Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

46 reviews

readandfindout's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

4.75

I know virtually everyone I've seen read this didn't read the original Theonite books first, but I definitely think it's the way to go! The story connected with me more than it might have without the context of the Theonite series. 

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 5 stars
Plot: 5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gore, Death, Violence, Murder, Child death, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Grief, Misogyny, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Racism and Miscarriage

calmcozycorner'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, War, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Rape, Xenophobia, and Pregnancy

Minor: Kidnapping

alyssasaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, Death, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, War, and Blood

eleonorehilbig's review

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

the story, the characters and their development, the resolution of the story as nearly a third of the book deals with what comes after were handsdown a 5 star read for me. i also absolutely loved how the women were written.

i mean the duel at the end was an absolute masterpiece

however - i absolutely HATE infodumps. pages upon pages of it. we're reading through an actual history lesson that one of the main characters attends ffs. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Murder, and War

cgn's review against another edition

5.0

Wow this was fantastic. I got so immersed into the world and the characters, and I cried three or four separate times, which I don’t think I’ve ever done with a book before. The fight scenes were spectacular, but the characters were what drew me in the most. I can’t wait to get my own copy for my shelves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexism, Grief, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Death of parent, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Child abuse, and War

nightswim78's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-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

I have no words to describe the emotional rollercoaster I experienced over the 8 days I read this. While I think the political messaging is typical of epic fantasy, it feels like a perfect place to start to get into the genre.

Pros: The tenseness of about 40% of the middle was unbelievable and glorious! The worldbuilding was well done and each nation had a distinct culture. The characters were flawed and reveals were made about them at the right moments. The combat scenes were vivid and heart pounding. Grief was handled well and even when it was no longer mentioned on every page, it could be felt underneath the words and actions of the characters.

Cons: The time skip near the end felt as if it occurred one or two scenes too early. It was very sudden. Also, the ending felt as if it was setting up a spin-off sequel for a character due to a conversation that happens.

However, I have not read the rest of the series but I am aware that this takes place at least a decade before the series does and focuses on a character that appears in this as a child. So, whatever I think is mentioned here could happen there.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Child death

Moderate: Misogyny, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, and Racism

Minor: Sexual assault

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

bookishfaye's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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

5.0

Wow I adored this book… This is very much a blend of The Poppy War’s brutality with ATLA’s elemental magic. This book was profound, it had so many quotes that moved me, brought me to tears, made me laugh/smile, or broke my heart in half. I can’t fully comprehend that this is a stand alone novel & this is just it??? I need more of them & gah it was so fricken good. I do feel like the first 150-200 pages got quite info dumpy at times, but boy was the story ever worth it once it got into it!! I was expecting something very different from the ending as well so it’s wild to me that it was left on the note that it was, but I also found it unexpected and beautiful. I really did not know where this book was gonna go at any given moment & it absolutely kept me on my toes & I am obsessed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Blood, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

rachaelarsenault's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

It's hard to put into words how much I loved this book, except that I immediately wished I had the time to go back and binge read the entire thing again. Definitely on my list of books to reread. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Blood, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and War

Moderate: Sexual assault and Suicide

_forestofpages's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, War, Death, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Racism