what the Emperor wishes from her and some of the struggles that are to come.

I’ll start by talking about the thing I didn’t like, and that was the lack of Mushu and her soldier friends. Obviously, time has passed, and this book goes down a different route, while still using her ancestors, but it would have been nice for Mushu to at least have a mention. He’s such a fun character in the film, and it would have been wonderful to see him again, as well as the soldiers.

Mulan has obviously made new friends. Within her militia, you have Liwen, who is her second-in-command. She trained as a nun and is now travelling China kicking ass. She was such a good friend, and I appreciated her as both a character and her relationship with Mulan. There was also a servant who I would have liked to see more of and a few interesting characters that popped up along the way.

One thing I wanted for this book was a romance between Mulan and Shang. There’s not enough in the film, and though it was far from the focus, you definitely get some good stuff. Both Mulan and Shang are a little awkward. They don’t know how to handle romance. But their moments were sweet, and they felt like the characters we know and love. It was wonderful, and I was grinning so much.

This book was filled with both humour and action. I read half of it one day and easily finished it the next. I had so much fun reading this, and I am so excited to get myself a physical copy to reread. My Mulan loving sister should also love this one, and ahhh I recommend it to you all.

This book follows Mulan after her days on the battlefield as a soldier. She now runs her own militia that are all female warriors she has trained.

Then Shang arrives from the Imperial City, asking Mulan to go back with him. She soon meets the emperor who designates Mulan as the next empress, shocking everyone with the news.

The author incorporates the original elements into the book as well as newer elements. I love Mulan as a character; she's so strong and stands up for herself and other women.

Overall, Feather and Flame was a good follow up in The Queen's Council series. I'm so excited to read the next book, a Jasmine retelling!

Review posted closer to publishing date

I missed the first title in the ‘Queen’s Council’ series so I went in blind to what that entailed.
It did not affect my enjoyment of this continuation of Mulan’s story one whit.

Taking place after the end of the Disney animated hit Mulan (and quite possibly after the straight to DVD sequel). This tale picks up with Mulan in her home province, training a women’s militia in the arts of war that she mastered fighting the Huns. While her militia is skilled and very successful in areas that the regular militia/law enforcement has failed, and she is hailed as a national hero. They still battle against the stereotype of fragile blossoms that should remain in the home and support their men.

When Shang turns up unexpectedly with a summons to the Imperial City from the Emperor, she is thrown off balance. Further uncentered by Shang’s tentative hints toward marriage. Arriving at the capitol she’s totally blindsided by an ailing Emperor appointing her as his heir apparent.

The book is excellent in portraying the political upheaval taking place upon the unexpectedly quick passing of the Emperor. The ministers of the old Cabinet’s disdain for the Emperor’s wishes and Mulan herself, and all the dirty politicking, backstabbing and gas-lighting that takes place as Mulan is declared Empress of China. Throw in her love for Shang and the Huns attacking again, and you get a rousing good story. Add in the mysterious goings on off the phantom Queen’s Council in their support of the newly minted empress and it’s an excellent read.

I was very much taken with the (I would imagine) accurate doubtful mindset of a lowly peasant that has now been elevated to the highest seat in the land, and the way that her supposed wise men of the council IMMEDIATELY set to gas-lighting and suborning her every instinct towards the caretaking of the people of China.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Feather and Flame is the second book is Disney's The Queen Council series.If you are unaware, this series imagines what happened post-happily ever after for some of our favorite Disney Princesses. Each book is the story of a different heroine written by a different author.

This story follows Mulan after her victory on the battlefield at the end of the animated film. As the story begins, Mulan is living a quiet life at home. Well, quiet if you consider training her own female militia quiet. But China is at peace and it is a good feeling.

When Shang arrives with an invitation to the Imperial City, Mulan has no idea that her entire life is about to be flipped on its head. Again. Once there, Mulan is treated to a private counsel with the ailing Emperor. He tells her he has a plan for his succession and it is her. She will be named his heir to the throne.

Unfortunately, the transition occurs more quickly than Mulan would have preferred. She is terrified, but must do what she can to rule her country to the best of her abilities. With enemies lurking around every corner and the Huns sensing weakness, will Mulan's reign be doomed from the start?

Mulan is filled with doubt and she's scared. She feels alone. What if she can't do this? There's so much at stake. Luckily, the Queen's Council is there to help Mulan find her true destiny. What is the Queen's Council, you may be asking? I don't want to give anything away, so let's just call it Mulan's Spirit Advisor. Not spiritual advisor, mind you, SPIRIT advisor.

I had a lot of fun reading this story. It was great to be back with Mulan and to get an extension of her story that I think was greatly needed. I have always loved Mulan as a character. She has such a quiet grace about her. She is humble, strong and determined in the face of danger. I was so happy to see that she kept all of these wonderful characteristics throughout this story.

This is a highly political story, so for those of you who maybe don't enjoy a lot of political maneuverings in your stories, you have been forewarned. For me, I love political fantasy, so this worked for me. I would have been happy with a bit more depth, but overall, I was quite pleased with this one!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Disney Books. I look forward to getting the next installment of this series!

I struggled a little bit with suspension of disbelief re: Mulan becoming emperor (and I don't know why because obviously this is a fantasy story). I feel as though Blackburne really got Mulan's characterization and I enjoyed what was included of the relationship between Mulan and Shang. I also liked her journey towards confidence in her own abilities and in what the former emperor had seen in her.

I was 16 years old when Disney's Mulan was released. As a half Asian American I was so happy when it was released! First time that asian inspired movies where coming out that showed a BA of a female heroine.

Feather and Flame did not disappoint. I not only loved the audiobook but I loved Livia Blackburne's take on Mulan as well!

Being dropped into a story like we were with Feather and Flame, one would expect to not know what was going on. However, this is story of Disney's Mulan and the writing was so well written that I was able to connect immediately to Mulan, Shang, Khan, and so many more. The new characters added in where a big hit. I love the sass and the general attitude of Liwen. I teared up when characters who I learned to love didn't make it.

The romance was adorable as well. Shang and Mulan are always endgame in my eyes!

Overall, I loved this book and I'm sad I read/listened to it in one day. While it was a great book, you never get to go back and read something again for the first time, so finishing it one day is sad but a testament to Blackburne's writing.

I absolutely loved the first one in this series focusing on belle and the french revolution, so I was super excited to read about mulan!!!

however, I found myself skimming through the pages due to the story dragging on and on. I felt that it could have been done in about 100 less pages.

I did love the historical accuracy behind the story, similar to belle’s, and how the author was able to seaming-less weave the princess into history itself.

I would definitely recommend this one to anyone interested in history and disney combined. however, for casual readers, it was a bit drawn out and slow.

rating: 2.5 stars
wine pairing: Mongolian red blend

What a fantastic story of Mulan and her becoming the Ruler of China! I could not put this book down! I kept wanting to read more and more to see what happens. I enjoyed the little nods to the story we already know with new elements added in.

Mulan’s personality was written so well by Blackburne. I liked how realistic and relatable Mulan was. You could feel for her in her struggles at grasping becoming the ruler. You can feel how much she loves the people and making sure them and the country is protected.

Mulan is strong, but still has her friends and allies to always be there to help. I liked how everyone played an important role no matter big or small their presence was in the story.

Mulan is back in a new adventure and it goes with the animate movie instead of the live action one. This time dealing with politics, scheming advisors and again invading Huns. This book was quite different from the first Queen's Council. I liked it for it's own sake but it seemed that Mulan had to fight physical and mentally to become the Empress the Emperor saw her as before he died and named her his heir.

I enjoyed the story overall but I wish that the author had more information about the ancestor spirits that came to help Mulan. It would add to more of the time period and flavor of the novel like I got with the first novel of the series.

I really enjoyed this! I think it was a fun, action packed, high stakes novel that kept me on my toes. I sat down and read the whole thing without putting it down. I can't wait to read more books in the series!

This book was fast paced and an epic ride. The animated Mulan film has always been a favorite and having the continuation of Mulan’s story is great. This book highlights how Mulan is not just a pretty princess, but is a fierce leader. Her rise to empress is a great journey, this should be the next Disney animated film!

So first off I want to thank #netgalley and #disney for giving me the opportunity to read this phenomenal E-Arc of Feather and Flame. I can’t say enough how much I love the Queens Counsel series so far!!! It is amazing to follow these women and see them come into their own power. I love Mulan and this book doesn’t disappoint. She has to take on some huge responsibility and is completely out of her depth. However she has Shang so somewhat help her navigate these waters. Problems arise and those she is supposed to trust and depend on seem to not be what she thought bringing back the appearance of Ping. She has to learn to depend on her ancestors, all the mighty and powerful women who came before her. Can she find her strength and her voice or will a man’s world finally silence her?

**Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. This in no way changed my opinion**

I haven't read any of Livia Blackburne's books prior to this, but I absolutely would seek them out now. I am a "quick" reader in terms of time spent reading, but it usually takes me several days to finish a book. I'm a "read a few chapters here and there" in a few different books kind of girl. But after I got about 1/3 of the way through this, that went out the window. I finished almost 250 pages of this book in a day because I just had to find out what happened next! I couldn't put it down.

For those unfamiliar, this is the second book in a new feminist series Disney is doing about "after the ever after", in which the princess characters are now charged with actually ruling the kingdoms they fought for or married/were born into the royal family of. The story is mixed with historical research to make that experience realistic while still having some Disney magic in the form of "the Queen's Council", which is a magical being who gives advice to the new female rulers from what I can gather. I've read the first one, which was about Belle during the French Revolution. You absolutely do not need to read them in order or read all of them to understand what's going on. The books can be read as a stand-alone for those who are really into one character but not another. That being said, for those who are considering reading the series, this one is far and away the better of the two and it's for a very simple reason: I never felt like Blackburne wrote Mulan in such a way that her choices were out of character for her.

The book opens a few years after Mulan has saved China. She has been training an all-female militia, which I LOVED and felt like something she would be doing (which the author confirmed was from historical research, but I also know was kind of hinted at in the sequel movie, just with children). As the Emperor is getting on in years and doesn't have a biological heir, he names Mulan as the new Empress of China. The book deals with her learning to become Empress, doubting her ability to rule the country, treason, backstabbing, war, etc. It is a very action-packed book. One of the things I really liked about this specific entry was that Blackburne trusted the audience to figure out the "villains" intentions on their own. She didn't force it on them in the way that I felt like Theriault did with Rebel Rose. If you're a younger reader or unfamiliar with the kind of trope this villain uses, I think the reveal will take you by surprise and even if you know and are expecting it, the reveal still has impact because of how it's done. Much preferred that to being constantly told "I don't know, there was just something off about him" over and over and over again.

My other big issue with Rebel Rose, despite liking it, is that Belle was out of character for a good portion of it. That didn't happen here. Mulan already had moments of self-doubt in the movie, which leads to the reader understanding when she has doubts here or how she could be lead to doubt herself more with enough coaxing. Despite that, she's still confident in situations that call for it and humble in other situations. Blackburne clearly understood all of the character traits Mulan possesses, both strengths and weaknesses, and was able to work that into the story so that it all felt right. She leans on her friends, but also tries to keep them from harm's way. She is willing to admit when she doesn't know the answer to something, but confident when she knows her idea will work. It's a reason Mulan is so beloved as a character and I think fans of her will be pleased with this portrayal.

I don't know as much about Chinese history as I do the French Revolution, but I enjoyed the inclusion of many women from China's history to help guide Mulan as she determines how best to approach a dangerous situation. In looking into it a little more, Blackburne was able to incorporate many Chinese women in history who played significant roles in protecting China, leading militias, or otherwise fighting in some capacity. This was an interesting topic that I would like to learn more about and will be sure to research more.

The romance and friendship aspects were also well done. There's a forbidden romance trope after Mulan is named the heir and there are multiple female friendships that pass the Bechdel test (hooray!). My only real concern with this series, moving forward, is that Mulan deals with a similar situation to Belle in that she's surrounded by misogynistic men who discount her solely because she's a woman. With Jasmine being the next up in the series, I'm interested to see if this is a situation that will be repeated a third time (expressly in men holding meetings behind the female rulers back). I'm hoping not or that at least the exact situation will be varied a little bit. I don't know if this is something that happened by accident, if the authors all decided on this, or if it's something stipulated by Disney, but I'm hoping for at least a slight change in that aspect.

Overall, I really liked this one. It took a recognizable character we all know and love and brought her into her country's history in a really entertaining way without sacrificing the characterization to do so. I would highly recommend you check out this installment of the Queen's Council series.

This was definitely better than the first book in the series, but it was still pretty predictable and I wish the romance had been better fleshed out. I would recommend it to readers looking for a female-drive action-packed read.

I.was never a huge Mulan fan, but I ro love everything Disney and their stories of what happens after the movie ends.
I love the Chinese folklore and magic, and the story of strong women and being.true to yourself. All Mulan fans need to read this!

Disney’s take on Mulan was a staple of my childhood, and remains a favourite to this day. The direct to video sequel was…less so. In Feather and Flame, the second book in the Queen’s Council series, Mulan’s story is continued in a much more palatable way, complete with action, politics, and even a little romance.

Sometime after stopping the Hun invasion, Mulan has returned home and begun training a militia of women to fight, patrol and generally keep the peace from bandits and others who would cause trouble. A wrench is thrown into her delicate balance when her former commander, and current friend-but-maybe-something-more Li Shang arrives to tell her the Emperor himself urgently wishes to see her.

Things take yet another turn when she arrives in the Imperial City and is told by the Emperor that he wishes to name her his heir, as his three daughters have married commoners and left palace life (a sweet, subtle nod to the otherwise messy Mulan II). Mulan is reluctant to accept. After all, becoming Empress is not something she ever imagined for herself. She would have to move to the Imperial city and give up her militia. She also wouldn’t be able to marry Shang like the two of them had planned.

When the Emperor dies before Mulan can refuse his offer she is at once thrust into the role of Empress amidst a cabinet who believe governance is not her - or any woman’s - place, and a fresh new threat from the Huns to the north.

Admittedly, I am not overly familiar with Chinese history beyond broad strokes, but it’s my understanding that this book takes liberties with Chinese political and social history. It’s also true that the plot elements needed to get Mulan on the throne don’t exactly hold up to intense scrutiny. But the entire premise of the Queen’s Council series is to follow the Disney princesses we know as they ascend their respective thrones, and receive aid from a mysterious group known as the Queen’s Council.

All this to say, I am more than willing to overlook the contrivances and inaccuracies to take Feather and Flame for what it is: a more historical continuation of Disney’s Mulan, rather than a historically accurate story of the Ballad of Mulan.

The romance with Shang is one moment I want to single out, simply because I’m relieved it happened at all. Too often nowadays, there is a tendency to write romance out for young female characters, as though the ideas of love and strength are mutually exclusive. While it did seem to be heading that way for a little while, author Livia Blackburn fortunately recognized good chemistry when she saw it and decided to see Mulan and Shang’s relationship through.

Feather and Flame is, to put it bluntly, a lot of fun. The supporting cast made up of Mulan’s militia are wonderful, and the ever-reserved Shang now at constant war with his own feelings of duty and love is nothing short of endearing. Mulan herself remains as feisty as ever, taking on each new challenge with an even-handed grace.

This is partially why I wish the novel had been longer. Her initial obstacles are not overcome easily, but neither are they overcome with any kind of finality. We are left by the end with the sense that the best is yet to come and her story is just beginning. Perhaps, if the series is successful, and we get lucky, we’ll see a sequel down the line set further into Mulan’s rule.

Feather and Flame is out February 1, 2022

Special thanks to Netgalley and Disney Books for the advance copy for review purposes.

Fairytale re-tellings have got to be some of my favorite books because while I love the “And they lived happily ever after..” I’m always anxious for more and the ability to be able to delve into a story after that happily ever after? Amazing.

Feather and Flame is a part of a standalone series (The Queen’s Council) written by different authors wherein they explore the story after that happily ever after. In this second book of the series, we get to hear more from our favorite warrior woman, Mulan. After bringing honor to her family on the battlefield, Mulan is now back home (a war hero) training other women to fight just like she did. But when our favorite male warrior Shang shows up at her village with a message from the emperor, Mulan is thrust back into the thick of things. I am certain that anyone who reads this will automatically fall in love with this story because though this book may be the only Mulan re-telling I’ve read to date, it’s already my favorite!

Mulan happens to be a family favorite and I absolutely love this book. IF you ever wondered what became of Mulan then Feather and Flame has the answer for you. The author was walking a tightrope when she decided to tackle this popular storyline. But Blackburne, in my opinion, has seamlessly woven a tale that completes the narrative of Mulan's life. Because She doesn't simply fall back into her old life once the war is over. Instead, Mulan trains and leads and army of women from neighboring villages. I love the strength of the characters and the few twists and turn that had me hooked along the way. Quite simply a magnificently fun read for any fan at any age. Special thanks to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for giving me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review. #FeatherandFlame #NetGalley

I really enjoyed the first book in the Queen’s council series, so this second book was highly anticipated for me. And thank goodness it held up to my expectations. This one follows Mulan after the first movie as she’s chosen to be the Heir to the throne by the emperor.

I loved exploring more of the relationship between Mulan and Shang, as well as the nods to the original animated film (and even the sequel), but the story still stands on its own and is a good companion work to the Disney version of the story.