Wild Orchid: A Retelling of "The Ballad of Mulan" (Once upon a Time)

This book was an amazing adventure that my twin daughters adored from page one. Mulan brings out the courage in all of us as we travel through her journey, following her generous heart along the way. Through ups and downs, this book was an exciting story and we enjoyed reading it together.

I’ve been collecting these and this is a retelling of Mulan. Having only the Disney version for comparison I find this book better.

This book was recommended by my daughter's homeschool program. I began reading it myself out of curiousity, and couldn't put it down. Well-written and intriguing, it would interest both boys and girls. Great read. Excellent author!

Storyline - Mulan has only ever wanted to please the father she never knew, the mother so doesn't even know the name of, and to be free to fallow her heart. When one of her wishes come true and finally meets her father, her world forever changes. But just when she is finally getting the chance to know him, the Huns have returned to China and her crippled father is called by the Emperor to fight. Mulan cannot risk loosing him, her only family, again, so she does the only thing she can do to save him. She goes in his place.Personal Opinion - Wild Orchid, a retelling of the Ballad of Mulan, had me hooked every page and couldn't wait to see what happened next. There was a poetic feel to the writing of the story, especially when Mulan was giving some wisdom she learned. It was a light read but the traditions of China were brought in nicely where I got to see the what was appropriate for girls and boys of the time and Mulan's struggle with what she wanted and honoring her family with doing what was expected of her. It did take a while for the story to get to Mulan pretending to be a boy in the emperor's army but the events leading up to it brought me into her struggles of her life. The bad thing about how long it took her going into the army was that the battle and romance happened a little fast. Some author's spend a long time in battle scenes which I don't always like, but this one felt too short because the emphasis of the story of Mulan is that she pretended to be a boy and saved China. Also, she fell in love quickly with her guy but I only got a short time to get to know him. Never read the Ballad of Mulan so I don't know if this is accurate to the original poem or not. The only other thing I had wanted was a pronunciation guide for the Chinese names because I'm sure I slaughtered many of them. But the romance, intrigue, characters, and emotions of the story were wonderful and I will be reading more books by this author.

This book just amazes me. I know different stories of Mulan but this one just brought out more of a girl action. She is brave, honest, head strong, and yet she loves deeply. It's a very good read. You fall in love with Mulan and her story. She becomes what she has always wanted to be.Have a Happily Ever After.

I loved this book! It was so full of feeling and exciting twists and turns! I plan on reading more of Cameron Dokey's books! I would strongly suggest this book for all ages! I just could not put it down! Mulan really has a character lots of people could relate to. Again, I would suggest this book to everyone!

One day I will learn to check the target audience of a book before reading it. I was just super excited to find a retelling of the Ballad of Mulan, so I didn’t read the synopsis or check the length before downloading. And let me tell you, this book is short; it’s a bit over 200 pages, but felt shorter. I read it in less than three hours, and the first half was the best part.Rating: ***Even after adjusting for the target age, The Wild Orchid is still mediocre. It is a pleasant enough read, but suffers from blandness and bad pacing. The first quarter of the book meanders through Mulan’s childhood. Nothing really happens, Mulan learns traditional feminine skills (embroidery, sewing, weaving) as well as masculine skills (archery, riding, writing, etc). We learn the story of Mulan’s parents, their great love, her mother’s death and her father’s absence. When her father returns home, the reader is expecting a confrontation revolving around Mulan’s unladylike habits, but her father accepts this without blinking. He even praises her for it. Of course, Mulan is like no other girl in China, with her skills, but her Father is apparently also like no other Father in China (not that this is mentioned). The next quarter of the book deals with Mulan adjusting to her Father’s presence, and once they are reconciled she almost immediately gains a step mother. Once again, the reader is expecting some sort of conflict, especially after Mulan mentions that she doesn’t see eye to eye with her step mother. However, this conflict is never shown; in the few conversations Mulan has with her step mother they act like great friends.Once Mulan decides to leave for the army, things go even smoother for her. Her father’s old friend, General Yuwen, falls in with her scheme quite easily, as does her childhood friend Li Po. The day of her arrival she meets Prince Jian, and get to display her archery prowess in a friendly match with the Prince. Of course she is able to shoot as well as he does. The next day, she is given command of a contingent archers assigned to guard a critical pass into China. Ostensibly because the men respect her due to her archery skills, and because she was the one to realize the pass could be defended by archers. This is in spite of her age, and her status as a raw recruit. It was at this point that I became truly frustrated with The Wild Orchid. Most of the previous unrealistic portions could be ascribed to the age of the intended audience, but I found this to be ridiculously unbelievable. I could have accepted her assignment to the squad as a regular soldier, I could have accepted her then performing a heroic act that earned her the respect of the soldier and the admiration of the Prince. In fact, the story would not have been that much different if she had not been given command; she doesn’t actually do anything with it. Not withstanding my frustration with Dokey’s apparent lack of military knowledge, the biggest issue of the later half of the book is the length. Mulan goes to war, Mulan meets the Prince Mulan shoots good, Mulan sees how to stop the invasion, Mulan and the Prince have a moment, Mulan comes up with an even better plan to stop the Huns, gets injured in the battle resulting in her exposure as a girl, angsts over the loss of Prince Jian’s trusts, brings honour to her father, meets the emperor and makes up with Jian, all within a 100 pages. I would have been more willing to overlook the flaws of The Wild Orchid if it has just been longer and less rushed.Truthfully, If my hypothetical future 12-year old daughter read this book, I would not be upset. However, I probably would not give it her to read either, as it is just not very well written. Although, maybe she would love it. In which case I would discuss with her the inadvisability of running away to war and pretending to be a boy, and how even though Mulan had good intentions and everything turned out well, she still lied and deceived someone she loved. She was lucky that things turned out so well.

My daughter is reading it for school she’s in 5th grade and she is really liking the book.

This is my favourite retelling of Mulan - while I still enjoy the Disney movie, I like how this story goes into what drives Mulan and gives depth to her character. I do think the cover makes it look a bit like a trashy romance, but it does not take away from the amazing story and its appeal to both girls and boys.

There was some damage to the book and cover when it arrived.