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tsuharesu's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
When I think about Misaki, her development, and everything that she goes through and how she leaves "the other side", I think this book is 5 stars. It was the first book I read with a mother's perspective on things, and I quite enjoyed it!
But when thinking about it from a plot perspective, it was strange for me to have a slice of life type of book. Maybe because I'm not used to it, maybe because I wanted to know more about this universe, maybe something was just not that detailed and explained. I got this feeling that I wanted more. So it would be more like 4 stars.
And then, some things that happened I didn't see coming! Apart from the storyline, which I'm not going to spoil, but I think both parts that got me "what?!" was when they talked casually about the characters using cell phones, and when their powers were shown for the first time.
But when thinking about it from a plot perspective, it was strange for me to have a slice of life type of book. Maybe because I'm not used to it, maybe because I wanted to know more about this universe, maybe something was just not that detailed and explained. I got this feeling that I wanted more. So it would be more like 4 stars.
And then, some things that happened I didn't see coming! Apart from the storyline, which I'm not going to spoil, but I think both parts that got me "what?!" was when they talked casually about the characters using cell phones, and when their powers were shown for the first time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Child death
mikaylamarie's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
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 is peak fantasy. Every single review I have seen for this book sings its praises, for the world building, the magic system, the sheer amount of dark and heavy themes that are tackled within it, and done so beautifully. I struggle to find the right words to describe just how amazing this book is, as well as how hard it it to understand the impact this story left on me.
Misaki is a 34 year old mom of four. She gave up a life with her sword to marry and have children, but she finds that she doesn't really know who she is or what her purpose in life has become. Her oldest son Mamaru is 14, he is incredibly powerful and yet he struggles with having to live up to his peoples' expectations, and later on with what it really means to protect what you care about. An outside war is gaining on them as things start to fall apart, and when it does, it is heartbreaking.
This book has the same vibes as Avatar the Last Airbender, both in the incredible displays of power through the elements, but in the heart of people wanting to do the right things and protect their people.
It's just so good, and I cannot recommend it enough. Although be prepared to be angry, confused, heartbroken, sad, angry again, and then at peace.
Misaki is a 34 year old mom of four. She gave up a life with her sword to marry and have children, but she finds that she doesn't really know who she is or what her purpose in life has become. Her oldest son Mamaru is 14, he is incredibly powerful and yet he struggles with having to live up to his peoples' expectations, and later on with what it really means to protect what you care about. An outside war is gaining on them as things start to fall apart, and when it does, it is heartbreaking.
This book has the same vibes as Avatar the Last Airbender, both in the incredible displays of power through the elements, but in the heart of people wanting to do the right things and protect their people.
It's just so good, and I cannot recommend it enough. Although be prepared to be angry, confused, heartbroken, sad, angry again, and then at peace.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Violence, Child death, Miscarriage, Death, Grief, War, and Blood
Moderate: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Rape
andrew_corduroy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
Absolutely fantastic. An excellent exploration of such a wide range of emotions and experiences; from honor and understanding to grief, shame, perseverance and love. I’ve read some bangers so far this year but none have moved me quite like The Sword of Kaigen.
Admittedly there are some interesting stylistic choices like: italics for languages other than the local dialect (there are several), flashbacks where they don’t quite fit with the tone of the previous chapter(s), and a single POV chapter from one of the main characters at about the 70% mark and not giving the character another POV for the rest of the book.
However, despite these choices I found the book engrossing and didn’t feel like my attention was being whipped about too much. I highly recommend reading this.
Admittedly there are some interesting stylistic choices like:
However, despite these choices I found the book engrossing and didn’t feel like my attention was being whipped about too much. I highly recommend reading this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Sexism, Miscarriage, and War
Minor: Racism, Rape, Physical abuse, and Suicide
ellenisntcool's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
DNF 53%
Technically this is a DNF, but I’m giving it one star anyway as I did read a lot of it and honestly would still give it that rating if I ever finished it.
At first I was genuinely enjoying myself, I liked Misaki but Mamoru was the character I really wanted the focus to be on or I wanted them both to work together as a mother and son duo! They both have their different strengths and character that would have worked if we saw more of Mamorubut instead he had to die halfway through ruining it for me as I was hoping for him to see the outside world.
My other issue is the formatting as well. It confused me when the dialogue was written with italics as I genuinely thought that was how the whole book would be written, thankfully it wasn’t (for the most part) but it was jarring and a bit too confusing.
Overall, I do wish I could finish this book but it would be a slog and not worth it when I have other books I could enjoy.
Technically this is a DNF, but I’m giving it one star anyway as I did read a lot of it and honestly would still give it that rating if I ever finished it.
At first I was genuinely enjoying myself, I liked Misaki but Mamoru was the character I really wanted the focus to be on or I wanted them both to work together as a mother and son duo! They both have their different strengths and character that would have worked if we saw more of Mamoru
My other issue is the formatting as well. It confused me when the dialogue was written with italics as I genuinely thought that was how the whole book would be written, thankfully it wasn’t (for the most part) but it was jarring and a bit too confusing.
Overall, I do wish I could finish this book but it would be a slog and not worth it when I have other books I could enjoy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Sexism, Death, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Medical trauma
mfeustel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Rape, Violence, War, Sexism, and Sexual violence
rikuson1's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I Really Liked It 😃
-★★★★✬- (4.25/5.00)
My Grading Letter Score = 85% (A-)
The Sword of Kaigen was a very good book. This book was hyped up a lot by many people, and almost the entirety of the book, I completely understand why that is the case. I had a blast reading this for basically all of the book and was fully engaged and hooked. I had my very small gripes here and there, like a certain little kid taking out a full grown adult (even if it was a sneak attack from behind) or another certain inexperienced kid that went from struggling to take out yellow robes to taking them out at ease in an extremely short amount of time and then getting in a stalemate with a black robe who was hyped up to be a ridiculous powerful veteran warrior. I was willing to forgive these issues I personally had because everything around it was so well realized, well written and amazing. But then the longest and final chapter occurred...
The final chapter I enjoyed, don't get me wrong. But the chapter before it and going into this one it did feel like they were trying to setup new mysteries and plots to the overarching story which when we got to the end, seemingly lead to something inconclusive on our end as the reader. Additionally, one of the main conflicts of this story, which was in regards to the Emperor and the corruption of Kaigen also is a plot point that is inconclusive, and that bothers me from a critical standpoint.
It seems like this story definitely wanted to be a character driven story primarily, and in that regard, it was satisifying and conclusive. But then it was also wanted to flesh out its worldbuilding in a way that seemed like there was more to come from the book, and the same thing can be said about it's cultures and magic system. There's so many regions on the world map that are lightly mentioned but did not amount to anything in this very character focused story in the Kaigen Region. And even when it comes to Kaigen, when you name your book the name of the Region it takes place in and it's a stand alone that does not resolve the main driving conflict that leads to all of these horrors throughout the story within Kaigen, maybe one can understand why it could reach a feeling to me that feels incomplete, unsatisfying, lacking poetic justice solution and inconclusive for the region the book is named after.
If we focus on the strengths of this book, it shines through heavily. The characterization, character development, impactful/emotional moments, and action scenes were all some of the best I've read ever and why it remains in the realms of a 4 star book off those accolades alone and those deserve all of it's praise.
Verdict
Sword of Kaigen is praised at being this phenomenal stand-alone book, but I disagree with that statement. If this was a Book 1 to a series of books to come, then this would be a phenomenal book 1 and I would have probably given it a 5 star going off of that notion that there is more to come but as far as we know right now this is all we are getting.
If the author announces she will be continuing this with a sequel then I might actually come back and retroactively change my rating but seeing as those she's dropped her other series this one was a side novel to, I'm not holding my breath on that nor am I currently interested in her new novel Blood over Bright Haven regardless of how amazing that might be.
Nonetheless, even with the extremely disappointing conclusion, I can't deny that everything that led up to it is sublime and excellent. I thought this would go down as the best fantasy novel I read this year, but that isn't the case.
Nonetheless, it's still a very good book that I'd still recommend to others.
I Really Liked It.
-★★★★✬- (4.25/5.00)
My Grading Letter Score = 85% (A-)
The Sword of Kaigen was a very good book. This book was hyped up a lot by many people, and almost the entirety of the book, I completely understand why that is the case. I had a blast reading this for basically all of the book and was fully engaged and hooked. I had my very small gripes here and there, like a certain little kid taking out a full grown adult (even if it was a sneak attack from behind) or another certain inexperienced kid that went from struggling to take out yellow robes to taking them out at ease in an extremely short amount of time and then getting in a stalemate with a black robe who was hyped up to be a ridiculous powerful veteran warrior. I was willing to forgive these issues I personally had because everything around it was so well realized, well written and amazing. But then the longest and final chapter occurred...
The final chapter I enjoyed, don't get me wrong. But the chapter before it and going into this one it did feel like they were trying to setup new mysteries and plots to the overarching story which when we got to the end, seemingly lead to something inconclusive on our end as the reader. Additionally, one of the main conflicts of this story, which was in regards to the Emperor and the corruption of Kaigen also is a plot point that is inconclusive, and that bothers me from a critical standpoint.
It seems like this story definitely wanted to be a character driven story primarily, and in that regard, it was satisifying and conclusive. But then it was also wanted to flesh out its worldbuilding in a way that seemed like there was more to come from the book, and the same thing can be said about it's cultures and magic system. There's so many regions on the world map that are lightly mentioned but did not amount to anything in this very character focused story in the Kaigen Region. And even when it comes to Kaigen, when you name your book the name of the Region it takes place in and it's a stand alone that does not resolve the main driving conflict that leads to all of these horrors throughout the story within Kaigen, maybe one can understand why it could reach a feeling to me that feels incomplete, unsatisfying, lacking poetic justice solution and inconclusive for the region the book is named after.
If we focus on the strengths of this book, it shines through heavily. The characterization, character development, impactful/emotional moments, and action scenes were all some of the best I've read ever and why it remains in the realms of a 4 star book off those accolades alone and those deserve all of it's praise.
Verdict
Sword of Kaigen is praised at being this phenomenal stand-alone book, but I disagree with that statement. If this was a Book 1 to a series of books to come, then this would be a phenomenal book 1 and I would have probably given it a 5 star going off of that notion that there is more to come but as far as we know right now this is all we are getting.
If the author announces she will be continuing this with a sequel then I might actually come back and retroactively change my rating but seeing as those she's dropped her other series this one was a side novel to, I'm not holding my breath on that nor am I currently interested in her new novel Blood over Bright Haven regardless of how amazing that might be.
Nonetheless, even with the extremely disappointing conclusion, I can't deny that everything that led up to it is sublime and excellent. I thought this would go down as the best fantasy novel I read this year, but that isn't the case.
Nonetheless, it's still a very good book that I'd still recommend to others.
I Really Liked It.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Miscarriage, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Racism, Rape, War, Death, Child death, Classism, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Pregnancy
sokkaspoon's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
I went into this book really expecting this to be a 5 star read for me. It's basically ATLA in feudal Japan so I should have loved it However, it really missed the mark for me. It has some impressive world building and some very moving emotional scenes and great action scenes, but it has some massive pacing and info dumping problems.
There were so many moments where I was just so bored, either because there was a section of info dumping or the characters are doing the most boring stuff like talking about cleaning (and not in an engaging way tbh). Along the lines of pacing, there would be some great/moving/exciting scenes and then the next scene is the characters moving on and talking about boring stuff. Not only is that a pacing problem, but it made me feel like the characters actually don't react to these tramutic things that are happening.For example, after Marmoru dies, they basically just move onto another scene. His death obviously effects the other characters when they find out, but I feel as a reader that I didnt get to sit woth that death really at all before the autor moved on. Also I felt like I was being told how Misaki felt all the time, i.e. being told that she's sad about Marmoru, but I'm not being shown how she feels. I know she lives in a more reserved society, but her lack of response made me feel like she didn't actually care a ton about her son's death, even though that's what Wang is telling me.
Everything after Misaki and Takeru's duel was sooo slow and boring. (Speaking of the duel, it was cool as hell, but felt like it came out of nowhere. I had to go back to the previous chapter to see if I missed something. Also felt like Wang was trying ro get me to like Takeru with this dual, but there was no way in hell that was gonna happen). Why is Robin there? Hello?? Also Misaki should have absolutely taken her kids and left Takeru and Kaigen behind.
Going back to the world building: it's rather impressive, especially all the elemental magic(Hell yeah, ice dragon!) , but this book really gets bogged down in the details. Hense the info dumping. Wang clearly did a lot of work on the world, but we didn't need all of it on the page. It also is part of why the pacing is so off. If she wanted to include this info, I think she could have added an appendix for readers who were interested in the history, etc. However, the info dumpy world building as it is honestly often gets in the way of the plot moving forward. Also, again, this is Samurai ATLA, which I think on a baseline the audience for this book would already be familiar with those two things, so it feels like some of the details could have really been left out.
This is also a very nitpicky thing, but I hated how Wang used diffent terms for time. Like I get it, they're on a different planet. Time isn't the same. But it felt so arbitrary and made it unessarily confusing when reading. Just use seconds, minutes, hours, etc.
I started out reading the physical book and about 100 pages in i ended up switching to the audio book because I was quite bored and having a hard time engaging with the book. I think I probably would have DNFd the book had i not switched over to audio. And even then, there were a few times that I thought about not finishing, but the emotional and action scenes kept me going and interested. So if you want to read this book, I will would just recommend the audio.
I think this book could have really been about 300-400 pages long and told the same story more efficiently and effectively.
Another thing. Despite what the other has said, this absolutely not a standalone. The story is not remotely complete in this book.
Overall, I think this book has some really good parts, but is overall a mess. If this every moves into trad publishing, I hope it gets a major editing pass.
I feel like I'm being gaslit by all the 5 star reviews lol
There were so many moments where I was just so bored, either because there was a section of info dumping or the characters are doing the most boring stuff like talking about cleaning (and not in an engaging way tbh). Along the lines of pacing, there would be some great/moving/exciting scenes and then the next scene is the characters moving on and talking about boring stuff. Not only is that a pacing problem, but it made me feel like the characters actually don't react to these tramutic things that are happening.
Everything after Misaki and Takeru's duel was sooo slow and boring. (Speaking of the duel, it was cool as hell, but felt like it came out of nowhere. I had to go back to the previous chapter to see if I missed something. Also felt like Wang was trying ro get me to like Takeru with this dual, but there was no way in hell that was gonna happen). Why is Robin there? Hello?? Also Misaki should have absolutely taken her kids and left Takeru and Kaigen behind.
Going back to the world building: it's rather impressive, especially all the elemental magic
This is also a very nitpicky thing, but I hated how Wang used diffent terms for time. Like I get it, they're on a different planet. Time isn't the same. But it felt so arbitrary and made it unessarily confusing when reading. Just use seconds, minutes, hours, etc.
I started out reading the physical book and about 100 pages in i ended up switching to the audio book because I was quite bored and having a hard time engaging with the book. I think I probably would have DNFd the book had i not switched over to audio. And even then, there were a few times that I thought about not finishing, but the emotional and action scenes kept me going and interested. So if you want to read this book, I will would just recommend the audio.
I think this book could have really been about 300-400 pages long and told the same story more efficiently and effectively.
Another thing. Despite what the other has said, this absolutely not a standalone. The story is not remotely complete in this book.
Overall, I think this book has some really good parts, but is overall a mess. If this every moves into trad publishing, I hope it gets a major editing pass.
I feel like I'm being gaslit by all the 5 star reviews lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, War, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexism, Suicide, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Rape, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
jec52's review
adventurous
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
The start was a little slow and I didn’t feel so invested in the characters, so defiantly didn’t grip me from the beginning. But this slowly developed and the book became more and more interesting as the characters and the world opened up.
The point of view from just one place in one time was a really nice angle, exploring the world through this lens.
There were some aspects I didn’t particularly enjoy, including very heavy handed scenes (unnatural dialogue) and some just bad writing is some smaller parts.Also, that the relationship between Misaki and Takeru was suddenly fix with one fight was a bit eye rolling.
But overall, I enjoyed the book and would like to explore more of the world in the series.
The point of view from just one place in one time was a really nice angle, exploring the world through this lens.
There were some aspects I didn’t particularly enjoy, including very heavy handed scenes (unnatural dialogue) and some just bad writing is some smaller parts.
But overall, I enjoyed the book and would like to explore more of the world in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child death, and Sexism
Moderate: Miscarriage, War, Child abuse, Rape, Grief, and Domestic abuse
tayindago's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Suicide, Rape, War, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexism
Minor: Grief
frogsreadfantasy's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Death, Misogyny, Murder, and War
Moderate: Rape