This is just another example of why retelling of classic stories is gold. Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q. Sutanto is fun! This fake dating turned falling in love telling of Mulan with fianace and family pressure was a great addition to this series by Disney Publication. I am so excited for them to continue this journey or retellings.

Dang it! I was so excited about this book and I just couldn’t get invested. The writing is strong and the point of view is clear.

This was such an interesting way to re-tell a story! I usually struggle with these, but I had been hearing amazing things and I am glad I took the chance. Without giving too much away, Hua Mulan was a good representation of what it feels like being an underrepresented person in the workforce. I felt myself going “YES” repeatedly through the inner monolouge. Mushu was a fun addition, and I love the way she was portrayed. Shang was a good romantic lead- there is growth and understanding. The romance felt a little rushed, but the adventure was fun.

4.0/5.0 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
0.5/5.0 🌶️

Modern Day Mulan and Shang x navigating finding who you are within family and life

Financey-Bro Mulan is trying to help her father acquire Wutai Gold, a family run whiskey company. Enter in the handsome CEO, Shang. Chaos ensues as she and her ever loyal cousin, Mushu, navigate the bumpy road to either success or failure.

This book was cute and an easy read. It did take some time to get into it, which could have been some of the shock factor of Mushu’s character. Mulan’s character growth progressed through the entirety of the book as she discovered who she truly was and recognized what was holding her back: perfection.

Shang’s character acts as a FOIL to Mulan’s. His authenticity around her and the lies/self doubt that surrounds her, helps to break her walls down.

If you want a romance of Mulan and Shang, with havoc along the way, this book is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for the ARC!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is another installment in the Meant to Be series, a reimagining of various Disney movies. This was Sutanto’s take on Mulan. Mulan is one of my favorite Disney movies so I was excited to hear that it would be a part of the series. I think one of the themes that I appreciate about this story is the treatment and view of women in different cultures. This is especially timely as we are seeing women’s rights being systematically dismantled in the US. I loved that Shang got a back story which explained his progressive perspective. His mom was a fantastic character and I loved this iteration of Mushu.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for honest feedback.

This is now my second book in the Meant to Be series. Though I know each book has a different author, I wasn’t expecting the use of the original character names. The other book I read, Tangled Up in You, didn’t use them, so it caught me a little off guard—not in a bad way, just an observation.

While I don’t know the real story of Mulan, the Disney version was one of my favorites growing up. It was the closest I got to seeing someone “like me” (Filipino, not Chinese) in a Disney film, which made it special to me. I did enjoy this retelling, but there were a few plot points that were a bit hard to ignore.

The biggest one for me was how Mulan’s deception went unnoticed for so long. She’s posing as her father, Zhou, in order to meet with potential client Wutai Gold. Zhou has been communicating with them via email for some time. Surely, Wutai Gold would have done their research on the company they were considering working with, meaning they’d know its history—even if they didn’t know what Zhou looked like. And yet, Mulan is 28. Zhou is the founder of the company, which has likely been around longer than she’s been alive. It seems like a pretty big plot hole that no one would immediately realize something didn’t add up.

On top of that, if Mulan was going to go through with this plan, she should have done more research herself. She read up on what it’s like to be a rancher, sure, but there’s a moment when Mushu references something from the email exchange between Shang and Zhou, and Mulan seems surprised by it. Since Mushu is her cousin and therefore on her side, this wasn’t a public moment that exposed her lie—but it still didn’t make sense that she wouldn’t be fully caught up on the correspondence.

There’s also a callback to the Disney version—“why is my reflection someone I don’t know”—that, while a nice homage, felt a little forced.

Beyond that, some of the scene transitions felt abrupt. One example is when Auntie Jiayi asks Mulan to go to the backyard to help Shang with the meats. The very next paragraph jumps straight to dialogue between Mulan and Shang, but there’s no transition—no exposition about her heading outside, no line break to indicate a shift. It just felt jarring.

Also, Mulan must have a ridiculously low tolerance because she was hungover after just two shots of tequila, which felt disingenuous—I certainly wouldn’t be hungover from that!

That said, I really did enjoy the book. It took the classic Disney story and wove in more adult themes without going over the top. There were implications and innuendos but no overly descriptive sex scenes. There was some swearing, but it was minimal. And I really appreciated how understanding Shang was at the end. So often in stories like this, the love interest reacts too strongly to the deception, either refusing to hear an explanation or still being angry even after learning the full context. Here, Shang’s reaction felt refreshingly reasonable.

I always root for a strong female lead, and I wasn’t disappointed. I especially loved how Mulan and Auntie Jiayi teamed up to save the day—at a Women’s Entrepreneurship event, no less. Uncle Hong’s obsession with keeping the whiskey company masculine made more sense later on, but his treatment of the women in the family was still frustratingly outdated.

It took me longer to finish this book, but that had nothing to do with the story itself—I started it during a particularly stressful and busy time at work and just didn’t have as much time to read as I would have liked.

Overall, while there were some bumps in the execution, I enjoyed this retelling and appreciated its balance between nostalgia and fresh storytelling.

So first, I would like to thank NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book. I absolutely loved it!! I honestly love this entire series. This is only the third book in the series that I’ve read so far, but it is my second favorite. I had a lot of high hopes for this one because Mulan is one of my top five Disney princesses. Hence, I love her, and I feel that there aren’t enough retellings about her. So, I was very excited to hear about this one and then I had the opportunity to read it early- just the icing on the cake! I loved it from start to finish. I found myself smiling throughout the entire book. I will say there were a lot of modern references, but it wasn’t that bad, just wasn't expecting them. If you know Mulan's story, then you know that she was going to have to in a way pretend to be a man and that was going to be a big secret which would leave a big reveal. Honestly, the big real for me was like stressing me out because I knew it would be bad, but I didn’t know the extent of what would happen. I also like how we see the appearance of Mushu. She was lovely. I loved how she and Mulan are best friends and she is by her side through everything. I also love this because I feel like in comparison to the movie Shang, the book Shang has a softer side. I love that you get to know his family as well. Mulan's family is trying to work with his family and that dynamic was interesting and fun. I loved all the aunties; they were hilarious! They just added so much more. The epilogue was also very cute, but and it left me wanting more because I just love Mulan and Shang!

This book was SO good! I loved the Mulan retelling in a modern story! I couldn’t put it down and was left in suspense even when I knew the outcome of Mulan. The characters were so real and lovable and Mushu was hilarious. I will definitely be reading more books by this author.

I have loved the series “Meant to Be” so far! I really enjoy retellings of Disney stories. Hoping this series continues. Worth Fighting For is a contemporary romance reimagining of Mulan set in the Bay Area amongst finance bros. This was a super interesting retelling. I really enjoyed the message of women struggling in both male-dominated business industries and more traditional family dynamics. Mushu was my favorite character- she was hilarious. Shang and Mulan were also portrayed very well, each challenging traditional gender roles. The only things I didn’t like were the insta-love aspect of this romance and the uneven pacing (specifically the sudden rushed ending). Overall, I would give this book 4 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for providing me with an eARC of Worth Fighting For ahead of its release in June 2025. Here are my honest thoughts:

I absolutely adored Jesse Sutanto’s Dial A For Aunties, so I was really excited to dive into this new release! The premise immediately caught my attention, especially because my favorite Disney princess is Mulan. A modern-day retelling seemed like it had so much potential.

However, while I loved the idea behind it, the execution fell a bit short for me. I found the characters didn’t quite live up to my expectations, though I did appreciate the bond between Mulan and Mushu. As someone who works closely in finance, I also struggled with the portrayal of Mulan as a “finance bro.” It just didn’t feel authentic to me. I found myself putting the book down several times, and ultimately, I decided to DNF it around 28%. I do hope the final version will have some edits that improve the pacing and character development, as the concept is still one I’m passionate about.

Thank you to the author and publisher for an ARC copy

Modern Mulan retelling? Sign me up.
Whiskey manufacturers & “finance bros” - I can’t say I saw this coming but I am obsessed.

Jesse Q. Sutanto has become one of my favorite authors. If she writes it I’m going to want to read it. This book was no different. I loved the characters well most of them. The family dynamics is always good for a little giggle. You can’t get away with anything with aunties around!

I read this right after reading Tangled Up in You and I found that this book was much harder to get through.

“Worth Fighting For” had potential as a Mulan retelling, but it didn’t quite work for me. It felt too tied to the Disney movie, lacking fresh twists to keep me engaged. The romance between Mulan and Shang fell flat—without any real spark, I struggled to stay invested. The large cast of family members was a bit overwhelming, and I wished for a deeper exploration of Chinese family dynamics and culture. Ultimately, I found myself uninterested in what happened next and decided to stop reading at 33%.

Mulan is my favorite Disney princess and movie, so l immediately requested this. Now as a huge Mulan lover I had a lot of expectations and concerns going into this. I was worried in the first 10% of the book because I did find it a bit underwhelming. However, it quickly picked up and it was really fun ride. I loved the women empowerment and cultural aspects of the story. I also enjoyed this modern version of Shang. He was very cute and golden retriever-like. Mulan and her inner dialogue was hilarious and relatable. Their romance was simple and sweet. Mushu was a fun as well, she was definitely giving Awkwafina vibes but I loved it.

Overall, this a nice and charming retelling that doesn't take itself too seriously. Although at times cringey and a bit of a rushed ending, I still feel this delivered. If you are looking for a light, fast-paced story, with relatable funny moments then this book is for you!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hyperion Avenue for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was really excited to read this book since it was a mulan retelling. I wasn’t very interested in the story so it was hard for me to personally finish. I am excited to look for other novels by this author.

It's an attempt at retelling Mulan in the cutthroat world of corporate finance. I specifically requested this book since Mulan is one of my favorite strong female characters growing up. The Mulan in this book is pretty much how I envision Mulan in the modern world, personality-wise. I had to DNF this as I wasn't that much invested and I also found Mushu annoying when he was one of the reasons why I loved the films.

This was a tough book to rate for me. It's my first entry into the "Meant to Be" world and a first read of Jesse Q. Sutanto so I can't speak on either things as far as how Worth Fighting For ranks on the authors previous works or series additions. After the first page that has a subtle "Pride and Prejudice' style opening, I almost quit reading the book. The slang and overt telling style of the writing made me crazy. Mushu as a female didn't bother me, what bothered me was how she spoke. Maybe I'm old now and boring but I hated it and didn't feel like it flowed well. Once we actually got about 25% in the story did get better but not enough to salvage it form my POV.

Mulan is a hardworking woman, and Shang, "I'm not like my family because I'm the only feminist" didn't sell me on their romance either, it felt pretty instantaneous.

I will say Mulan finding herself was nice after all of her masquerade.

Ultimately maybe 2.75/3stars.

Thanks Netgalley and Hyperion for opportunity to read and review.

This is my first Jesse Sutanto book and I really liked it! Honestly I wasn't sure how you would go about modernizing the story of Mulan and Shang, but this translated over to our time so seamlessly! I always wanted to see more of what a relationship between the two of them would look like, and this was exactly what I needed!

I struggled to get into the storyline at first, but it did pick up once the overall premise was set. I loved Shang's character in this book, and really appreciated the theme of parental expectations, something that reaches across cultures. Mulan's process of attempting to separate her true self from equating her identity to her work personality and her parent's expectations of their only child is extremely relatable. I thought the system of conflict resolution came across very realistic instead of one apology making everything okay and enjoyed the solution.

It's a very cute read and makes me want to read more from Jesse Sutanto!

I had a really hard time getting into this. I only made it just over half way through before it got due to be removed from my shelf. This really surprised me because the premise of the story I liked. I'm hoping maybe I can get more into an audio version of it when that comes out.