YES, THIS.

Your girl is a big time Mulan fan. Like obsessively used to watch it growing up. But I haven’t read a lot of Mulan retellings?? Or at least not ones that i truly felt like had those markers from the movie and made it their own. I loved that this had some of those scenes but the entire plot was something new. It was a great combination of worlds colliding and I am incredibly impressed with the writing.

If I wanted anything more I would have loved a touch more romance, but I think that’s coming?? And I don’t know where it’s going??! Which is honestly kind of my favorite for fantasy series. Give me that long slow burn and make me beg for them to even touch hands. This is the tension I CRAVE.

I liked the plot and the added spirit realms. The magic system made enough sense where I didn’t feel lost and look forward to its expansion in later installments. I loved the heroine, Meilin. Her strength and perseverance. I love that she’s complicated and has weaknesses. Messy characters feel relatable and like someone you want to to root for, Meilin is one of those characters for me. I can’t wait to read what happens next!!

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy
Language: low
Romance: heated make out with touching
Violence: high
Content Warnings: attempted sexual assault, loss of life, war themes

In this Mulan-inspired fantasy, Meilin runs away from an arranged marriage to join the army, dressed as a man. Like in Mulan, she trains as a soldier, pushing herself to be one of the best in her company. This is in part to make sure she's not /the worst,/ since she thinks that would bring attention to the fact that she is a woman, but also partly because she has a well of ambition. I mentioned that this is a fantasy, and that's for sure here: Meilin has trained in qi gong and kung fu, and can partially control her qi. She also just might have spirit powers, lixia, that she inherited from her mother.

This is a sweeping fantasy that feels a little YA-inspired, although not YA in scope or feel. For example, Meilin is involved in a love triangle with two different men (who both happen to be princes!), each of whom speaks to a different part of her psyche: Sky is her commanding officer who inspires her patriotism and loyalty, while Lei is a prince of the faction they are fighting, and who speaks to her "unwomanly" ambition. (I have my thoughts about who she will eventually end up picking, and I may be surprising myself with my personal ship...)

There is also a nice critique of gender and gender roles: Meilin never thinks of herself as a man, but she also recognizes that she never wants to go back to living as a woman. Her driving personality traits are, as I mentioned before, "unwomanly": she is ambitious, proud, outspoken, and can be self-centered. At the same time, her greatest blunders are when she trusts the wrong people; and she directly relates this to the way she was raised, as a woman, never to question authority.

Do note that this one ends in a cliffhanger before you dive in! I personally will definitely be picking up the next one in the series.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

Meilin is trapped. Trapped by her father’s opium addiction, trapped by her duty to her family, trapped into an engagement with a violent man. Trapped, that is, until she decides to escape. In her desperation to leave her constricting life behind, Meilin disguises herself as a man and joins the army in her father’s place, hoping for a taste of freedom. As she escapes from home, she only brings one thing, a jade seal that used to belong to her mother. But Meilin soon realizes that the jade seal has formed some connection between her and a sea dragon spirit that plays on her deepest desires for power. In an attempt to get more power, Meilin begins to train with none other than the prince who is leading the army, who insists she call him Sky. Keeping her secret from Sky is hard, especially as they grow closer and closer, and as more of the dragon begins to influence her life. But she has to: a woman with power is nothing short of blasphemy, and her life and the fate of her kingdom might depend on her keeping her secret.

I received an advanced reading copy of The Night Ends with Fire in exchange for an honest review.

The Night Ends with Fire is a fantasy novel by K.X. Song. It’s a retelling of the story or Mulan, which I feel like I’ve been reading a lot of lately. But I have been having so much fun!

Just a couple of content warnings for the book before getting started with the review: suicide, thoughts of suicide, violence, war, misogyny, attempted sexual assault. Please be prepared for those topics if you pick this book up.

I had a great time reading this book. I did initially struggle to connect with Meilin, but I loved how Song didn’t shy away from making it clear how ambitious Meilin is, and how desperate she is to seek power in a world where women like her are so often powerless. Once I connected with her, I really began to root for her, and was excited at every decision she made that brought her closer to her goal. I wanted to see her so powerful, enough to raze the world to the ground. I was kind of hoping this would have a sort of villain arc, to be honest, but I won’t say more about whether the book did have that or not, since that would be a massive spoiler.

Another part of Meilin’s arc is romantic, and I’m sure you can guess who with from the description above. Meilin and Sky have such a fun relationship, especially since Sky doesn’t know that Meilin is actually a woman, while she slowly begins to fall for him. It makes for such a fun dynamic, and one I really enjoyed, especially when it got more complicated. And it does get complicated. Gah! I want to say so much more, but trust me, those would be some massive spoilers! So you’ll just have to pick this book up and see what I mean in terms of “complications,” and please please leave comments down below if you do know what I mean because I need to talk about these to somebody!

As for the plot, it starts out a bit slower, what with training and Meilin getting used to the army, but as soon as actual fighting begins, the plot suddenly sets off at a breakneck speed. So much happened in this book, and I had a great time keeping up with Meilin, seeing the many dangers surrounding her. It really felt like there was one around every corner, and I was just waiting for the next one to pop up.

I had so much fun reading The Night Ends with Fire, and I would easily recommend it to lovers of fantasy, fans of retellings, and those who are looking for their next Chinese-inspired world. I know I’ll be eagerly awaiting the second novel in this series when it comes out.

The Night Ends with Fire will be released next week on July 2. You can preorder your copy from Ace here.

I received a gifted galley of THE NIGHT ENDS WITH FIRE by K.X. Song for an honest review. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group, PRHAudio and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

THE NIGHT ENDS WITH FIRE is a historical fantasy story inspired by the legend of Mulan. Meilin is a young woman with a father intent on staying out of the war, ignoring the imperial draft. He's determined to marry Meilin off to get the family some money. When Meilin learns that the man she is to wed will be just as abusive and restricting as her father, she decides to forge her own path. By dressing up as a boy, she enlists in her father's place.

Meilin is dedicated to her duty and skilled at fighting. She begins to have visions of a sea dragon spirit which bring promises power and danger. She is torn between what she knows of this spirit, her princely training partner, and an enemy prince who also calls to her.

I wound up picking this book up early because I needed a red cover. As I've said before, historical fiction hasn't really been calling to me, so I wasn't sure about picking up a historical set fantasy, but I am glad that I got the push to read it! I really enjoyed the character of Meilin and her story. I liked how Meilin pushed back against societal expectations for a woman, though I would have liked to see more of the male characters catch on to her being an equal and able to protect herself a bit sooner!

I will say that there is a bit of a love triangle set up here and that isn't something I really want in my books. That said I was more interested in Meilin on her own than in her romantic entanglements, so it didn't bother me too much.

This book does end off on a cliffhanger so I'm curious to see where the story will go from here!

Retellings aren’t really my thing, or maybe I just haven’t found one that hit the mark…until now. I think majority of us women, if not all, can agree with wanting to make our own choices, to not wanting to be married off to a stranger or go from one abusive household to the next. Meilin wants freedom, and when a sea dragon spirit comes along saying all the right things along with promising power…things get interesting.

I enjoyed the character dynamics, the love interests, fight scenes (especially those in the spirit realm), and the lore behind the seals. This book also does a good job showcasing how women are still viewed and treated to this day. I found myself highlighting/notating a decent amount since so much resonated with me. Especially when it comes to how men in this book view women as nothing more than a pretty face, if even that.

There were a few things that kept it from being a five-star read for me. I wish we had more character depth and background information. I know we had some history of characters, but something just felt like it was missing. Some things were repetitive and that might not bother others but I don’t like to be beat over the head with certain info the whole book. It was slightly tropey but tropes are popular for a reason.

I plan to read the rest of the series.

Inspired by the legend of Mulan, The Night Ends with Fire balances elements you'll be familiar with and those which will shock you. For fans of the legend and the adaptations, there will be scenes you'll chuckle at. A few of them are definitely fan favorites! But where I enjoyed this book most were the departures and pieces I wasn't expecting. While the beginning feels a bit abrupt, by the end you can tell that the story is just getting started. The Night Ends with Fire totally captivated me at the ending and I cannot wait for book two!

Okay wow, this book blew me away.

When I picked up The Night Ends with Fire, I expected to read a YA book along the lines of Spin the Dawn or Flame in the Mist because of its Mulan-inspired plot. However, I ended up getting a book with The Poppy War vibes and I loved it. There are a few similarities between TPW and TNEWF, especially with the notion of the Dragon and Phoenix gods driving their vessels insane. But I think that this book contains its own uniqueness that I hope gets expanded in the other book(s) in the series.

TNEWF is incredibly dark. It's filled with morally-grey characters and political intrigue, while also being set against the backdrop of a brutal war. There are betrayals and deaths and a rage queen MC who is so ambitious and power hungry that she kinda scares me lmao. There's a hint of romance in this book, which I loved because these scenes felt like a little break between all the horror that Meilin goes through.

K.X. Song has created such an amazing story and I can't wait to see what she has in stores for readers. I was 100% not expecting that ending, mainly because I thought this was a standalone book lol, but now I'm so excited to see what's to come. I'm expecting way more betrayals, deaths, and more scenes with Ming Lei because ugh, that man can get it.

Please please please pick this one up when you have the chance!

The Night Ends with Fire by K. X. Song
Release Date: 7/2/24
Format: ebook/audio hybrid
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

I requested this arc thinking it would be a Mulan retelling and I think the difference of a retelling vs. "inspired by" has never been more clear to me as when I finished this book. Especially after the author's note too!

This book had so much depth and was written so beautifully without being flowery in a way that takes you out of the narrative. There is so much at play - spirits, politics, love, betrayal, and so much more! There is also so much imagery and symbolism that left me reeling by the end.

I absolutely love the way this story has unfolded so far (this is marked as book #1 so I am assuming there is more to come though I feel like this book has a powerful ending on its own) and I feel like narrator Natalie Naudus brought so much life to all our characters!

That being said, this was a hard listen without the book nearby. There are some jumps between locations that were difficult to track solely through audio. The writing is so gorgeous, I think it would be worth reading primarily in ebook/print format.

Highly recommend grabbing this book when it releases next month!

I go in blind in all books - and quickly got Mulan retelling vibes. Yup - MULAN! Heck yah!! Loved Meilin and all her adventures - she sure didnt have it easy. I enjoyed the characters and was all in. Meilin is a badass female character not afraid of what's to come. This was a fun fantasy world and retelling.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love a new spin on fairy tales. This one was Mulan but add in spirit realms, gods, powerful amulets, power hungry vessels, and more. While it was similar to Mulan, there were differences. I loved the Prince. I wanted more of him in the story.

When I tell you I inhaled this book, what I really mean is it entirely consumed me! Especially the last 25%. I was at work and still unable to put it down, sneaking pages here and there until I was finished.

I knew I had to read this once I saw the cover and discovered it was Mulan retelling. I quickly found that it was not only inspired by Mulan, but also the Chinese classic, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I think it’s important to remember while this does indeed have a lot of easter eggs form the childhood movie we know and love, it is much darker and brutal. It is dark romantasy with a morally gray lead themes of ambition, greed, consequence, corruption, and breaking societal expectations. The entire plot is centered about war between a fractured kingdom so brutality is to be expected. I also discovered that Song loves a good montage and much of the nitty gritty details like training or travel are quickly passed over, which I personally liked in this case. It definitely kept the book at a reasonable page count.

Love triangle fans rejoice because I absolutely loved it here. I knew my choice the second he was introduced and I cannot wait to see where it leads. I was definitely getting strong parallels between the love interests here and another VERY popular romance series (which I won’t say because hello spoilers but IYKYK). Meilin’s ambition definitely precedes the romance in this opening book of the series and I’m curious how that will change throughout the series.

I had the pleasure of listening to the ALC thanks to PRH audio and I immediately recognized the same narrator as the Celestial Kingdom duology. She does a fantastic job with this one, too.

Overall, highly recommend to all fantasy lovers! Especially if you loved Daughter of the Moon Goddess and The Poppy War (this is much less brutal and heartbreaking).

The first book in a new duology,. This is a Mulan retelling driven by greed rather than a sense of duty. Meilin’s father sends her to a matchmaker wanting to use her dowry to pay for his gambling and opium debts. However, Meilin refused to escape her father only to fall under another master. To escape, she enlists ,pretending to be her father’s bastard son so tha tshe may fight in the war, gaining the attention of Prince Liu with her kung fu skills and sheer determination. Instead of Meilin fighting for her family’s honor, she fights to gain a position and place for herself, her ambition dangerous in a world full of men.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Ace for this e-arc.*

When receiving this ARC, I was incredibly excited to read a book that is inspired by Mulan. Mulan is my favorite Disney character so I couldn't be more excited since Mulan is not a common retelling.

But alas, this book is not for me. This book did a lot of telling and not showing. Mulan or Meilin in this story would have many lucid dreams where she talks to two different spirits of her magic and such. It felt a little long winded that it got a little mundane to read. We really don't get to explore her magic but just hear more about it than see it.

This book would also parallel with the storyline of the Disney movie Mulan. Where you see a correlation of the story. Then all of the sudden the dreams with the dragons, the good vs evil aspect and then she leaves the army with Sky and such. Didn't feel consistent and just fell a little flat for me.

For me I think what I struggled with this capturing my attention is the pacing of the story and some the elements of the story such as the long dialogues with the spirits/dragons.

5 / 10 ✪

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2024/07/01/the-night-ends-with-fire-by-k-x-song-review/

A somewhat uninspired retelling of the Ballad of Mulan, at least until its latter stages, when the story takes on a much more realistic—albeit darker—feel. At least, I thought so, until I found out that this wasn’t going to be a standalone.

I signed on to this story because (while I’m definitely sick of retellings) Mulan is definitely a nostalgic one for me. And I’m not talking the ’98 Disney film, nor the 2020 live-action remake, nor any of the other shows or movies, but instead the original Ballad of Mulan. Then again, how can you write a book based on a 360 word poem? (I mean, there’s a two hour movie based on Where the Wild Things Are, a kids’ book that’s under 40 pages that’s basically all pictures.) The Ballad of Mulan tells just the bare-bones of a tale, and no romance to be found within. Instead this one really follows more of the subplot of Mulan in the Romance of the Sui and Tang, by Renhou Chu (circa 1695), a novel I confess I’ve never finished. It’s the predecessor to many of the later retellings, albeit with a fatalism (as well as anti-imperialism and Han nationalism) that most also edited out.

This one relates better to a retelling—as you can see from everything it’s spawned since. There’s romance between two star-crossed lovers, later unfolding into an, um, rather fucked-up romance once it plays out, yet one reminiscent of the time and place and culture it was written in. This is more or less the path that Night Ends follows. It’s not a bad story—particularly with Kung Fu and dragons and black magic thrown in—but one I never really connected to.

There’s a truly good story in here somewhere, one that spits in the face of the patriarchy at the time. Even the patriarchy of much later. One that valued women as little more than property, to be bought and sold (a commonplace thing in so much of history, sadly). Of a woman determined to forge her own path, or die trying. Of love, dragons, magic, and fate—all rolled into one.

Part of the problem is there’s such a strong emphasis on the romance, even before it becomes a romance at all. And, start to finish, it feels forced. Worse, it detracts from Meilin’s adventure. She states quite early on that (in refusing her father’s demand to marry) she’ll never be beholden to another man ever again—something that is almost instantly undermined by falling for the prince (literally upon first meeting him). And later not-quite-love-triangle with yet another prince, who actually mistreats her. Yeah, part of my problem with this is: why is it always a prince? I’ll burn through this quick, I promise. In these types of historical/epic retellings, there’s most often a prince, our main character always falls for him because he’s better than other men, full stop. Usually a prince, sometimes a princess (slightly more progressive but), 9/10 someone with inherent birthright worth. It doesn’t mesh well with the overall shift in the undertones (of Renhou’s story). From nationalism and anti-imperialism to feminism. A shift I mostly enjoyed, though made much more difficult due to the romance, such that it is.

Night Ends also features a quite abrupt ending, odd for something I had thought of as a standalone up to this very point. It’s a cliffhanger, definitely, but one that leaves the romance up in the air, as it was so straightforward to this point. Honestly, I didn’t think the story needed to go on any further. And my favorite part of the story was its ending. One that drives (what I thought was) the message home. Renhou Chu’s original ending was meant to illustrate that the Sui and proceeding Tang dynasties were blessed by the gods, while further, non-Han rule was fatally flawed and an aberration against the will of the heavens. K.X. Song’s tells a story of a woman beholden to no man, a freedom she’s willing to fight and die for, culminating in a thrilling, surprising (albeit open) ending.

A retelling of the Chinese folk tales about Mulan, but with a darker twist. I haven't read the original stories, but the premise is basically the same as the Disney movie: war is brewing and each family is expected to give up one man from their family to serve in the army; a young woman disguises herself as a man to take her father's place; she initially has trouble during training but is determined to prove herself and eventually saves the day with her cleverness and skill; there's a romantic subplot with her noble captain; and there's hell to pay once her identity as a woman is revealed.

There are Easter egg nods to the Disney animated movie that will make many readers nostalgic: having to to carry buckets of water up a mountain during training, a small company of men dressing up as courtesans to infiltrate the palace, etc.

Overall, though, this story is much darker (and, I suspect, truer to the original). To start, Mulan (Meilin)'s father is addicted to opium, has gambled his fortune away so the family lives in poverty, and regularly beats his wife and children. Meilin joins the army in her father's place in order to escape marriage to another cruel man. Meilin has a dragon companion, but instead of the hilarious if slightly hapless Mushu, it's one of the Four Gods of Chinese astrology/myth: a dragon fed by greed and ambition who's slowly taking over Meilin's personality and mind. And the potential consequences if Meilin's gender identity is revealed (including sexual assault and execution) are omnipresent.

I did feel that more attention could have been given to Meilin's backstory and motivations. Meilin's dragon god has an affinity for Meilin because her "greed is unending […] an ocean's hunger." She wants more from her life than to be daughter, wife, and mother, especially to brutish men. And once she joins the army, she pushes herself to improve so she doesn't stand out and get harassed by the trainer and other soldiers. But I don't see how these fairly reasonable desires make Meilin especially greedy? They seem pretty natural responses to her circumstances — responses that others would share. Over the course of the novel, Meilin does become resentful of authority and petulant over not being made an army captain, but it seems clear (to me) that this is the dragon god's influence. So much is made of Meilin's unnatural ambition and "greed" that it felt strange that this aspect of her character wasn't fleshed out more.

Overall, I enjoyed this a lot. The author does a wonderful job of shading the main characters and many secondary characters with nuance: many people make poor decisions or hurt others, but you just about always understand why they do so. There's a love triangle that emerges about 2/3 through the novel that piqued my interest because I hadn't been sold on the initial love interest. And it's fast paced: I read the first half in one sitting, and when I came back to read a bit more, I couldn't put it down and was up till around 2 on a weeknight finishing.

✨ Review ✨ The Night Ends with Fire by K.X. Song

Thanks to Ace, Berkley and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

First, I absolutely loved this book, which blended a retelling of Mulan with The Romance of the Three Kingdoms (a 14th century novel). Meilin sets off to war, not out of love of family, but to escape a potentially dangerous marriage and a crappy father. She takes a jade necklace of her mom's which enables her to access a magical system and an otherworldly powerful dragon spirit.

Some parts of this veered closely to the Disney animated Mulan, and honestly, I didn't mind this, especially because other parts drew from other stories and the author's imagination. I like how this blended nostalgia and a new magic system for me.

There are a few parts of this that leaned into romantasy tropes that felt a little predictable (or that the sequel will enter these predictable tropes), that left me a little unsure, but I appreciated that this was all adapted to this particular setting.

There are some critiques, several from AAPI readers, that I saw on goodreads especially about the naming and language conventions used, and it's worth noting these!

I was super lucky to get this from the publisher along with ten notes prepared by the author providing additional context and inspiration for the book and this made me love it even more. (if you read and would like to see these notes, let me know and I'll send you pictures!)

Note: this reads a little more YA or even new adult, and except for one scene, is pretty clean in terms of romance

Overall, I really enjoyed this and how it blended magic and fantasy with feminist ideas. I wish it had veered a little more queerly, but still appreciated the ways that Meilin wanted something different and more for herself!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: fantasy, retelling
Pub Date: July 2, 2024

Read this if you like:
⭕️ Fourth Wing, Divine Rivals, or other YA/new adult romantasy reads
⭕️ retellings
⭕️ feminism + magic
⭕️ morally grey characters

This is an incredible retelling of Mulan/the Three Kingdom's Warring era infused with magic and dark impulses. Unwilling to live imprisoned to the rules of womanhood, Meilin disguises herself as a man and joins the army. She is keeping not one, but two secrets - she is a woman, and she can commune with one of the spirit animals through lixia, or as her countrymen refer to it, black magic.

Song crafts and intricate story of war and political intrigue filled with the wills of the gods and the greed of men. This book is absolutely stunning and I cannot wait to continue the story.

This review is kind of a hard one to write. It’s for The Night Ends With Fire. If this were a standalone book, I would have thrown my phone against the wall. It was entertaining, confusing at times but relatable. That ending though….

As a Mulan retelling with magic thrown in for good measure, obviously there is a gender stereotype lacing the entire book.

Our main character, Meilin, (or Ren or for a page, actually Mulan,) whatever she calls herself struggles with the societal norms for Chinese women at the time. She is her abusive father’s property and is forced to watch as he dishonors her family name and squanders their money for his next opium fix. He even calls for the matchmaker so he can use Meilin’s dowry to pay the debt collectors hounding the family. He refuses to show up when he is called to join the army, so Meilin poses as his bastard son to go in his place. Knowing that if she is found out, it would mean death for her, it is still preferable to living as a prisoner in her future abusive husband’s home. Being found out already occupies her thoughts, but she also finds that she is basically a magic wielder in a land that has outlawed magic as well. Now she has two things to hide from everyone that can get her killed.

I do like the inclusion of two of the four cardinal spirits from Chinese mythology. I hope the other two are included in future books. Zhuque, the Vermillion Bird, is similar to the popular Phoenix. Our antagonist has partnered with this spirit and threatens Meilin’s hometown with fiery destruction. Meilin has the spirit Qinglong in her possession. Qinglong is the Azure Dragon, not to be confused with the helpful and hilarious dragon Mushu. This dragon allows Meilin the limited ability to compel others to do what she wants and harness water. Sometimes, he’s kind of a jerk honestly.

As far as other characters go, we meet two notable princes, Liu Sky, the hometown prince, seventh born, and all around good guy. Honorable, trustworthy and handsome. Definitely Li Shang. Then there is the other prince she meets, Cao Lei, prince of Ximing. The all around “bad boy,” devilishly handsome, morally grey, questionable motives. “I protect what’s mine.” Naturally, I am rooting for him. Rhysand, anyone?

Since this is a book one of something, I’m guessing some bigger bad will show up in future books that everyone will have to rally behind. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Right now, I’m kinda pissed with all of the characters. For the most part, the writing was easy enough to understand. Sporadically, though, the author would just stick words in there where we would either have to intuit their meaning like “…my di di’s age…” or put the actual meaning right after the word like “You baichi idiot!” Thanks Naruto. It would make more sense if it was consistent through the book. One or the other. Though calling someone an idiot idiot doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Solid four star book. Will be waiting eagerly for book two. Hopefully it fixes this mess. I wouldn’t be surprised if the ending sticks though. History is written by the victors. Thank you, NetGalley, for this ARC.

The Night Ends With Fire is an absolutely exhilarating reimagining of Mulan and Romance of the Three Kingdoms (which I know very little about but I read other reviews) with elemental magic, a cast full of morally gray characters, and a hint of romance. While I wouldn't really pitch it as a romantasy, it was the relationships that really sold this one for me, notably the fraught relationship between Meilin and the elusive dragon who lives in the spirit realm but also in her head? I was a tiny bit muddy on the mechanics, but the premise of not knowing how much to trust your own instincts and ambition was ENTHRALLING. This is a must-read fantasy that brings all the set-fire-to-the-patriarchy energy we need in 2024.

3.5 🌟 I have such mixed thoughts on this book. On one hand, I was intrigued by the Mulan inspiration but instead of a sense of duty our FMC was driven by greed. Given the role of women in this setting, totally reasonable. However, it definitely got to a point where the greed was almost vicious and nonsensical given the circumstances. I think that was partly driven by the spirit magic but it wasn’t clear. And honestly, the magic system and how it works is still a bit fuzzy (I could not explain it if you asked me to). I’m not sure what the plans are for this series but I think the book could have been split into two given the amount of things that happened and expand on them a bit. The romance was fine - I thought we were going to have a love triangle for a minute and got really excited but alas I was mistaken (perhaps in the next book??). Lastly, one thing I struggle with when reading retellings / books that draw heavily on inspiration is a lack of originality. While this story differs from Mulan, the inspiration is so heavy that there are specific scenes straight from the original (some people may enjoy this - I unfortunately am not one of them). Overall, I’d say this story is intriguing enough with an ending that makes me want to continue on in the series but certainly not a favorite.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for my advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review!