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A review by priesty23
The Night Ends With Fire by K.X. Song
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.0
4 stars
The Night Ends With Fire is the first instalment of a duology. It is very much a Disney Mulan retelling with a twist. In the author's note K. X. Song describes her motivation for this book to be questions surrounding:
"What would happen to Mulan if she were no longer content? What if upon experiencing independence and freedom as a man, she no longer wished to confine herself to the restrictive boundaries of her society? Would society accept her as she was, or, by transgressing the norm, would they punish her for aspiring for more?"
With the above in mind, I think the author does a fantastic job. This book contains magic, adventure, feminism, betrayal, and hope. I found it very easy to read, there were a lot of action scenes and comradery, but there is also a lot of questions around trust - can Meilin trust anyone as a woman dressed as a man? Who is a friend and who is a foe? This story is great at making these questions hard to answer and is one of the many reasons I ended up being engrossed in this story.
This might be a Mulan retelling but it is far from a Disney story; it is dark and brutal at times with some heart breaking scenes thrown in for good measure. I found myself frustrated and heartbroken, but I absolutely cannot wait to see what happens in the next book and how our main character develops further.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
The Night Ends With Fire is the first instalment of a duology. It is very much a Disney Mulan retelling with a twist. In the author's note K. X. Song describes her motivation for this book to be questions surrounding:
"What would happen to Mulan if she were no longer content? What if upon experiencing independence and freedom as a man, she no longer wished to confine herself to the restrictive boundaries of her society? Would society accept her as she was, or, by transgressing the norm, would they punish her for aspiring for more?"
With the above in mind, I think the author does a fantastic job. This book contains magic, adventure, feminism, betrayal, and hope. I found it very easy to read, there were a lot of action scenes and comradery, but there is also a lot of questions around trust - can Meilin trust anyone as a woman dressed as a man? Who is a friend and who is a foe? This story is great at making these questions hard to answer and is one of the many reasons I ended up being engrossed in this story.
This might be a Mulan retelling but it is far from a Disney story; it is dark and brutal at times with some heart breaking scenes thrown in for good measure. I found myself frustrated and heartbroken, but I absolutely cannot wait to see what happens in the next book and how our main character develops further.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!