Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
🌟🌟✨/5

TL;DR: R. F. Kuang did it better.

I always have high expectations from books that have pretty covers AND are inspired by mythology. Unfortunately, The Night Ends with Fire ended up being a huge disappointment.

The first part of this 'Mulan retelling' feels like a retelling of Disney's Mulan rather than the original Chinese legend. Many of the scenes were reminiscent of the Disney movie. I liked the way the author put forth a new perspective on MC's motivations. I liked how the Meilin's stepmother wasn't evil but formed a sisterly bond with her instead. I also loved the fact that the Mulan in this book was driven by greed and ambition and not filial piety.

Unfortunately, the bad outweighs the good in this book. The names are a mess, to begin with. This doesn't affect the plot but I found it weird that some characters have Chinese names while others have names like Sky, Sparrow, Little Pig and more. The worldbuilding and magic system had SO MUCH POTENTIAL but I felt like the author did not utilise it to its fullest. I get where the poppy war comparisons are coming from , but R. F. Kuang is one a whole another level. Rin from the poppy war was super compelling as a character, if not exactly likable. Meilin is neither compelling nor likable and made stupid decisions frequently. Rin's ambition felt believable where Meilin's felt forced. It was like the author was constantly trying to remind us that SHE IS NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS. Sky was a terrible love interest. The book just went downhill after part two, especially with the introduction of a second love interest, making me realise that the book featured a LOVE TRIANGLE. I'd have loved to see more of Sima and Winter. That would have made the story way more interesting. The book feels very YA, which didn't bother me but if you want your adult fantasy to be adult, this might not be for you.

I liked the ending though, and I'll be reading book 2 just to see how it all ends (but mostly because I have a toxic trait of forcing myself to finish series I've started). I had high expectations from this book because it featured a character fueled by ambition and because it was compared to the poppy war and six crimson cranes, two books I absolutely adore ( I don't get the SCC comps tbh). The author had an amazing concept but the execution fell flat.

Firstly thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy of this book in return for my honest opinion .

Wow what a book devoured this in 24 hours . It was brilliant. Thoroughly enjoyed the writing style the main female character was likeable in parts very determined and ambitious to prove a woman can win in a man’s world . The two love interests were very different in personalities . Magic system was easy to follow and I cannot wait for the second book . Will be first in line to read it . Loved it easy 5 stars .

I loved this book so much! It is honestly my top read of the year everything about it is perfect.

Meilin is a flawed main character she's selfish and often puts herself first which i absolutely love to see in fmc

The romance is flawless, I usually hate a love triangle but I am obsessed with how its done in this book, I cannot wait for book two

If Mulan was your favourite disney princess or you are a big fan of mythology retellings but make them fantasy then you have to read this!

Thank you so much for this arc copy <3

that was everything i could’ve wished for in a book. it was captivating in a way where i couldn’t put the book down. when i did, i couldn’t stop thinking about it. the plot was so engaging and fast paced - there was no “boring bit” in the middle!

the characters were loveable (meilin, sky and lei own my heart). both sky and lei were somewhat confusing, as i never knew who i should trust (if either of them), but i found the conflicting emotions really added to their characters and their depth. meilin is a classic heroine, our mulan. i was overjoyed when she used it as her name while in disguise! i wonderful nod at the original tale.

and of course the dragons. the dragon didn’t play as big of a role as i’d expected. it was all mental, communicating with meilin through her mind. i enjoyed the different twist on this, instead of the traditional (western) dragons we normally see in fiction.

the night ends with fire truly blew my mind. it was so easy to get lost in the world and the characters. i can’t wait to read the next book (although, i think the wait will be long 😭). the book ended on a somewhat cliffhanger, and i need to know how meilin will worm her way out of her predicament.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This book is advertised as a Mulan retelling, and it does fulfil that, although I think it does a disservice to the novel to just think of it that way. Meilin is a much more developed character and, while I would have liked a bit more of her family life at the start, she is a really relatable and unidealised protagonist. The narrative did seem a bit place-holdery at times, especially when Meilin was captured, but Lei certainly livens it up whenever he appears! As love triangles go, this one is fairly well written and I'm intrigued to see how it plays out.

I really enjoyed this Mulan retelling! Meilin is a brilliant, bold character whose inner strength is evident even when she doesn’t believe in herself. Her zest for life is infectious and the ending had me raging - thankfully it’s part of a trilogy! She is beset on all sides by danger, treachery, and deceit, landing her and her trusting nature in some sticky pickles. Her complex relationships with Qinglong, Cao Lei, and Liu Sky are fascinating and thrilling especially as neither of the boys is clear end game and Qinglong has mysterious objectives of his own.

I haven’t read Song’s YA but I’ll definitely be getting the follow up to this!

**book spoilers!!!!!**

i really really enjoyed this book omg so much so that the physical copy is waiting in my waterstones basket🫶

this book is a retelling of mulan, but not the disney version, so not everything is seen a rose tinted lens. meilin (mulan) wants to become something, and being a woman restricts her to just becoming a doll and slave to this old, disgusting and abusive man in her village. when the call comes for her father (fyi, we hate him), it’s meilin who answers and acts like a man to escape the future that laid out for her.
the story and plot is easy to get into, esp since the tale of mulan is so wildly know, which for the author might have been a pitfall. thankfully i enjoyed the book so much, i’m not even sure she did! 😂
the writing style reminded me of elizabeth lim but with less cute-ness, i’ll say.

the ending didn’t go the way disney did - which was, mulan gets favour from the emperor despite being a woman and is able to live freely and get with the hot prince. in this version, and very similar to the original tale, this does not happen. instead meilin gets told that bc she’s a woman she can only live as someone’s wife or be imprisoned despite the role she played in the war.
it’s such an 180 degree turn that i actually didn’t see it cause everything was going so well - which of course should have been a red flag🚩🚩🚩. the way that her “friends” betrayed her and the fact that mr prince didn’t seem to see her for what she was and her ambitions. sadly her imprisonment seemed to be the only option for her to have some dignity for herself. because of course, women cannot have their cake and eat it too, as we find out in the ending pages where they essentially labelled meilin as treasonous and a traitor and erased the results of her role in the war, effectively erasing her ambitions.
such a sad ending but the journey was fun!!!😂

THIS BOOK.

This book does not end with fire, it ends with Gabby staring at her iPad (e-arc gang) in absolute horror and dismay that the sequel is not available to read immediately. The highs and the lows of reading arcs, hey?

Damn, this was so good though. I loved Meilin and her ambition, and how Song explored this throughout the book, with Meilin and others believing that a woman with ambition and greed and wants is something perverse. Seeing Meilin come in to her own and accepting who she is and pulling down the social constructs around gender ideologies was brilliant. Definitely the best part of the book.

The romances I struggled with a bit as they both treated her terribly and there wasn’t that many redeeming qualities to either of them?? I think I’m leaning one way, and I don’t think it is in the direction of the Sky…idk there’s something else going on there I think that we haven’t seen yet.

The world building I did find a little bit confusing and I felt it did throw you me in the deep end a bit. The geography and politics of the world was hard to understand (I suppose in that way we echo Meilin, who is shut out because of her gender) and I often found myself getting players confused. The magic system was not clear to me either, although what I did understand I thought was fascinating.

I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait for the sequel. This book had excellent bones and Song is an excellent storyteller, so I can only see the sequel being an added brilliance to what was already really good.

Mulan has always been one of my favourite characters, setting my expectations for this retelling high. I need to admit that I was a bit disappointed. The storytelling seemed clumsy at times, and the characterisation was inconsistent. For example, Sky was portrayed as a noble soldier and leader, but that did not stop him from openly flirting with a stranger in a dark alleyway. As to Meilin, she repeatedly stated her love for her siblings and stepmother, but she never worried about the consequences they might face for her escape, especially when the dowry was already paid. Also, she was hard to like as she was selfish, greedy, and hungry for power. She did not want to be equal to men; she wanted to be recognised as better than them. There was no balance between her softer side and her desire to be a badass. I also find the romantic subplot awkward.

To sum up, the book had potential but was ruined for me by unlikeable and unbalanced characters.

Initially, the story was VERY close to Disney’s Mulan retelling, perhaps too close. I didn’t need to put much energy into learning the characters/ world because it was so close to that story. BUT I think it did step away from that moving towards later parts of the book and I became much more invested and interested in the story. Once Meilin experiences the freedoms afforded to men through enlisting in the war, she continues to aspire for more, redefining the parameters of her potential; this book considers what our ambitions cost us and how far we are willing to go to to gain power.

That being said, I absolutely devoured this book. I was constantly itching to pick it up and continue the story. I will always enjoy books where the FMC is trying to gain power in a world where men are determined to keep it from her and this story is exactly that. Meilin finds out she is to marry an abusive man to help pay off her father’s debts and she decides to disguise herself as a man and enlist in the war. She inherits a jade pendant from her mother which connects Meilin to a sea dragon spirit, granting her deadly powers which she harnesses in the war and in her attempt to gain power.

I enjoyed the elements of trust and betrayal in this story. Meilin grows close with Liu Sky, the commander prince, yet she cannot afford to reveal her true identiy. The sea dragon spirit has his own agenda, yet promises Meilin everything she desires. Meilin also encounters an enemy prince, who makes her question her own kingdom (and her heart). She must navigate who she can trust in a world acting against her.

I did enjoy aspects of the romance, though for the most part I was much more interested in Meilin’s venture for power.

I will definitely be reading the next book! I’m really interested in where the story will go from here - I feel like the it will become much more oriented around Meilin’s powers and it will step away from the original story a bit further.

Mulan is one of my favourite Disney movies. If you loved the secret identity and training aspect of Mulan , you’d enjoy this book. Those were the parts I ultimately enjoyed. Meilin as a character fell flat for me. Initially, her motivations were understandable, but then the author started attributing everything to greed. This reminded me of Rin from "The Poppy War," but unlike that book, the reasons here felt flat and unconvincing.

It was an entertaining read, very engaging and the chapters are short too. I just wanted more from this book, both in terms of plot and characters. I was expecting a big plot twist or reveal, but none ever came. Despite starting off with high stakes and a promising beginning, many aspects fell short and left me disappointed.

One thing that really annoyed me was a scene between her and her potential love interest. It felt like lazy writing, for the sake of creating ‘tension’ between the characters. It was weirdly sexual and added nothing to the plot. There’s a love triangle situation too so I’d like to see who she ends up with even though I think it’s very obvious.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC.

After reading the blurb of this book, I was really excited for it.

However I really struggled to get into it. I feel like there was a lot of telling rather than showing and I just couldn't connect with it.

It also felt more YA than Adult to me.

The writing itself was good and I had no issues with it, but it just didn't do it for me unfortunately 😞

DNF @ 35%

Mulan is my fave Disney movie EVER, so I was excited to read this book.
Alas, I wasn't able to finish it. I couldn't connect with the characters and the writing style didn't work for me. For being marketed as an Adult fantasy, it read more like a YA.

3.5 ⭐️

I think my favourite part of this book is our MCs relationship with her stepmother. It's a vibe that continues throughout the book, women helping women avoid the brutality of men. Meilin is a strong woman, that's for sure.

Plotwise, we have a lot happening. There's a war plus spirit magic involving dragons and a hunt for a broken seal. It's keeps the book moving at a pretty fast pace despite taking place over months. The magic system is interesting, and I hope we get more of her using it in the next book.

I enjoyed the training montage towards the beginning of the book. So often in fantasies our MC has no training but suddenly wins battles, so it's nice to have them spend months learning how to fight in formation, etc. It also presented an opportunity for her to spend some time with Sky and get to know each other even in her disguise.

Sadly, I seem to no longer be in my love triangle phase, and the series appears to be heading in that direction. Both men are complex characters, but both also seem to have fallen for her at their first encounter with her as a woman. The romantic plot was a little lacking in development for me personally because they're barely alone. Sky thinks she's a man for months, and they're with a literal army, and Lei keeps her prisoner and lies the whole time, plus theres guards.
Lei's side seems more lust driven, and Sky is possibly more in love with the idea of her.

Overall, I enjoyed the first half a little more than the second, but I will probably check out the next one since it's a duology. I do want to see where the triangle leans, but I have a theory we may all be surprised.

I received an advance review copy of this book, and this review represents my honest opinion. Thank you to netgalley, K. X. Song, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

Devoured this book in 2 days! Great story and easy to follow, with plenty of turning points to keep you interested. Definitely aimed at a certain demographic who like the kind of slight fantasy and Disney retelling with more realism but perfect for me.

I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Yeah, uhh, this book really wasn't for me and I'm really sad about it because I was so excited about it. Instead, it near put me in a slump :-(

I just didn't like any of the characters except for Xiuying? There was like some semblance of romance, but also not, and then I didn't like either of them? And then the supporting characters like Tao or Sparrow were barely any support, they just seemed to be there to further the story and didn't seem to "live off-page".

The story unfortunately also just didn't make me want to continue reading. Even at the end, I just wasn't interested in how it would go and how the introduction to the sequel would be set up? It took me 4 days to finish the last 8 chapters…

I'm really sad about it, but alas, this story really wasn't for me.

A big thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this novel.

The Night Ends With Fire by K X Song is a Mulan retelling that fits somewhere between YA and Adult. It follows the main character Meilin who's family life is less than ideal. Her father is addicted to opium and has gambled their family money away. The only way for her family to survive is an arranged marriage - but the only suitor available is a man that is even older than her father and who's previous wives have all disappeared under mysterious circumstances. That is, until war breaks out. Meilin then sees an escape in enlisting in her father's place and choose death on her own terms.

But family secrets that have been kept from her will cause her fate to take sharp turns from the path that she wanted for herself. With the fate of the Three Kingdoms in her hands, will she be able to harness the strength within herself and choose the right side?

This book was not bad. However, the first few chapters already made a few things very clear. And the book just did not grip me as much as I would have loved it to. I think it was due to a lot of impractical elements just being glossed over to make the overall plot work. A lot of the story just felt too convenient.

Another aspect that confused me a little bit was the target market for this book. A lot of it felt like it was meant for a younger audience, however here and there the writing had mentions of war crimes and other acts committed to the characters that felt like it was trying to be a bit like Poppy War. I appreciate the attempt to be realistic about what war can do, but it felt very different from other areas of the book. Especially since the details of how a girl of 18 can blend in as a boy for months on end was just glossed over.

Overall I think it was a good story, but the writing could still grow a bit. I'm curious about where this story will go. We'll see if I will continue with this series when the next installment comes out.

Mulan is one of my favorite Disney retellings, so I was very excited to jump into this one. Please note it has a much more serious undertone than Disney, with mature themes. I really liked to see the evolution of the FMC from the beginning to the end, though it does not end at the end this book. The MMC was an interesting character, maybe foreshadowing some changes in the way the kingdoms are ruled. I would recommend it if you're looking for some morally grey characters.

Mulan inspired and dragons all in the same book?!! I loved everything about this book, the romance and the growth of the FMC. The cover of this book is what grabbed my attention right from the begining!

Thank you to Hodderscape and NetGalley for providing me an eARC to review!

This cover is absolutely gorgeous, and I am a Mulan and Poppy War stan, so was excited to get into this but unfortunately I just really didn't mesh with it. While being billed as an Adult Fantasy, the tone and style felt very YA and elements like the abuse felt almost tacked on to bump it up an age bracket. I don't think the content around abuse, sexual assault or mental illness was handled particularly well, and it felt like the protagonist was being elevated because she was 'not like other girls' which I really dislike.

The beginning also stuck pretty closely to the key plotpoints of the Disney Mulan, which because I love that movie made me just think I'd rather be experiencing that.

Sadly a disappointment for me, but I think this could appeal to YA readers looking to transition into Adult Fantasy.