Take a photo of a barcode or cover
ebs_ebs 's review for:
The Sword of Kaigen
by M.L. Wang
Wow. Just wow. This was heartbreakingly beautiful.
I will admit I cried during this.
I loved everything about this book, especially that it was a standalone. I won’t go into too much detail but a few spoilers:
Mamoru was my baby. He was a hard working prodigy who just wanted to be best to help bring honor to his family. His only struggle was with the whispering blade.
I honestly thought I was going to hate Tareku but he actually grew on me. Misaki went from being a subdued housewife to her former fiesty self but in a more mature nature. She was willing to fight for her family.
Misaki and Tareku showed so much character growth and love towards one another. They started off icy, but we got the backstory and understanding of why , they communicated (more like my girl Misaki told Takeru to man up and stop getting “mountain high” and fight for his family) and slowly started building trust.
It’s just bittersweet knowing this was only able to happen with Mamoru passing away.
I was convinced for the longest time that Mamoru wasn’t dead or there was going to be some miraculous come back from the dead but his death was final. His learning of the propaganda of the empire and the reality of the world and not knowing his place didn’t lessen his impact but enhanced it. Him finally getting clarity to master and conjure his own whispering blade as he died just gutted me. Hiroshi has an amazing big brother to look upon. He goes from being secondborn to the heir of the family at 5 years of age and it’s such a big adjustment realizing your big bother and uncle who made the adult stuff not so scary and seem far away are gone.
We get to see the town band together stronger then ever as they understand the government is using them as a buffer for the empire against outside forces. Those outside forces attack to see the strength of the old warrior houses for future attacks. The village of Kaigen did the impossible and held there own but at a great cost. Many lives were lost and the village destroyed.
It almost felt like there could’ve been a second sort to this story as we discovered more about the government and the coverups as well as a mysterious blood puppeteer building/raising an army of young powerful orphans.
This book touched upon culture, gender roles/emotions, government propaganda, the role of family, self doubt and wondering about your place in the world, honor, death, and more.
I’m glad I read this book.
I will admit I cried during this.
I loved everything about this book, especially that it was a standalone. I won’t go into too much detail but a few spoilers:
Mamoru was my baby. He was a hard working prodigy who just wanted to be best to help bring honor to his family. His only struggle was with the whispering blade.
I honestly thought I was going to hate Tareku but he actually grew on me. Misaki went from being a subdued housewife to her former fiesty self but in a more mature nature. She was willing to fight for her family.
Misaki and Tareku showed so much character growth and love towards one another. They started off icy, but we got the backstory and understanding of why , they communicated (more like my girl Misaki told Takeru to man up and stop getting “mountain high” and fight for his family) and slowly started building trust.
It’s just bittersweet knowing this was only able to happen with Mamoru passing away.
I was convinced for the longest time that Mamoru wasn’t dead or there was going to be some miraculous come back from the dead but his death was final. His learning of the propaganda of the empire and the reality of the world and not knowing his place didn’t lessen his impact but enhanced it. Him finally getting clarity to master and conjure his own whispering blade as he died just gutted me. Hiroshi has an amazing big brother to look upon. He goes from being secondborn to the heir of the family at 5 years of age and it’s such a big adjustment realizing your big bother and uncle who made the adult stuff not so scary and seem far away are gone.
We get to see the town band together stronger then ever as they understand the government is using them as a buffer for the empire against outside forces. Those outside forces attack to see the strength of the old warrior houses for future attacks. The village of Kaigen did the impossible and held there own but at a great cost. Many lives were lost and the village destroyed.
It almost felt like there could’ve been a second sort to this story as we discovered more about the government and the coverups as well as a mysterious blood puppeteer building/raising an army of young powerful orphans.
This book touched upon culture, gender roles/emotions, government propaganda, the role of family, self doubt and wondering about your place in the world, honor, death, and more.
I’m glad I read this book.