Wild Orchid: A Retelling of "The Ballad of Mulan" by Cameron Dokey

Rating: 2 Stars
Author: Cameron Dokey
Summary from Goodreads:

"Once upon a Time" Is Timeless Wielding a sword as deftly as an embroidery needle, Mulan is unlike any other girl in China. When the emperor summons a great army, each family must send a male to fight. Tomboyish Mulan is determined to spare her aging father and bring her family honor, so she disguises herself and answers the call. But Mulan never expects to find a friend, let alone a soul mate, in the commander of her division, Prince Jian. For all of Mulan's courage with a bow and arrow, is she brave enough to share her true identity and feelings with Prince Jian?

This is the first book from my "Read a Book a Page" challenge.

If you pretend Mulan is not a child, it's not so disturbing. That is how I will present this review. It follows the idea that a 14-15 year old is not getting married to a 20-something year old.

I love Mulan. She is without a doubt the best Disney Princess. The Ballad of Mulan is a beautiful poem. That's why I bought this. But this is just not that good. There is way too much back story. The book is 200 pages and she doesn't leave for the army until after page 100. There was too much talking instead of showing. And the action lasted 2ish pages Mulan is a total Mary Sue. She is good at EVERYTHING and EVERYONE loves her. I did like that the stepmother isn't an evil witch. She genuinely cares for Mulan and Mulan cares for her.

It all comes down to the fact that this book was boring, rushed, and cliche.This book didn't feel like it was authentic. If it had been longer it would have been better. Maybe. I so wanted to like this. I am now off to watch the real Mulan.

Final Feeling:


P.S: I thought about giving this to my friend who is a middle school teacher for her classroom library because this is aimed at a young audience. However I don't want young reading a book where the protagonist is about their age marrying a man in his 20s.