Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

13 reviews

shadow_cat94's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

3.0

The first section - out of 3 - is a type of sewing contest that she enters to fulfill her lifelong dream. There are hints that there is more information in this world than we and Maia are given. Periodicall y there are writing mistakes such as movements not lining up with the previous action making it feel like the author forgot what they had just written previously, but it was easy to forget after that section of the scene has passed.

After she is given her quest to complete the 3 dresses of the goddess (the primary plot of this story) which kicks off section 2. This is where the major problems started popping up for me: the magic system is not ever very well defined other than us knowing that Maia's and Edan's are from different sources and there are different magical beings. Edan has magic limitations, but we don't know much about enchanters, his power limitation (caps) or magic in general in this world. When something magic related happens it feels like it is constantly asking me to be in a sense of suspended-belief  because I know practically nothing and when Edan or Maia "wins" ir feels like a no-brainer because I don't know what they CAN'T do.

Section 3 is fairly short in comparison to the others and it wraps up the dress plot while continuing the magic plot for the next book. Maybe my concern about the magic worlbuilding will be addressed in the second book, but I'm not invested enough to read the second book. I enjoyed Edan's character and his flaws/character arc, but Maia didn't feel like she grew much. Her biggest flaw was that she was lost in grief over her dead family members, but in the end found happiness in love while still seeing her remaining family happy without magic? That doesn't sound like much to me nor did it address the grief as it was taken from her without choice. She didn't feel compelling compared to someone enslaved fighting against their master to help an almost stranger to survive then continuing a life of enslavement for life to save someone they love (something that was originally impossible/improbable).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Slavery, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War, and Classism

Minor: Death, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kaneebli's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Grief, and Death of parent

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, and War

chrisljm's review against another edition

adventurous 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

3.75

I didn’t dislike the romance but I did wish it was more of a slowburn. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Abandonment

sofieishere's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

iwinatcookie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-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? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Sexual content, Blood, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail

meghansarmiento97's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

aseel_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-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

3.5

I enjoyed most of the book, until we got a bit of an insta love moment and then from there, it became a bit too eye roll dramatic for my taste. It was a good retelling of Mulan and I liked the unique elements it brought but yeah, the romantic relationship became very cringe 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

themiscyra_anna's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Body shaming and Alcohol

- threat of sexual slavery AKA unconsentual marriage - historically-inspired setting meaning cissexism in description and assumptions about others and the world - magical personalised and institutionalised form of slavery

madravingintrovert's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

 January is ending with a bang!! Here we have the SECOND 5-flapper girls approved book of the year. This is a young adult book and a pretty clean one at that. There is technically a fade-2-black scene but it is so subtle and tastefully done that you almost don't realize that is what is happening. Spin the Dawn has heavy influences in Eastern world lore, India, Middle East, China, Japan and more. This book had me reading into the late hours of the night and falling asleep reading again. It has been a few months since a book gripped me that strongly. There is mostly adventure with a slow burn love story woven through out. I can't say enough good things about this book. I have a stack that are checked out from the library and due soon and an advanced copy book that I am supposed to read soon and all that is going STRAIGHT out the window in favor of the sequel to this book because I HAVE to know what happens next. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

egurgens's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

A Mulan-esc story, where the daughter of a weakened father is called by her country to participate in an event. However, it's not war, its a tailoring competition, where only men are allowed. Maia has to navigate not only the super competitive competition, but she has to be careful not to appear feminine, and she has to deal with the court enchanter, who seems able to see through her disguise as a man. 
Maia must deal with overly-savage competitors, magic, the enchanter, and the sanshen's daughter, who doesn't want to marry, even to save the country. There are three parts to this story, the competition, the journey, and the results. Maia is strong, confident in her abilities, but has to deal with challenges though impossible. With the help of the court enchanter, Edan, she goes on a journey to accomplish her task, and maybe even develop some feelings along the way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Police brutality, Medical content, Death of parent, War, and Injury/Injury detail