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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed the premise of this story and parts of it were so well written I felt sucked in. Other times things just felt disjointed and clunky, like a first draft. I appreciated it overall, but didn't love it.
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship
Minor: Vomit
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Mulan is one of my favorite legends/movies/heroines of all time, so I saw "Mulan retelling" and hit that "request" button so fast. As for the actual book...I think my expectations may have been a bit high, and I struggled through this one. It's not that it's a bad book -- K. X. Song can clearly write, and she toes the between lyrical and grounded prose quite well -- but more that there were several glaring pacing and character issues I found difficult to ignore.
First, as other reviewers mentioned, I didn't expect this to be a 1:1 retelling of the movie Mulan; when almost the entire training montage from the Disney movie appeared in Part 1 (from carrying buckets of water to trying to bathe in the springs without her secret being discovered), it felt a bit uninspired. Kind of like those old movie-to-book adaptations from back in the day, with the "8 real pages of movie photos!!" Yeah. It felt like that. And I was like, if I wanted to watch the movie Mulan, I would go watch Mulan. The 1:1 retelling happening right in the beginning really threw me and made me not at all hopeful for what came next, and I almost DNF'd before Part 2 had even begun. And that was a shame, because I actually really enjoyed the rest of the book.
Once we break away from the Disney retelling stuff and lean into Mei Lin's connection to the dragon that lives inside her jade pendant, the action picked up and I could see K. X. Song's gifts as a storyteller begin to shine. Mei Lin is an engaging and strong heroine with an unusual motive: greed. Anyone who's read my review of She Who Became the Sun knows that I LOVE an FMC with a more "selfish" motive; I think if we're to have truly feminist literature, we need to break away from that mold of "I'm doing this for love" or "I want to make the world a better place" (and hey, I don't mind FMCs with those goals AT ALL, but we need a bit of variety here, people!). What kept me consistently reading was Mei Lin and her own internal struggles between the patriarchal culture she was raised in, the madness she saw her mother succumb to, and her desires to live her own life. I think when Mei Lin is away from her *very bland* love interest, Prince Sky, she really shines, and I particularly love her interactions with the magic world she is now a part of.
And speaking of Prince Sky!!! Leaving aside the odd mismatch of naming conventions, as others have noted, Prince Sky himself really doesn't do much. And I think a good part of that is because Song never gives him a chance to do much. It's abundantly clear that Mei Lin's later love interest, Lei, is the preferred LI (we stan a bisexual king, btw), but this makes the love triangle feel horribly unbalanced. So much of Mei Lin's interactions with Sky occur off page, and while we're told she's connected to him, I don't quite see it. I would have loved to have seen more of their interactions on page if he's to be a true contender for Mei Lin's heart.
Given the uneven pacing and the bland LI, I don't see myself continuing with this series, which is a shame because I do think there's a lot of potential here. I thoroughly enjoyed Song's prose, and I will definitely pick up another of her books, but given the abundance of new adult fantasy coming out, a girl's gotta be selective, you know?
Many thanks to NetGalley, Berkely Publishing Group (Ace), and K. X. Song for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!
First, as other reviewers mentioned, I didn't expect this to be a 1:1 retelling of the movie Mulan; when almost the entire training montage from the Disney movie appeared in Part 1 (from carrying buckets of water to trying to bathe in the springs without her secret being discovered), it felt a bit uninspired. Kind of like those old movie-to-book adaptations from back in the day, with the "8 real pages of movie photos!!" Yeah. It felt like that. And I was like, if I wanted to watch the movie Mulan, I would go watch Mulan. The 1:1 retelling happening right in the beginning really threw me and made me not at all hopeful for what came next, and I almost DNF'd before Part 2 had even begun. And that was a shame, because I actually really enjoyed the rest of the book.
Once we break away from the Disney retelling stuff and lean into Mei Lin's connection to the dragon that lives inside her jade pendant, the action picked up and I could see K. X. Song's gifts as a storyteller begin to shine. Mei Lin is an engaging and strong heroine with an unusual motive: greed. Anyone who's read my review of She Who Became the Sun knows that I LOVE an FMC with a more "selfish" motive; I think if we're to have truly feminist literature, we need to break away from that mold of "I'm doing this for love" or "I want to make the world a better place" (and hey, I don't mind FMCs with those goals AT ALL, but we need a bit of variety here, people!). What kept me consistently reading was Mei Lin and her own internal struggles between the patriarchal culture she was raised in, the madness she saw her mother succumb to, and her desires to live her own life. I think when Mei Lin is away from her *very bland* love interest, Prince Sky, she really shines, and I particularly love her interactions with the magic world she is now a part of.
And speaking of Prince Sky!!! Leaving aside the odd mismatch of naming conventions, as others have noted, Prince Sky himself really doesn't do much. And I think a good part of that is because Song never gives him a chance to do much. It's abundantly clear that Mei Lin's later love interest, Lei, is the preferred LI (we stan a bisexual king, btw), but this makes the love triangle feel horribly unbalanced. So much of Mei Lin's interactions with Sky occur off page, and while we're told she's connected to him, I don't quite see it. I would have loved to have seen more of their interactions on page if he's to be a true contender for Mei Lin's heart.
Given the uneven pacing and the bland LI, I don't see myself continuing with this series, which is a shame because I do think there's a lot of potential here. I thoroughly enjoyed Song's prose, and I will definitely pick up another of her books, but given the abundance of new adult fantasy coming out, a girl's gotta be selective, you know?
Many thanks to NetGalley, Berkely Publishing Group (Ace), and K. X. Song for gifting me this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review!
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Will I read again before the next book comes out? Definitely yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A