Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang

20 reviews

trizk's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I read this in december of 2022. I have deadass cried once a month since about this book whenever I think about it. This shi not for the weak💀

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Pregnancy, Grief, War, Xenophobia, Sexism, Misogyny, Death, Child death, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Murder, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Physical abuse and Child abuse

Minor: Sexual content

melissa_read_s's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.25

Trigger warnings!!!
I'm not one to check or feel the need to check but holly molly check them. 
This book felt lime a weight on my chest the entire time reading it.
I cried more in this book then a combination of all the other booms I cried reading this year.
Although it was A LOT emotionally, it was a great story. 
I did find the end to be lacking, like I needed more or less. 
I heard someone say Avatar the last air bender magic meets murder mommy and that's accurate but also emotional damage!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Child death, and Violence

Moderate: Rape and Child abuse

Minor: Suicide

reading_in_progress's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad 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

4.75

Incredible and deeply moving 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Death, Child death, and War

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Rape

readandfindout's review

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

charlotteregan's review

adventurous challenging emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I can’t. I just can’t process anything. This was brutal, painful, sad, emotional, fantastic, phenomenal, and gut-wrenching and I don’t think I’ll ever get enough. Praiseworthy world-building and mind you this book has THE Misaki Matsuda. I want y’all to read this book because it is great and also because it has Misaki, the best character here. 

I need a hundred (100) business days to move on completely from this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Rape, Murder, Child death, and Child abuse

eleonorehilbig's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

the story, the characters and their development, the resolution of the story as nearly a third of the book deals with what comes after were handsdown a 5 star read for me. i also absolutely loved how the women were written.

Spoiler

i mean the duel at the end was an absolute masterpiece

however - i absolutely HATE infodumps. pages upon pages of it. we're reading through an actual history lesson that one of the main characters attends ffs. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Murder, and War

angstifies's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

4.5

incredible book.
the characters and dynamics were so well written it blew my mind, this world and magic system are super interesting and it had the literal best fighting scenes i’ve ever read.

probably one of the best standalone fantasy books out there, i truly loved this story and how it progressed so much, and i couldn’t have thought of a better ending, wow

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Violence, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Suicide, War, Misogyny, Rape, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, and Sexism

Minor: Pregnancy, Genocide, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, and Domestic abuse

lilifane's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

I expected an epic fantasy adventure. What I got instead was emotional damage. 
Because I ignored the subtitle of the book. "A Theonite War Story" should have prepared me for... an actual war story. With all the gruesome horrors of war. Yeah, that's on me. Probably not the best time to read the book given the current global situation, either. 

But! I really really really loved it. I hated it, but I loved it. It hurt, but it was SO good. 
The character work is exceptional. It's fantastic, maybe even the best I've ever encountered. The main characters and points of view are a mother and her firstborn son. And I loooooove them both with all my heart. But all the side characters are amazing as well. All of them are flawed, which makes them so real.
 
But since this is such a character-driven story, the plot and action take a very long time to develop. Even then, I would say the climax of the story is in the middle of the book, with epic and creative magic/battle sequences. The second half mainly deals with the aftermath. And it's so impactful and painful. Because you care so much for these characters, it physically hurts to see them suffer and process the trauma. But the character arks, their development, the way relationships and dynamics change are worth it in the end, at least they were for me. 

I can't say I enjoyed the direction the plot took. I wish it had gone in 10 different directions tbh. But I realize that this wasn't about the plot, but about the effects that war has on the individuals who have to live through it. It's also about love and duty, about community and survival, family and friendships.

Although the characters are what makes this book so special, I really enjoyed the world building and atmosphere. The mix of fantasy elements, magic and traditional values with advanced technology reminded me a little of Studio Ghibli movies, especially the ones that have war as a theme as well. And the action sequences are actually really good. I usually don't care for action unless it's interesting and can hold my attention. Which is the case here. 

I don't know if I can recommend this book to anyone. But definitely to people who value character-driven stories and like to suffer. Just check trigger and content warnings beforehand, please. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Infertility, Medical content, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, War, Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Racism, and Sexism

Minor: Alcohol, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Racism, and Rape

cgn's review

5.0

Wow this was fantastic. I got so immersed into the world and the characters, and I cried three or four separate times, which I don’t think I’ve ever done with a book before. The fight scenes were spectacular, but the characters were what drew me in the most. I can’t wait to get my own copy for my shelves.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexism, Grief, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Death of parent, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Child abuse, and War

annailles's review

dark 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death, Sexism, War, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Gore, Rape, Child death, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Miscarriage