matterofmichael's review against another edition
3.0
++Intriguing lore
+Unusual magic system
++Antagonists are thought out in their views of the world and their goals
-Main character... Cries a lot, basically all she does
-/+MCs battle of following light vs dark is a cool concept, but her emotions flip so quickly is hard to tell.
-Mood shifts are odd in this book
+Good atmosphere
++other MC, like their progression and view points and how they tackle the world in flux around them.
+Unusual magic system
++Antagonists are thought out in their views of the world and their goals
-Main character... Cries a lot, basically all she does
-/+MCs battle of following light vs dark is a cool concept, but her emotions flip so quickly is hard to tell.
-Mood shifts are odd in this book
+Good atmosphere
++other MC, like their progression and view points and how they tackle the world in flux around them.
ercamcll's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The translation made it hard for me to stay in the story but it was still a very good story
krayfish1's review against another edition
4.0
I read this as a child and loved it.
Reading it as an adult it feels a bit clunky, but it is unique and I still like the plot.
Reading it as an adult it feels a bit clunky, but it is unique and I still like the plot.
elodiethompson's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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? It's complicated
4.0
laurenl5876's review against another edition
2.0
Crap, my librarian friend Amy will kill me for not liking this book. Don't kill me Amy!
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I can definitely understand why people love this book. The writing is gorgeous, the premise is unique, but I did not click at all with this book. I felt like the main character was a very stereotypical " manic pixie dream girl" type character. Ugh, she was bland but adored, and I just couldn't do it.
The mythology started strong, but the more I read the more this book and I were not friends.
I can definitely understand why people love this book. The writing is gorgeous, the premise is unique, but I did not click at all with this book. I felt like the main character was a very stereotypical " manic pixie dream girl" type character. Ugh, she was bland but adored, and I just couldn't do it.
The mythology started strong, but the more I read the more this book and I were not friends.
familiar_diversions's review against another edition
4.0
Fifteen-year-old Saya is the only survivor of an attack by the army of the God of Light on her village when she was a child. Although she occasionally dreams about the attack, she now lives with her adoptive parents in the village of Hashiba, which has accepted the God of Light and his immortal children, Princess Teruhi and Prince Tsukishiro. Saya has no memories of her birth parents and loves the Light just as much as any other person in Hashiba, so it's a shock when several strangers arrive and tell her that she's a princess of the Children of the Dark. Unlike the immortal Children of the God of Light, the Children of the Goddess of Darkness can die and then be reincarnated, and Saya is the reincarnation of the Water Maiden. Before she has a chance to truly process this, Prince Tsukishiro arrives and takes a sudden interest in her.
Saya is faced with several choices: she can become one of the prince's handmaidens and eventually his bride, knowing that he doesn't really love her; she can kill herself like the Water Maidens before her; or she can somehow find a way to escape. She chooses the third option and discovers both the Dragon Sword, a weapon so powerful it can kill gods, and Chihaya, a Child of the God of Light who is seen as a failure by his siblings because he has always been drawn to the Darkness.
I honestly didn't know where Ogiwara was going to go with this book, most of the time. Saya figured out that her love for Prince Tsukishiro was foolish surprisingly quickly, although it took a bit longer for her heart to catch up. Chihaya was...unexpected. I had caught the mention of a third Child of the God of Light, but I hadn't thought that Saya would be meeting him so soon and taking him along with her.
The immortals, Chihaya in particular, came across as somewhat alien. Chihaya had the ability to switch bodies with various animals and didn't seem to be aware, or maybe didn't care, that the animals wouldn't necessarily be okay if they got injured while he was using them. He could experience pain and certainly disliked it, but any injuries would usually disappear in a day or less. He cared about his horse and Saya, in that order, and I'm not sure he truly realized, during a good chunk of the book, that Saya could die.
The book's pacing was a bit slow for my tastes, but I liked reading about Saya's efforts to understand Chihaya. She had to struggle to convince the Children of the Goddess of Darkness to keep him free as he kept doing things that indicated he was more dangerous to have around than they'd initially thought. Watching how Chihaya changed as the story progressed was fascinating.
I wish, though, that Saya hadn't come across as more a supporting character than a main character. I went into the book expecting her to be more active. There were moments when she had choices to make and things to do, but mostly she existed to support Chihaya while he gradually came into his powers and got a better look at the Darkness he'd been drawn towards all his life. Saya supposedly had the power to pacify gods but never got to the point of being able to use them, unless her ability to connect with Chihaya counted.
I kind of wish this had been a friendship-only book, since I felt Chihaya and Saya worked best as friends, but I suppose their eventual romance fit with the "God of Light and Goddess of Darkness" theme. The way I felt about the two of them reminded me a little of how I felt about the sudden romance in Philip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass. It felt forced.
All in all, despite its problems this was pretty good. I look forward to the next book, although I wonder how it'll be related to this one. I don't recognize the character names in the description and, honestly, the way Dragon Sword and Wind Child ended makes it work just fine as a standalone.
Extras:
The book includes two full-page, full-color illustrations. One is a larger version of the cover illustration.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
Saya is faced with several choices: she can become one of the prince's handmaidens and eventually his bride, knowing that he doesn't really love her; she can kill herself like the Water Maidens before her; or she can somehow find a way to escape. She chooses the third option and discovers both the Dragon Sword, a weapon so powerful it can kill gods, and Chihaya, a Child of the God of Light who is seen as a failure by his siblings because he has always been drawn to the Darkness.
I honestly didn't know where Ogiwara was going to go with this book, most of the time. Saya figured out that her love for Prince Tsukishiro was foolish surprisingly quickly, although it took a bit longer for her heart to catch up. Chihaya was...unexpected. I had caught the mention of a third Child of the God of Light, but I hadn't thought that Saya would be meeting him so soon and taking him along with her.
The immortals, Chihaya in particular, came across as somewhat alien. Chihaya had the ability to switch bodies with various animals and didn't seem to be aware, or maybe didn't care, that the animals wouldn't necessarily be okay if they got injured while he was using them. He could experience pain and certainly disliked it, but any injuries would usually disappear in a day or less. He cared about his horse and Saya, in that order, and I'm not sure he truly realized, during a good chunk of the book, that Saya could die.
The book's pacing was a bit slow for my tastes, but I liked reading about Saya's efforts to understand Chihaya. She had to struggle to convince the Children of the Goddess of Darkness to keep him free as he kept doing things that indicated he was more dangerous to have around than they'd initially thought. Watching how Chihaya changed as the story progressed was fascinating.
I wish, though, that Saya hadn't come across as more a supporting character than a main character. I went into the book expecting her to be more active. There were moments when she had choices to make and things to do, but mostly she existed to support Chihaya while he gradually came into his powers and got a better look at the Darkness he'd been drawn towards all his life. Saya supposedly had the power to pacify gods but never got to the point of being able to use them, unless her ability to connect with Chihaya counted.
I kind of wish this had been a friendship-only book, since I felt Chihaya and Saya worked best as friends, but I suppose their eventual romance fit with the "God of Light and Goddess of Darkness" theme. The way I felt about the two of them reminded me a little of how I felt about the sudden romance in Philip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass. It felt forced.
All in all, despite its problems this was pretty good. I look forward to the next book, although I wonder how it'll be related to this one. I don't recognize the character names in the description and, honestly, the way Dragon Sword and Wind Child ended makes it work just fine as a standalone.
Extras:
The book includes two full-page, full-color illustrations. One is a larger version of the cover illustration.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
xan_van_rooyen's review against another edition
3.0
More like 3.5/5 stars.
So much to love about this book but sometimes the storytelling got in the way of the story itself.
Firstly, this is a translation of a novel originally written in Japanese. The prose was heavy handed at times and did't always flow smoothly. Other times it read more like an anime series and I quite liked it. I think some of the head hopping might've been due to translation, and might not have been the author's intention, however, it still threw me out of the story a few times.
My biggest gripe about this book is the heroine or lack thereof. Saya just didn't convince me. She was meant to have special powers but whenever she got the chance to use them and prove her significance, well let's say it was decidedly underwhelming. The best character in the book we don't even meet until almost half way through.
I loved the Japanese mythology element, I loved the less stereotypical good vs evil angle and loved the dynamic between the siblings. I didn't love the heroine who was also the POV character. I found her a bit snivelly and irritating at times. Because I wasn't really into Saya, I didn't really feel the developing romance as I think I should have. The love interest was great though! And I absolutely adored the fact that he was androgynous and not some cliche beefcake hero type.
I did enjoy this one but I didn't love it.
So much to love about this book but sometimes the storytelling got in the way of the story itself.
Firstly, this is a translation of a novel originally written in Japanese. The prose was heavy handed at times and did't always flow smoothly. Other times it read more like an anime series and I quite liked it. I think some of the head hopping might've been due to translation, and might not have been the author's intention, however, it still threw me out of the story a few times.
My biggest gripe about this book is the heroine or lack thereof. Saya just didn't convince me. She was meant to have special powers but whenever she got the chance to use them and prove her significance, well let's say it was decidedly underwhelming. The best character in the book we don't even meet until almost half way through.
I loved the Japanese mythology element, I loved the less stereotypical good vs evil angle and loved the dynamic between the siblings. I didn't love the heroine who was also the POV character. I found her a bit snivelly and irritating at times. Because I wasn't really into Saya, I didn't really feel the developing romance as I think I should have. The love interest was great though! And I absolutely adored the fact that he was androgynous and not some cliche beefcake hero type.
I did enjoy this one but I didn't love it.
lexlingua's review against another edition
4.0
Cross-posted from my more detailed review at Lexlingua.co
This book is part of a series but you can also read it as a standalone. Saya lives in the village, with no memory of the past. She finds comfort in her worship of the God of Light and his children. But the God of Light has been at eternal war with the Goddess of Darkness, and only the Water Maiden can wield the Dragon Sword and bring that war to an end. Saya’s world comes crashing down when she discovers that *she* is that Water Maiden.
The ancient Japanese compilation, Kojiki (Book of Records, Year 711-712), records many themes of Japanese creation mythology. Dragon Sword and Wind Child brings together many of these themes, and casts several plot twists at the reader, all the while maintaining a fairly good pace.
There are drawbacks to the story, however -- such as Saya’s role being limited to a catalyst for other people’s lives, and a too-abrupt settlement of the various plot threads at the end. But the mystical and poetic writing style more than makes up for it. Also, the very title of the book, and the book cover illustration by Miho Satake, are both truly lovely. If you are a fan of mythology-based world-building, you may like Dragon Sword and Wind Child.
This book is part of a series but you can also read it as a standalone. Saya lives in the village, with no memory of the past. She finds comfort in her worship of the God of Light and his children. But the God of Light has been at eternal war with the Goddess of Darkness, and only the Water Maiden can wield the Dragon Sword and bring that war to an end. Saya’s world comes crashing down when she discovers that *she* is that Water Maiden.
The ancient Japanese compilation, Kojiki (Book of Records, Year 711-712), records many themes of Japanese creation mythology. Dragon Sword and Wind Child brings together many of these themes, and casts several plot twists at the reader, all the while maintaining a fairly good pace.
There are drawbacks to the story, however -- such as Saya’s role being limited to a catalyst for other people’s lives, and a too-abrupt settlement of the various plot threads at the end. But the mystical and poetic writing style more than makes up for it. Also, the very title of the book, and the book cover illustration by Miho Satake, are both truly lovely. If you are a fan of mythology-based world-building, you may like Dragon Sword and Wind Child.
bosstweed's review
4.0
This is such an interesting book, it fuses traditional Japanese mythology and traditional western fantasy tropes and sometimes will lean too far in to the western tradition. The book is not overtly Japanese, in fact it is pretty broadly pan-Asian in its influences and references and creates this wonderfully imagined world. The story is not just compelling but is not predictable, it has so many moments in it that I hadn’t expected and so many that came as a wonderful surprise. That being said, some of the book was a little cheesy, I found myself rolling my eyes or questions why a passage was put in but those moments are few and far between. This has one of the sweetest endings of a fantasy book and while I believe this is a young adult book, I would love to see a darker and much grittier twist to it.
zaineandherbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5