Sword of Kaigen [September 1, 2021]

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

This is a Buddy Read for Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang starting today!!

[Siobhan]

Thanks Niki!
I'm working on a schedule of 3 chapters this week, then 7 chapters a week for the rest of the month. :)
Reading with Carla, Jenni and Laura - and now yourself and Jessica too! ☺️

I read chapter 1 today and thoroughly enjoyed it! (view spoiler)[ I was expecting medieval fantasy/feudal Japan style, so when they mentioned TV and video games I was taken aback! (hide spoiler)]

[Carla]

Siobhan wrote: "Thanks Niki!
I'm working on a schedule of 3 chapters this week, then 7 chapters a week for the rest of the month. :)
Reading with Carla, Jenni and Laura - and now yourself and Jessica too! ☺️

I re..."
Absolutely, it was surprising. And the second part of the chapter was so well done!

[Chris]

This might be my favorite book I've ever read, at the very least, my favorite standalone. Hope y'all enjoy it!

[Graeme]

Chris wrote: "This might be my favorite book I've ever read, at the very least, my favorite standalone. Hope y'all enjoy it!"

I'll second that. One of the most emotionally pitch-perfect stories I've ever read.

[Jason]

Yes this book is excellent

[Siobhan]

That's great to know!! :D Thanks guys.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

The book is surprisingly structured and really good… loved it, even if it was very different than I expected going in…

[Tammie]

I agree with everyone else. This is one of my favorite books! I hope you all enjoy it.

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

That’s really exciting! I can’t wait :D

I like the chapter a day pacing, I’ll mirror that, especially once I get home in a couple days. It makes it more fun for me to match pace and discuss as we go - otherwise I’m always too early or too late.

[Elizabeth]

I'm currently reading this one too, about 50% through. It took me awhile to get into it, probably around 25% or so.

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

Chris wrote: "This might be my favorite book I've ever read, at the very least, my favorite standalone. Hope y'all enjoy it!"

Agreed, I love this book so much. Enjoy the read, everyone :)

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Siobhan wrote: "Thanks Niki!
I'm working on a schedule of 3 chapters this week, then 7 chapters a week for the rest of the month. :)
Reading with Carla, Jenni and Laura - and now yourself and Jessica too! ☺️

I re..."

Ch. 1 (view spoiler)[ I was thinking the same thing!! Like, this is a samurai hogwarts haha. Kind of a cool fusion, I'm so curious where it's going. (hide spoiler)]

Ch. 2-3 (view spoiler)[ So I'm wondering why, with all of the presumable falsehoods being perpetuated here, they would even allow an outsider in to dispel their histories... I think there must be more going on here with his appearance.

Okay so I read the roof scene right before bed, and it rang too closely of a multi-pitch rock climb gone wrong and I couldn't sleep through all the adrenaline. That was really well written and now I'm scared haha. (hide spoiler)]

Ch. 4-5 (view spoiler)[ okay, so I've heard it takes a while to get into this one, which Elizabeth confirmed, but I'm really struggling with the pacing even though I'm loving the context and the story. It feels a bit like: here's a few words of dialogue, and now here's a page or two of explanations. Repeat. It must stop doing that at some point if so many people we know and trust love it. (hide spoiler)]

Working through chapter 6 now...

I've been off the grid away from my desktop so I've been saving notes. I hate starting discussion when I can't easily open spoiler tags. bah. lol

[Elizabeth]

@Niki. Honestly if I hadn't been reading it for a book club I probably would have DNF'd it. It wasn't until around 25% or later of the way in that it really grabbed me. Up until then it was pretty boring and felt too YA.

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Was it really engaging after that point though? I’m in the same boat. :) And the plethora of excited comments here are promising haha.

[Elizabeth]

After that it was pretty good, I ended up giving 4 stars I think.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Things ramp up around 25% like Elizabeth said... and surprising stuff happens by around 50%... and then other stuff happens for the rest of the book :D

In some ways, this book is like a self-contained trilogy... first 25% is setup for the next 25% and the last 50% is (view spoiler)[aftermath (hide spoiler)]

Mega Spoiler: (view spoiler)[the first 25% or so makes you think the boy is the MC, but really, it's the mom... (hide spoiler)]

[Elizabeth]

Iain said it perfectly.

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Yep, that makes sense. I'm finally getting on board!

Ch. 6-9 (view spoiler)[ I really started to feel a strong connection to the characters, specifically during the miscarriage scene in contrast to the sword fighting. This character is complex and rich and I love the portrayal of a mother who isn't perfect (or drastically evil, as the case may be). I also love the engaging perspectives from both mother and child. This story is starting to actually evoke emotion from me, and that doesn't happen often anymore (I'm usually to busy objectively analyzing things). I'm sold! (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Siobhan wrote: "Thanks Niki!
I'm working on a schedule of 3 chapters this week, then 7 chapters a week for the rest of the month. :)
Reading with Carla, Jenni and Laura - and now yourself and Jessi..."

Re chapter 2-3 (view spoiler)[ That's a very good point Niki! That was like a lightbulb moment for me reading your comment and now I'm questioning the whole plot! 🙈 Why on earth would they let an outsider in to reveal all their lies! (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

I'm through chapter 8 and really enjoying it! I love the characters. (view spoiler)[ Misaki is my favourite, I love her different depths as a person. She seems realistic as a mother. Interested in knowing more about her back story as a crime fighting super hero (wasn't expecting that haha). (hide spoiler)]

[Laura]

Hi everyone.
I just found my way over here too.

Working my way through to chapter 8 atm. :)

[Laura]

@Niki - that is a good question about the outsiders. Why would they allow that.

And (view spoiler)[samurai Hogwards (hide spoiler)] is such a cool and matching description! :)

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Siobhan wrote: "I'm through chapter 8 and really enjoying it! I love the characters. [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[Yes! So realistic. I can't think of another example of a mother who admits that sometimes we don't feel the way we're promised to and that's okay. She's just human and trying to do the best she can by her babies. Add to that her cool backstory, and I'm really loving her too. (hide spoiler)]

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Laura wrote: "@Niki - that is a good question about the outsiders. Why would they allow that.

And [spoilers removed] is such a cool and matching description! :)"

(view spoiler)[ haha, I'd go there! I'd hoped they'd spend more time there than they did, but maybe that's material for a spinoff at some point or something: the school years. (hide spoiler)]

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

I'm through ch. 19 (view spoiler)[ SO intense. So many gut-wrenching moments. I can't believe some of the deaths we've seen. Holy shit. This is why even though I'm cranky at self-published I still see the value in this. A trad house would never have let some of those things happen because that's not how you perpetuate a story and make more money. It was brilliantly done. I feel exhausted and sad. I need to see how it ends lol. This one has been hard for me to read because I have a really, really hard time disassociating when awful things happen to kids. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Niki Hawkes wrote: "I'm through ch. 19 [spoilers removed]"

These are the types of books that make it hard to talk about, as someone who already read the book, to people who haven't and are maybe having a hard time getting into the early part... because of the THING that happens on Chapter XX :D

[Jason]

Chapter XX wow.... Lol

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Jason wrote: "Chapter XX wow.... Lol"

It's like when people talk about (view spoiler)[Dumbledore (hide spoiler)] dying on page 792 or something, in the 6th Harry Potter book... or the way people talk about particularly crazy sex scenes in Paranormal erotica...

I think it's Chapter 34 in the 2nd or 3rd Night Huntress series One Foot in the Grave // At Grave's End)... or that sex scene on the ceiling at Disneyland in Eternal Kiss of Darkness... you're welcome :D

[Katie]

Ohhhh! I love how excited you guys are for this book. It is one of my absolute favorites <3 Timelord is absolutely right about the pacing. Stick with it and you won't be disappointed. There's just a lot of much needed slice of life build up before things hit the fan XD

Still debating if I should pick up this re-read with you all now that I'm back....how far is everyone ? :D

[Siobhan]

I just read chapter 18 last night and it was so emotional! (view spoiler)[ I can't believe what's going on at this stage of the book! It feels like an epic conclusion and I'm only half way through.

The attack on Kaigen has been so brutal. :'(
Misaki's friend being raped, after the bastard murdered her little boy. Just fucking awful.

The amount of characters we just lost! Including I'm assuming at this point Mamoru? :( So sad.
I love Misaki as the MC. She's so interesting and nuanced. I hope her husband turns out to have a few more layers than he seems to. (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

Niki Hawkes wrote: "I'm through ch. 19 [spoilers removed]"

Totally agree with you! I just read chapter 20 and I'm broken. (view spoiler)[ Misaki talking to her son's body has got me properly ugly crying. Fucking hell.
It's so intense, and so very well written. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

It's such a shame that this is her only great book so far... her other Theonite books are lower quality, and even the author admits it, and has put the mega-series on hold while she improves as a writer...

In the meantime, she's got 3+ ongoing slow web serials (new chapters each month) in a new shared universe... and a novella in THAT universe publishing next summer that I want to checkout... Blood Over Bright Haven... gonna wait for the first books of the web serials to finish and hopefully end up as audiobooks, before pushing towards them...

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Siobhan wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "g"

Yes (view spoiler)[ you're ugly crying at all the same places I did. Ugh. So brutal. And so poignantly written. And to have it all happen in the middle of the book was an amazing change of pace from the usual. I'm still kind of rocking from these scenes and I'm well into my next book. I really can't decide if I love or hate the way it made me feel lol. (hide spoiler)]

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Some thoughts on the aftermath (end of book spoilers) have you made it that far yet Siobhan?! (view spoiler)[ seeing how husband and wife navigated pain and blame after losing a child was so beautiful and profound and I found myself crying yet again when she began to show him her true self. So satisfying!!! This book is so unusual in all the best ways. I even loved how she talked to her younger brother haha. (hide spoiler)]

[Siobhan]

I'm about 70% Niki! Will get back to you! ☺️

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Siobhan wrote: "I'm about 70% Niki! Will get back to you! ☺️"

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Some thoughts on the aftermath"

(view spoiler)[the showdown between husband and wife was great... never seen anything like it, in my 1000s of other books... and the wonders it did for their marriage, and the future of the village?... it was great...

The stuff with the superhero college friend links back to the bigger Theonite series... something to do with the friend's son and realmhopping to Earth... multiversal economics / power struggles :D (hide spoiler)]

[Katie]

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Some thoughts on the aftermath (end of book spoilers) have you made it that far yet Siobhan?! [spoilers removed]"

Oh my gosh you guys. All of the emotions from this book. I feel you. I felt the same way during the read. Just so heart wrenching. So emotional. While I don't like to read about it...at the same time these events, these gut wrenching happenings and seeing the characters try to pull themselves together in the aftermath.... that's what stuck with me <3 :'(

[Siobhan]

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Some thoughts on the aftermath (end of book spoilers) have you made it that far yet Siobhan?! [spoilers removed]"

I loved this so much too Niki, couldn't agree more!
(view spoiler)[ I was so glad we finally saw a more human side to Misaki's husband.
I cried so much at this book, the loss was so sad. But I loved it, felt very emotionally connected. (hide spoiler)]

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Katie wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "Some thoughts on the aftermath (end of book spoilers) have you made it that far yet Siobhan?! [spoilers removed]"

Oh my gosh you guys. All of the emotions from this book. I fee..."

Yeah I think seeing the characters try to cope afterwards was the most poignant for me. Sobbing heap lol. But also exactly what you said - it was hard to read!

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

Siobhan wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "Some thoughts on the aftermath (end of book spoilers) have you made it that far yet Siobhan?! [spoilers removed]"

I loved this so much too Niki, couldn't agree more!
I was so..."

(view spoiler)[ I think that's one of the main reasons the book won me back over - it was unexpected and explained WHY and how he'd been so detached the whole book. Seeing him start to deal with his guilt and pain at failing his son was so profound. I haven't felt this connected to characters in a long while. Glad you loved it too! (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

As much reading as we do (to varying degrees), it's always great when you come across something you haven't seen before, plotwise or structurewise...

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

That’s the honest truth.

[Katie]

Niki Hawkes wrote: "Katie wrote: "Niki Hawkes wrote: "Some thoughts on the aftermath (end of book spoilers) have you made it that far yet Siobhan?! [spoilers removed]"

Oh my gosh you guys. All of the emotions from th..."

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