I’m not the target reader for this book. Much of the story revolves around Mulan’s slapstick antics pretending she’s a rancher when she’s not, rather than actual plot and characters development. DNF ~40%.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

1.5 Rounded up.
I was so excited for this book since I loved Mulan as a child. I was kind of disappointed with this reimagining of the classic tale. I don't think the writing was that good which is frustrating since there was already a well thought out story line for the author to work with.
I appreciated the cooking aspect and loved the mothers but couldn't find myself rooting for Mulan, which is kind of the whole point?

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the chance to read a free ARC of Worth Fighting For.

Mulan is in my top three favourite Disney movies, because of its storyline about a woman proving she has worth and value, and because the movie could take such heavy storylines and communicate them in a funny and entertaining manner. I love that Jesse Sutanto honoured the heart and soul of the Mulan movie, with this modern retelling: Worth Fighting For. This book had me laughing out loud, and loving the main character as well as the side characters (go Mushu!) While I initially thought the plot seemed a little far fetched, the themes of feminism and family loyalties and cultural vs personal identity were explored in an engaging and thoughtful way. I loved the romance between Mulan and Shang, and for a Disney book I was pleasantly surprised to feel their chemistry despite it being mostly closed door.

Overall, I really enjoyed Worth Fighting For as a contemporary retelling of the beloved Disney classic, Mulan.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️ (it’s mainly alluded to)
Tropes:
* Hidden identity
* Closed-door romance
* Forced proximity
* Female empowerment and breaking gender norms
* Honor and duty to family
* POC representation
Song that I think represents this book: “The Man” by Taylor Swift

Thank you to NetGalley, Jesse Q. Sutanto, and Hyperion Avenue for the ARC of this book! All opinions are my own.

For a Disney adult, I have loved every book in this “Meant to Be” series, including this book! Each one has done well adding modern-day twists, and this one ESPECIALLY does well with this! This is the first book I’m reading by Jesse Q. Sutanto and I enjoyed how much you could tell she brought her own life experiences into this too. She understood how to make the story of Mulan relatable, both to POC readers, but to any female reader that understands family duty and honor, respect for elders, and following gender norms, but also wanting to break free from all of these restraints.

I really liked Mulan already being successful and established due to her hard work and sacrifice. Her bond with her parents was still traditional, but love was at the forefront and made her duty to them not just about wanting the position, but about how much she knew it meant to them that she become partner on her own merit.

I also thought it was a great choice to make Mushu female and her cousin sidekick; she reminded me of Akwafina in “Shang-Chi” and very funny!

Shang’s family was a good way to cause the conflict that felt like it rang true to what could happen in real life. By having them expect her to prove herself in their own element showed how dedicated Mulan was to not just prove them wrong, but to show her character and strength as a woman who wouldn’t back down from doubt and challenges.

And of course, I adored Shang and his mom! I think having him be raised mainly by his mom was a smart choice to show that he did not agree with his family’s traditional values and gender expectations, making him a perfect match for Mulan! I actually liked their relationship in this book more than I did in the Disney film!!

I hope this series is continued with more Disney films because I will read every single one!

I have watched Mulan a couple of times and was expecting something similar. This is a modern Mulan retelling about a woman working in finance and the CEO of the company she is trying to acquire for her father. I enjoyed the banter and romance between Mulan and Shang.
If you like: Insta-Love, forbidden romance, workplace romance and a headstrong FMC this is the book for you.
​Thank you to Netgalley ​and Hyperion Avenue​ ​for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 ⭐️

This was cute! Mulan was one of my favorite Disney movies growing up, so it was really fun to receive the ARC of the retelling for the Meant to Be series.

Mulan works for her dad’s finance company, and when her dad, who has been working on acquiring a family-owned whiskey company (with very “traditional” ideology), falls ill, it’s up to Mulan to see it through. She takes on her father’s identity and they embark on a week-long retreat where she will prove herself worthy of their company (and their CEO, Shang’s, *company* if ya catch my drift).

Not a ton of character growth or depth to the story, but ultimately that’s not what we’re reading a Disney romance retelling for- I had fun reading about these characters in a different light (and imagining Mushu as a full grown woman, lol). Sutanto’s books don’t tend to be my favorite as they all fall too far on the “ridiculous” spectrum, but I’ll give this one a pass as it was nostalgic and a good time overall.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion for an advanced copy in exchange for my review!

This series continues to be one of my favorites!

The "Meant to Be" series takes classic fairy tales and modernizes them with contributions from various romance authors. Every installment introduces readers to different cultures and writers. It's so rewarding!

"Worth Fighting For" takes on "Mulan" and is written by Jesse Q. Sutano.

Mulan is the devoted only daughter of a Chinese businessman. She feels like she's constantly making up for not being a boy, and then when her father falls ill, she goes to extremes to land an account for him.

What follows is a humorous, poignant story that explores gender swap, familial obligations, and, of course, romance.

Sutano avoids what could be a cliche'd retelling and instead modernizes the struggle many daughters in a variety of cultures feel when it comes to expectations. It also looks at both genders' attempts to meet goals they feel set for them by society. And the power of communication.

A really great read.

DNF at 15%

This book was not working for me. I loved the Vera Wong series by this author but this book felt so forced and silly, I just couldn’t continue.

This was really cute and I enjoyed it overall. Very hallmark movie like plot with unfortunately a trope that isn’t my favorite in romances (lying). I would recommend to anyone who enjoys the Mulan movie or is interested in the synopsis. There were parts that didn’t flow as well or didn’t make sense with the characterizations but overall I definitely liked this.

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 was so amazing, it literally had me kicking my feet. While this is a modern spin on the movie you can definitely feel the essence of the movie and the message of the troubles women have working in male dominated industries. This book was so amazing and I can't wait to read more books from this author.

This was part of the Amazon series of fairytale retelling amd this was the authors version of Milan. I’m a fan of her work, and while this was no “Aunties” book, it was still a fun and quick read .
Mulan works for her father’s company and when he has a heart attack and has to miss an important meeting with a potential merger client, Mulan steps in to take over. How does she do this? By pretending to be her father, in name inky, as they don’t know he’s a man, and she works to impress the client and get the merger done.
Once she is entrenched in the merger, she finds herself attracted to a member of the other family and romance ensues. I would have liked to see a bit more chemistry between them as their first intimate moment felt kind of sudden. But that may just be me.
If you like insta-love, Chinese culture and a headstrong FMC this is the book for you.
Thanks to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Worth Fighting For is the fifth book in the Meant To Be series and a modern Mulan retelling. I had mixed feelings about this one. I loved the sentiment behind the story and what it clearly meant to the author. The way iconic scenes from the movie were seamlessly integrated into a contemporary setting was one of the highlights. Mulan’s personality was what I expected. It didn’t surprise me that she altered her name for the Lis, but it did stretch believability that they fell for it considering her dad is the managing partner and owner of the firm. Also with how involved Shang was in social media, it was hard to believe he didn’t know who she was.

The part I struggled with most was Shang’s character. He was really underdeveloped. While I appreciated that he wasn’t as blatantly misogynistic as the rest of his family, we never got to see his leadership in action or feel his passion for Wutai Gold, his family’s high-end whiskey company. Mushu was a firecracker and I had mixed feelings about her. I loved how loyal and supportive she was to Mulan, but she could be a bit too out there at times. The ranch portion of the story was easily my favorite. It brought out everyone’s personalities and felt the most engaging. Unfortunately, the ending didn’t work for me. Too much happened too fast, it felt rushed and anticlimactic, and then it just abruptly stopped. I’m curious to see what the next retelling in this series will be!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q. Sutanto is a first person-POV contemporary romance retelling of Disney’s Mulan. Mulan works at the same finance company as her father, Zhou, battling finance bros every day as they belittle her knowledge despite her high credentials. When her father is hospitalized, Mulan not only takes over his attempted acquisition of a family-owned whiskey company, she also pretends to be him with the goal of finishing the job. What she’s not expecting is to fall for Shang, the company CEO.

I feel like the first thing that has to be discussed is specifically gender and Queerness. For many people, Mulan is a Nonbinary/Trans icon and was something of a Queer awakening and in recent years, Shang has become more and more of a Bisexual icon as his attraction to Mulan when she’s posing as Ping is hinted at in the film. In this adaptation, Shang is not Bi and Mulan is not Enby. However, we do still get explorations of gender in regards to sexism in America and China. Mulan rubs up against the more traditionalist values in Shang’s family regarding women and Shang himself does not subscribe to gender essentialism and even bucks against it by enjoying feminist fantasy (like The Water Outlaws by S. L. Huang) and cooking and takes no issue in serving people at the family table. There is a lot going on in the book around gender and being of Asian descent, it’s just not what some people might be hoping for.

This is more on the humorous side compared to some of the other books in the series. Mulan is not sent to a training camp for soldiers but instead has to prove she’s her father by pretending to be knowledgeable about farm life. The situation and Mushu, who is Mulan’s cousin here, help to create the more humorous aspects and provide a way for Mulan to spend time with Shang. It is not a ‘city girl falls in love with the countryside’ type of story, but Mulan does grow a sense of appreciation for the countryside, which is pretty cool considering it gives her more perspective on her father’s childhood.

Shang and Mulan’s romance arc has some of the same hurdles of identity and Shang not believing Mulan has it in her that the movies do. It’s Mulan proving that she can do it and is a lot more resourceful and tough than she’s given credit for that help create the shift. I’m very glad that’s in there because it is such a cornerstone of their relationship no matter how understanding or kind Shang might be in a less stressful situation than a war. Their relationship is enhanced by Shang’s disregard for traditional gender roles and Mulan’s own ambitions, creating some parallels to the film.

I would recommend this to fans of the original film who want an exploration of sexism in modern society and readers of romance who are looking for a female lead who doesn’t want to abandon her career

-Mulan Retelling
-Insta-Love
-Forbidden Romance
-Workplace Romance
-City Girl in the Country

Worth Fighting For is the next in the Meant to Be series and is a modern take on Mulan. Mulan is 27 and works for her father's private equity firm that is looking to buy a whiskey company, Wutai Gold, which is owned by Shang's family. Wutai Gold is a very "traditional" business which is controlled by the men in the family. Right before Mulan's father is to meet with Wutai Gold, he has a heart attack and ends up in the hospital. All of the correspondence Mulan's father had with Wutai Gold up to that point had been via email, so Mulan takes her father's identity and meets with them in hopes of winning them over.

My anxiety was on high alert through most of the book, waiting for the family to figure out that the Zhou they were meeting with was really Mulan and the Zhou they had emailed with was her father. When they got to the Li family ranch, I thought for sure the lies would catch up with her. I enjoyed this part of the book the most. It was a little like slap-stick comedy watching Mulan, a born and bred city girl, try and fake it as a farm girl and ending up falling into manure on multiple occasions.

What fell short for me, unfortunately, was the romance. The relationship between Mulan and Shang was very insta-love, there wasn't much of a build-up, just a few conversations and one night in a tent (only sleeping, get your head out of the gutter). Then they were together and in love. I liked them together, but just wasn't feeling tension and connection.

There were a lot of characters (a majority are Shang's family) and it became hard to keep them all straight. I started to just put them in buckets in my mind as "generic misogynistic Uncle", "generic Auntie", etc.

At times, the book felt a little cheesy and the multiple lines directly from the movie felt out of place and forced. It gave off bad fan-fic vibes, which is a turn off for me personally. Not a bad retelling overall, but not my favorite in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is now one of my favorite Disney retellings! Mulan’s is my favorite princess story, and I thought the author did a great job keeping the main elements of her story while bringing it into a modern world. The ‘working in a male dominated field’ aspect was honestly perfect, and all of the trials she went through on the ranch were hilarious. Mushu might be my favorite character for her comedic relief and constant positivity, just like in the original Disney story! Thank you to Hyperion Avenue for an early copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the ARC of this booK! All opinions are my own.
Worth Fighting For is a modern Mulan retelling about a high powered woman working in finance and the CEO of the company she is trying to acquire for her father. When they start to grow closer, she finds herself tangled in more lies then she might be able to untangle.
I LOVED this book so much! First off, if you are woman who is or has worked in finance please read this book. I related so much to the things that Mulan had to deal with as far as finance bros go and having to be so assertive in this industry.
On top of that, I love how prevalent Chinese culture and food was prevalent in this book. It was so interested to learn more about their culture and to see it so prominent in this book. I really love learning about other cultures and this was really interesting to read.
I love Mulan and Shang so much. While this book si all in Mulan's POV, I still fell in love with Shang cause he was so caring and different from the rest of his family. I really adored his relationship with his mother and seeing him and Mulan grow closer.
Jesse Q. Sutanto's writing is also just so amazing and hilarious. I laughed out loud several times while reading this book which always happens in her books.
I would HIGHLY recommend picking this book up when it comes out as it was such an amazing read and I loved it so much.

4.5 stars - I think this is my favorite of the Meant to Be series and I've never even seen the full Mulan movie! Jesse Q. Sutanto was perfect author for this book. She weaves in the family and culture so well, just like in her Auntie books. Mulan is amazing - strong, brave, creative and taking on a male dominated industry. Through it all she finds herself and also love. Mushu is the best side character! I love where her journey goes too and need a book about her!! Read this book!!

I was so excited for a retelling of Mulan, one of my favorite Disney movies and one that has a lot of interesting potential for adaptation, and have enjoyed Jesse Q. Sutanto's writing in the past. Unfortunately, though, Worth Fighting For fell a bit flat for me. Resetting Mulan in the misogynistic world of finance worked well enough to set up the gender dynamics and conflicts of the original story, but the instalove added to a lack of tension and the characters - especially Mulan herself - felt underdeveloped.

Releases: 6/3/2025

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the ARC!

This is for alllll the little girls (and guys) that whipped a broomstick around their living room to recreate the ‘I’ll Make a Man Out of You’ (aka a musical masterpiece) choreography!!! No..?? Just me and my sister???

I absolutely adored this but as you can probably see from above, that may be partially due to a personal bias. This was my intro to Jesse Q. Sutanto and I will DEFINITELY be picking up her other books after this!

I loved the topic of gender norms that was woven into the story, especially since it fits so well with the essence of the original. I also really enjoyed seeing the perspective of how these gender norms are dealt with in modern times in Chinese and Chinese-American families. I also loved the inclusion of the immigrant representation!

My only complaint was how long the secret was kept from Shang, I think this doesn’t really make sense in a real world and modern perspective. Howeverrrr, I do think with a retelling you’re dealt these difficulties when trying to modernize them but simultaneously stay true to the source material. Especially since, in the Disney version, obviously Mulan would be executed if she ever admitted her lie or was found out so it automatically adds such high stakes that make sense with keeping a lie for as long as possible or no matter what happens between her and Shang. I think this is a lottt more difficult to replicate in a modern world but the author tried her best to relate this aspect of the story!

Favorite Quote:
““My fellow immigrant families,” he says again, softly this time. “You are all so strong,” he murmurs to the crowd in general. “I forgot what real strength is. This”—he gestures to the ballroom of women—“is real strength.”

I really enjoyed this retelling of Mulan. I loved the update and the corporate banking world. The characters were enjoyable and the pacing good.