3.75 Stars

Probably the most important thing to note is that this story is 100% NOT a Mulan retelling. It is being marketed as such, and in actuality, the only similarity the two have are they both feature a female character who pretends to be a boy. That's the only similarity.

Mariko - a fascinating character for a YA. She's supposed to be essentially a lady of the court who is to be sold off to another family and just be happy about it. But Mariko wants to rebel against her family. She will do as they ask, but she'll do it her way. I enjoyed that about her.

Okami - Surprise after surprise come with this character. He is fun to read and provides some good entertainment. Every time you learn something new about him, another secret looms.

Kenshin - Probably one of the most conflicted characters here. He wants to follow the tenants of the Samurai, but that doesn't always fall in line with what his father, his master, wants him to do. I can't wait to see this character develop in the next book. There are many different ways for him to go.

Ranmaru, Ren, Yoshi, Amaya, and Yumi - Well developed and fun to read. Each provides an important lesson to either Mariko or Kenshin throughout the book. They serve the story well.

Roku, Raiden, Kanako, Genmei, the emperor & Mariko's parents - None of these characters feel fully developed quite yet, but they were all seen very sporadically throughout the novel that I feel like they will have a larger part in the second novel (where applicable).

The Good - I like the writing style, it's enjoyable to read. The plot is interesting, and there is a lot of political drama (my favorite). The characters are well developed, and their story lines are believable.

The Bad - There's some kind of a magic system in place here, and it isn't explained in the slightest. I mean, one of the magic users states that they used their families fortune to buy their powers, but that was a story for another day. So, there are people who have magic and sell it to the highest bidder? And it's used so sporadically. There's a bit at the beginning and then nothing for about half of the book, and then it comes back full force. It doesn't work for me.

There was no ending. The last chapter is titled "An Ending" and I think it's trying to be sarcastic because there is no end. There will be a second book in this, making it a duolgy, but there is just no conclusion in any way in this first book. It was very unsatisfying.

All in all, a decent first installment in this series. I would like to see things more fully explained in the sequel. The last few chapters of this left a lot of drama to resolve.