Thank you to #NetGalley, Jesse Q. Sutanto, and the publisher of the book for the eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Mulan's story told in a modern day romance about family expectations, mistaken identity, and high stakes business.

As the right hand of her father’s company, Mulan knows what it takes to succeed as a woman in a man’s world. She has to work twice as hard, and be twice as smart. So when her father has a health scare in the middle of critical business, she is determined to see it through. There’s just one problem. The whiskey company Mulan's father wants is very manly and has a very old fashioned family running it. It is lead by the dedicated and overworked Shang. He only trusts, Mulan's father. Mulan doesn't want it to fail, so she is determined to see if through by pretending to be her father. It's only email right? Well those emails soon turn into an invitation to Shang and his family's ranch. Can she convince them that she is the head CEO they've been working with? Not really, but the sparks between Mulan and Shang will be harder to ignore.

I LOVED this book. Mulan is my favorite Disney movie/character. I liked how it followed that story line but in a more modern way. The only thing I did not like was how toxic the men were. A woman can be a powerful CEO and should not be treated like they can't.

Can she keep her head in the game and make her father proud, all while trying not to fall into a trough, or in love with Shang?

I am so obsessed with this series and I thought this was the perfect edition. I loved the whole concept and how it tied in perfectly to the original Mulan while also updating the story for the modern lens. Shang was the perfect hero and I really enjoyed Mulan's character arc. Give me a Mushu book please!

Interesting retelling of Mulan. Fun cute romance read. Diverse representation.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

I received a digital arc from the publisher via Netgalley though all thoughts are my own.

This was an anticipated read as I was a big fan of Disney Mulan when it came out and was excited to read a Mulan retelling. It was well worth the wait and I loved that this was sent in modern times and Mushu was such a treat.

I loved that it showed the struggles Mulan felt trying to prove that she more than deserves to be in a line of business that is male dominated and how she eventually realizes that she doesn't have to prove anything because she's awesome just as she is.

I loved how Mushu helped balance out Mulan and showed that she's for sure someone you want to have in your corner and dives fully into anything she sets her mind to. I also loved that she was hyping up Mulan and how Mulan turned things around and hyped up Mushu in return.

I also loved the romance that developed between Mulan and Shang who really balance each other out and brought out the best in each other.

Mulan's relationship with her parents is so special and I was grinning from ear to ear when they told Mulan that they loved her just as she was, how they were so supportive and proud of her.

I adore Shang's mom who is sweet but also fierce and full of surprises.

I highly recommend this book particularly if you are a fan of Mulan and retellings.

3.25/5 - I received an ARC of this one on NetGalley!

"Worth Fighting For" is a modern-day Mulan retelling, written part of the Disney "Meant to Be" series. Overall, this story was a quick read and many aspects of it were cute. I enjoyed the last 30% the most and thought the ending wrapped everything up nicely. However, there was a stretch in the middle where I found myself losing interest in the story. At times, I felt the writing was lacking and some parts were cheesy. If you love Disney and/or Mulan, I think you'll enjoy this one! It just wasn't up to the same par as other romance novels I have read recently.

I have enjoyed this series of retelling some of our favorite Disney stories! This one centered on Mulan, love this story for young girls finding their way in an unconventional path. Jesse brought some fun banter to this, between Mulan, Shang, and Mushu!
This may have been a bit of insta-love for me, but definitely worth a quick summer read!

This was a fun, light retelling of Mulan. I really felt for the FMC’s struggle as a woman trying to make it in an industry of bigoted men. There were points where the misogyny was almost too much, but that’s also kind of how misogyny works. This was a great weekend read and not too heavy. Plus there were enough liberties taken with the Mulan story that even though I knew directionally where things were going, there were still plenty of thing a that surprised me.

3.5 stars

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I wanted to love this one, because I love a re-imagining, I've enjoyed Sutanto's other books, and who doesn't love Mulan? It fell flat for me. I would like to see a bit more characterization of Shang, and a bit less reliance on Mushu's silliness/humor. I ended up skimming the end because it felt repetitive - as though the author was really trying to fit the story into the prompt for the Meant to Be series without much passion. That said, I loved the take on tradition and cultural norms and acculturation, it was really interesting!

Fairytale retellings are my JAM. So I have loved all of the Ment to Be series. Worth fighting for does end up taking a lot less from the source material than the other books, but I still found myself enjoying it just as much. Throughout the book, both Mulan AND Shang get to step up and defy gender roles. It was cute and fun.

The five books (so far) of the Meant to Be series have my name written all over them. They are reimaginings of Disney films as contemporary romance novels. Each book in the series is written by a different romance author. The newest installment, Worth Fighting For, is a modern Mulan retelling. It fell a flat for me in a way the other books in the series, and other books by Jesse Q. Suntanto did not.

The romance was hard for me to engage with here because of how much Mulan keeps from Shang. They have a very intimate relationship without Shang even knowing Mulan’s real name. In the original film, Shang finds out who Mulan really is before confessing his love to her. It made me uncomfortable to know how much Mulan is lying to Shang while reading about their romantic relationship.

I do appreciate how this book used Mushu. In the movie, Mushu is a little dragon voiced by Eddie Murphy. Suntanto re-imagines Mushu as Mulan’s cousin who helps and supports Mulan as the dragon counterpart does in the film. She’s not quite as funny as the little dragon, but I found it to be a creative use of the same kind of figure.

Maybe because I love the Shakespeare play, Twelfth Night and its modern adaptations so much, but I couldn’t help thinking that this story is ripe for a queer storyline. In Twelfth Night, Duke Orsino realizes he has feelings for Caesario, who he thinks is a man. Spoiler, Caesario is actually a woman named Viola pretending to be a man to gain access to spaces where women are not welcome. Sound familiar? The parallels between Mulan’s story and Viola’s are pretty clear. We definitely could have had an element to the story where Shang has a queer awakening.

This story had me thinking about the moment in the 2023 Barbie film where Ken approaches a businessman and asks him why the patriarchy isn’t in charge anymore. The man assures Ken that the patriarchy is still in charge, but they’ve gotten better at hiding it. I found that the men in Shang’s family were too overtly sexist to feel realistic. Mulan would totally face sexism as a high powered woman in venture capital, but the blatant sexism felt like it was too much. Greta Gerwig’s words in Barbie rang much more true to me.

I cannot wait to find out what the next book in the Meant to Be series will be. Are we going to see a modern Jasmine story? Whatever it is, count me in.

Worth Fighting For is number 5 from the “Meant to Be” series of Modern Disney retellings. A Mulan reimagining set in the Bay Area amongst finance bros. Having watched Mulan countless times, I knew what to expect: Mulan trying to help her family by impersonating her father. But the book exceeded my expectations and was so much more than that. The romance between Mulan and Shang was so well written, the banter between them amazing. Also, this retelling does have a Mushu! And the character is excellent. I highly recommend this one if you’re looking for a quick, fun read.

4.5 Stars

This novel was a fun retelling of Disney’s Mulan, with finance-bro vibes instead of, you know, all out war. I couldn’t stop imagining Mushu as Awkwafina as the dragon from Rya, so that was a bit weird, but it’s a Jesse Q Sutanto book so it’s GREAT.

I really enjoyed this book! I’m not as familiar with Mulan as I was with the other retellings due to my age, but I had enough familiarity to appreciate the throwbacks and references! I absolutely adored this story and I felt it was so timely for the current state of the world. Mulan shows the difficulty of being a strong woman in a man driven world beautifully. I could really relate to a lot of her feelings. The writing is great and I loved the banter! I just love these reimagined Disney stories!

**Thank you to Hyperion Avenue for this free digital review copy.**

This modern retelling of the story of Mulan (or at least the Disney version of her story) was clever and fun, but not likely something I’ll revisit. The majority of the characters were stereotypical, and the plan that Mulan and her cousin Mushu come up with is so obviously doomed to fail, frankly it’s a miracle things go the way they do. I was pretty annoyed with everyone’s behavior at various points throughout the story, but of course appreciated a happy ending.

Thank you @netgalley, @hyperionavebooks & @disneybooks for sending me this book for review. Opinions are mine.

Sutanto's retelling of Mulan was well done. I loved how she merged the ideas of the classic movie with a modern day setting and real life challenges. As she steps into the world of her father to help save the family business, when the company they are working with only want to work with men, she has to pretend to be 'him'.

I enjoyed the retelling and while I did enjoy the novel the lies/lying could be triggering to some.

I have enjoyed the modern retelling of the fairy tales!

This is a very cute modern retelling of Mulan! It took me a little to get into the book, but I ended up really enjoying it and comparing different scenes/plot points to the movie. The way Shang’s family was so male-focused was a little much at times, but overall it worked for the story. Another great addition to the Meant to Be series!

Absolutely LOVED this book! I am a fan of any Disney retelling book, and this one exceeded my expectations. I love that it stuck to the overall story of Mulan, but brought in realistic elements of current time, kept Chinese culture, acknowledged friendship and so much food and cooking. The gender swap of this story was so well done, and I appreciated that it was closed door romance, while still expressing the connection and romance that the main characters felt for one another.
The humor was also extremely present and much appreciated, just like the animated version of Mulan.
It was so much fun to read, and Jesse is easily one of my favorite authors ever!

This was a very cute rom com that while I can’t purchase for my job, I enjoyed reading myself! I love a good retelling and Jesse’s books never disappoint

I loved how Sutanto was able to merge the classic elements of Mulan with these new elements. For fans, you have to read Worth Fighting For. It's a beautiful and swoony story about fighting for new traditions and finding our voice. I loved how the very soul of Mulan is present in the pages. We see Mulan struggling to prove herself not only to Shang's family, but also to her parents. There are trials and ways that Mulan and Shang both challenge traditional gender roles. I was reading this before bed and couldn't stop every evening. I loved the dynamic between Mulan and Shang! There are swoons and plenty of relationship building!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! I was really excited for this book after reading the previous book in the series. This one was a little slow for me and I really didn't enjoy reading about the lies the main character was telling to keep her story straight (lies/lying/catfishing are micro-tropes I don't enjoy in general) and while Im familiar and aware of the story of Mulan, this retelling just wasn't for me. I would read more from this author in the future as I enjoyed her writing! I give this book 2.5-3 stars.