As a Disney enthusiast, I really enjoy this Meant to Be series and Worth Fighting for was not exception. A Mulan reimagining as a contemporary romance, who could want anything better!

First of all, I didn't realize this was a retelling of "Mulan" the Disney movie. I didn't care for the movie, so I knew I really wouldn't care for the book. So unfortunately I DNF at 25%. It started out boring and just continued from there. Mulan works for her father's private equity firm with a bunch of 'finance bros'. It didn't keep my interest. This series didn't pique my interest. Hopefully the next novel will.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for this ARC.

This was my first Meant to Be novel and I really enjoyed it! Look, did I rewatch Mulan more than any other Disney movie? Yes. Was I hesitant about this adaptation because the first few chapters said "finance bro" a lot? Yes. Did reading characters named Mulan and Mushu also throw me? Yes. But by 45 pages into the book I was hooked.

I did not expect there to be a ranch setting for Mulan's attempts to prove her masculinity (note: she doesn't take on the identity of her father, acting as a man, but rather his name and title as the owner of the firm) to the misogynistic uncle and cousin bros who make up part of the Wutain Gold family company. That being said, I love a ranch setting and was thrilled.

Shang's characterization was so good, even recalling and echoing little movements the animated character did (his jaw tightening, for example). I loved that they pushed beyond his background in martial arts and role in the whiskey company to showcase him as a loving son, who isn't afraid to cook and clean/ take care of his surroundings. Closed door romance.

A mark of a great romance for me is that even when I can spot the conflict coming a mile away, I still feel nauseated and upset for the characters.

The novel also echoed key moments in Mulan's relationship with her father and I found myself getting teary.

Such a good novel and Sutano's afterword about how important writing this novel was to her and her family was so lovely and touching.

This is a modern retelling of Mulan, but I was initially drawn to it because of the author!

Mulan works in finance, a traditionally male dominated field, with her dad. When her dad gets sick suddenly in the middle of an important acquisition, it’s up to Mulan to seal the deal. Except the company is a hyper masculine whiskey brand that would never work with a woman. They had been emailing with her dad, and so she has to pretend that it is her they’ve been emailing all along. They think she grew up on a farm, can herd cattle, ride a horse and do all these manly things and she has to prove it when they invite her to their ranch. Shang and his mom are the only ones in the family who do not immediately write her off and give her a chance. Can she prove to the whole family that she has what it takes?

This was a fun story and it was interesting to see the modern twists. The dialogue was funny but also repetitive and immature at times. As a chinese american, I appreciated the cultural representation and pushing against traditional gender norms, although it did feel exaggerated at times too.

4.75 stars

This is by far one of my favorite books of the series. This is a Mulan retelling in modern day San Francisco. Mulan is a finance bro who has to fill in for her father when he becomes ill.

I really enjoyed learning about the Chinese cultural and customs and how hard it is for a woman to grow up in such an environment. My favorite part was auntie talking about the sacrifices they made having to leave their home country and start new in the US. This touched really close to home and demonstrates why we should always read books written by someone who doesn’t look like us.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Disney retelling in modern day, while still talking about being a girl in a Chinese family.

Thank you #netgalley and #HyperionAvenue

1/28/25: I loved the "Aunties" books by Jesse Sutanto, and generally pick up any book she has written, as they are entertaining and fun reads. I was not familiar with the "Meant to Be" series prior to reading Worth Fighting For, but I looked it up and understand it is a series of books written by different authors to modernly interpret or reimagine classic Disney stories. I have to admit, I'm not much of a princess person or follower of Disney, and didn't even know the concept of Mulan! The general gist of Mulan is that a young woman decides to pass as a male to take her father's place in the Chinese Army, and in doing so challenges gender stereotypes.

In Sutanto's book, we have a 20-something female finance VP in her father's investment banking firm in San Francisco. When Mulan's father falls ill, Mulan steps in to oversee the acquisition of an important whiskey brand started by a large Asian family. But the whiskey brand is totally based on a marketing premise of it being a "man's man" whiskey, and Mulan knows that both from both a cultural and business standpoint, the family will never accept a woman leading the acquisition. So, she does a variation of passing for a man in that she takes her father's gender neutral name as her own and acts as managing partner, her father's role.

I love the idea of women competing with finance bros. I love the alliance between Mulan and a key woman at the whiskey company. I love Mulan's friendship with her crazy cousin who also works in the investment firm. I love the last quarter of the book that dials up the action to make the deal happen. But readers, please know that this is 100% a romance novel from start to finish. And to build that storyline up we have to suffer through at least a third of the book dedicated to high jinks Mulan gets herself into at the whiskey company's family ranch, somewhere in California. Mulan petting a cow. Mulan sheering a sheep. Mulan riding a large horse. Mulan losing her tent in the river and having to share with........ Well, I told you it is a romance.

If you like romances and HEA endings, this is a good 5-star! If you like Disney it is also a 5-star. If you're not a fan of romances where the middle is kind of dull and the ending obvious, even when they have a positive message of women succeeding in finance, this is a 3 star. I'll compromise and give it a 4-star.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hyperion Books for a free book in exchange for my honest review.

1/18/25: Just approved by NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. My kids are in college so I did not see the Disney movie Mulan, but understand this is a modern take on it, so will try to learn more context before diving into it. Review coming soon.

I wanted to LOVE this story, but I just could not get into it. I have loved this series so much, and Mulan was one of my all-time favorite Disney movies as a kid, but I just could not find myself getting into the story. It felt like the start was SOOOO slow, but introduced SOOOOO much right from the get-go. I felt myself not being able to keep track of what was happening and where it was happening because it felt like there was just an information dump at the start. I get that the beginning of books tend to start off a bit slow, but I also just couldn't find myself being able to push through. I hope to one day be able to finish this story, but I unfortunately think I may need to revisit this title at another time. For now, I am rating a three until I am able to give it more of a fair rating.

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. My family and I watched Mulan on the the repeat growning up. We had all the lines memorized. When I saw that the Meant to Be Series was doing a Mulan re-telling, I knew I needed to get my hands on this book. If you loved the movie (animated version) this was a grown-up contemporary version. I loved all the Easter eggs from the original movie. Honestly this book is what I wanted the movie to do about the romance between Mulan and Shang. Let’s talk about Shang….he might make my top 10 list of my all time favorite book boyfriends. He was the ultimate green flag. All I was picturing was Captain Shang shirtless with an apron.


Read this book if you like:
✨Fairy tale re telling
✨hidden identity
✨laugh out loud moments (I mean there is Mushu)

Star Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice Rating: 🌶️ fade to black, kisses are sweet not steamy
Language Rating:🤬🤬 (s-word and d word used
Violence Rating: no violence
Content warning: loss of parent (off page), parent with life threatening illness

I will be posting the review on IG closer to the pub date last week of May. I’ll send my IG link.

Overall, this was a fun Mulan reimagining! It started out somewhat boring, but the more I read, the more I got into it. Mulan works for her fathers private equity firm with a bunch of "finance bros". When her father falls ill, Mulan pretends to be him in order to secure a critical acquisition with a traditional whiskey company led by Shang. Mulan and her cousin Mushu visit the company's ranch in order to prove she has what it takes to acquire their company. This is where the banter and romance between Shang and Mulan started and made me want to keep reading. It was also fun to see parts of the original Mulan inserted into the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hyperion Avenue for the ARC!

This is a reimagined version of Mulan where a woman tries to prove her herself as wrong and powerful.

3.5⭐

This is a Mulan retelling set in San Francisco. Mulan is a VP at a finance company her father owns and has to step in for him when he gets sick.

I loved the premise of the story. It was fun to see the pieces Jesse used to keep the Mulan acting as Zhou plot from the movie going here in the book.

So many of the side characters are hilarious. Looking at you Auntie Jiayi and Mushu 😂

The only thing that brings it down for me is the pace. It starts off real slow and isn't until they get back from the Ranch trip that I felt it really picked up.

However if you're a fan of the movie, I think you'll enjoy this cute book.

Thank you NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the ARC!

This was a great modern retelling of Mulan, successfully capturing the theme of women empowerment and struggles in a male-dominated world. I absolutely loved the use of quotes and lyrics from the movie, without being too forced. She nailed this, and it fits perfectly into the Meant To Be series!
Thank you to Hyperion Avenue and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.

I just finished Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q. Sutanto, and wow—what an emotional rollercoaster! This book packs a punch with its heartfelt storytelling, humor, and characters that feel like they could step right off the page.

The romance was beautifully layered, with just the right mix of tension, vulnerability, and moments that made my heart ache in the best way. Jesse Q. Sutanto has a way of making you root for the characters while also throwing in unexpected twists that keep you hooked until the very last page.

If you're looking for a story with love, resilience, and a lot of heart, Worth Fighting For is a must-read. This one will stay with me for a long time!

I enjoyed reading Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q Sutano. I think the author did a great job with the modern take on the classic Mulan story and the humor was on point. I loved finding the little Easter eggs linking the story to the Disney animated movie as well.

There is nothing I love more than a Disney retelling. This Mulan inspired romance was everything I'd it would be. I'm obsessed with this entire series!

This meant to be series just gained another winner! I loved the feminine boss babe energy from start to finish. As perfect as the love story is (I mean Shang is perfect cmon) it almost takes a backseat to the self discovery and growth of every character. Loved it so much and can’t recommend enough

Worth Fighting For is the fifth book in the Meant to Be series, in which different authors are writing modern romance retellings of classic princess stories. I was super excited to hear that Mulan was up next! And then I was a little nervous because Worth Fighting For has one of my least favorite tropes - it starts with a lie about Mulan’s identity (which, duh) that you have to just watch and wait to see it unravel.

Despite this, I really enjoyed Worth Fighting For! Mulan and Mushu (her human cousin in this version) were an entertaining pair and, as in the movie, Mushu continually gets Mulan deeper in trouble while trying to help. Shang is a progressive, feminist sweetheart, and his connection with Mulan is super well written.

A few scenes happened a little two quickly, and the love was a little too instant for my taste, but it was still a great read!

3.5 stars. A retelling of Mulan is a hard task and it gets a bit outlandish…but I love this author and she keeps her signature sense of humor and I knew what I was getting into having read 3 other books in this series. They’re just fun to read.

This book surpassed my expectations on many levels. Mulan is my favorite Disney princess movie, so I was both excited and apprehensive going into reading this book. But I was pleased to find that there was a really good balance between keeping what I loved from the original story, and updating the elements for this new format. I thought Mulan's characterization was really good - Jesse Sutanto did a really good job showing how Mulan handled being in a male-dominated field without being too "girlbossy". That part definitely rang true for me. I also loved Mulan's relationship with her dad, and how much she both loves him and feels uncertain about where she stands with him. My favorite part of the original movie was Mulan's relationship with her father, so I'm really glad that carried over to the book.
I also generally liked the love story, although I do think when you do an adaptation of Mulan, the love story immediately kind of becomes secondary. Mulan's main story just isn't really about finding love as much as some of the other Disney heroines. Don't get me wrong, this book is definitely still a contemporary romance and centers Mulan and Shang's love story much more than the Disney movie, but I would still say the romance is secondary to the main plotline of Mulan trying to accomplish the merger for her father. Still, we do get some nice sweet moments between the two of them.
The experience of being the child of Asian immigrants was very well done - some parts, like the aunties mainly talking about matchmaking, veered into "slightly overdone" territory, but in general, it felt super realistic. Auntie Jiayi was great, I loved that she got some moments to shine at the end. However, it did feel like at some points I was being told rather than "shown" how fun it was to be a part of a big boisterous Asian family. I would have liked to see Mulan have some more positive experiences with the aunties/uncles/cousins. I also felt like using the name Mushu for the cousin/best friend was a little distracting and unnecessary - I just kept thinking of food the entire time. I know Mulan is a legitimate name in Chinese, but I don't think Mushu is. If she'd been given a different name, it would still have been clear to me she's meant to represent Mushu from the movie.
The biggest reason this isn't a full five stars is because there are some moments where you have to stretch to find realism (I know we're talking about a lighthearted romance novel here, and it's not that deep, but it still does feel distracting). Mushu talking Mulan up in general. Mulan confidently trying to shear sheep after just watching a few videos. Mulan heroically enacting a plan together to save the merger by making last-minute changes to a banquet in less than two days. Typical rom com stuff, so again, it's really not that bad, I'm just picky.
But even with all this, I'm super satisfied with this book.

I devoured this. I love the series, and this is a fantastic addition to the series. I want this to be a movie!

The Advanced Review Copy (ARC) was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.