Member Reviews
I wanted to love this book, but I’m sorry to say I didn’t. It was, well very odd really, Mulan seemed to exist in ‘limbo’ with no proper cultural setting nor context. The fact that her character was downplayed to enable the male ‘hero’ to shine also really annoyed me. I ended up skim reading the second half, I wasn’t invested at all in the story.
Not one for me I’m afraid.
I was given a ARC by NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
Unfortunately, I have to say that I found Dickerson's novel a tad disappointing. To say that twisting the legend of Mulan for an artist's own renderings and imagination is a nicer way of stating how I truly felt. However, the way that Melanie Dickerson described and wrote Mulan put a knife to my heart and twisted over and over and over again.
How can I describe The Warrior Maiden? Simply put, it was confusing. I was not aware of the fact that this book was simply an addition to another series, and so the characters that were thrust in my face were unfamiliar and discombobulating. The setting of Lithuania was just...incomprehensible to me (I didn't exactly see the point as to why Mulan would set there), and the story of Mulan herself left me angry, frustrated, and overall just incredibly unhappy with how the author portrayed such a classic legend.
Mulan is Chinese. Whether or not Mulan was male or female has been left unclear by history, but the movie itself is such a classic that I took Mulan as a female to be a matter of fact. That's not where I found fault with the book. It was just the sheer absurdity of the setting that completely threw me off. Who let Dickerson spin a wheel with famous heroines and random locations and then just throw darts until she hit two that somehow made a story? Mulan in Lithuania is like Scheherazade in Canada: It makes no literary sense.
And unfortunately for everyone involved, Dickerson is no great historian. Nor, by how she wrote the legend of Mulan, a great researcher as well. The whole point of Mulan, the Disney movie, is to show how brave a person can be in the name of loyalty and honor. The Mulan I read about in The Warrior Maiden painted Mulan as a girl who ran off to avoid marriage and then let her legend get ruined by the first swashbuckling knight she meets? What in the name of Putin?
Now one might have noticed by now that my quibbles are primarily with Mulan herself. Dickerson wrote a solid story (of sorts) with the other characters within the novel itself, but to say that I could not care one whit about Wolfgang and Steffan is, again, a sweet way of saying that I didn't quite care for how much Steffan disliked his father.
Also, who decided that thrusting Christianity into a book was a smart idea? Whoever decided to make Mulan a Christian is getting a boot in the ass from my foot real soon.
I love all of Melanie Dickerson's books that I have read. This book was no exception. It was a great read with well developed characters.
I love all of Melanie’s novel and although this one isn’t my favorite, If you’re looking for a light, clean read...this book will suit you!!
I won't be publishing a review, or giving this book a rating on my blog or goodreads as I couldn't manage to finish it. I was excited to see an adaptation of Mulan but didn't like the whitewashing part. As a South Asian ALL Asian rep has been important to me - whether it's Indian or Chinese. And her being white in this was a big con for me. In addition to that I felt like her strength was downplayed by having the guy play the hero. It's not the Mulan I wanted to see and is just disappointing.
This book is a dnf but I'm also disappointed in what I did read, therefore I stand by my one star rating.
*** Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC! ***
Hmmm. This one was better than the last one, but I feel like maybe she is taking this too far and too long.
I still didn't like that she used the real name. It's just so hard to let this be it's own story, plus, the name doesn't fit into the setting. The explanation of how she got where she is was fine.
I liked Wolfgang's character a lot (although the nickname made me grimace). It was interesting to see how one event shaped both him and Steffan in two different ways. Also, it was neat to see how Wolfgang and Mulan were each sort of struggling with the same thing in but in very different ways. We all have struggles and things that shape us but the same event or struggle affects each person differently.
Some complain about the Mulan in the movies as being too "girl power". I personally like the movies and don't see that aspect and neither do I see it in this book. A strong female character does not "girl power" make.
I don't think I have ever said this about a book before, but I truly believe that people are being to hard on this book.
They object to Mulan being Chinese and being "dropped" into Mrs. Dickerson's Hagenheim world. First of all, that's just it. It's HER world and she can't drop everything and jump to an entirely different place totally unconnected with her series and tell a story. I thought her adaption was tastefully done. She gave good reason and background for Mulan's presence in Lithuania (which, by the way, I really appreciated Lithuania because it gave more of a feel/atmosphere similar to the original Mulan story while still creating something new). It was a bit awkward at points because of her different ethnicity and her being dropped into such a different environment, but here's the real question: how couldn't it be? I appreciate how Mrs. Dickerson brought this story to life, yet I would have been more upset if she hadn't preserved Mulan's ethnicity or if she had made it entirely normal for Mulan to be present in a society where she would have stood out so much.
The story itself? I loved it! I loved how she approached the relationship between Wolfgang and Mulan. It was sweet and good. Furthermore, and most importantly to me, it wasn't weird. As in, Wolfgang and Mulan somehow liking each other before Wolfgang knew she was actually a girl. I truly appreciated the lines she drew between them and the distance she held between them a while after Wolfgang discovered the truth of her gender to make absolutely clear that he was not attracted to her when he thought she was a boy.
As to the kissing, which some have downplayed, I was under the impression from some reviews that there wouldn't be a single kiss. I was wrong. There were quite a few, but they were a good number and, I thought, a good quality. Sweet and fulfilling and good. Not the kind that leaves you with a pit in your stomach and a bunch of unsatisfied angst.
Thank you for such a wonderful book, Mrs. Dickerson!
I have been reading Melanie Dickerson's books since 2010. And though I have not LOVED all of the books I have read by her, I always add her YA fairy tale retellings to my TBR.
Her newest it a light retelling of Mulan. Did I LOVE it? Hm, I say not LOVE. But I enjoyed it and think it is one of my most loved out of all her books to date.
This book had so many twists. A summary of my mental musings about these twists: "Like, wow, did not see that coming.... Whoah, what happened? Eeeek! Poor characters! GET TOGETHER ALREADY!!!!!"
Another thing I liked is that it also lightly touched on the damaging effects of racism. Mulan, the only girl of Mongolian decent in her village, suffered unjustly because she did not look like everyone else. Total reminder that we should not treat people badly because they are different. *looks at rude villagers* Not cool, guys.
As someone who is facinated in Asian cultures, I would have loved there to be more of a Mongolian feel to the book. Yet I understand why Dickerson did not do so in this tale. The book is part of series that follow European characters. She wanted to include a Mulan story in her series of fairy tale retellings, and she did BUT in a subtle way. (I guess this might throw off some readers looking for a purely Asian-set retelling, so if that is what you are looking for, this is not the book for you.) So, though it could have been better, it was still okay for me that she chose this route for this retelling.
Story negatives...
Okay, so maybe it is because I read an ARC, but I felt like Mulan's character had a major flip from clumsy to warrior. In the beginning, she is portrayed to be a struggling clumsy maiden (lol, like me!), but when she becomes a warrior it just goes away. Totally threw me off a bit. Maybe her confidence took over, but I feel that, realistcally, she would still struggle some with her lack of gracefullness despite becoming a soldier.
And...yeah.
With a few nods to the Disney film mixed with a whole lot of faith, this book is sure to take Dickerson's fans on an exciting journey that they will be able to enjoy far from the danger of battles.
I give "The Warrior Maiden" a rating of four. No, you do not have to read the books before this one to enjoy it, but you will totally be missing the full experience if you don't read them first. It releases early 2019, so...
#TheWarriorMaiden #NetGalley
She knew a woman was expected to marry, cook, and have children, not go to war. Can she manage to stay alive, save her mother, and keep the handsome son of a duke from discovering her secret?
When Mulan decides to take her father’s place in battle against the besieging Teutonic Knights, she realizes she has been preparing for this moment her whole life—and that her life, and her mother’s, depends on her success. As the adopted daughter of poor parents, she has little power in the world. If she can’t prove herself on the battlefield, she could face death—or, perhaps worse, marriage to the village butcher.
In her disguise as a young man, Mulan meets Wolfgang, the German duke’s son who is determined to save his people even if it means fighting against his own brother. Wolfgang is exasperated by the young soldier who seems to be one step away from disaster at all times—or showing Wolfgang up in embarrassing ways.
From rivals to reluctant friends, Mulan and Wolfgang begin to share secrets with one another. But war is an uncertain time and dreams can die as quickly as they are born. When Mulan receives word of danger back home, she must make the ultimate choice. Could she be the son her bitter father never had? Or would she become the strong young woman she has been created to be?
This fresh reimagining of the classic tale takes us to fifteenth-century Lithuania where both love and war challenge the strongest of hearts.
I admit I Love Dickerson's novels. This one, though, was not a favorite. I felt that Mulan was noble and brave but kind of built up due to the prophecy about her. She did aid in defeat, but it was not her alone. As for a character I had a hard time liking her and sympathizing with her. She was all about God's will when fighting, but when it came to her own personal problems she almost seemed to turn her back on God's help and tried to do it all herself. It felt like she had more of a selfish nature that was overlooked because of her success.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
We all know the tale: a tomboyish Asian girl takes up the sword in her father's place pretending to be a man and saving the world through her hidden wommanness at the same time. This book puts quite the spin on that tale.
There have been many updated fairy tales in the past dozen years or so (this is the ninth in a series of retold fairies, and my second attempt at the series) and they often change the original story. Otherwise, everyone would only read the originals and these new books would have nothing to offer. I'm not always a fan of the changes authors choose to make, like taking this story out of Asia and dropping it into fifteenth century Lithuania, but it's not as bad as it could have been. Mulan herself hasn't been whitewashed, at least.
The tale of Mulan will always be a story about a girl doing things that would have been out of place for a normal woman of her time, but I still think the author makes the anachronisms worse with excerpts like this: “It wasn't that she couldn't marry him, but that she'd rather take her chances as a soldier. After all, she'd always been terrible at cooking and humbling herself to men—even her own father.” Soldier or not, rebel or not, no fifteenth century Eastern European woman is going to think like that. It's just not realistic. At the same time, this Mulan is much more of a weenie than the Disney Mulan, who was all for killing the Huns and being a proper warrior. This Mulan squeals at the sight of blood and gets dizzy at the thought that her arrow might kill someone. Um, what were you practicing archery for all this time if not to kill things? She's quite gag-worthy at times.
Not long after this, Mulan is perfectly content to just hang out and chit chat about God with her new beau, not worrying about how she doesn't want to “humble herself” to a man. As long as that man is nice, humbling yourself to him is fine, apparently. All this for a guy who, though he has known she's a woman for a while now, only thinks she's beautiful once she's put on gender-appropriate clothes and makeup. Sounds like a keeper to me. Marrying him would definitely be better than being humbled by that nice boy from your hometown who left everything to help you go to war.
By far my biggest complaint about the book is the rampant Christian proselytizing. I don't mind when characters in a book are religious, especially when it makes sense for the time, but this goes way overboard. It's “Go with God” and “I pray to God” and “God in Heaven” constantly. Maybe the author truly believes that's how people talked at this time, but it constantly makes me uncomfortable as I'm reading. I just really hope this is marketed clearly as Christian Fiction. (An example in this book of where I think the talk of God is warranted is when Mulan climbs freehand up the side of a cliff and almost falls, etc, but when she reaches the top she says “Thank you, God.” In this place, it makes perfect sense for the character to pray. It's the unnecessary God talk that I have a problem with.) It's passages like this that I have a problem with:
Mother asked Algirdas to say a prayer over the food.
“You are Christians, then?” The butcher glanced from Mother to Mulan.
“We are. My family converted when I was a young girl.”
They all bowed their heads, and Algirdas said a rote prayer of thanks and dedication in the name of Jesus.
And that is the entire mention of Christianity in the first chapter. Does it further the plot? I don't see how. It seems to me to be nothing more than the author's way of forcing her religion down unsuspecting readers' throats. I don't know how this book will be marketed but but I hope no one markets this as straight YA Historical Fiction when it really is Christian Fiction. In my humble opinion, authors can write whatever they want, but to make your characters a certain religion only alienates certain readers, like myself, and it makes some of us feel uncomfortable, as if proselytizers were allowed into my living room to force me to convert to their religion. There's just no need for that.
Let me put it another way. If it made no difference to the story, but the author decided to make the main families in this novel recently-converted Muslims, would that bother you? Would you be as ready to root for them? What if they constantly prayed to Allah or yelled Allahu Akbar? It's just unnecessary.
The actual story in this book is hard to rate—there is just too much other stuff going on, mostly the overt religiosity and the author's desire to write a run-of-the-mill teen romance in the guise of historical fiction. Mulan herself isn't a hard character to root for, and Wolfgang has plenty to endear himself to us, but much of the book is battle scenes, romantic scenes, or Mulan dealing with her gender one way or another (either hilariously hiding it from the men or feeling all womanly and pretty). It devolves into a Marriage Plot rather quickly (Mulan is discovered as a woman at about the 1/3 mark). I might have given the book 3 stars if not for all the Christianity shoved down my throat. A lot of YA books, especially historical fiction (though it's really not fair to categorize this as HF) focus so much on the romance that there's little room for anything else, but I find it insulting that authors think women have nothing more interesting to offer than how they make men feel. This is about one of the fiercest warriors in history and she becomes so obsessed with whether her beau likes her and completely loses herself whenever he looks at her. Where are the accurate depictions of girls and women in YA these days?
TL;DR: If you're a Christian and you like to remain in your comfy feedback loop, this book will be great. It is NOT historical fiction. It is Christian fiction.
Things the author kept in from the Disney version of Mulan so we would all recognize it even though it lost much of what made up the original: Mulan having to cut her hair to blend in (even though there probably were plenty of men with long hair), Mulan's desire to bathe risking being found out as a woman, a few unaddressed homosexual tendencies when men feel attracted to Mulan though they think her a man, lots of battles where Mulan proves herself far more valuable than the men who have been training to be soldiers for most of their lives, much more romance than is warranted by a warrior's tale, and Mulan's injury getting her discovered as a woman. Sadly though, no grandmother shouting at the hotness of Mulan's boytoy “Whoo-ee, sign me up for the next war!” Very much a missed opportunity.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. And when I requested this book from Netgalley, the book was categorized as Historical Fiction and Teens & YA, only. In the description of the book, there is not a single mention of God, Christianity, or religion of any kind. I only found out after I had won the book that it was the ninth in a series of Christian Fiction books.
I have read one book in the past by Melanie Dickerson. I believe it was called The Huntress and that was a 3 star read for me. Looks like we are still on that similar path for this book.
Dickerson combines the classic tale with both history and religion. This one in particular covers the retelling of Mulan. The thrust of the original story is pretty much intact, with the exception of the characters having strong faith. Yes, this is Christian fiction which aren't my favorite BUT if done right and isn't pounded into your face, I can deal with it but this was... definitly a bit chastising.
Though the writing is very buttery and structured, I personally feel there were a plot twists that seemed simply too convenient and I find that to be a common theme with Dickerson's stories. I want to see this author branch out of her element and try something new when it comes to genre. I hope to see that one day
When I started this book, I had no idea that it was a Christian book. That being said, about 20% of the way through it became very distracting. I tried to ignore it as much as possible and instead pay attention to the story and the characters, and it was an okay story. The plot line was very straightforward, and I liked the characters okay, but my biggest problem with the book was the ending. There was such an anticlimactic fight scene that it was over within a page. I was hoping for the same kind of action that the middle of the book seemed to have. There were battles, and sword fights, and was well written. But the ending, while the loose ends were tied up, just happened so quickly that I felt like nothing had happened. It used God as such a Deus Ex Machina that I just couldn't take it seriously.
Throughout the rest of the book, whenever the characters prayed, I understood it more. They were in dire situations, and were looking for protection. I am not a Christian myself, but the religious aspect of the book was least invasive in the middle of the book. But towards the end it started to take over the whole plot line, and things seemed to fall apart. Overall it was not a bad story, but the ending was so sub par compared to the rest that it completely ruined the book for me.
Mulan has grown up as a pariah in her village in Lithuania, a half-Asian girl who can shoot arrows better than any boy. When her father dies, she must take his place in the army of the local warlord to ensure that her mother is not kicked out of their house. Concealing her identity as a woman, she takes the name Mikolai and fights the Teutonic Knights who are pillaging nearby villages and farms.
Wolfgang wants to be a knight himself, but he's not going to get his chance in Hagenheim. He joins the forces fighting against the Teutonic Knights, only to find that his rebellious brother Steffan is on the other side of the conflict. When Mikolai the Lithuanian makes a fool of him at an archery contest, he is first angry but then grows a grudging respect and friendship for the boy. But when Mikolai is wounded and Mulan's secrets are revealed, will their friendship blossom into love?
In this book, Melanie Dickerson goes to a great deal of trouble to depict Mulan as strong and feminine. As usual, she weaves a strong Christian element into the book as both main characters must learn to trust God's plan for their lives as revealed in the Bible. Considered as a historical fantasy, this works within the world the author has created. Considered as historical fiction, the treatment of medieval religious sensibilities feels anachronistic.
Wolfgang was an interesting character, wrestling with a childhood secret that impacts his relationship to his father and his brother. His concealment causes a canker to grow that he tries to atone for by his own perfect actions so he doesn't disappoint his father. Mulan, on the other hand, grew up with a harsh and unloving father, which impacts how she relates to God and makes her appreciate Wolfgang's loving family in Hagenheim all the more. I enjoyed this book in the Hagenheim series a good deal more that the previous installment on Aladdin, mostly because Wolfgang was a much stronger male lead than Aladdin was.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions in this review are my own.
I've read and enjoyed Melanie Dickerson before, and I like the story of Mulan, so I thought this would be right up my street. Sadly, it's not. It's passable, but not fantastic. Too many clumsy sentences and contrived happenings threw me out of the story. I was confused about the passage of time, too...I thought only a couple of days had passed, but there was Mulan thinking that she'd only known Wolfgang a couple of weeks.
This isn't a terrible book. It's a good adventure story. But it just isn't as good as I'd hoped for, and that hurts from this author.
Receiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.
Another fantastic addition to some wonderfully reimagined fairy tales. The author does a beautiful job weaving the classic story of Mulan in a Lituanian world. It also gives us a look at two of the youngest members of the Duke of Hagenheims family.
Throughout each book another fairytale unfolds and one of the Dukes children is a central part. I enjoy seeing what happened to the older children now married and how we receive a glimpse of their furtures through these books.
As always it is a well done version of Mulan that captures the soul of a warrior. A must read for fans of romance, fairy tales, and Melanie Dickerson's stories.
This book was unfortunately very hard for me to get into. I love the legend of Mulan and Chinese culture so this being set in Europe was confusing.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
A Mulan retelling by one of my favorite authors? Um, yes please! I was elated to be able to review the next book in my favorite historical series.
Melanie Dickerson is a creative genius bringing to life Disney's Mulan in a new and exciting way that had me turning page after page and chapter after chapter until the very end.
Melanie's attention to detail truly brings this story to life just as in the rest of the Hagenheim series. If historical romances and fairytale retelling are your thing, then you should definitely pick up this book and all the other books in the series.
This book is highly recommended for ages 13+ for mild (non-gory) violence. There is absolutely no sexually explicit content or foul language.
The anticipation of reading this Hagenheim book (it's part of a series but each can be a stand alone) put this on the top of my TBR book pile. This book is about Mulan, with a dash of Joan of Arc, (Christianity, girl in an army & burning at the stake threads) with also a nod to Katniss i.e bow and arrows. Mulan is "adopted" in this story, and stands out due to her Asian heritage & exemplary bow and arrow skills. It follows the original as much as it can, but adds Wolfgang and Steffan, and her adopted mother to the mix. Full of action, this retelling is worth reading. If you've read Melanie Dickerson, she doesn't disappoint in this one! **Please note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
I love the way Melanie Dickerson paints a picture with her writing. Even in her first few lines her details allowed me to fully envision Mulan's world and actions.
I enjoyed Mulan's spirit, as well as Wolfgang's character and their romance. Great book!
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Alot of us know the story of Mulan and how she joined battle to defend her honor and kept a huge secret disguising herself as a man then she ends up falling for Captian Shang and she confesses the truth an lives happily ever after.
In The Warrior Maiden it took a whole new twist on the story of Mulan as we know it. Melanie Dickerson's take on this classic tale as part of the Hagenheim series was a lot of fun to read and I could not help but invest my time reading this story cover to cover just to find out what happens to Mulan and if she saves her mother in time.
We will definitely consider this title for our YFiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.