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A review by snowwhitehatesapples
The Night Ends with Fire by K.X. Song
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Also on Snow White Hates Apples.
If I were to sum up all my thoughts on this book in one line, it’d be "Not Bad, But Not Good".
If I were to give a detailed review…Well, The Night Ends with Fire is certainly not what I’d expected. Instead of a “sweeping fantasy adventure” of a Mulan retelling that’s also infused with magic and romance (as the blurb says), it turned out to be more of a darker, juvenile Mulan fanfiction.
So, why do I call it a juvenile Mulan fanfic? Because there’s little to no originality to the story. With retellings, you’d expected something different — an original enough tale that stands on its own while enhancing our experience of the source material. It’s what some of the most brilliant, quality fanfiction out there does. But, The Night Ends with Fire ? It’s practically the same as the 1998 Disney animated movie with its identical scenes and plot points.
Also, the irregular usage of Chinese words and names was just…no. I understand wanting to make the story more authentic through the setting, language and all, but could we just not have this mega weird mix between pinyin and English-translated names? I cannot fathom how any Chinese in ancient China would name their children Meilin, Rouha and then, Plum. Plus, Liu Sky and Liu Winter?? And let’s not forget: Big Knife. BIG KNIFE? I wanted to cry reading these names.
That’s not all, though, because we have the token sprinkle of Chinese words — some of which are equivalent to ‘chai tea’. For instance, why have ‘shaokao rou’ (barbecued meat) or ‘shaokao meat’ when you can have “shaokao barbecued meat” 😭?
Moreover, protagonist Meilin is one complicated mess and I don’t mean it in a good way. She’s greedy and willing to fight, filled with ambitions above her gender and station. While this sounds like the makings of an awesome BAMF, it’s eclipsed by the fact that she’s Not Like Other Girls and is wishy-washy to the max. The other characters aren’t all that better too because they’re as flat as a sheet of unblemished paper. There’s no real meaningful relationship between all of them and this includes Meilin and her love interests.
It gets even more painful because the story is moved forward by the impulsiveness and naivety, which is often interchangeable with stupidity, of the characters. Meilin gets upset over her enemies ‘betraying’ her despite logically knowing they would. Sky invites Meilin to council meetings she has no business being invited to because she has no rank. And, even Lei, the enemy prince, thinks it’s a great idea to fight with the captive Meilin at a rock garden near the pavilion where someone he doesn’t want her to meet is sitting. Like, hello? Does no one really have common sense here??
Nevertheless, this book isn’t all bad. I appreciated how hard Meilin had to work to earn results, even if they weren’t the best or desired ones. I also liked that Meilin’s stepmother was a supporter and not a hater. The Night Ends with Fire was an easy read overall, plus this ending is closure enough for me.
If I were to sum up all my thoughts on this book in one line, it’d be "Not Bad, But Not Good".
If I were to give a detailed review…Well, The Night Ends with Fire is certainly not what I’d expected. Instead of a “sweeping fantasy adventure” of a Mulan retelling that’s also infused with magic and romance (as the blurb says), it turned out to be more of a darker, juvenile Mulan fanfiction.
So, why do I call it a juvenile Mulan fanfic? Because there’s little to no originality to the story. With retellings, you’d expected something different — an original enough tale that stands on its own while enhancing our experience of the source material. It’s what some of the most brilliant, quality fanfiction out there does. But, The Night Ends with Fire ? It’s practically the same as the 1998 Disney animated movie with its identical scenes and plot points.
Also, the irregular usage of Chinese words and names was just…no. I understand wanting to make the story more authentic through the setting, language and all, but could we just not have this mega weird mix between pinyin and English-translated names? I cannot fathom how any Chinese in ancient China would name their children Meilin, Rouha and then, Plum. Plus, Liu Sky and Liu Winter?? And let’s not forget: Big Knife. BIG KNIFE? I wanted to cry reading these names.
That’s not all, though, because we have the token sprinkle of Chinese words — some of which are equivalent to ‘chai tea’. For instance, why have ‘shaokao rou’ (barbecued meat) or ‘shaokao meat’ when you can have “shaokao barbecued meat” 😭?
Moreover, protagonist Meilin is one complicated mess and I don’t mean it in a good way. She’s greedy and willing to fight, filled with ambitions above her gender and station. While this sounds like the makings of an awesome BAMF, it’s eclipsed by the fact that she’s Not Like Other Girls and is wishy-washy to the max. The other characters aren’t all that better too because they’re as flat as a sheet of unblemished paper. There’s no real meaningful relationship between all of them and this includes Meilin and her love interests.
It gets even more painful because the story is moved forward by the impulsiveness and naivety, which is often interchangeable with stupidity, of the characters. Meilin gets upset over her enemies ‘betraying’ her despite logically knowing they would. Sky invites Meilin to council meetings she has no business being invited to because she has no rank. And, even Lei, the enemy prince, thinks it’s a great idea to fight with the captive Meilin at a rock garden near the pavilion where someone he doesn’t want her to meet is sitting. Like, hello? Does no one really have common sense here??
Nevertheless, this book isn’t all bad. I appreciated how hard Meilin had to work to earn results, even if they weren’t the best or desired ones. I also liked that Meilin’s stepmother was a supporter and not a hater. The Night Ends with Fire was an easy read overall, plus this ending is closure enough for me.
Many thanks to Hodderscape and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review! The Night Ends with Fire by K.X. Song is available at all good bookstores.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Gore, Rape, and Blood
Minor: Child death, Racism, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail