Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

18 reviews

purplepink951's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Major character death:

"A decade later, a fifteen-year-old Hiroshi would become known as the youngest swordsman ever to master the Whispering Blade. What the world would never know, was that he was the second youngest."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, War, Child death, and Sexism

Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Rape

Minor: Homophobia

danielleor's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Xenophobia, Suicide, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Pregnancy, Physical abuse, Murder, Miscarriage, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Grief, Genocide, Death, and Child death

moonlitreading_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Violence, and Sexism

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, and War

Minor: Homophobia

purplepentapus's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Alcohol, Kidnapping, and Trafficking

thetuscany's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Rape, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Miscarriage

Minor: Homophobia

genny's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Whew. I thought I knew where this was going

...I fully expected Mamoru to go out into the wider world, a coming-of-age sort of thing where he learns to be critical of power structures and maybe become a vigilante like his mother was

...boy, was I wrong. I still got the commentary on race, politics, etc. that I was looking for, but halfway through the book, something unexpected happened and threw my expectations for the narrative path out the window. I loved where this went, though. The battle scenes were incredible!

The Matsuda Dragon! Mamoru's Whispering Blade! Misaki and Takeru's duel!

I was prepared for the violence in a book about war, but I didn't expect to have such strong feelings for the characters. The emotional journey that Misaki takes is so satisfying. I was holding out hope for the redemption of a certain character, and M. L. Wang delivered

without erasing their accountability or turning it into a cheesy, sudden change of heart. I'm talking about Takeru, of course. I may have melted into a puddle when he and Misaki finally saw each other. Forgive me, the "learning to love" trope gets me every time.

Everything felt intentional; none of the plot twists felt like they were put in there just for shock value.

There were little things that annoyed me. Why keep other "Earth words" like traditional Japanese honorifics but deem our units of time too unbelievable for the setting? I kept consulting the glossary because all the new terms were overwhelming in the beginning, but I did become comfortable enough to rely on context clues eventually. I also got taken aback every time there was a mention of modern technology. It's easy to forget that this isn't set "in the past", Shirojima is just a very traditional village...but that's more of a me problem. I guess I had some sort of bias against visualizing it as a part of the "modern world", even though places like that exist in my own country.

The last chapter was definitely hinting at something more, but I've heard that the Theonite books (taking place in the same setting but with different characters, if I understand correctly) have been discontinued. It may be a strange ending for some, but I'm glad that the Matsudas' story wraps up with a sense of peace.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Racism

Minor: Homophobia

mendthecat's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Rape and Miscarriage

Minor: Homophobia

maggieslibrarycard's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Racism, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Gore, and Blood

Minor: Homophobia and Racial slurs

WOW WAS THIS BOOK GOOD. First, I want to list out some of the major content warnings for the book (there are out of context spoilers here): \ \ \ \ \ \ physical/verbal/emotional abuse, violence/gore, death, death of children, rape, suicide/suicidal ideations \ \ \ \ \ REVIEW/RANT/GUSH: I was so impressed by The Sword of Kaigen. Everything is done incredibly well: character work, world-building, action sequences, the elemental magic system, the prose - I loved it all. This book is certainly not short, but I genuinely never felt bored by it and, if not for pesky things called sleep and school, would have absolutely devoured it in one sitting. M. L. Wang is not afraid to go there in this book - actually probably even a step past there - and it definitely caught me by surprise in many sections. If there was one stand-out feature, it would be the character work. To give specifics would be spoiler-y, but I love M. L. Wang's characterization and depiction of how various characters struggle with their identity, legacy, and guilt throughout the novel, as well as their progression and the healing they seek in themselves and their relationships. The characters felt so real to me, especially in terms of their morality, in a way that very few characters do. They are all very complex, but their moral complexities are not larger than life, they simply are, and I found that refreshing, particularly in a fantasy novel. In particular, her portrayal of Misaki and her growth from a teenager, to the start of the book, to beyond, is so, so superb. The book follows a very interesting structure where what people would consider the climax of the book occupies its middle chunk, not the just-prior-to-the-end chunk, and it worked SO WELL. It allows the latter part of the book to become very character driven, and I think it was integral to portray what happened after *climax which I won't describe in further detail*. This plot structure definitely wouldn't work for every book or author, but it is absolutely perfect in this case. Lastly, I am also just so impressed by the way the author elicits emotion through her writing. It is not a stretch to say that I sobbed through nearly 50% of the book - and I really don't cry that often while reading (there are notable exceptions, clearly). Despite it being a standalone, everything felt so actualized and real in a way many others can't do in full length series. Highly, highly recommend!!!