Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

55 reviews

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

keishbby's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad 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: Child death, War, Violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Torture, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Sexism, Suicide, Classism, and Colonisation

beckahh_i'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, Blood, Child death, War, Death, Gore, Grief, Violence, and Suicide

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

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

Moderate: Homophobia

rnbhargava's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-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

Honestly this is a fantastic book. The characters, the discussion it creates with the reader about the nature of propaganda, politics and warfare. The characters are full of complex motivations, doubts, traumas, triumphs and tragedies. Mamoru is such a good kid, all of Misaki’s kids are. Misaki is so multidimensional. Takeru really puts you through a hate/love dynamic and you even come to sympathize with him at points. The supporting characters are even immensely layered through how they handle the highs and lows of their lives before and amidst the narrative of this novel. “Sword of Kaigen” is quite the appropriate title for this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Medical content, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Xenophobia, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, War, Domestic abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Confinement, Gaslighting, Genocide, Medical trauma, Bullying, Child death, Murder, Toxic relationship, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Rape, Self harm, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Blood, Sexism, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

There is a rape, there is lots of discussion and depiction of propaganda and brutal warfare, also child death and parental death in several contexts. There are also special abilities that could be used in a variety of violent and benevolent manners.

lesliehirgelt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Abandonment, Violence, Sexism, Blood, Grief, Miscarriage, Rape, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Suicide, Child death, Genocide, War, Death, Racism, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Mental illness

Minor: Homophobia

anikaslibrary's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.75

I really liked this book, I think that it did an incredible job at focusing on how devastating war can be and gave an accurate representation to the violence, gore, and trauma that people get from it. I got through almost 60% of the book when I hunkered down and finished the last 40% in one night because, although the climax was in the middle, the bread and butter (for me, at least) was in the last half of the book. I just thought it was so real especially considering the genocide currently happening in Palestine, the innocent men, women and children that are destroyed by bombs and airstrikes, it hit so close to home.

The Palestinian women who are raped and forced to see their children murdered, the children who are Hiroshi's age, having to take on the responsibility of taking care of their siblings because their parents were murdered, the men who are stuck under the rubble and debris of bombs that took their lives and the lives of their entire lineage. So devastating.

Wang does an incredible job bringing those traumas to light in a way we can all empathize with no matter what part of the world we're from. 

I thought the character development was phenomenal as well, I get that there are opinions of people in the book who shouldn't have had a redemption arc however, I think it provided a real look into how different people react to traumatic events. There's no way we can simply forget all the harm they've done but there is some amount of understanding we can have for them when they show their growth and try to better themselves. 
While I genuinely loved a lot of this book, I thought it started off pretty slow and I ended up getting bored even in the action scenes because it'd been so slow and confusing until then that I hadn't even noticed it coming and didn't really care. There was a lot of histories and world-building that didn't make sense to me and I didn't understand if we were in a dystopia because of the mix of old, ancient powers and new technology that could've obliterated and ended the war before it even started. 
The ending was a little confusing to me as well, I could see that it might've made sense if it set up another book but it clearly didn't. That being said, if we take this book as the standalone it is, we can see that Misaki's story comes full circle and it shows how Robin was the young boy she had thought the world of but learned (through growing up) that she and Robin would've been completely different and maybe even wrong for each other. I think it tied her story well and gave her an ending with no regrets.

There's so much I could say about this book, it being a standalone is so insane to me because I feel like I need to follow the Matsudas' story more but I appreciate it for what it is and rate it a 4.75 in my opinion. What I loved about this book in terms of character development, grief, the brutality of war outweighed the cons I first had about this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, and War

Moderate: Physical abuse

chrisb913's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-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

After hearing so many reviews raving about this book, I was hesitant to pick it up. I had heard so many times that this book was very traumatic and emotionally heartbreaking. Everything I had heard about this book did not do it justice. I don't think it's possible to review this book and capture the emotional turmoil the reader goes through. But for all the emotional devastation, M.L. Wang seems to found a way to piece you back together through the trauma and sadness for these characters. My only complaint about this book is there is no sequel as of yet because I need more of this world, of these characters, of this story. I just need more. This has probably been the worst case of emotional damage I have received from a book, and I am incredibly grateful I was able to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Classism, Child death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Miscarriage, Grief, Death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, and Sexual assault

anguawolf's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Blood, Child death, Racism, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, War, and Sexism

Moderate: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, and Suicide

Minor: Bullying and Racial slurs

gracecrandall's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Grief, Suicide, Misogyny, War, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Death, and Sexism

Moderate: Rape and Pregnancy

The child abuse/physical abuse is in the context of

a 14-year-old trying to start a conversation about the government that could be perceived as traitorous. His dad backhands him and then orders him to spar, which turns into a beating. His mother is afraid for the boy's life a few times during the match.