I like historical fiction and strong female heroines, but I was disappointed in this novel. The basic premise is that Miu Miu, a 15 year old girl, must avenge the death of her father. He was a master swords-maker and, after creating a powerful, magical sword for the Emperor, was slain by him. Miu Miu has studied marshal arts as well as swordsmanship and heads off of her mission. The middle section becomes boring. Her meeting with her arranged husband-to-be is extremely unlikely. The battle with the Emperor is full of gruesome details about different martial arts moves. The sudden introduction of magic toward the end is just confusing.
Further, the characters lack depth and dynamics. The writing style is pretty boring, too, and there's little tension until the very end.
Perhaps lovers of marshal arts will find it more entertaining than I did, but I can't recommend it. ( )

Miu Miu lives in Goose Village in ancient China. Before she was born, her father, a master sword-maker, was killed by the emperor. If Miu Miu had been born a boy, her fate would have been to avenge her father's death, but as a girl, her fate is to marry someone who will have to do the avenging for her. She has been engaged since birth to Tong Ting, a boy she has never met, and she has been secretly trained by the local monks in martial arts. Her mother makes a deal with the village elders to allow Miu Miu to seek vengeance as a son, and she is sent on an epic journey with little more than her father's last and best sword (long hidden in the dirt under their hut), his clothing, a few coins and a small jade pendant with her unknown betrothed's name carved into it. Miu Miu faced trials of all kinds, and finds allies in all sorts of places. Lots of fairy tale events, but a wonderful tale with strong characters, exciting events, and really good villains! Especially good for 7th grade, since we study ancient China. ( )

Reviewed by Rebecca Wells for TeensReadToo.com

On her fifteenth birthday, Miu Miu wakes not to the matchmaker, as is tradition in her village, but to a frightening revelation from her mother. Miu Miu's father was murdered, she discovers, and Miu Miu must travel to the city of Chang'an to avenge her father's death and find her true love.

But the path to victory is never straight, Miu Miu learns, as she faces challenge after challenge in her journey towards Chang'an, only to find that her most difficult task lies in the form of the evil emperor who she must defeat.

SWORD is a captivating adventure that paints an intriguing portrait of ancient China. While the story is simplistic and sometimes predictable, readers will remain invested in SWORD because of the way it is crafted. Miu Miu is a sympathetic heroine and her adventures are highly entertaining, especially when they involve martial arts.

I enjoyed SWORD immensely, and heartily recommend it to readers in search of a good, clean adventure story with a strong female protagonist. ( )

Miu Miu krijgt van haar moeder te horen hoe haar vader, een beroemde zwaardsmid , door de keizer van China is omgebracht. Ze leert in het geheim gevechtstechnieken en gaat verkleed als jongen op zoek naar de keizer om wraak te nemen. Zal het haar lukken om de keizer te verslaan ?

One of the great things about books is their ability to open up new worlds to a reader, the author assuming the role of knowledgeable tour guide. Not many Western readers have the opportunity to experience China personally, so our view of China is often limited to what we read about it, which is greatly dependent on just how knowledgeable the author is about Chinese culture.

Da Chen, who grew up in China before moving to New York, has the credentials and life experience to be a wonderful tour guide. But while Chen’s latest young adult novel “Sword” is an enjoyable and action-packed romp that’s also a loving portrait of Chinese culture, it also suffers from some glaring weaknesses. The flow of the language in the book is awkward to say the least and the novel’s conclusion is a major letdown. For every part of “Sword” that I enjoyed, there was an equal part of the book which I did not.

Miu Miu wakes up on her fifteenth birthday not to the sounds of a Matchmaker knocking on the door to announce her choice of suitors, but to something much different. Before she was born, Miu Miu’s father was murdered, leaving her mother and her all alone. Now she has been informed that instead of starting her first steps into womanhood with her betrothal, she’s to avenge her father’s murder.

Before Miu Miu leaves for the capital, her mother reveals a secret that she has held onto for fifteen years. The son of her father’s apprentice Tong Ting has been chosen to be her husband, but only after he kills the murderer of Miu’s father, which just happens to be the emperor. (Talk about ratcheting up the difficulty factor!) Tong Ting will be wearing a jade necklace that matches the one that Miu’s mother gives her for her fifteenth birthday. She also recovers the last sword that her father had crafted, an immensely powerful weapon that can match the magical might of the emperor’s sword. Not wanting to leave revenge to someone who she’s never met, Miu begs the Elders to let her go and kill the emperor. Securing the permission of the Elders, Miu sets off on her murderous quest. It’s kill or be killed, since anything else will bring untold shame to her family and village.

On her long journey to the capital, Miu stumbles across a cocky young man who challenges her to a fist battle in the forest. (Miu is disguised as a man, so there are no fistic improprieties here.) While in the woods to settle this battle of egos, she discovers something she couldn’t have even imagined. During the heat of the battle, a necklace falls from his neck. It’s a perfect match to the one her mother gave her (you had to see that one coming) and is inscribed with Miu’s name. It seems she has found Tong Ting, he betrothed.

Together Tong Ting and Miu conspire to assassinate the emperor. (Who knew dating could be so much fun?) Finally on reaching the capital, nothing goes like they planned as they discover that the sword crafted by her father does more than just kill.

“Sword” has many enjoyable aspects. The narrative is very entertaining and engaging, effortlessly pulling the reader through the story. Chen displays great skill in creating his characters. They are interesting, warm and engaging, and I found myself empathizing with them. The fight sequences are detailed and vivid.
Sadly though, I found Chen’s use of Chinese terms for the martial arts moves very distracting. It’s not the Chinese words that are distracting, but the English translation that follows in parentheses. It’s like reading a book with parenthetical subtitles (which is so annoying, don’t you think?). This interrupted the fluidity of the narrative, the flow bogging down as each new technical term conveying the move is followed by a translation. Instead of trying to paint a picture with a description of the move, Chen only offers the technical term. It’s telling the reader rather than showing them.

The climax of the book felt very anti-climactic (although the fight scene was vivid if you could overlook the overabundance of technical terms in the description). But after the climax, the story finished somewhat flat, seemingly meandering to its conclusion. It’s a shame since every page of “Sword” has something interesting happening. The book doesn’t lack for page-turning action, and it never feels like a chore to continue. Unfortunately the resolution is disappointing.

Last Word:
“Sword” is a quick and enjoyable read. The action scenes were entertaining, even though the Chinese (English) description of the moves took away greatly from the flow. After finishing the book, I was left with a sense of emptiness like I’d missed the high point of the story. I wanted a stronger conclusion. ( )