Week 28 Review: The Night Ends With Fire

From Goodreads:

Infused with magic and romance, this sweeping fantasy adventure inspired by the legend of Mulan follows a young woman determined to choose her own destiny—even if that means going against everyone she loves.

The Three Kingdoms are at war, but Meilin’s father refuses to answer the imperial draft. Trapped by his opium addiction, he plans to sell Meilin for her dowry. But when Meilin discovers her husband-to-be is another violent, ill-tempered man, she realizes that nothing will change for her unless she takes matters into her own hands.

The very next day, she disguises herself as a boy and enlists in her father's place.In the army, Meilin's relentless hard work brings her recognition, friendship—and a growing closeness with Sky, a prince turned training partner. But has she simply exchanged one prison for another? As her kingdom barrels toward destruction, Meilin begins to have visions of a sea dragon spirit that offers her true power and freedom, but with a deadly price.

With the future of the Three Kingdoms hanging in the balance, Meilin will need to decide whom to trust—Sky, who inspires her loyalty and love; the sea dragon spirit, who has his own murky agenda; or an infuriating enemy prince who makes her question everything she once knew—about her kingdom and about her own heart.

My Review:
I had such a fantastic time reading this book! That this is inspired by the legend of Mulan, when I'm really only familiar with the Disney animated movie, loved it! I really can only compare it to the movie, I'm not really at all familiar with the original, except I have a vague idea that Mulan died or something? So I had to keep reading this book and see where the story would go! 

Sexism really boils my blood. And the gender dynamics of this world and culture, and that women are essentially possessions of the men in their lives, just made me want to throttle something. Such emotions, of course, would be in this world, unseemly for a woman to have, that we're emotional, lacking logic, well, of course in that kind of environment, would Meilin push down her feelings, her anger, her want of power. But the freedom she has disguised as a man gives her that space to acknowledge those feelings, realize their validity, and oh, I understood it.

As she's dealing with the whole, pretending to be a man and running off to war, she's slowly learning more about the power she can wield, as she gains political power and friendships-but there was always an edge of anxiety from all the secrets that she was keeping.

I really enjoyed that final battle, it was a clever way to get in, and to deal with the bad guys. Unfortunately, that meant the people in charge didn't change-and they don't approve of her or her choices. Which has me very excited to see where the story is going to go from here! 

This was an amazing read and I can't wait for the sequel! 

Author: K.X. Song
Series: The Night Ends With Fire #1
Read: July 9th, 2024
Source: Library/NetGalley 
Reason Why: Sounded really great, and it's a 2024 Retelling Reading Challenge Book, Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2024 Book and a Sophomore Challenge Book! 
Publisher: Ace
Published: July 2nd 2024

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars