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dustherondale 's review for:
The Sword of Kaigen
by M.L. Wang
4,5/5
The first 450 or so pages were a solid 5/5 stars for sure, but in the last 200 pages the book slows down, which is understandable when you consider that this book was supposed to be a stand-alone in a bigger series but tragic when you find out that said series will never be finished. There is some sense of finality, plot wise that is, that is missing.
However, i can only feel this because most of the book was so outstanding. Truly marvelous. Not only is this book a masterclass in worldbuilding but it also takes so much time in focusing in it's characters, so much that, even being a brillant high fantasy, you could say this book is character driven. The plot is extremely important but the author puts a lot of emphasis on how these events affects the characters and their own journeys and development.
Misaki is one of the best female characters i've come across, she was just BRILLIANT, such a raw and fierce portrayal of womanhood and motherhood.
Our female protagonist is lost and lonely, she has lost herself and her purpose in a life where she doesn't feel fullfilled by the role that was thrust upon her by an extremely patriarchal and old fashioned society (im not saying it, the book actively tells you this town is like a time capsule).
Misaki is an outcast, she has grown isolated even if no one knows, she carries the burden of knowing that there's more to the world than the life she was brought up to chose, her melancholy and self hatred keep her at bay from ever trying to have a genuine relationship with her children, whats the point, after all, even if she carried them inside her, at the end of the day they belong to their father. That is, of course, until Mamoru stars asking questions.
When she realises that this brilliantly wild child she carried in her womb is so much like her, that's when she starts living in the present, when she recognices within him that same spark she herself carries.
Mamoru, oh sweet boy, you cant help but fall in love with him, it's kind of fitting, i guess, that as misaki gets to know and fall in love with her child so does the reader.
There is one scene, a moment of realization for misaki that i can't describe because its extreme spoilery, but one scene where misaki tells mamoru that HE is her story that's just- its brilliant, truly one of the best things i've ever read.
i would, honestly, recommend this book to people whose favourite part of house of the dragon is rhaenyra, her role as a woman in an extremely patriarchal society and her relationship with her children.
The first 450 or so pages were a solid 5/5 stars for sure, but in the last 200 pages the book slows down, which is understandable when you consider that this book was supposed to be a stand-alone in a bigger series but tragic when you find out that said series will never be finished. There is some sense of finality, plot wise that is, that is missing.
However, i can only feel this because most of the book was so outstanding. Truly marvelous. Not only is this book a masterclass in worldbuilding but it also takes so much time in focusing in it's characters, so much that, even being a brillant high fantasy, you could say this book is character driven. The plot is extremely important but the author puts a lot of emphasis on how these events affects the characters and their own journeys and development.
Misaki is one of the best female characters i've come across, she was just BRILLIANT, such a raw and fierce portrayal of womanhood and motherhood.
Our female protagonist is lost and lonely, she has lost herself and her purpose in a life where she doesn't feel fullfilled by the role that was thrust upon her by an extremely patriarchal and old fashioned society (im not saying it, the book actively tells you this town is like a time capsule).
Misaki is an outcast, she has grown isolated even if no one knows, she carries the burden of knowing that there's more to the world than the life she was brought up to chose, her melancholy and self hatred keep her at bay from ever trying to have a genuine relationship with her children, whats the point, after all, even if she carried them inside her, at the end of the day they belong to their father. That is, of course, until Mamoru stars asking questions.
When she realises that this brilliantly wild child she carried in her womb is so much like her, that's when she starts living in the present, when she recognices within him that same spark she herself carries.
Mamoru, oh sweet boy, you cant help but fall in love with him, it's kind of fitting, i guess, that as misaki gets to know and fall in love with her child so does the reader.
There is one scene, a moment of realization for misaki that i can't describe because its extreme spoilery, but one scene where misaki tells mamoru that HE is her story that's just- its brilliant, truly one of the best things i've ever read.
i would, honestly, recommend this book to people whose favourite part of house of the dragon is rhaenyra, her role as a woman in an extremely patriarchal society and her relationship with her children.