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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the review copy of this book!
While this book sometimes felt like a copy-paste from the movie Mulan, I enjoyed this book! Meilin is a strong woman with a fierce determination to make her own path. Sky is a frustrating, but charming character and compliments Meilin well.
Again, while there were many similarities between this book and its inspiration source material, it holds its own. I will say, there were also some similarities to The Poppy War (magic-system wise) but that might be that they both draw inspiration from east-asian mythology so without further knowledge of why they are similar, I won't hold it against this book.
I will be reading the sequel, which arrives this August.
While this book sometimes felt like a copy-paste from the movie Mulan, I enjoyed this book! Meilin is a strong woman with a fierce determination to make her own path. Sky is a frustrating, but charming character and compliments Meilin well.
Again, while there were many similarities between this book and its inspiration source material, it holds its own. I will say, there were also some similarities to The Poppy War (magic-system wise) but that might be that they both draw inspiration from east-asian mythology so without further knowledge of why they are similar, I won't hold it against this book.
I will be reading the sequel, which arrives this August.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
medium-paced
DNF @75%
Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped. I love Mulan, so I was really excited to read this.
The story started off on an interesting note, and I appreciated the way it reflected the original Mulan. It even included some iconic scenes from the movie, which I enjoyed. I liked the connection that Meilin had with her stepmother, and I was happy that Meilin left to escape her arranged marriage, which would have turned out terribly for her.
I appreciated Meilin's journey with magic and how she started off afraid of it and slowly grew to control it. The book started to lose me with Meilin's "greed" though. We're told that Meilin is greedy many times, and the only greed I really saw from her was wanting power to save her family. That doesn't sound very greedy to me... but I get that it was trying to say that women shouldn't want power at all.
There were a lot of great opportunities to explore gender and sexuality here, but we didn't get any of that. I was really hoping for some compelling moments between Ren and Sky during their training, but it just fell flat. The jump from a friendship to Sky suddenly having feelings after finding out Ren's true identity was strange. And Sky suddenly started acting very possessive and jealous?? Where did that come from?
By the halfway mark, I was super confused about Chancellor Sima and Prince Lei. I don't know where I got my wires crossed, but I kept thinking they were the same person, going by different names. Throw the dragon spirit into the mix, and I just couldn't keep the characters straight. They all felt the same to me. This could have been because I was switching between the physical book and the audiobook, but even when I was reading the physical book, I was confused.
Both love interests being princes just wasn't a very interesting dynamic to me. Sky is sweet but kinda awkward. Lei creeped me out. I wasn't really rooting for either of them honestly.
The excerpts at the beginning of each chapter seemed like nonsense. I don't mind when writers do stuff like this, but if they aren't providing helpful details or effective world building, don't include them. Maybe I didn't make it far enough to see them culminate into something meaningful?
Also, I have to say, it's not surprising to be betrayed by someone you JUST met. They are a stranger. They have no loyalty to you. Of course they are going to lie and rat you out! - I think this points to a larger problem with Meilin's character development.
Anyways... I was probably a little harsh here, and maybe I was just not paying enough attention, and that's my own fault. But life is too short to finish books you don't enjoy.
Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book as much as I hoped. I love Mulan, so I was really excited to read this.
The story started off on an interesting note, and I appreciated the way it reflected the original Mulan. It even included some iconic scenes from the movie, which I enjoyed. I liked the connection that Meilin had with her stepmother, and I was happy that Meilin left to escape her arranged marriage, which would have turned out terribly for her.
I appreciated Meilin's journey with magic and how she started off afraid of it and slowly grew to control it. The book started to lose me with Meilin's "greed" though. We're told that Meilin is greedy many times, and the only greed I really saw from her was wanting power to save her family. That doesn't sound very greedy to me... but I get that it was trying to say that women shouldn't want power at all.
There were a lot of great opportunities to explore gender and sexuality here, but we didn't get any of that. I was really hoping for some compelling moments between Ren and Sky during their training, but it just fell flat. The jump from a friendship to Sky suddenly having feelings after finding out Ren's true identity was strange. And Sky suddenly started acting very possessive and jealous?? Where did that come from?
By the halfway mark, I was super confused about Chancellor Sima and Prince Lei. I don't know where I got my wires crossed, but I kept thinking they were the same person, going by different names. Throw the dragon spirit into the mix, and I just couldn't keep the characters straight. They all felt the same to me. This could have been because I was switching between the physical book and the audiobook, but even when I was reading the physical book, I was confused.
Both love interests being princes just wasn't a very interesting dynamic to me. Sky is sweet but kinda awkward. Lei creeped me out. I wasn't really rooting for either of them honestly.
The excerpts at the beginning of each chapter seemed like nonsense. I don't mind when writers do stuff like this, but if they aren't providing helpful details or effective world building, don't include them. Maybe I didn't make it far enough to see them culminate into something meaningful?
Also, I have to say, it's not surprising to be betrayed by someone you JUST met. They are a stranger. They have no loyalty to you. Of course they are going to lie and rat you out! - I think this points to a larger problem with Meilin's character development.
Anyways... I was probably a little harsh here, and maybe I was just not paying enough attention, and that's my own fault. But life is too short to finish books you don't enjoy.
Boring, flat characters, off pacing, poorly explained scenes, cringy writing, very juvenile/YA
adventurous
challenging
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Good, wish it could’ve been great. I’ve been a sucker for Asian mythology lately and this retelling of the Mulan legend easily caught my attention. Parts were very repetitive (sometimes I had to check if I’d reread the same chapter because some of the writing was so similar) and lost its pacing for most of the book after the first few chapters. Main character definitely suffers from ‘woe is me’ syndrome a bit too much. All in all it was one of those books with a great premise and story, but suffered because the writing didn’t quite hit the mark.
It was enjoyable for the most part and worth the read, but I won’t be keeping the book on my shelves and bothering to read the eventual sequel.
It was enjoyable for the most part and worth the read, but I won’t be keeping the book on my shelves and bothering to read the eventual sequel.