I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the FEATHER AND FLAME by Livia Blackburne Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About Feather and Flame
Title: FEATHER AND FLAME (The Queen’s Council #2)
Author: Livia Blackburne
Pub. Date: June 14, 2022
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Formats: Hardcover, eBook, Audiobook
Pages: 336
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org
Blurb for Feather and Flame
She brought honor on the battlefield. Now comes a new kind of war…
The war is over. Now a renowned hero, Mulan spends her days in her home village, training a militia of female warriors. The peace is a welcome one, and she knows it must be protected.
When Shang arrives with an invitation to the Imperial City, Mulan’s relatively peaceful life is upended once more. The ageing emperor decrees that Mulan will be his heir to the throne. Such unimagined power and responsibility terrifies her, but who can say no to the Emperor?
As Mulan ascends into the halls of power, it becomes clear that not everyone is on her side. Her ministers undermine her, and the Huns sense a weakness in the throne. When hints of treachery appear even amongst those she considers friends, Mulan has no idea whom she can trust.
But the Queen’s Council helps Mulan uncover her true destiny. With renewed strength and the wisdom of those that came before her, Mulan will own her power, save her country, and prove once again that, crown or helmet, she was always meant to lead. This fierce reimagining of the girl who became a warrior blends fairy-tale lore and real history with a Disney twist.
Review
Feather and Flame is the second book in the Queen’s Council series. Each book in this series can be read as a standalone and is by a different author. Each book is a reimagining of our favourite princesses as young rulers off their lands, aided by a mystical group of women called the Queen’s Council, whose job it is to advise queens throughout history.
The book came out on the 14th of June and was published by Disney-Hyperion. It’s a YA novel, but also comes under more specific categories such as retellings, historical fiction and fantasy, and asian literature. This is not Livia Blackburne‘s first book, she’s got a few short stories and 2 series published on amazon, and based on Feather and Flame I’m surprised that she doesn’t have more of a following.
Feather and Flame starts off with Mulan being declared the next emperor of China. She doesn’t believe herself worthy of the role and it doesn’t get any better as the emperor passes away soon after and her advisors pressure her to accept a marriage offer from the huns. When she’s betrayed by men who cannot fathom that a woman can rule, and rule well at that, Mulan has to struggle to reach home and help keep her people safe from another war.
Firstly, Livia Blackburne is a solid writer. When you start reading Feather and Flame you’ll forget the time. Mulan is pretty much everyone’s favourite princess; she’s the one who reminded us that women could be capable of everything at a time when almost every other princess was more passive. If you mess up with Mulan, then I’m pretty sure people will go for blood. But Livia Blackburne was up to the task. Feather and Flame has all the magic from the movie and does justice to her character. Mulan is strong, but she also questions herself, she trusted her advisors but was also quick to pick up on their deception. While her grandmother who guides her, Mulan is capable of taking action and getting things done; of being strategic and tactical, but also kind with those who need it. She’s intelligent, and even though the queens council helps her, there is no doubt that Mulan could have saved China a second time without them.
Once again, I find that the more I like a book, the worse the quality of my review! Long story short, this was a fantastic book and I am so glad I read it!
Although I do have half a mind to take a point off for the lack of a particular character. If you know, you know.
Giveaway
I kinda forgot while typing up my review that there was a giveaway. There is a giveaway. It is US only and involves a finished copy of the book!
About Livia Blackburne:
Livia Blackburne is a New York Times bestselling author who wrote her first novel while researching the neuroscience of reading at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since then, she’s switched to full time writing, which also involves getting into people’s heads but without the help of a three tesla MRI scanner. She is the author of the Midnight Thief, and Rosemarked series, as well as the picture book the Dream of Popo
The Girl Who Reads 
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