The Night Ends With Fire by K.X. Song is the first book of a new fantasy series.
 
This story is a Mulan retelling with dragons, and I really liked this Asian inspired fantasy world.
 
The protagonist Meilin has to care for her father who refuses to enter into the imperial draft and to avoid any further issues he wants to marry her off. But Meilin is such a fierce and stronger character, and she rather goes her own way and pretends to be a man to be able to enlist. Meilin is hardworking, dedicated and very good at training and she catches the attention of Prince Sky.
 
She is torn between trusting Sky and a sea dragon spirit and that was so interesting and intriguing. But because of that there is always this wary of Sky and that made it hard to believe in a romance. In addition, sometimes the story felt to almost resemble Mulan and I wish the focus would have been more on the character development. I feel like this book had a lot of potential and it could have been so much more.
 
Overall, if you like Mulan inspired stories you might like this one. 3 stars.
 
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for a review.)

4.5 stars.

I picked this up purely on the hype I had seen around it's release and I was not disappointed.

The Night Ends With Fire was so much more than just a dark retelling of Mulan. Yes, it has so many recognisable elements from the original story (including main character Meilun using the name Mulan is a pseudonym at one point!) but this adds in twists, turns, action, horror and romance all to a perspective of the place that a woman has in society in this world.

This is seemingly Part 1 of a series - I can't wait for Part 2!

"You already lost," he said, teeth gritted. "No," I told him. "I don't give up until I win."

Meilin's kingdom is at war but her opium-addicted father refuses to enlist. When he tries to marry her off to an old, violent man, she disguises herself as a man and enlists in his place. Initially, Meilin struggles to keep up with her combat training, but soon, she's bettering her peers and has begun a friendship with her commander, Prince Sky.

At the same time, Meilin realises the jade necklace she inherited from her long-dead mother, is a type of amulet that connects her to the power of a sea dragon. But the creature has its own agenda, and when Meilin is captured by a prince from her nation's enemy, she'll need all the help she can get to protect her life, and heart.

I had high hopes for this low-spice romantasy retelling of Mulan but was ultimately disappointed. The concept is really great but I struggled to connect with Meilin, even as someone who loves strong female characters. She constantly berates herself for being selfish and for trying to forge a life for herself (which is not selfish at all). What is selfish is her refusal to cut ties with the sea dragon who clearly is in it for himself only. And she makes such illogical choices throughout the book!

The love triangle aspect is weak, with neither of the male characters appealing to me. The romance is boring and not because it's not spicy (I'm not too bothered if the action is closed-door), but because there is no real chemistry, at all.

The dialogue is inane and I didn't care for any of the side characters.

I had to force myself to finish this one.

A good retelling, inspired by the legends of Mulan. Looking at a society that is dictated by men at every turn and a girl who just wants her freedom. I loved how it looked at people who were not very moral. I don’t think I could even call them grey at times. Most of the characters would stop at nothing to get what they wanted, including Meilin though all she really wanted was to be free.

Being a story about a woman disguising herself as a man, I just want to warn any trans readers, that there are multiple times in the book where Meilin is revealed as a woman based on the way her body looks. I know that can be triggering, so I wanted to include this in the review.

I loved the way the book tied in the stories about the vermillion phoenix and the silver dragon. I’ve read a couple of interpretations of the myth and I’m always excited to see what each author will do with them. I have to wonder if we’ll see any of the other two creatures in the next book.

Looking forward to reading more!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Night Ends With Fire by K. X. Song is a Mulan retelling with a very interesting twist at the end.

It follows a story of Hai Meilin, who decided to dress as a man and join the army out of her own selfish desire to escape being wedded off purely for her fathers gain. Along the way, she discovers that greed for power is a strong motivator to everyone, not just men.

I loved seeing a flawed female character, that fights for her own future above all else.
Can't wait to see where her story takes her in the next book.

Inspired by the legend of Mulan, The Night Ends with Fire follows Meilin, a young woman who, wanting to escape an arranged marriage to an abusive man, decides to disguise herself as a boy to join the army. As the Three Kingdoms descend into the chaos of war, Meilin must fight to survive and hide her identity from her fellow soldiers (as well as the prince who commands her legion), all while hiding the fact that she possesses a jade necklace containing a spirit seal that allows her to commune with a sea dragon and grants her a power forbidden in her kingdom.

I enjoyed following Meilin’s development over the months: her training in the army, her relationship with Sky, the exploration of the spirit realm and the influence the dragon begins to exert over her—is her ambition really hers or is the dragon trying to control her? I also liked the later introduction of a certain enemy prince; and I’m not going to lie, I hope he’s the chosen one in the love triangle.

What made me get stuck in some parts was Meilin herself. I love following an ambitious female protagonist but many of her decisions and the fact that she doesn’t listen to others or even entertain the idea of ​​not always being right made me want to pull my hair out on more than one occasion. It was truly frustrating that her stubbornness made her realize things too late.

Overall, I enjoyed this first installment in a new fantasy duology. I had my issues with Meilin, but really enjoyed the world and the magic system. I’ll read the sequel and final book once it comes out.

This was a really enjoyable, but average read for me. I loved everything about it: from the story to the characters to the setting. However, it wasn't anything special for me. I felt like I read this story before, it didn't add anything new for me. All in all this was still a good read, though, and definitely one that I could recommend!

This book started off really strong for me and I thought it was one I was going to love. Unfortunately I lost some interest as I went through the book as I felt it was a little slow. However I can appreciate that this part of a series and is probably setting up a lot of things for future books. I enjoyed the general plot and am intrigued by where the series as a whole is going so I am looking forward to the next book.
I loved the ideas of a Mulan retelling and I enjoyed the feminist narrative. The main character Melin is a complicated one who could be a bit infuriating at times but overall I enjoyed her story.

Books with a female main character dressed in men's clothes, kicking some male asses and saving the empire - I love them! This was a quick-paced story with the right amount of scheming, fights, magic and romance. Finished this in three sittings.
I was also happy to realize at the end that this was only the first book in a series.

KX Song delivers a riff on the story of Mulan. The first third feels like a faithful retelling of the Disney movie, although set in a fantasy world that is not quite China. She does manage to put her own spin on the story but coming in the shadow of Shelley Parker-Chan's She Who Became the Sun which covered very similar ground, this feels like a very pale imitation. Song is likely to satisfy YA readers though who are much more the target market (even though the book has not been marketed that way).

Thank you for providing me with an ARC copy of this book!

I really enjoyed reading the night ends with fire. I loved the way that this book read, full of action, great characters, and a compelling story. I would definitely recommend this book, especially to those who enjoy historical fantasy and retellings. The characters were great in this, I especially enjoyed the variety in the characters and their development, some becoming good and others turning bad in ways that weren’t always predictable. Meilin’s character was also excellent and the way the author chose to develop the character drawing on elements of Mulan but with a new twist was really effective. Excellent book! Loved this!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Night Ends With Fire is an incredible epic fantasy retelling. You will enjoy Mulan in a whole new light after this novel!

4.25 ⭐️

"They would never let a woman get away with something like this."
"Something like what?"
"They would never let a woman hold on to power."

me: yass queens, feminist icons, prove them wrong!!

"I protect what's mine."

me: feminism leaving my body

I had high expectations when I started this story, mostly because Mulan is my favorite Disney adaptation. I watched it countless times, yet I could never get bored of it. and while there were some issues, like the FMC being an insufferable brat for about ~60% (if not more) of the book, I enjoyed it. was it because of a certain morally grey, manipulative prince? maybe. I don't have regrets tho.

I fell in love with the title and cover instantly and was so grateful for getting the eArc.
The writing style is extremely easy to read and I flew through the story as the pacing was pretty fast as well. Sadly the plot didn't fully work for me. Mostly because the story is not concluded and I thought it was a standalone, so a lot of things were left open (for now) and the characters arcs didn't feel complete yet. Additionally the story's beginning felt too similar to the Disney Mulan adaptations (even for a retelling - or especially for a retelling of the legend of Mulan).
I did enjoy the original ideas that were sprinkled in here and there but overall it fell flat for me. Maybe because I was hopin for more, had different expectations and nothing stood out for me. It felt pretty average to me and it was definitely not a bad book. I just didn't click with it.

I would still recommend this book to Mulan-Fans and readers age 16 up that would like to have a quick and easy fantasy read with interesting characters and action.
I'm still curious how the story continues and may give this one a re-read.

They say in the blurb that this book has something of the Poppy War, and I see why. If you want female rage, animal gods, war.. that goes in the same direction. It is definitely an adult book, with some brutal and bloody passages, but again, its about war. I would even compare it to Iron Widow on the female rage front.

Meilin is stuck under the thumb of her father, and as he plans to sell her to yet another brutal man, she just decides to flee and enlist as a soldier as a man. She just wants to have the freedom she is lacking. But then she wants to be more.

This is fast paced and dips in and out of fantasy nicely. This is fantasy with a touch of romance.

I'll definitely pick up book 2 when if comes out, as I really want to see what's coming next for Meilin.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for access to the ebook against an honest review.*

"With his ink-black hair askew, his full lips swollen, and his pale eyes brightened with desire, I had never seen anyone so beautiful."

I loved Meilin - she was determined to stand against what women couldn't do and to prove that she could be better than men. She had to hide her abilities and still improve her skill and strength to prove herself capable of being a soldier and a commander.

Song writes her characters so well, making each one morally grey so that we are never quite sure of what their intentions are. Do they want the best for the country or do they want power to wield as they please? This leaves you constantly guessing what will happen next, who can you trust? Can you really?

The story was a little on the slow side, but this was important in order to develope the world and the magic set appropriately.

Pick this up for an intricately woven story with the perfect balance of mythology and excellent world building and character development

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 / 3.5 stars
Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
The Night Ends With Fire is a Mulan retelling, in which Meilin enters the army as a soldier to escape her upcoming marriage.

“I needed to prove that, I as a woman could be better than the rest of them. That I too could belong. That I too could be free.”

I’ve had this book on my radar for quite a while! Mulan is one of my favourite Disney movies and I haven’t read many retellings inspired by her story.
The story and plot itself is very similar to Mulan, so I kinda knew which direction the story was going to go on. I had expected the story to be more inspired by Mulan and not really follow the plotline of the Disney movie until 40% in.
I did like the magic that was added to the story, although I did think it was quite vague and at around 34% of the book I still didn’t really understand it. I think I would’ve benefited from a more detailed explanation throughout the story of the magic system.
Meilin is a very complex character and to be honest, I still don’t really know what to think of her. Because the beginning was so similar to Mulan, I kept comparing the two and Meilin always fell a bit flat compared. The biggest difference was that Meilin’s greed was super apparent and not really charming. I do see her drive to want her freedom and be the best, but at the same time it was always told and not really shown.
There is a love triangle coming and as you might know, I’m not a fan of those. Both possible love interests in this book also don’t jump out to me. One she is lying to almost the whole time, as she is pretending to be a man. The other one was even more putting off. With him, it just came on way to me. I’m not a fan of both possible pairings at this point.
The ending fight was very rushed and really hard to follow along for me. I wished the whole pacing off the book was slowed down a bit more and less telling vs the story not really being showing. It had a very promising start, but many aspects fell flat to me later on in the book. Still, I did enjoy the story.
Overall, The Nights Ends With Fire is an apparent Mulan retelling that has an interesting concept which I hope will come to live better in the sequel.





<spoiler> the thing that put me off most was how sudden the attraction came on between Meilin and Lei. She was taking prisoner by him and all of a sudden she starts to fall for him? To me it just felt like Stockholm Syndrom</spoiler>

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.

This was a fantastic Mulan retelling. It blew me away and left me hooked! With solid world-building and magic, together with a protagonist who wants more than what she’s told to do. Spirit-worlds, gods, magic and ancient powers are in play, together with politics and power-struggles.

This book deals with themes of misogyny, power and greed, together with love and bravery. There were parts of this novel that were hard to read, but it truly shows the bravery that Meilin goes through. She bonds with a few soldiers I liked the inclusion of the battle between light and dark in terms of magic. As for the love interests (yes - there are two!!) I think I’m Team Sky! The romance doesn’t overshadow the plot. Rather, it enhanced it and enabled more character development.

There were parts of this novel that were hard to read, but it truly shows the bravery that Meilin goes through. A scene in particular had be so livid that I had to pause to continue reading. As for the love interests (yes - there are two!!) I’m Team Sky… who knows what could happen in Book 2? The romance was a nice slow-burn and doesn’t overshadow the plot. Rather, it enhanced it and enabled more character development.

I can’t wait for the sequel after THAT ending.

The Three Kingdoms are at war but Meilin's father is not abiding by the Imperial draft. Instead, he wants to sell Meilin for a dowry. when she realizes that her future husband is as bad as her father, she disguises herself as a boy and enlists in her father's place. During training she grows closer to her commanding prince, Sky. Through her jade necklace, a sea dragon spirit offers her power but at a price. With the future of the kingdom hanging in the balance, all Meilin has to do is manage to keep her secrets and figure out who to trust.

An observant, inquisitive, richly descriptive 1st person POV that feels like a breeze with its wonderful pacing. Our journey into this interesting but unfair world awakens a desire for justice, feelings of sympathy and respect for the protagonist and anticipation for the awkwardness and danger of her situation. Combining its introspective quality, the on-point language used to show us how the protagonist perceives her environment, and the way the author paints breath-stealing action using expert strokes, we are gifted with a beyond captivating fantasy. You will 'live' and 'breathe' this narrative

I love Meilin's strength of character, even in the midst of her doubts, fears, desires and hesitations. Fuelled with determination, through training and battle, and the trials of her mission, she becomes a worthy warrior. Even with her internal struggle to use or not to use the forbidden spirit power. I really liked the voice of the spirit, the sarcasm and delicious villainy. Sky is not only loyal, but inspires loyatlyt, and is dutiful to a fault. And Lei... a scoundrel as he calls himself, a fascinating scoundrel that becomes impossible not to like.

There were a few slightly confusing or/and whiplashy moments. They were mainly to do with the mythology, others with the visions. I believe these missteps were due to the enthusiasm in wanting to share the story. And I admire enthusiasm. This story is about believing in yourself and about power, how the user makes it good or bad. Another theme is the fear, want and inevitability of change. The nature of fighting. But our main ingredient is equality.

This is a tale of war, of unexpected allies and enemies, games of control and deception, of love and hate and everything in between. A Mulan-inspired, proudly feminist, heart-pounding thrill of a ride, that will leave you wanting more.