Reviews with content warning for Miscarriage - The Sword of Kaigen

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The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

153 reviews

santaniello's review

Long technical battle scenes are not for me. I want to know more about Misaki and her past and the family dynamics… but the fighting was boring.

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ayoung720's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

An amazing book full of heartbreak, tragedy, spirit, magic, and hope... I could not recommend this book enough. The characters are well-developed, allowing the reader to understand the motives and flaws of each of them, and while 95% of the action takes place on a single peninsula in a single village, the wider world feels fully realized. Many fantasy tropes are inverted on their head through and I can't wait to read more from Wang!

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redroobs's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

beautiful, engaging, heart wrenching, deeply moving, sad, lovely, hopeful, inspiring, epic, incredibly written. brb never…sobbing.

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baksaydora's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

3.5

I have mixed feelings about this book, there were somr things that I liked and some that I don't.
Positives:
-The characters: Misaki: a mother and an older character, Mamoru: her young teenage son
-The second half of the plot
-The writing: i could easily visualize it like a movie, even the fight scenes
-The themes: oppression, propaganda, the brutalities of war etc.
--I liked the open ending, though it's not for everyone
Negatives:
-There were too much foreign words: it didn't deepen the world, just became a hassle to go to the glossary and read it over and over again. This made reading it rather difficult sometimes.
-Some of the characters had similar names to each other.
-Sexism: it did not come off as offensive, but it was so prevalent in some scenes, that I wanted to throw the book into a wall, and I had to calm myself down.
-The pacing: the first part of the book nothing much happened only infodumps, but the second half picked up fast, and this made it feel like these were 2 books in one.

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ialoneblue's review against another edition

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4.75

I admit I was a little nervous that won't like it as much as others but I was wrong. Really enjoyed this story. I got pulled in very early and found it hard to stop reading. It was hard to predict how the story would play out at least in the first half of the book which was exciting but a little after that point it was easier to see the direction it was heading. I wasn't expecting to be hit with so much emotions at certain points as well but againi think the way the characters were written still allowed you to get close to them. It slows down a bit closer to the end but overall loved the direction, the pace and characters. The author didn't sugarcoat the heavier topics pertaining to women and the expectations in a society this takes place in so be mindful of triggers going into this.

A favorite of the year and in general.

didn't think I would react so strongly to mamoru but I loved his character and would've loved to see him flourish beyond this

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thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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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

4.75

Context:

I used my free Kindle Unlimited trial to finally get around to reading The Sword of Kaigen, which has been on my TBR for a couple of years now. In case you were confused like I was, this book is a STANDALONE—I confused Wang’s recent standalone Blood Over Bright Haven for a sequel.

Review:

Whew! I did not know what I was getting into with this book. I’m someone who enjoys my fantasy on the lighter side with moments of darkness rather than books that feature a lot of violence and trauma. Needless to say, I was not prepared for the sheer amount of violence and emotional devastation that lay in store for me in The Sword of Kaigen. Despite not being exactly my cup of tea in this regard, this book is one of the best fantasy novels I’ve ever read. I have so many good things to say about it, so I’m going to make a bulleted list to make sure I touch on everything.

· The writing is incredibly cinematic. I could easily visualize everything that happens in this book, to the point where making it into a movie out would be redundant. I felt this to be true even for the action scenes, which I normally struggle to visualize in fantasy stories. Typically, I find them boring and confusing. However, Wang is a master of writing exciting, comprehensible, high-stakes action, which is a good thing because this book is chock full of action scenes!

· Holy cow, this book is full of some of the best-written characters I’ve read in a fantasy book. All of the characters—from the side characters to the protagonists—are complex, interesting, and believable. Every story beat with these characters is earned, making for a phenomenally emotional story.

· The pacing and organization of The Sword of Kaigen is flawless. Every story beat occurs exactly when it is most effective. Wang seems to have an intuitive grasp for how long each scene should last; nothing feels rushed or glossed over, but at no point does the story drag.

· The worldbuilding takes a familiar structure of elemental magic (very similar to that found in Avatar: The Last Airbender) but adapts it in a unique and original way that combines traditional elements of Japanese culture with modern technology.

· The Sword of Kaigen provides an emotionally cathartic exploration into themes of family, loyalty, honor, and grief. It damn near emotionally destroyed me in the process, but if that’s something you like in a book, you should definitely pick this one up.

· This book manages to explore feminist themes and create strong female characters without falling into traps of preachiness, shallowness, or stereotypes. It shows rather than tells, something so many modern books with feminist themes fail to do.

If I had one criticism of The Sword of Kaigen, it’s that it rather clumsily handles elements the racial dynamics in its world. For example, the substitution of white people for positions of subjugation that BIPOC people often face is insensitive at best. At other points, the book has its characters spout rhetoric of racial/blood supremacy without fully pushing back against these inherently racist concepts. (The same can be said for the characters’ problematic ideas about pregnancy/miscarriage). I was able to overlook these missteps for the most part because they do not seem malicious and play a minor role in the plot. That being said, I hope Wang learned from this book and does better in the future.

In sum, The Sword of Kaigen is a masterpiece of fantasy and storytelling. I would recommend it to anyone who feels prepared to handle the book’s immense amount of violence and pain.

The Run-Down:

You will probably like The Sword of Kaigen if . . .

· You want an incredible character-driven story led by an immensely strong—yet complex— female protagonist

· You find family dynamics and motherhood to be interesting themes in fantasy novels

· You like well-written, creative, and exciting action scenes

· You love elemental magic systems

· You want a fantasy book that combines ancient customs and beliefs with modern technology

· You want a book that will emotionally destroy you and then build you back up

You might not like The Sword of Kaigen if . . .

· You don’t have a strong stomach for violence or the host of other heavy topics present in this book

· You want a book that will take you across many different locations in its world

· You don’t like morally gray protaganists

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ddnreads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

How am I going to continue my reading challenge without dreading the downhill experience bcs how am I going to TOP THIS BOOK HOWWWWW

It's always a high fantasy with the most intense family drama and romance. Gut-wrenching beautifully written plot. It's a story of valuing tradition and power, a griefing mother, and undoubtedly angst romance. Women empowerment and community care.

I love it so much. I cried with it. I healed with it. This is awesome end of the story.

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takarakei's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

3.25

I had been looking forward to reading this book for so long because everyone raved about it... As I do with most books I read, I went in knowing very little: basically that it was loosely based on Japanese history/culture (apparently feudal Japan specifically). In my opinion, even if I had read the blurb for this book prior to reading I think I still would have had incorrect expectations going in.

Unfortunately I felt like I read 3 different books that felt a bit disjointed.

The first ~1/3 of this book is fantastic - good world building and character introductions, multiple povs to round out the perspective, very cool magic and I thought we were being set up for such a cool adventure.
The second ~1/3 was one long battle/war scene. This is maybe a "me" thing because typically battle scenes are really not my favorite thing to read, but this went on FOREVER. Even with the magic being super cool to read, at some point I was just really over reading about it and it felt rather repetitive.
The deaths in this section also felt mostly like for shock value to me
The last ~1/3 after this battle the book took a sudden turn into a super character driven not-plot where we just follow the aftermath of the battle where they are rebuilding this town and it was honestly boring. As my friend said "the culmination of this epic fantasy is….logging and building a school….."
ALSO I HATED the Takeru redemption "arc" cause it's not an arc, it was a complete 180 out of nowhere with no build up and sorry I do not sympathize with him! His character development was not nuanced enough for me to care, and in the end he was still doing dumb things. IMO if Takeru had been explained to be mainly just distant/cold but not outright abusive to Misaki/the children this change would have made more sense.

I guess I just didn't expect to literally not leave this one small town the entire book (Misaki's flashbacks do not count imo). The men in this book were all incredibly insufferable and useless. Misaki was also a bit frustrating to read at times because while I can understand why she entered into this marriage based on societal expectations, I cannot understand how she became a completely different person for 15 years.

After finishing I did some research and realized this book was written as a prequel to a YA series this author wrote that I guess holds the more conclusive ending to the empire etc??? But that made this read not like a completed standalone because at the end I still had a lot of questions about how things in this world would get resolved.

The audiobook narrator mispronounces words which was very irksome as someone who speaks some Japanese. These are not words that were made up by the author, but real Japanese words that were being used in their original context. I found actually the narration was inconsistent with some pronunciation.

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bookswithangeli's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense slow-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? No

5.0

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yesirea's review against another edition

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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

5.0

This book made me feel emotions that I never imagined that I would have ever felt from a book. I had to take some breaks while reading this because I was crying too much. With such evocative writing, I love this book with my whole heart.

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