The Night Ends with Fire starts off strong. It is clear from the beginning that this is a Mulan retelling, but the characters and their family dynamic deviate quite a bit from the original tale. It was refreshing and I was more than ready to experience this story through a new lens.

I loved that K.X. Song chose to subvert the evil/unwanted stepmother trope, and I thought the inclusion of a strong female friendship was a great start to Meilin's character development. I wish this had been more present for the rest of the story! But it was unfortunately brushed aside and forgotten as soon as it no longer served the plot.

Meilin is a such a confusing protagonist for me. I liked her stubbornness and her competitive edge, but ultimately felt she was being used to send very conflicting messages about feminine rage and gender equality. Meilin wants to be powerful, she wants to be feared, she wants to be successful, and she wants to be acknowledged as an equal by the male cast. These are all admirable goals, but what drives her pursuit of them should matter too.

As the story progresses it becomes clear that she believes her strength comes from the differences between her and the other female figures in her life. She does not submit to abusive men because she is more defiant than her stepmother. She does not suffer from bouts of hysteria, because she has a sharper mind than the woman who raised her. She is fearless in combat, because her yang energy (a force of action associated with masculine life forces) is not secondary to her yin energy (a force of passivity associated with feminine life forces).

In other words, Meilin believes herself capable not because women are underestimated, but because she herself is underestimated. She is 'Not Like Other Women'.

I think for younger audiences this messaging might not be so abrasive, but for me it was heavy-handed and really lacking the nuance that I was hoping for.

I also had issues with the writing. Each chapter features a new challenge or obstacle for our heroine to overcome, but the solution is always found immediately. This is both unsatisfying from a narrative perspective and detrimental to character development. I generally enjoy the use of a first-person POV in fantasy, but when the protagonist is never allowed to sit with their feelings for more than a few sentences, they never build the kind of emotional depth necessary for readers to become invested in their success.

Meilin never has to feel truly uncomfortable, she never has to contemplate her choices over multiple chapters, she never has to weigh her emotions against her better judgement. She never has be lost. Sometimes characters need to be a little lost, yknow?

Everything felt quite trivial and the story just never really hooked me. I was hoping the worldbuilding or magic system might give me something else to be excited about but it was very underdeveloped. The introduction of the villain character was equally underwhelming, but to say why would definitely veer into spoiler territory so I will leave that to other reviewers to discuss!

--Who is this for?--
On a surface level, this is a fairly faithful Mulan retelling and if you are looking to relive that story this series might hit the right note for you.

I do think this book leans on the younger side, both in tone and in content. The dialogue in particular is very YA. Teen audiences might find this story much more compelling than adult ones, but if you are a younger reader make sure you check the content warnings before reading.