A very solid four-star read. 

This book offers a heavy cast of extremely intriguing and complex characters. Whose relationship to each other (for the most part) add a whole other level of humanity to them. Parker-Chan does a great job with these characters and especially their development throughout the story. 

The pacing and writing felt somewhat inconsistent, especially towards the end. There were some phrasing choices that really threw me off at times. 

The first act was really entertaining and where most comparisons to Mulan stems from. I decently found a good handful of references and similarities. It had a lot of charm and really does a great job introducing you to Zhu and their desires and determination. 

The second act introduces the character that I found most interesting, which is Ouyang. The contrast between him and Zhu in their views on destiny and feeling about gender was fascinating to read about, but it was Ouyang’s relationship to the secondary characters that really got me through this act, as I found a lot about it to be very slow and kind of dull. 

The third and final act brings the pace up quite a bit. Focusing on the themes of destiny and desire, rounding up the story in a way that almost felt a little rushed after such a long period with a slow pace. Wrapping it up in a way that made me intrigued as to where they will take the story next.