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A review by rays_reads
The Night Ends With Fire by K.X. Song
1.25
Official Rating: 1.25/5
DNF @ 93%
EDIT: I finished this story out of spite.... I should've just stuck to dnfing
I'm too pissed off at the story and for my time being wasted so I'll write this review later....
Poppy war x mulan my ass.
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Okay let's get this show on the road. Night Ends with Fire had A LOT of potential. We started out strong following the main plot of Mulan where Meilin is being forced to get married but instead runs away to take her father's place in war. There she engages with her commander and seventh prince, Liu Sky. I was rocking with the book until about 45% of the way in we got to the reveal... It was questionable but I figured this is where the author wanted to deviate from the Mulan plot given to her and we start to see her plot skills..... she should've stuck to the original blue prints.... The story became so ASS I was literally torturing myself. Meilin's torture couldn't compare to my mental torture while reading this book.
One of the main things that made me hate this book was Meilin and everything she "stood" for. She gave off "nOt LiKe OtHeR gIrLs" vibes which was whatever as you unfortunately get it in FMC characters from time to time but the main thing that irked me was how naive and stupid she was... AND THAT STUPIDITY DIDNT CHANGE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE BOOK. I'll mark spoilers. What I mean by this is in the beginning she's so cautious to show anyone her true self because she's a woman but the fucking second Sky finds out SHE LETS EVERYBODY AND THEIR GODDAMN MOTHER KNOW SHES A WOMAN AND LET'S HERSELF BE TREATED LIKE GARBAGE. The enemy maid finds out and then snitches to the enemy prince Lei. LIKE BITCH DO YOU NOT KNOW ABOUT SELF PRESERVATION??? THIS IS AN ADULT FUCKING FANTASY AND YOU'VE ALREADY KILLED PEOPLE, KILL THE SNITCH!!!! Genuinely idfk how she survived because the amount of people who found out her secret and she didn't kill any of them.... like bruh.... Not to mention her entire character arc stems from her wanting freedom and being selfish but the author imo completely botches both things.... she never shows us how Meilin is selfish and just types it on paper...
And SHE SPENDS THE ENTIRE HALF OF THE BOOK IN CHAINS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BY HER LOVE INTREST AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS BOOK PISSES ME OFF SO MUCH ISTG. You would think a character and author who spend so much fucking time yapping about freedom would die trying to defend their freedoms, ESPECIALLY AS A WOMAN, but no.... Meilin rolls over like a dog, showing her belly, and does everything her kidnappers want.... this woman is SAed like 2-3 times and EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. She's saved by a fucking man.... She apparently has water dragon powers... where df are they???? What's the point of having a water mushu equivalent if you're not gonna use him? HE'S A GOD OF FUCKING GREED MAYBE USE SOME AND GET OUT YOUR CHAINS... I hate Meilin with a passion and nobody can convince me otherwise.
Now let's get to the love interest cuz the author had the fucking outline for that too and botched it. Both love interest, Sky and Lei, were trash. However, only one of them was redeemable imo. Sky is the seventh price who is supposed to be a Shang stand in and we see how he pretty much becomes a mentor to Meilin. I liked seeing their relationship grow in the beginning but they didn't really have many scenes together so I assumed they would later on... then pretty quickly he learns of her true identity and turns into a Grade-A misogynist.... His likeability went down hill from there but as the book continued he was actually stating to change and he only wanted to keep her safe because he loved her and not because Meilin was a woman... i like him the most but he's a very much reactive character and doesn't do much to help the FMC overall...I also don't forget that he whipped her in the beginning of the book but since it was a punishment for thievery and he didn't know she was a woman I'll let it slide.... somewhat... Sky shows the most potential and even while he's bound by duty he's still very honorable and is open to change (even if its slow) against women's traditional status and to those with magic (because its outlawed in his kingdom). If I'm rooting for anyone in the love triangle it's him.
As for Lei. Fuck him, his kingdom, and his family. I hope he dies and I won't be sad about it either. When I read about his sad, pathetic backstory I LAUGHED. That's how much I fucking loath his character. He's the typical moody, broody, mysterious fucking second lead and manipulates Meilin for the second half of the book after he kidnaps her (Stockholm syndrome anyone?). He contributes almost nothing to Meilin's character and makes her look so friggen stupid it's pathetic. He's like the opposite of Sky and is actually selfish in his desires and I suppose speaks to Meilin's "bad desires" instead of trying to teach her how to be a better warrior and manipulator. IDFK how Meilin desires him cuz he's a piece of poo poo garbage and the long forgotten dust bunnies behind my heavy and hard to reach dresser are the better than him.Man tortures her, forces her to undress, LEAVES HER IN FUCKING CHAINS THE ENTIRE TIME THEY'RE TOGETHER, LEAVES HER AT RISK FOR BEING ALMOST RAPED TWICE/THRICE, DRUGS HER, AND THERE WERE PROBABLY MORE THINGS I CAN'T REMEMBER BUT THAT'S HOW MUCH OF A SHITTY GUY HE IS... AND YET SHE STILL HAS ATTRACTION TOWARDS HIM???? GIRLY HUHHHHHHHH??????? Make it make fucking sense. Get his character away from me I never wanna see again in my lifetime.
Moving on. This book was marketed as being an equvalient to Poppy War. Now I went into this thinking the writing wasn't on par with RF Kuang's because it's:
1. rare for a new author to have really good writing (as long as the plot and characters are kool I'll read it)
2. it's the authors second book
and 3. the author's first book is a YA novel
And I was correct. The writing was YA adjacent and honestly this could've easily been marketed as a YA. But when I read Poppy War in the marketing I was assuming a more detailed description of war violence and gore. I didn't expect SA and rape but uhh.... ig she got that somewhat down... However, I was also expecting this book to be very politic heavy like the Poppy War... but no... Meilin wasn't even interested in politics so.... WHAT IS THE COMPARISON??? HOW IS THIS LIKE THE POPPY WAR??? TELL ME I'M WAITING?!?!? If you're going to use a big name author/book at least have some of the fucking elements to back it up. Meilin is just a Rin wannabe.
Last thing I'll hate on is the pacing. Now I think the author did an ok job in the beginning when they were all training but some things went by way too fast. The author did more telling then showing and it's like you really gotta question whether Meilin actually learn Kung Fu or not (spoiler alert: doesn't matter since she became a damsel in fucking distress) Idk where the fucking plot went the second half of the book. We lost the plot in favor for the stockholm syndrome. bull shit of a second love interest in the love triangle. The pacing was just all over the place and I felt like if an editor really sat down with Song and got to the nitty gritty to add more detailed action scenes or added more scenes to enhance character development/dynamics it probably would've been a lot better.
The only saving grace of this book were the gods. The water dragon and phoenix were the only things that I was actively interested in. They were truly selfish and only cared about their own agendas and high key I was living for it. Had the author focused more on the god/human relationship between the water dragon and Meilin this book would've been three stars but alas... it wasn't... so it gets a one.
I have a copy that I will be uphauling and while the cliffhanger does make me a little interested, I won't even pick up the second book from the library. I'm just gonna have someone spoil it for me so I never have to see this book again. Hopefully, my next read is better and if the author drops a new series.... maybe I'll give it shot but I'll give it a shot through the library and not through my wallet.
DNF @ 93%
EDIT: I finished this story out of spite.... I should've just stuck to dnfing
I'm too pissed off at the story and for my time being wasted so I'll write this review later....
Poppy war x mulan my ass.
----------------------------------------
Okay let's get this show on the road. Night Ends with Fire had A LOT of potential. We started out strong following the main plot of Mulan where Meilin is being forced to get married but instead runs away to take her father's place in war. There she engages with her commander and seventh prince, Liu Sky. I was rocking with the book until about 45% of the way in we got to the reveal... It was questionable but I figured this is where the author wanted to deviate from the Mulan plot given to her and we start to see her plot skills..... she should've stuck to the original blue prints.... The story became so ASS I was literally torturing myself. Meilin's torture couldn't compare to my mental torture while reading this book.
One of the main things that made me hate this book was Meilin and everything she "stood" for. She gave off "nOt LiKe OtHeR gIrLs" vibes which was whatever as you unfortunately get it in FMC characters from time to time but the main thing that irked me was how naive and stupid she was... AND THAT STUPIDITY DIDNT CHANGE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE BOOK. I'll mark spoilers.
Now let's get to the love interest cuz the author had the fucking outline for that too and botched it. Both love interest, Sky and Lei, were trash. However, only one of them was redeemable imo. Sky is the seventh price who is supposed to be a Shang stand in and we see how he pretty much becomes a mentor to Meilin. I liked seeing their relationship grow in the beginning but they didn't really have many scenes together so I assumed they would later on... then pretty quickly he learns of her true identity and turns into a Grade-A misogynist.... His likeability went down hill from there but as the book continued he was actually stating to change and he only wanted to keep her safe because he loved her and not because Meilin was a woman... i like him the most but he's a very much reactive character and doesn't do much to help the FMC overall...
As for Lei. Fuck him, his kingdom, and his family. I hope he dies and I won't be sad about it either. When I read about his sad, pathetic backstory I LAUGHED. That's how much I fucking loath his character. He's the typical moody, broody, mysterious fucking second lead and manipulates Meilin for the second half of the book after he kidnaps her (Stockholm syndrome anyone?). He contributes almost nothing to Meilin's character and makes her look so friggen stupid it's pathetic. He's like the opposite of Sky and is actually selfish in his desires and I suppose speaks to Meilin's "bad desires" instead of trying to teach her how to be a better warrior and manipulator. IDFK how Meilin desires him cuz he's a piece of poo poo garbage and the long forgotten dust bunnies behind my heavy and hard to reach dresser are the better than him.
Moving on. This book was marketed as being an equvalient to Poppy War. Now I went into this thinking the writing wasn't on par with RF Kuang's because it's:
1. rare for a new author to have really good writing (as long as the plot and characters are kool I'll read it)
2. it's the authors second book
and 3. the author's first book is a YA novel
And I was correct. The writing was YA adjacent and honestly this could've easily been marketed as a YA. But when I read Poppy War in the marketing I was assuming a more detailed description of war violence and gore. I didn't expect SA and rape but uhh.... ig she got that somewhat down... However, I was also expecting this book to be very politic heavy like the Poppy War... but no... Meilin wasn't even interested in politics so.... WHAT IS THE COMPARISON??? HOW IS THIS LIKE THE POPPY WAR??? TELL ME I'M WAITING?!?!? If you're going to use a big name author/book at least have some of the fucking elements to back it up. Meilin is just a Rin wannabe.
Last thing I'll hate on is the pacing. Now I think the author did an ok job in the beginning when they were all training but some things went by way too fast. The author did more telling then showing and it's like you really gotta question whether Meilin actually learn Kung Fu or not (spoiler alert: doesn't matter since she became a damsel in fucking distress) Idk where the fucking plot went the second half of the book. We lost the plot in favor for the stockholm syndrome. bull shit of a second love interest in the love triangle. The pacing was just all over the place and I felt like if an editor really sat down with Song and got to the nitty gritty to add more detailed action scenes or added more scenes to enhance character development/dynamics it probably would've been a lot better.
The only saving grace of this book were the gods. The water dragon and phoenix were the only things that I was actively interested in. They were truly selfish and only cared about their own agendas and high key I was living for it. Had the author focused more on the god/human relationship between the water dragon and Meilin this book would've been three stars but alas... it wasn't... so it gets a one.
I have a copy that I will be uphauling and while the cliffhanger does make me a little interested, I won't even pick up the second book from the library. I'm just gonna have someone spoil it for me so I never have to see this book again. Hopefully, my next read is better and if the author drops a new series.... maybe I'll give it shot but I'll give it a shot through the library and not through my wallet.