Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

54 reviews

abirdiebooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I feel like I just read 2.5 mostly finished books instead of one cohesive story. This could have benefited from M.L. Wang waiting to get a bit better at building a story and world, a few more rounds of editing and some thrown out plot points. This feels like it should have been somewhere in the middle drafting stages (storywise, mostly not writing wise) and not a finished product. It IS sad that we won't get more though. If this book had been worked on longer and published later and as part of a more cohesive series set up it could have been excellent.

Potential triggers:

The casual moments of domestic abuse, both in thought, conversations, and actions could have absolutely either disappeared or been handled differently. The mention but complete lack of real discussion regarding marital rape was just. No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, Gore, Suicide, Miscarriage, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, War, Grief, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body horror, Homophobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Rape, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Sexism

jassiecones's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

What a deeply emotional, cinematic story about purpose, family, duty, love, and protecting what you love and care about. This book has everything you could want from a fantasy with the highest amount of emotional impact (you will be sobbing). This world, its magic, and the people that inhabit it were so clearly thought out and established, and you really do love each moment we have with not only main characters, but everyone along the way. Wow wow WOW

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Death, Child death, Gore, Violence, War, and Blood

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse

nyquilla's review against another edition

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 death, Gore, War, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Miscarriage, and Pregnancy

insomniacsun's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

Partiamo col dire che questo libro mi ha fatto singhiozzare miserabilmente. Scoprire che questo era uno spin-off di una serie interrotta mi è un po' dispiaciuto, ma dopo aver letto il motivo, rispetto e ammiro la decisione dell'autrice. Il suo nuovo libro è un'aggiunta sicura alla TBR. 

Con il cuore infranto e l'anima in pace, dedico una standing ovation a Wang per la sua capacità di sviluppare i suoi personaggi e i loro rapporti in modo così umano e struggente, senza soffocarli con elementi del worldbuilding tipici dei romanzi epic fantasy, bilanciando con maestria magia e protagonisti accattivanti. Per quanto abbia trovato l'arco narrativo di Takeru un po' più sbrigativo di altri, questo non l'ha reso comunque un personaggio debole, narrativamente parlando. 

Per quanto la trama e il suo sviluppo meritino pieni voti, alcune scelte stilistiche mi trattengono dal farlo: la scoperta dei legami di questo libro con una precedente serie ha reso più sensati alcuni miei problemi con la prima parte, quali l'eccessiva esposizione storico-politica in alcuni paragrafi. Suppongo che avrebbero dovuto rappresentare un semplice ripasso o un nuovo POV di una realtà che il lettore aveva già presente, ma da neo-lettrice di questo mondo l'ho trovato un po' ostico.

L'altro aspetto che ho trovato un po' grezzo, è stato l'approccio alla lingua. 
Prima di tutto il modo di rappresentare più dialetti in una stessa conversazione era troppo limitato: finchè si trattava di un'altra lingua solamente, il corsivo andava più che bene. Il problema è partito nell'ultimo terzo del libro, dove più lingue erano parlate simultaneamente. La presenza di traduttori nella mischia poteva essere usato meglio e avrebbe aiutato l'evitare transliterazioni ripetitive con cui l'autrice ha cercato di risolvere la questione. 
Inoltre, ho trovato confusionaria la decisione di non tradurre tutto dal giapponese, che era la lingua considerata principale dal libro: è stata una saggia scelta nei numerosi casi di espressioni e suffissi unici alla lingua, ma mi è rimasto impresso come un semplice conto alla rovescia sia stato semplicemente romanizzato invece che tradotto. 

Detto questo, the Sword of Kaigen rimarrà uno di quei libri a cui non smetterò mai di pensare per il livello d'intensità e coinvolgimento che ha saputo mantenere fino alla fine, soprattutto considerando il mio grande debole per i rapporti familiari intriganti.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Body horror, Suicide, Miscarriage, Grief, Rape, Violence, and War

story_goblin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

Very few fantasy authors can write books this big and complex and still maintain a good pace. Even fewer can do that while writing such vivid prose that even I feel like I’m watching what I’m reading. Wang’s character building is absolutely phenomenal, and her world building is almost equally strong. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, War, Violence, and Child death

Moderate: Miscarriage, Suicide, Rape, Misogyny, and Pregnancy

readandfindout's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

4.75

I know virtually everyone I've seen read this didn't read the original Theonite books first, but I definitely think it's the way to go! The story connected with me more than it might have without the context of the Theonite series. 

Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Characters: 5 stars
Plot: 5 stars
Worldbuilding: 4.5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gore, Death, Violence, Murder, Child death, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Grief, Misogyny, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Racism and Miscarriage

corvidfax's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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

An incredible standalone fantasy about duty, memory, and incredible sacrifices--and the ways people keep moving forward despite them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gore, and Death

Moderate: Rape and Suicide

Minor: Colonisation

alyssasaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Rape, Death, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, War, and Blood

nofy's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, War, Death, Rape, Child death, Gore, and Violence

teri_b's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

This book and this story are one of a kind.

Absolutely loved listening to the audiobook, even though I had preordered the book when it first was published in 2019.

It is a war story with gruesome moments and many interesting questions asked. 

Loved it, from beginning to end.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gore, and Violence