Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

259 reviews

notacartoonyet's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Rape, and War

januaryt123's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and War

ourlamp's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Suicide

Minor: Homophobia and Kidnapping

wayward_flowers's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

"Most strong things are rigid. If you are water, you can shift to fit any mold and freeze yourself strong. You can be strong in any shape. You can be anything."

This was one of the most devastatingly beautiful books I've ever read. It was everything.
The story at its core is about the struggle of such immense grief and unbearable loss but the ability to survive through it all with love and hope.

The impact of the author's words were profound and so beautiful..The characters and their journeys, their relationships with each other..I'm utterly speechless..

I want to hold on to this book-this world and it's chatcters- and never let go..I'm in excruciating pain because of this book.. yet I loved it so dearly 

Wholeness, she had learned, was not the absence of pain but the ability to hold it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Grief, and War

Moderate: Rape and Suicide

jartone93's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

rae_bookmarkchronicles's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

I'm surprised that I enjoyed this as much as I did. I didn't really care for Mamoru or Tekeru but I love Misaki.

Even though I didn't care for Mamoru, I am sad that know one knows that he was able to master the Whispering Blade.. And Misaki talking to his corpse hit me hard.
As for Tekeru, I'm glad Miskai fought him. I don't think that it would have been that simple for him to make such a drastic change but I liked the ending

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and War

Moderate: Rape

beckahh_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

I am so glad I finally picked this up! M.L. Wang's writing is incredible, and I would happily read more in this world (after I recover from all the emotional trauma of the SoK...). I knew this was going to be a brutal book, but I don't think I could have really predicted how brutal it would be. The journey these characters go on both personally and as a group is written so well. Reading this with a book club made me stop and think about what the characters were going through more than I would have if I was reading it by myself, and it was so interesting to see the similarities to both my own life/experiences, and to the world and political climate around me. The trauma the characters go through and the subsequent healing and growth was written in a way that didn't seemed forced or hurried, but felt very realistic and true to the characters nature. Overall would definitely recommend if you're prepared for some trauma and pain 😅

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, and War

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

fairynanook's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

3.75

Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of reading this book. I'll go into more specifics of what I did and didn't like below, but that will have spoilers. If you like the fantasy genre in general, I do think you should give the book a read.


What I liked: The book is well written. The world building is fantastic. The genre is not one I am super familiar with, but I did not feel confused while reading it. I liked the diversity and complexity of the characters, even the ones I didn't really "like". 

[This book is from the POV of a woman living in a very traditional society...one where she isn't allowed to question her husband or men, isn't allowed to do some of the things she greatly enjoyed doing, is in an unloving arranged marriage, is only valued for the male children she gives birth to, etc. Wang writes about it in a complex, respectful way that I believe is meant to help readers understand it in some ways. It was challenging to read it, but again, still something I appreciated.

]

What I didn't like: The pacing of this novel struggled quite a bit, especially at the beginning. I stuck with it because I knew this going in.

[Plot wise, I really, really didn't like the way the author killed off a main character. We open the book with Momoru and his POV. We spend a good part of the first half of the book with him. Then he just dies and we're expected to spend the rest of the book with his mom and one chapter with his dad. It didn't work for me. Child death and main character death is always going to be a hard sell for me and Wang 100% didn't sell me on the necessity of it. I almost DNFd the book because of this choice. And I would never pick up a book knowing the author made this sort of choice...killing off the voice of a main POV character mid-book. It was incredibly jarring as a reader. If he needed to die, then the book should not have been written from his brain. Likewise, it felt like Wang was trying to sell to people who are not from the tradition, the idea that the extreme patriarchal ideals of the society of our main character, are not actually oppressive to women. But I don't think she achieved it. I felt oppressed for half the book, on behalf of the main character, as she watched tragedy after tragedy befall her without having a voice. Yes, she got one in the end, but I still just had trouble with it. And then the whole plot with Robin at the end felt forced and weird.

]

Overall, I think this is a very worthwhile and at times, challenging read despite some of my issues with it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia

kitsune42's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book emotionally wrecked me. The only reason it isn't 5-stars is that the last 15% of the book was clearly setting up follow-up books that will not be written.  If the book was edited to remove those unanswered questions the ending would be so much more satisfying.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and War

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

aplpaca's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide