I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I give this a 2.5. It wasn't a horrible story, after all, I did continue to read it until the end. However, I am just not the audience for it. That, and I have some issues with the story.

First--what is good about this book, and who I see it good for.
The story moves forward, at a quick pace. There is romance, but no sex, so if you have a tween/teen that wants that demographic. It has a happy ending, and everything ties up neatly into a nice little package. And there is a moderately heavy amount of God and faith thrown in.

I feel that I probably would have loved this book in my teen years--my naive teen years. I would have eaten up the story and craved more of the tidy fairy-tale ending. But alas, I have grown as a person, and that no longer satisfies me. I understand that there is a place for books like this, and an audience for it.

One of my major issues of this book I really disliked that Mulan's character had almost all traces of her ethnicity removed. It's like the author was trying to garner readers by attaching the name and attitude that most people associate with Mulan (via pop culture) to this story, but then didn't include any of that in the story. I fully admit I love reading fairytale retellings. There is a comfort in knowing the base of a story, but the excitement of seeing how authors interpret and dive into it is fun. This story didn't entirely debase Mulan, they kept the warrior aspects, but entirely Europeanized her. (yes, I think I made that term up, because I don't know the term for it)

The story moves at a fast pace, to the point were things have to be simplified. Mulan's dad dies, she has to go to war in his place (blink) she leads the charge and because the hero of the war (blink) she is outed as a woman and everyone, almost, accepts it (blink) she falls in love (blink) she is married. What?????? This novel completely glosses over the issues of growing up in a society/time that is patriarchal and women did as they were told. Marriage and family was not love-based, but duty. Mulan was born out of an affair and brought to be raised by his wife. Women didn't go to war, and when she was outed, the outcome should have been death, but it was accepted. Mulan and Wolfgang are from different classes of society. This the author did address in Mulan's concerns, but glossed over and everyone in Wolfgang's family loved and accepted her.

Another good I will add: Even though the edges are smoothed over, the author maintained Mulan's voice. Even as she was falling in love, or when Wolfgang was trying to be the male protector of her, as Wolfgang was showing his love and caring, the author allowed Mulan to remain strong, to have a voice, to not suppress herself around others, especially once she fell in love. The standard fairy-tale has women being demure, et al to the male characters, and here Mulan keeps her stance.

When I saw this book on NetGalley, I was drawn in by the fact that it was a Mulan story. I was unaware that it was part of a series. I might not have chosen this one had I done a little bit of research before hand. That's on me and not the author or the story line. This just isn't a series for me. However, I will try to keep in my mind for my patrons who come in looking for stories such as this.