Reviews tagging 'War'

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

217 reviews

hfejvi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

“I protected Setsuko and the children.” Misaki felt her face twist into a snarl of rage. “Five people were here in the house with me when the Ranganese broke down the doors, and all of them are with us now.” Her snarl turned predatory and she felt the need for blood in her teeth. “One of our sons was with you. Just one. And where is he now?”

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Murder, and War

kcweber22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

It took me foreveeeerrr to really get into this, but by god it blew me away once I did. Definitely would recommend and revisit

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Rape

bookswithlydscl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.25

took a little while to warm up, but when it did, I was all in. At 630 pages, it felt too short almost. There's a whole lot more story that feels like could be told and is waiting in the wings. Some great character stories with wonderful redemption arcs that ensure, despite how much more story there seems to be, that the ending closes in a satisfying way.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Suicide, and War

gabi_715's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War

Moderate: Infertility and Sexism

avidreadr's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I was so surprised by this book. Even just reading the title, I had expectations that the main character was going to be named Kaigen. Suffice it to say my expectations were flipped upside down in the most satisfying way. This is not your typical fantasy, it’s not your typical war story. It’s a story about family, strength, warriors, about love, about community. I honestly was really impressed with how unique this story was. So glad I read this. 

Knocked off .5 stars because some loose ends were left at the end of the book.

Knowing this is the last of the universe, will we ever find out who manipulated Robin’s blood?! That was a huge thing to call out in the end without any hint to the mystery!! I need to know!! Also, the terms of the world were sometimes a bit too much and took me out of my immersion.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Miscarriage, Suicide, and War

Moderate: Child abuse and Rape

readwithbeth_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

stop what you’re doing right now and pick up this book because you will not regret it. 

now like everyone I’ve seen this book all over BookTok where everyone is saying this is a 5+ star book so I was intrigued but I wasn’t sure that high dark fantasy was for me. 

But after I saw this book on KU and eventually picked it up and began to read, I devoured it! The first 40ish % did take me a little bit to get too, you’re immediately getting this amazing world building between a mother who has a mysterious past she can’t talk about (Misaki Tsusano) and her amazing sword bearer eldest son who is finding out everything the empire has told them about Kaigen’s history isn’t all true (Mamoru Matsuda).

I recommend reading StoryGraph’s description because it perfectly described the Sword of Kaigens synopsis without revealing the spoilers I would accidentally spurt out.

the sword of kaigen has it all, perfectly developed characters, outstanding magical fight scenes, and Wang makes sure you feel ALL the emotions, I mean I was trying reading chapters but just couldn’t put this book down, this book consumes you and I will never stop talking about it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Misogyny, Self harm, Suicide, and War

Moderate: Miscarriage and Rape

therestisstillunwritten16's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Blood, Grief, War, and Injury/Injury detail

thenoboshow's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lucajgrainger's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

cyrus_nguyen's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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 is a character-driven novel where each character feels unique with very real flaws, motivations and beliefs. That's not to say the worldbuilding and plot is lacking at all. The power system is fleshed out and the novel has some incredibly thrilling and gripping actions scenes on top of the character growth.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Xenophobia, and War

Minor: Child death, Death, Miscarriage, Rape, and Suicide