A skilled water-bender and fighter with traditional family values is forced into a loveless marriage and hiding her past.

Such a sweet book and such a surprisingly sweet ending. I honestly was not expecting the ending, or honestly even the last several chapters. Mamoru dying came as such a huge shock to me but I will admit the mourning of Mamoru was drawn out. I felt like at a certain point in the book nothing was really happening except for the characters feeling very strongly about the Ranganese attack and the government's lack of support. I really thought the scope of the novel would be a little larger, and I suspect it's meant to be especially with the last chapter opening up all those cans of worms. I really feel like there's supposed to be a book 2, potentially exploring more of the world Wang has built, possibly through Robin's eyes, but at this point in time there's no such thing. The Sword of Kaigen is very much a standalone novel. So judging it as a standalone novel, of course it leaves me feeling a bit dissatisfied because I'm missing critical plot points like why the Ranganese chose to attack now, who's in league with them, how the litigi fall into place and what this means at a global scale. Those were my only points of criticism. My rating for this book is somewhere between a 3 and a 4. I really enjoyed the bending. Super cool concepts overall and I think it really offered some interesting original ideas in this area. For example I loved that the air benders are seen as evil and off balance. I LOVED the Takeru POV and I loved meeting Kazu and how he kind of tried offering Misaki help but she refused. I love that she saved herself and I love how mature her decisions were. I also surprisingly love that Takeru tries, really tries, and completely changes up his tune. The character development was immaculate and I really appreciated that she didn't just run off to be happy with Robin. It was refreshing to see how her marriage and life finally became whole after she just accepted her lot and came to appreciate and be grateful for what she has left. Really loved her development. I also really loved that Takeru invited Robin and she had a chance to finally tie up her own loose ends regarding Robin.

I laughed when Setsuko started flirting with Robin despite not sharing a common language, that's honestly hilarious. Loved Daniel, he's so cute. Love Misakis advice to Robin to not regret Daniel or see him as a mistake, but instead live for him for however long they have together because the greatest disservice he could do is to not be his father. Like word. So cute. Love that.

“I spent a lot of time regretting,” she admitted. “I had a brilliant son, loving friends, and a whole family growing up all around me. And I was too wrapped up in my own regret to cherish it. I didn’t take ownership of that life until it was all slipping through my fingers and it was too late.”

Like... Crying. This is the message.

More than anything, this book is a reminder to accept our situation and be grateful, otherwise the negativity in our life will always consume us. I really like that and I wasn't expecting such a down to earth message to come out of a fantasy book about an ex-warrior housewife. Good book.

The Sword of Kaigen - Likewise Book Reviews

9 Reviews