Flame in the Mist

Renee Ahdieh

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Year Released: 2017

Date Read: September 24, 2018

Genre: Fantasy, Retelling, Romance

Grade: 3 Stars/ C

“Hattori Mariko was not just any girl. She was more.”

-Renee Ahdieh

Flame in the mist is a Japanese retelling of Mulan. Mariko’s father is giving Mariko to the emperor’s son to marry because as a girl, it is the only way Mariko can help him, in his eyes. On her way to meet her future husband, her group is attacked by a group known as the Black Clan, killing everyone but her. Mariko escapes and knows that if there is a time to prove to her family that she is worth more than marriage, now is the time. Mariko dresses as a boy and makes her way into the Black Clan’s to find out why, and possibly get revenge, but she finds out it’s not easy to see people as villains when you start to get to know them.

I absolutely love Mulan. I think Mulan is one of the best movies Disney has ever produced, and I know that Disney did not come up with the story of Mulan, but it’s the famous retelling everyone knows and it’s the one I know. I know it’s wrong to compare this book to the movie, but I want to compare it in this way, because I feel it’s something that a book should have. One of the best thing about Mulan, was the characters. They main group of characters had major characteristics and were not bland. Shang, was someone who the viewers were able to see through right away from him talking to other characters. He was warned that he was being watched and if he failed it would reflect not on him, but his family. Because of this, he forced himself to come off as hard, *cue I’ll make a man out of you*. But from the beginning we already know that’s not his character. That he isn’t a hardass, he is just being pushed to not fail. He is a side character, but he is not just his title, he had almost just as much character develop as Mulan. Mulan is big for the female empowering, because it’s characters brought it to life. There was so much to them that they made an impact. This is something every book should do, and that’s why I will compare that aspect to the movie. The movie did the characters beautifully, and the beginning of the this book did too, which gave it so much potential, but the ending ruined it. Throughout the whole part where Mariko was a boy, I was in love with this book. It was the movie Mulan, but it wasn’t. It was darker, the characters were their own, the story was its own version of Mulan. It was Mulan, but in it’s own way, she made the story hers. Mariko’s character was incomparable to Mulan, because she was so different, but she was just as great, but well get into her later. The build of the characters were great. That was the best of Mulan, watching the characters create bonds with each other, and the bonds getting so deep that no one truly cared that she was a women, and it’s sad that’s where this book messed up. I was so in love with this book up until the part where Mariko is found out. The second that happened, it ruined the whole book for me. The characters from that moment of stopped growing, they were all rushed, I know nothing about Ranmaru besides that he is the leader, his love interest, and something else I can’t say, but I will say that this part doesn’t even really matter because it was mentioned and not expanded on. I will get into all of it more in the cons, especially the romance, but even though I hated the last, i did like the beginning so I will talk about those moments in the pros.

 

Pros

• Mariko. As I said above, Mariko is a beautiful remodel of Mulan. Mariko has the same principal of Mulan, where she wants to be seen as more than just a women, but the thoughts and approach are very different, and that’s the beauty of Mariko. There is a part where Mariko basically says that she hates being a women, but within that, it’s actually deeper. Mariko hated being a women, because of what she’s been told women can and can’t do. Her brother is this amazing samurai, but she is valued as nothing more than a bride to sell. Everyone refuses to see her as anything more, so she hates being a women because those thoughts have tainted her into thinking she will never amount to anything more than a bride. It’s not that she hates being a women, it’s that she hates the views of what a women is. Mairko is not a physical fighter, she is not a warrior like Mulan, but she is a fighter. She doesn’t see it, but in all of her actions she is fighting the mold. One line in this book hit me harder then it probably did most, but I could tell the author put it in because of how strong the line was. When Mariko cuts off her hair the author writes, “Later she would marvel at how she did not hesitate. Not ever for an instant” I read this line and stopped reading. I just stared at it because of how perfect this line was. I completely understood it. To a lot of people, cutting your hair is nothing. They do it and it doesn’t matter, but for other people, the thought of cutting your hair is like someone stealing part of you. As someone who has always been praised on their long hair, and how it’s so feminine, I deeply connected with what Mariko meant by this. To everyone else Mariko’s own worth is being a beautiful women, and one of the traits of being a ‘beautiful women’ is long hair(not that I agree, I think there are many women with short hair that are gorgeous.) The long hair becomes part of who you are, and I’m aware this seems shallow, that’s the point. It’s just hair, nothing more, yet it’s something that has so much thought put into it. It can define a person. I personally could not cut my hair unless it’s dire, and that’s what happened with Mariko. Her thoughts were so overcome with survival and proving something that she didn’t think about it, she just cut it off. That’s something she would never done. This part was Mariko saying goodbye to the girl who was nothing more than a bride, and hello to the Mariko who is so much more. It’s the little things like this that made Mariko so good. It’s terrible to say cutting your hair is brave, because it isn’t, it’s the symbol of it the was brave. Mariko is doing something that will change her whole life, and she didn’t think twice about it. The hair is basically a symbol, the same as it was when Mulan stared at her reflection as she wiped off her makeup and cut off her hair. It’s a symbol of willing to change and do something more.
• One of the best parts of Mulan was how the men influenced Mulan, and also how she influenced them. It’s happens in this book to. Mariko is very logical, which most people don’t think is strength. (Like Ren when he says, “Knowledge feeds no one. Nor does it win any wars.” It most definitely does. Wars are won through war tactician, and traps have been used to catch animals for a long time. Knowledge feeds people, and wins wars all the time. I do not understand…) Okami, and a few others, teach her that logic can be strength, you just need to learn how to use it as so. They teach Mariko that she doesn’t have to physically fight to be strong. Now Mariko’s influence on them isn’t as strong. She just helps them make weapons. She doesn’t really change their minds about women like the movie of Mulan because Okami states that it never mattered to him in the first place, but I like it still. It just shows Mariko that there was men who were capable of seeing women as something more in the first place.
• The Japanese culture. I’m not Japanese so I can’t say she did perfect, I wouldn’t know, but from what I know about Japan, she did good. I’ve always loved learning about other cultures. I think it’s something everyone should do. It’s just as important to learn about other people’s cultures as it is to learn about your own. The author used Japanese words, she stuck to Japanese traditions, she knew what seppuku was and when it’s done. It’s clear she studied before writing, which means a lot. She knew that the family name came before their first name, she knew the correct titles to put on the ends of names, she used Yokai and used them correctly. She could of not put the titles like sama and chan, after the names, but because she did it made it seem so much more accurate. Like I said, I can’t speak for a Japanese person and say this is matches perfectly to Japaneses culture. What I know is for anime,( I know that sounds sad and anime is not an accurate depiction of Japan, I learned little things, like the titles that go with people names, and how their schools works, watching anime does not mean you know Japan), and some of the things I either looked up on my own to learn more, or watched videos of people who live in Japan talking about it. I’m not an expert on Japan, so I can’t say that it’s accurate, but from what I know, It’s does a good job.

 

Cons

 

• The romance. I love romance. I don’t read a lot of books that don’t have some form of romance. I like reading about the bonds people form as they get to know each other, and that’s very important in romance. This book was setting up for an ok romance, but it definitely one of the worse I’ve read, and I hate that because I know this author can write really good romance, I’ve read it, but I hated this one, for one main reason. It was so rushed. The attraction between the characters were so slow building, which is good, but then out of nowhere they were kissing and in love with each other, it made no sense. It really didn’t. I even read a review that talked about how the romance made no sense before I read it. I thought they were exaggerating, but they weren’t. I liked Okami and their relationship could of been good, if it didn’t just randomly happen. One second Okami is suspicious and doesn’t trust Mariko, the next they are kissing, WHAT?!? How does this make any sense. There was no transition. I would rather there had been no romance.
• The whole second half of the book was rushed. All the characters but Mariko lost any importance and didn’t develop. The beginning was so good, but the ending was so bad to me. I hate saying that. I don’t like saying that it felt like the author didn’t put a lot of work into it, but that part felt like that. Maybe it’s just what she wanted, and if it is, that’s great, it’s your book, you write the story you want to hear, don’t write it for anyone else but you, I just thought it was rushed. All the characters were all in the process of developing and after Mariko is found out, the development goes in the trash. Ranmaru became literally nothing. Maybe she had a page or word limit so she couldn’t expand on them more, I don’t know. I feel like if the book was longer she would of been able to make the characters better, which would of made the story better, and I might have even really liked it.
• I didn’t like reading the multiple perspectives. A lot of time multiple perspectives can be iffy. I write a lot using it so I understand the appeal of it, and I understood why she used it. It was important to see what Kenshin and the Emperor’s side was doing, but they were just boring compared to Mariko’s side. I didn’t enjoy reading them. I found myself just skimming their chapters towards the end because my mind couldn’t focus on them

“The only power any man has over you is the power you give him.” 
― Renee Ahdieh

I wanted to read this book as soon as I found out it was a Mulan retelling. It made it better when I saw it was done by Renee Ahdieh. I loved The Wrath & The Dawn series, which I believe is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, which is another one of my favorites fairy tales. She had done it so well, I loved her characters, the romance, all of it. I was excited to see her bring another fairy tale to life like she did that one, but I didn’t like this one at all compared to The Wrath & The Dawn. If you want to see Renee Ahdieh’s potential then read those. I’ve read many Beauty and the Beast retellings, but I think her’s is the best. This is the only Mulan retelling i’ve read and I didn’t like it. I don’t think it does Mulan justice. I know I keep saying it, but I really loved the first half. The first half was so good, it held so much potential. Part of me wishes I never read the second half so I would of loved this book. I can’t say I recommend this book to anyone. If you want to read any of Renee Ahdieh’s work I do recommend The Wrath & The Dawn. This book also doesn’t change my opinion on her. Not all of an author’s works are great and hits. If she puts out another series, I will still most likely give it a try. This one was just a miss for me and I don’t see myself reading the second one, which I hate. I wish I could read it, but it wouldn’t entertain me so I don’t see myself reading it.

 

“Be as swift as the wind. As silent as the forest. As fierce as fire. As unshakable as the mountains.”

-Renee Ahdieh

VS.

“Tranquil as a forest… We must be as swift as a coursing river. (Be a man) with all of the force of a great typhoon. (Be a man) With all of the strength of a raging fire. 

-Mulan, I’ll Make A Man Out Of You

I had to. I love the song. It matched so perfectly that I hoped she did it because of the song. Plus Shang is the best Disney love interest, no one tops him.