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adin_21's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
BEST MC EVER!!!!! Love her :)
mitskacir's review against another edition
2.0
This book started out pretty strong, bur it quickly got bogged down, and without much plot I couldn't wait for it to end. There were several "mysteries" that were presented early in the book, few of which got resolved - I assume they do in the subsequent books, which I will not read. Characters' motivations were thoroughly (over)explained by the author, yet still felt unconvincing. Most of the relationships between characters felt indifferent, despite being told otherwise in the text. The magic system's rules were not explained beyond "take some drugs to activate," "chat with some gods in the pantheon," and "eventually you go crazy." I think the world had a lot of promise, but unfortunately the execution did not work for me.
emily_boyes's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
izzcharles's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bethanyschmitz13's review against another edition
4.0
Rin was orphaned as an infant. Her foster parents want to marry her off to a grotesque human being. Instead, she takes a test to get into the country’s most prestigious military academy, where she starts to figure out just who she is.
What a wild ride. I was invested from the first chapter. It’s got humor, thrill and emotion. A lot of war/military/lore but never slow and always kept my attention.
What a wild ride. I was invested from the first chapter. It’s got humor, thrill and emotion. A lot of war/military/lore but never slow and always kept my attention.
persachilles's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
i had to sit with this book for a while just to take it in. absolutely devestatingly perfect. rin's character arc is insane and i can't wait to read the rest of the series to see how far she goes. everything felt so real to me that sometimes it was hard to read because of how horrific some scenes were, but it was completely worth it. i will never get over this book
nini_reads26's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
I prepared myself before I picked up this book. When I read The Sword of Kaigen it says The Poppy War meets The Last Airbender. But still I'm not prepared for what's happened😭 running to read book 2😭
asaph95's review against another edition
4.0
3.75* rating
- Writing: 3/5
- Plot: 4/5
- Characters: 2/5
- Overall enjoyment 4/5
I didn't know how to rate this book because it took me ages to get through it. It lost my interest about halfway through but I was determined to finish it and I'm glad I did.
It's taken me a while to get my thoughts in order for this book but I'm finally ready.
CONS
* Worldbuilding - Or the lack of worldbuilding rather. The setting was vague, I don't really know or understand what the world looks like, there was a lack of atmosphere and ambience and that made it difficult to get lost in. The infodumps in this book. Oh my god. There were pages and pages of textbook-like paragraphs trying to explain things and it was awful to read. It didn't blend in nicely with the writing or the story, it was just like reading a textbook.
* Our lovely MC - No. I just did not like her at all. She was impulsive and annoying. She was literally the whiniest brat I've ever had the privilege of reading about.
* Characters - Hi, nice to meet you random-ass characters that disappear halfway through the book and hello new characters we know NOTHING about but are supposed to care for??? Excuse me, Ms Kuang please can we have some backstories for the characters so we can actually give a shit about them? Thanks :)
* Pacing - The pacing was all over the place. The first section of the book was good, the school setting was interesting but then we jump a few years into a war and it's like what the hell just happened?! Weird.
PROS
* The story itself - I really enjoyed the story, I enjoyed reading about the battles. I enjoyed how fucking dark it was. It made me feeeeel and I enjoyed that.
* Where the story is going - I'm interested in where it's going. I like that there's a blurring of morals and that we may possibly be following a villain.
Overall, I had a lot of issues with this book but for some reason I just really enjoyed it despite these issues. I can't put my finger on it, but I rate my overall enjoyment higher than worldbuilding or character development. If the worldbuilding sucks, then I'll just come up with my own in place of it. If the characters suck, then usually I'll DNF that shit but in this case, I'll let Kuang off as it's her first book and I'm hoping that there's some character development and backstories in the sequels. That being said, I think Rin has had an incredible arc in this book and I like where she's going. She's annoying and whiny but she's also a savage and I like that.
- Writing: 3/5
- Plot: 4/5
- Characters: 2/5
- Overall enjoyment 4/5
I didn't know how to rate this book because it took me ages to get through it. It lost my interest about halfway through but I was determined to finish it and I'm glad I did.
It's taken me a while to get my thoughts in order for this book but I'm finally ready.
CONS
* Worldbuilding - Or the lack of worldbuilding rather. The setting was vague, I don't really know or understand what the world looks like, there was a lack of atmosphere and ambience and that made it difficult to get lost in. The infodumps in this book. Oh my god. There were pages and pages of textbook-like paragraphs trying to explain things and it was awful to read. It didn't blend in nicely with the writing or the story, it was just like reading a textbook.
* Our lovely MC - No. I just did not like her at all. She was impulsive and annoying. She was literally the whiniest brat I've ever had the privilege of reading about.
* Characters - Hi, nice to meet you random-ass characters that disappear halfway through the book and hello new characters we know NOTHING about but are supposed to care for??? Excuse me, Ms Kuang please can we have some backstories for the characters so we can actually give a shit about them? Thanks :)
* Pacing - The pacing was all over the place. The first section of the book was good, the school setting was interesting but then we jump a few years into a war and it's like what the hell just happened?! Weird.
PROS
* The story itself - I really enjoyed the story, I enjoyed reading about the battles. I enjoyed how fucking dark it was. It made me feeeeel and I enjoyed that.
* Where the story is going - I'm interested in where it's going. I like that there's a blurring of morals and that we may possibly be following a villain.
Overall, I had a lot of issues with this book but for some reason I just really enjoyed it despite these issues. I can't put my finger on it, but I rate my overall enjoyment higher than worldbuilding or character development. If the worldbuilding sucks, then I'll just come up with my own in place of it. If the characters suck, then usually I'll DNF that shit but in this case, I'll let Kuang off as it's her first book and I'm hoping that there's some character development and backstories in the sequels. That being said, I think Rin has had an incredible arc in this book and I like where she's going. She's annoying and whiny but she's also a savage and I like that.