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takarakei's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Death, Violence, and Child death
Moderate: Rape, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Suicide, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Xenophobia, Racism, Colonisation, Homophobia, and Slavery
zeldazonks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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
4.5
An incredible book, I cried 3 times reading this. I have to admit that it ever so slightly lost me towards the end, I also would be so up for this to be a series so I'm gutted that I won't get more. The writing was beautiful, the journey we go on with the characters is so good (especially Mamoru) and the lore/world building was just amazing. I spent 75% of this book convinced it would be a 5* read but I do have a few gripes:
1) for some reason the very specific way that Misaki's extra curricular activities (trying to avoid spoilers) are written felt really incongruous with everything else and were kind of cringe to me. The superhero vibes were just jarring.
2) I on the whole didn't mind the redemption arc of the husband, I spent a lot of the book waiting for it to happen because otherwise he would have been so cartoonishly villainous, but I think Misaki was very quick to forgive a specific incident involving Mamoru.
3) I don't know if it's because it was meant to be a series and then plans changed, but there's so much set up for plot lines for future books and so the end kind of lagged for me compared to how incredible the first 2/3 of the book were.
Having said that, the first 2/3 were so good, that I still loved it.
1) for some reason the very specific way that Misaki's extra curricular activities (trying to avoid spoilers) are written felt really incongruous with everything else and were kind of cringe to me. The superhero vibes were just jarring.
2) I on the whole didn't mind the redemption arc of the husband, I spent a lot of the book waiting for it to happen because otherwise he would have been so cartoonishly villainous, but I think Misaki was very quick to forgive a specific incident involving Mamoru.
3) I don't know if it's because it was meant to be a series and then plans changed, but there's so much set up for plot lines for future books and so the end kind of lagged for me compared to how incredible the first 2/3 of the book were.
Having said that, the first 2/3 were so good, that I still loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Gore, Death, Torture, Grief, Violence, Rape, Pregnancy, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Child abuse and Sexism
Minor: Homophobia
ghostyreadsy's review
adventurous
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, War, and Suicide
Moderate: Classism, Death, Xenophobia, Racism, Sexism, and Child death
Minor: Child abuse, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
pistachiolatte's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
4.25
La premisa de este libro no puede ser mas tentadora: poderes elementales al estilo Avatar the Last Airbender, combinado con Ciudad de Jade, con una escenografía que recuerda a las películas de samurais de Zhang Yimou.
Combina esos elementos de manera muy solvente, en un mundo con sus propias religiones, política, continentes... todo muy bien construido. La narración es en tercera persona desde el punto de vista de diferentes personajes, mi favorita. Es un libro character-driven (no suceden muchas cosas, hay acción pero no es su foco, se centra en los personajes ). Para mi, sus mayores defectos son su ritmo irregular (arranca muy fuerte y en la segunda mitad se estanca) y los cabos sueltos/información a medias que deja.
En resumen, si la premisa te atrae, dale una oportunidad. Está muy bien escrito y se agradece una novela única de fantasía en lugar de una serie de +3 volúmenes.
Dicho esto voy a entrar a detallar más, para los que ya lo hemos leído.
Por poner un ejemplo, todo el tema del secuestrador de niños para formar un ejercito se queda en el aire. Robin y Misaki hablan al final sobre una conversación que ella debería tener con Hiroshi (nunca llega). Empezamos el libro con Kwang Chul-Hee siendo MUY relevante y a mitad literalmente no se le vuelve a mencionar.
También pensaba que rechazaban la ayuda del emperador como primer paso de una venganza/revolucion por Takayubi, pero tampoco llega nunca. Quiero decir, es el punto principal del libro y no se hace nada al respecto. Está claro que en la guerra no todo son victorias épicas, pero se supone que sois los mejores luchadores del mundo y esenciales para el continente y casi os exterminan sin que os quejéis. :(
La extensión de los episodios también se me ha hecho algo pesada e irregular. Además, se usa mucho vocabulario exclusivo de este libro, lo cual interrumpe mucho la lectura para revisar el glosario, especialmente al inicio, cuando no estás familiarizado aún.
Pese a estas cosas, el libro me ha gustado mucho. Para empezar, el autor se ha arriesgado a la hora de desarrollar la historia. Por ejemplo, los de aire en esta historia son los malos, en lugar de los de fuego COMO SIEMPRE. Además, en una historia mas inmadura la relación de Robin y Misaki seguramente se hubiera llevado de manera muy distinta, con huidas a caballo al atardecer y cosas asi. Me ha encantado como se trata la reconstrucción de su relación con Takeru.
De hecho, ha sido muy refrescante leer a una protagonista de +30 años en lugar de a una niñata de 17. Me ha encantado toooodo el arco de Mamoru. Me ha encantado la magia de este mundo, las habilidades de cada personaje, la escenografía de montañas nevadas.
Siento que voy a recordar este libro con cariño, porque pese a sus defectos consigue que retengas esta historia, como si hubieras estado allí.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, War, Abortion, Suicide, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Xenophobia, Rape, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Slavery
arirs's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The Sword of Kaigan was such a joy to read. Right from the beginning I was captivated by the amazing world and characters. The pacing was great and I loved all the action but the most satisfying part for me was the incredible character development. The story was gut-wrenching and it is a heavy read but the author does give the reader some hope within all the bad and ugly which I loved as I think it is relatable to a lot of people to succumb to helplessness but Misaki shows us that despite all the darkness and tragedy you can still find light and happiness. The only reason I am not giving it a full 5 stars is because I felt the ending was slightly rushed but that may have also been me just not wanting it to end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Sexism, Misogyny, Suicide, Infertility, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Death, War, Grief, Child death, and Child abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape
Minor: Xenophobia and Kidnapping
pensandpicks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, War, Rape, Grief, Violence, Sexual violence, and Suicide
Moderate: Racism and Xenophobia
bettysbookishworld's review against another edition
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
I loved this book so much! It was a huge emotional rollercoaster and my heart broke for too many characters. Misaki's journey and character development through out the book was brilliant and felt very personal.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Sexism, War, Child death, Misogyny, and Rape
Moderate: Suicide, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Xenophobia, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy
errie's review against another edition
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, War, Blood, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Child abuse, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury
theravenkingx's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
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? No
4.75
Alert!! Alert !! Book fam, I have discovered a new favorite author: M.L Wang. My two most favorite books of this year are written by her. I am so looking forward to reading more of her books whenever they are available. She is so good!!!!
When it is too much to be a man, I am the mountain
Sword of Kaigen is a masterpiece of fantasy literature. The author creates vivid scenes, powerful emotions and exquisite prose. She immerses the reader in a world of magic, war and family. It's an emotional roller coaster ride. This book is so cinematic, it's unfortunate that Netflix hasn't picked this up for an adaptation yet.
I can praise this book and author forever but I can't deny the fact this book may not appeal to all readers because it focuses more on the characters than the plot. The book consists of three parts: the first part introduces the world, the second part contains most of the action, and the final part deals with the consequences and aftermath of war.
She had broken like black glass and ice—jagged and more dangerous than ever.
The ending leaves us with more questions than answers. I learned that there is another book that follows Sword of Kaigen, but it was published before. The last chapter, which is the longest, seems to be mostly setting up for that book. I was anticipating something big, but nothing actually happened. But don’t get me wrong, the ending is more than satisfying. It just doesn’t go where I was expecting it to go.
This book had me captivated till the very end even if it slowed down a little in the end. This book had some amazing character arcs and character development. This book did so many things right like female friendships, romances, grief and strong female characters.
I read blood over bright haven first, which is M.L wang's newer book, and my only complaint from that was the feminist message was too obvious. But in sword of kaigen she did it so well. Misaki wasn't shouting "I am strong" she just was.
If you are into character driven stories you are going to love this. This book was more about the journies of these characters than anything else.
simple magic by which she held herself together. Love for what she had and what was gone. Love no matter the pain
Some parts of the book were triggering for me. They made me think about all those kids who are born in wars and are taught from the very young age how to be brave and how to defend themselves and people around them. It's a sad world that we live in.
4.75
Writing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Characters: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
World Building: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Child death, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Xenophobia
trizk's review
dark
emotional
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 read this in december of 2022. I have deadass cried once a month since about this book whenever I think about it. This shi not for the weak💀
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Pregnancy, Grief, War, Xenophobia, Sexism, Misogyny, Death, Child death, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Murder, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Physical abuse and Child abuse
Minor: Sexual content