welcome to my blog •••
hello, hello! two reviews in one day? wtf.
in my defence i actually finished this book
last week, and was too desperate to start
a dark and drowning tide that i put off writing
this review. but alas, here it is!
the book •••
the book this time is The Night Ends with Fire
by K. X. Song; a mulan retelling that i think
has some twists? ive never actually seen
mulan but i don’t think she went crazy?
anyways… enjoy!
![Book Review: The Night Ends with Fire-[c]
[c]
[c]
welcome to my blog •••
hello, hello! two reviews](https://image.staticox.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpm1.aminoapps.vertvonline.info%2F9396%2Fbbac234d3c71b025eca0e6b693f3e2d8b4ca926er1-1080-608_hq.jpg)
trigger warnings for this book •••
not a lot of trigger warnings here. honestly
for a war book it was pretty tame but ill
see what i can do:
• war/death
• blood/gore
• lots of misogyny
• kidnapping/non-graphic torture
• arranged marriage
• drug/alcohol usage
• alluded to sexual content? kinda?
my review •••
They would never let a woman get away
with something like this.
What a ride this book was. Holy shit. I love
a pretty book, and I’m a sucker for sprayed
edges. When Amazon put this one on 15%
off I figured I’d take my chances. Having
never actually watched the Disney Mulan I
figured it would be a refreshing story, and i
know enough of the basics to know it would
be an adventure.
Let’s start with Meilin, our main character. I
love her— I always love when our main
characters are flawed, or better yet when
their most important trait is a flaw in itself. In
this case that trait is greed.
Meilin grew up with an opioid addict father,
doomed to an arranged marriage with a
man equally as bad. Left with little options,
she chooses to enlist in the ongoing wars
army as her father’s bastard son, and
hopefully live a few extra months. She’s not
looking to escape, she’s greedy for more
time.
Meilin’s got a dark inheritance, as the
pendant of her drowned mother is in fact a
connection to a desperate spirit, one that
feeds on her greed and whose powers
slowly corrupt her.
Spoilers ahead from here on out.
One of the things i like best about this book
is the fact that Meilin is actually shown to
fall into the influence of the dragons
powers, and it doesn’t end with her
defeating him. I love a book that doesn’t
end how people expect it to, and this hit
that mark. Meilin is going crazy and the
book didn’t change that. That being said
we’ve got a whole second book to come
yet.
Meilin’s greed is a central part of the story;
it’s why the sea dragon is attached to her
instead of somebody else. It feeds on her
supposed greed. I found it ironic because
the characters only really greedy for
freedom. She wants the same liberties and
control as the men do. As the story
progresses and she becomes “corrupted”
by the power, she starts to crave respect
and fear, and power, but at its centre her
greed is really only for equality.
Now let’s talk men.
This book is marketed as a romantasy, but
it’s really more of a fantasy with mild
romantic subplots. And thank god for that;
if this book had more romantic storylines
between her and the “love interest” i
probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it so much.
As someone who’s not into men, I tend to
hold male love interests to a higher
standard, and a different opinion.
So, Prince Sky. This is the character we’re
all supposed to be rooting for, the “good
guy” who loves her. Honestly, not a fan. I
see so many reviews where people swoon
for this character and i just, I don’t get it.
When Meilin is a man he has 0 problem
being her friend, respecting her, training
her. As soon as it’s revealed that she’s a
woman, he immediately jumps to treating
her like a possession, making demands and
spontaneously ends up in love with her?
Was he in love with male her? Or are we
meant to assume he fell for her after?
Cause what I read was basically him
treating her like shit from the moment it’s
revealed until the end of the book. Hell she
gets captured and he just lets it happen!!
Sorry to the Sky lovers but this character
was a no for me.
Now let’s talk about Lei. We’re meant to
hate this character, he captured her, he
almost kills her. And yet I find myself rooting
for him anyways. He respects her as a
warrior, even offers her a place as a general
in his kingdom. He’s the “enemy” and yet
he’s working against the bigger enemy the
whole time. He even warns her that her
friends will betray her in the end. Is he a red
flag? Huge one. But honestly, he’s far more
compatible with Meilin than Sky is, there’s
more in common, more respect, and more
chemistry in my opinion.
Tao and Sparrow; no comment necessary.
Fuck you.
Honestly, I read the description for the
sequel before I even read this book, and
even with that I was not expecting that
ending. Holy shit. I was fully expecting a
happy ever after and to end the way it did?
I was not ready for that at all.
This book was feminine rage and I loved it.
The biggest downside is that the main love
interest is really a misogynist at his core.
The story tries to make him seem like he’s
only hesitant, and that he’s accepting but
he’s really not— it’s bad when her
supposed enemy is more accepting and
respectful then her love interest.
The next book sets up the aftermath of this
story, and id really like to see it move her
away from Sky, and really embrace the
feminine rage and lust for freedom. I love
for non-traditional endings, and I would
love to see Meilin go full-dictator on the
whole world. Or at the very least give her
the acotar treatment and send her along
with Lei instead.
They would never let a woman hold onto power.
![Book Review: The Night Ends with Fire-[c]
[c]
[c]
welcome to my blog •••
hello, hello! two reviews](https://image.staticox.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpm1.aminoapps.vertvonline.info%2F9396%2F4005a8222182ce124df7f6f34248eefdff1e50a8r1-1080-1080_hq.jpg)
![Book Review: The Night Ends with Fire-[c]
[c]
[c]
welcome to my blog •••
hello, hello! two reviews](https://image.staticox.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpa1.aminoapps.vertvonline.info%2F9396%2Fdaf7e66e8b56a85cfc18b7b735a15170cbac7725r1-640-5_hq.gif)
![Book Review: The Night Ends with Fire-[c]
[c]
[c]
welcome to my blog •••
hello, hello! two reviews](https://image.staticox.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpa1.aminoapps.vertvonline.info%2F9396%2Fc9eff92ca0480743096dcef6c70e5d20ef48a634r1-640-5_hq.gif)
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