I received a digital advance reader’s copy (ARC) of The Night Ends with Fire by K. X. Song. Since this version is just a proof and not the final version, I won’t quote directly and will keep my comments general.

In The Night Ends with Fire by K. X. Song, Meilin is trapped in a life she doesn’t want. Her father is addicted to opium and abusive, and she is about to be married off to another ill-tempered man she’s never met. But the Three Kingdoms are at war, so Meilin uses that as an opportunity to escape her life. She disguises herself as a man and enlists, but finds that even with her existing martial arts skills, life as a soldier is difficult. She befriends Sky, a prince who’s also one of her commanding officers, and they begin to train together in the evenings. But as the war intensifies, Meilin also starts hearing the voice of a sea dragon spirit, coaxing her toward using black magic, which is forbidden in her kingdom. She has an aptitude for it, though, and finds that perhaps she will have to use it if it might enable her to turn the tide of this war.

Clearly, this is inspired by the legend of Mulan, but there are also some elements that harken back to the Disney version of this story, too. When I learned that’s what this book was retelling, I was super excited. However, I think, for me, the concept was better than its execution.

I did like Meilin as a character well enough. She’s tough and brave, determined to decide her own fate, even to a fault. But she wasn’t quite as complex as I wanted her to be, as she didn’t really change that much over the course of the story. I also wish that we’d seen her improve at combat over time. Instead, that aspect of her development during her first few months in the army is just skimmed over, so any improvement doesn’t feel entirely real or believable to the reader.

As for the other characters, Prince Sky is fine, but I wasn’t all that invested in him. I just didn’t feel there was enough of a foundation for their relationship to care about it much. I did find Meilin’s interactions with another enemy prince who captures her to be interesting, though. The way they both try to manipulate each other was complex and compelling. And Meilin’s difficulties with the dragon spirit were intriguing too.

On that note, though, I didn’t quite understand the magic system. I wanted it to be explored more, and kept waiting for it, but it never quite happened. Something about it just felt lacking to me, which is a shame, because I think there was a lot of potential for really cool things.

In the end, The Night Ends with Fire was decent, but possibly over-ambitious. I feel that everything needed to be expanded on further, from the characterizations and relationships to the magic and the battles. I liked the setting and the concept more than the actual plot, I think. It’s a familiar story, with an intriguing twist, but not executed to its full potential. And I have very mixed feelings about the ending, though I can’t be more specific without major spoilers. But anyway, it’s not a bad retelling, I just really wanted to love it, but ultimately was kind of let down. That said, I wouldn’t be opposed to reading any subsequent books from this author if one comes along!

The Night Ends with Fire is available now!