Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

164 reviews

sarajuneau's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

It’s not a typical fantasy epic where our heroes overcome the big bad and move on. It shows how gray life is. It is worth reading, and two scenes will live with me indefinitely. Grab some tissues and buckle up if you give it a go. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Blood, Death, War, Miscarriage, Grief, Child death, Sexism, Racism, Violence, Murder, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Pregnancy

kittykels's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

It's been a very long time since I've cried so much reading a book. I wanted to give more like 4 stars cause I had a few minor complaints (more technical than anything else) but the fact that I was so emotionally involved in this book convinced me to give a solid 5 stars. 

Edited to add:
There's another, bigger reason I considered giving 4 stars instead of 5 (I did end up altering my rating), but it contains ending spoilers. Read at your own risk. 

When I noticed I was getting to the 90% mark, I was concerned about how the book was going to end, especially knowing it's a standalone and not a series. The ending didn't feel like an ending, and I think we were left with way too many unanswered questions. 

The whole book was spent establishing a questionable and corrupt Empire and impending war. We follow characters and information that are seemingly going to challenge these things, yet nothing ever happens. The home of the main characters was devastated and they start to rebuild and the story ends after she reunites with her old love and tells him to go back home and maybe do some things. 

Maybe it's because in real life, war isn't resolved in such a short amount of time and therefore can't be in this story either, but it felt like a build up to nothing rather than like, commentary on war tragedy or something. I'm probably not explaining my thoughts well at all. But I've read books that focus on the tragedies of war and I've read books that have offered some kind of resolution to a war. This doesn't fit in with either of those types of stories. Maybe that's not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe that means this book offers something unique. However, I can't shake the feeling that all of the character development and story progression seemed a little pointless at the end with the blatant lack of closure/conflict resolution. 

Why learn about the empire or the Ranganese or the mysterious God figure or anyone that provides conflict if literally nothing is going to happen with them? I thought the battle that devastated Takayubi (50% into the book) was a precursor for some big final battle or standoff or SOMETHING, but literally nothing else of importance happened. The rest of the book was spent reflecting, rebuilding, and reuniting with Robin. Robin and Misaki find closure with their relationship, but the story itself never gets any kind of closure or suitable ending.

Don't get me wrong, this book is well written and I still recommend it. I will likely read it again someday. However, the ending (or lack of one) just doesn't sit well with me. It makes me feel disappointed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, and War

Moderate: Pregnancy and Sexual assault

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

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: War, Child death, and Violence

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

Minor: Kidnapping and Homophobia

rj_bruce's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Thoroughly enjoyed Misukis character arc. Wasn't expecting

to enjoy Takeru by the end of the book. His redemption felt earned and I appreciated the fact that he still has flaws to work through even as the forgiveness had started.

Really dark middle of the book, but it added a seriousness and weight that matched Misukis inner termoil nicely. Can't wait to experience more of this world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

hanni693's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Sexual assault, Child death, and Death

jartone93's review against another edition

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

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

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

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: War, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Rape

charcha01's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Minor: Suicide