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A review by trash_reader_
The Sword of Kaigen: A Theonite War Story by M.L. Wang
dark
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
When I went into this book, I was expecting a strong-willed mother who left her life of fighting behind to start a family, but picks it back up again when her family is threatened. That's not at all what this book is though? I'm not even sure the book knew what it was supposed to be doing, since there wasn't really a cohesive plot. Things jumped around a lot, the pacing was really weird, and so many aspects of this book didn't seem to connect with one another or have any relevance to anything.
Yes, Misaki was trained as a fighter when she was in high school, but the fact that she was trained as a fighter doesn't really matter because the country she lives in is extremely sexist (which you can tell by the sexist, misogynistic comments on every. single. page.), and so is the family that had sent her across the world to train in an elite military school. What was the point if you were going to force her into gender roles afterward anyway? Because she needed to be protected? Didn't you send her away so she could protect herself? Makes no sense.
The sexism grated my nerves to the point where it almost overshadowed everything else in the book. Especially since there wasn't any reason for it. "That's just how things are done here" I guess, but for what purpose? Absolutely nothing changed in Takayubi except for the renewal of the dojo and Takeru's attitude. And Takeru doing a total 180 so fast just because he was confronted with being a coward (which he already knew he was, by the way, and had admitted it several times) just seemed so out of place. Not out of place because it was unrealistic (which it wasn't), but it was out of place because it seemed as if it was only written in to make Misaki not hate her husband anymore and to give her more "character development." Because how is every response he gives to her "I don't know" and "I was afraid"?
Misaki's "character development" also seemed odd to me because how can someone repeatedly think about how they don't love their children and how they never wanted to be a mother or a wife and how much she hates where she is and hates her husband and resents her father for forcing her to go through with the marriage, but then randomly change her mind and love all her children so much to do the things she did? It seemed forced and the rest of her character development seemed strong-armed into the story just to further along everything else.
Also - Chapter 31? Unnecessary. Not a single thing about that last chapter was needed and I slogged through it. I don't care about Robin, and it seemed like it was an extended, boring catch-up type of Epilogue, which I guess would be fine if you actually cared about Koli and Elleen and whoever else Misaki knew in school, but I didn't care. We didn't see them enough for me to care, and I didn't connect with their characters at all. I actually laughed at Robin for his Batman-esque point of view.
I also did not appreciate the stance that the characters took about miscarriages. As if the sexism wasn't bad enough, miscarriages are the mother's fault? And Misaki fully believed her hatred for the life growing inside her was what hid terminated the pregnancy? GTFOH with that, we don't need anymore victim-blaming in the world, imaginary fantasy world or not.
The fight scenes were extremely detailed, though, often going on for pages at a time, and they kept my interest more than anything else in the book. And honestly, I think those fight scenes were the redeeming factor that kept this from being a 2 star read. Because not everything needed to be all wrapped up in a nice bow like it was, especially the "war" aspect of the novel. I have no idea how I would go about expressing my feelings on that whole "war" because I'm at such a loss for words. In the bad way, mind you.
I've seen so many people talk about how much they loved this, and I can see why they would. It just isn't for me, and maybe that had something to do with my expectations not being met or maybe I just wasn't understanding a deeper meaning behind everything, but regardless of the reason, I am really disappointed that I didn't like this book better. I was hoping I would since it sounds like something I'd normally love but I struggled so bad with this. By the end I felt as if I'd read about children being eviscerated just because. That's how unsatisfied this book left me.
Yes, Misaki was trained as a fighter when she was in high school, but the fact that she was trained as a fighter doesn't really matter because the country she lives in is extremely sexist (which you can tell by the sexist, misogynistic comments on every. single. page.), and so is the family that had sent her across the world to train in an elite military school. What was the point if you were going to force her into gender roles afterward anyway? Because she needed to be protected? Didn't you send her away so she could protect herself? Makes no sense.
The sexism grated my nerves to the point where it almost overshadowed everything else in the book. Especially since there wasn't any reason for it. "That's just how things are done here" I guess, but for what purpose? Absolutely nothing changed in Takayubi except for the renewal of the dojo and Takeru's attitude. And Takeru doing a total 180 so fast just because he was confronted with being a coward (which he already knew he was, by the way, and had admitted it several times) just seemed so out of place. Not out of place because it was unrealistic (which it wasn't), but it was out of place because it seemed as if it was only written in to make Misaki not hate her husband anymore and to give her more "character development." Because how is every response he gives to her "I don't know" and "I was afraid"?
Misaki's "character development" also seemed odd to me because how can someone repeatedly think about how they don't love their children and how they never wanted to be a mother or a wife and how much she hates where she is and hates her husband and resents her father for forcing her to go through with the marriage, but then randomly change her mind and love all her children so much to do the things she did? It seemed forced and the rest of her character development seemed strong-armed into the story just to further along everything else.
Also - Chapter 31? Unnecessary. Not a single thing about that last chapter was needed and I slogged through it. I don't care about Robin, and it seemed like it was an extended, boring catch-up type of Epilogue, which I guess would be fine if you actually cared about Koli and Elleen and whoever else Misaki knew in school, but I didn't care. We didn't see them enough for me to care, and I didn't connect with their characters at all. I actually laughed at Robin for his Batman-esque point of view.
I also did not appreciate the stance that the characters took about miscarriages. As if the sexism wasn't bad enough, miscarriages are the mother's fault? And Misaki fully believed her hatred for the life growing inside her was what hid terminated the pregnancy? GTFOH with that, we don't need anymore victim-blaming in the world, imaginary fantasy world or not.
The fight scenes were extremely detailed, though, often going on for pages at a time, and they kept my interest more than anything else in the book. And honestly, I think those fight scenes were the redeeming factor that kept this from being a 2 star read. Because not everything needed to be all wrapped up in a nice bow like it was, especially the "war" aspect of the novel. I have no idea how I would go about expressing my feelings on that whole "war" because I'm at such a loss for words. In the bad way, mind you.
I've seen so many people talk about how much they loved this, and I can see why they would. It just isn't for me, and maybe that had something to do with my expectations not being met or maybe I just wasn't understanding a deeper meaning behind everything, but regardless of the reason, I am really disappointed that I didn't like this book better. I was hoping I would since it sounds like something I'd normally love but I struggled so bad with this. By the end I felt as if I'd read about children being eviscerated just because. That's how unsatisfied this book left me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Suicide, Misogyny, Sexism, Child death, and War