The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan
Sherry Thomas
CHINA, 484 A.D. A Warrior in DisguiseAll her life, Mulan has trained for one purpose: to win the duel that every generation in her family must fight. If she prevails, she can reunite a pair of priceless heirloom swords separated decades earlier, and avenge her father, who was paralyzed in his own duel. Then a messenger from the Emperor arrives, demanding that all families send one soldier to fight the Rouran invaders in the north. Mulan's father cannot go. Her brother is just a child. So she ties up her hair, takes up her sword, and joins the army as a man. A War for a DynastyThanks to her martial arts skills, Mulan is chosen for an elite team under the command of the princeling--the royal duke's son, who is also the handsomest man she's ever seen. But the princeling has secrets of his own, which explode into Mulan's life and shake up everything she knows. As they cross the Great Wall to face the enemy beyond, Mulan and the princeling must find a way to unwind their past, unmask a traitor, and uncover the plans for the Rouran invasion . . . before it's too late. Inspired by wuxia martial-arts dramas as well as the centuries-old ballad of Mulan, The Magnolia Sword is perfect for fans of Renee Ahdieh, Marie Lu, or Kristin Cashore--a thrilling, romantic, and sharp-edged novel that lives up to its beloved heroine.
No posts yet
Kick off the convo with a theory, question, musing, or update
Your rating:
0 0i am so sorry but i DNF'ed this book. i know. i'm disappointed with myself too. am i even chinese?
growing up, the disney version of mulan was my absolute favourite. still is, tbh. so whenever i see something that even slightly resembles mulan, i will consume it. sometimes it ends in joy (spin the dawn by elizabeth lim) and disappointment (like now).
okay, lets start with the good stuff. i love love love that sherry thomas wrote it. a chinese woman writing about one of china's greatest heroes? LOVE IT. the author clearly did her research and i'm here for that. i'll be honest, i don't know much about chinese history so this is quite great! for example, i didn't even know xianbei people existed. shame on me, i know. also, it's so awesome that mulan gets trained in martial arts. and we also get this hint of angst when she says that HER name is struck from the family records while her (dead) brother's name is maintained.
sadly, i could not connect to mulan at all. the writing is... dry, for lack of a better word. characters don't really come alive for me. i can't even remember the name of the love interest... to be honest, i was already rolling my eyes when mulan duels with the other guy in the beginning of the book and she has this urge to touch the guy's face. listen. you're in a DUEL. you don't just want to stroke your opponent's face. i don't care how attractive he is. (and he even has half his face covered anyway, so what the heck?!) then we go on to her signing up for the war in her younger brother's place, yadda yadda yadda. and of course, OF BLOODY COURSE she meets the same dude she's been dueling over the years and instantly is attracted to him. instalove??? really??? in a mulan book???
when we get to the revelation that mulan's dad killed the dude's mum, i honestly expected more of a reaction from mulan. this is the girl who went out to war to save her dad and brother! i was expecting her to attempt defending her father or give a stronger reaction instead of just standing there??
somewhere after this point, i stopped reading. maybe it does get better after this, i don't know. everyone seems to love it so don't take this review to heart. anyway, kudos to the author for her meticulous research!
0
© 2024 Pagebound