The Night Ends with Fire by K. X. Song - OPTIONAL

The Night Ends with Fire (The Night Ends with Fire #1) by K. X. Song, 432 pages. Ace (Penguin Group), 2024. $21.

Language: PG (8 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: R; Violence: PG13

BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL

APPEALS TO: SEVERAL

In order to save her family, Meilin (18yo) needs the matchmaker to arrange a betrothal to a wealthy suitor. The matchmaker does her job, but Meilin is unable to do hers. Instead of marrying the merchant chosen for her, Meilin calls herself Ren and joins the army, determined to be the best and force everyone to acknowledge her.

This retelling of Mulan focuses on the gray areas between ambition and greed, between equality and pride, between duty and mercy. Meilin struggles with herself and how she fits into the new situations she has placed herself in, which is the focus of the majority of the internal conflict and becomes repetitive since she struggles with the same issues again and again. Readers feel this struggle as well, trying to fit Meilin into either the box of hero or villain—but few things are that simple.

Meilin is described as having “dark” skin, and Sky is described as having “pale” skin, though the overall impression is that the characters are implied Chinese as it is a retelling of Mulan. One significant side character is lesbian. The mature content rating is for drug and alcohol use, innuendo, sexual harassment, mentions of concubines and prostitutes, rape, and sexual touching. The violence rating is for assault, child abuse, war and battle, murder, and mentions of suicide.

Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen