**3.5**
This was a creative retelling of Mulan and I did enjoy this romance novel that features a strong and fierce warrior woman, rather than a damsel in distress. I enjoyed the new take on Mulan that Clarissa Cartharn took, especially since she based it more on the real tales of Mulan. I love the Disney movie, but I did find some issues with the love story that comes out of it, as General Li Sheng only knows Mulan as a man, but suddenly at the end of the movie, he is interested in marrying her.
This book makes a much more plausible timeline of Mulan and her love interest, don't worry I won't give anything away about who it is. But Mulan is loved as the woman she is before she is found out to be posing as a man in the army, which was smart of Cartharn since it's actually realistic.
Also, Mulan in this book is a strong warrior. Although she is still going against societies' rules by taking her father's place, she has been trained throughout her life in swordsmanship. She can actually handle her own in battles and this makes her a much stronger character.
Although I mostly enjoyed this book, there were a couple things I found issue with. The language, specifically the dialogue was my biggest issue. The book itself is taking place in "a time where women were forbidden to join the military" and the descriptions of the long journeys only on horseback or cart make it obvious that this is taking place far in the past. However, the language and dialogue between the characters is very modern. Some examples are the curses used, specifically "fu**" then all of the slang such as; "wow" "superhero", "kinda" and "he's a cool dude". I believe if the language was going to be more modern, it should have been a retelling in something like a post-apocalyptic era, then it would have been understandable to have some of the plot points but still have this modern language. Or somehow there should have been an explanation as to why these characters were a bit more modern but in ancient clothing/times.
Another thing I found issue with was the ease with which some of these characters accepted things out of the societal norms. If this is supposed to be far in the past, people would not have so easily accepted a woman fighting once Mulan is found out, or how her family encourages her with certain things. Also, men being gay is brought up in this book, and again that is not something that would have been talked about so casually. I am not saying it didn't happen during this time nor is it wrong, just that other characters would not shrug their shoulders and accept someone's beliefs that quickly.
Although these two things do not ruin the story by any means, I did get a bit frustrated at times when the book read more like the past and then suddenly a slang term was used that didn't fit. It would jolt me a bit out of the story and I'd have to get myself back into it.
Overall, it's an interesting romance novel that kept me entertained and had some great secondary characters. Someone looking for an easy read that's interesting and another take on a great tale, should definitely read it.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Readers copy.**