The Night Ends with Fire
By: K. X. Song
Reviewed by: Melissa Friedlund, Adult Services Specialist
Genre: Fantasy
Suggested Age: Teen, Adult
What is the book about? Meilin is an 18-year-old girl whose father is addicted to opium, an addiction that has consumed his family’s wealth. Now, Meilin is to be married off for a bride price that will save the family’s reputation. However, when Meilin discovers she is to wed a violent older man, she is desperate to escape such a fate. With the Three Kingdoms at war, Meilin’s father, the addict, is supposed to join the army. Instead, Meilin masquerades as an illegitimate son and enlists in her father’s place. Fueled by raw ambition, Meilin desires to excel in her training, but ever since she left home she’s been hearing voices. Well, actually just one voice. Is she going mad? Is this what happened when madness consumed her mother? Or is there a more mystical explanation?
My Review: War. Magic. Romance? This book has all that and more. I didn’t read any reviews or comparisons of this book before listening to the audiobook and I’m glad to have approached it from an unbiased viewpoint. I liked the book for its strong female main character. Meilin is determined to excel at anything and everything...ambitious to a fault! What about that water spirit who grants her powers? He absolutely has an ulterior motive! Things definitely do not end up the way Meilin wants them to…it’s not a fairy tale after all, so I am hoping there will be a sequel.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Epic, Gutsy, Gritty
Give This a Try if You Like…She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan, The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri, Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
Rating: 4/5
