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maria_pell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Excrement
anielabooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Child death, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Gun violence, Self harm, and Car accident
travisdabis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Nonetheless, interesting book, discussed pandemics, politics, cyborgs, and more. It did keep me very engage, though the 'twists' were a little expected! But I don't think that's terrible story telling. Definitely a book, pretty good read.
Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma
Moderate: Body shaming, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Main character is missing limbs and has prosthetics. Consistent descriptions of how stuff feels and very medical centered. Also there's a pandemic going on so talk about that too. At one point she cuts herself with a knife for plot.lagiven's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Racism, and Xenophobia
baponthecob's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
It was a little slow bc of exposition and setup and all of that, but it wasnt bad.
The way Cinder was 16 and Kai was 18 bugged me a lot so I'm just pretending that's not a thing.
To me, they vibe more as friends. I would like to see them get closer platonically and actually bond over something and get to know each other. Bc rn their entire thing is banter and flirting.
I like Kai and Cinder as individuals. They're both sarcastic little shits lol. Sometimes it was a BIT MUCH, but it added funny bits.
All the scenes with Adri made me feel really conflicted? They tugged on my heartstrings, man. There were a lot of scenes that were just painful. /pos
Also, as a reread, I can see a lot of foreshadowing and setup for future books.
Overall, I'm pleasantly surprised at how this holds up. I understand why 12-year-old me liked this so much.
Graphic: Death and Terminal illness
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
The adult/minor relationship is 18 & 16awkwardpotat013's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Violence, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, and Medical trauma
Minor: Gun violence and Suicide attempt
empathephant's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Terminal illness, Blood, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Slavery, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, and Car accident
A pandemic that causes nearly death threatens the world. The plot takes place under the looming threat of war, centering on trying to prevent the war. Main character is an orphan, living in an abusive adoptive family.nxclx's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I didn't get the feeling of sadness for Peony and her sickness and death, and Cinder seemed way more concerned with the Prince and the romantics kind of took over there. Also... we get it. The prince is hot. He's attractive. Woo.
Cinder for me could've been such a bad ass character, but she came across as brash and impulsive - which I get it, she's a teenager, but still. She' s grown up in this abusive household and her actions from the beginning don't show that. It would've been more appropriate to me to see that growth. Kai comes across the same way to me: out of character. I know that's a weird phrasing since he is the character but hear me out. He's grown up a prince and has presumably been taught his entire life how to run a country, how to act, proper diplomatic moves to make... and yet here he is, impulsive and not acting like a prince, but more of a regular teenager/young adult.
I feel like I've read this story before many times over in YA Fantasy that came out around this time, and maybe I need to stop reading books like that, but they all start to blend together and sound completely unoriginal...
I did like that they weren't together at the end of the book, that works more for me than forcing the ending to wrap up quickly and rush things. I don't know if I'll be continuing on with the series, but it's been on my TBR the longest, and I'm glad to have gotten it out of the way so I'll stop wondering about it.
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, and Medical content
Minor: Gun violence and Sexual assault
Clarifications: (partial spoilers, nothing major) - Body Shaming: for being a Cyborg and not human, not related to weight - Medical Content: medical examination and blood draws - Suicide: not actual suicide, but attempted forced suicide (twice.) - Terminal Illness: there's a deadly plague. sound familiar? - Xenophobia: aliens/cyborgs, not modern xenophobia - Gun Violence: again, attempted forced suicide (with a gun) - Sexual Assault: SPOILER she kisses him against his will and he does not reciprocatenidorina's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Despite having a lot of complaints about this book, I thought it was a very exciting read! I blitzed through it in a way I haven't with a book in a long time. This author's pacing is flawless, and the concepts the book is built on are incredibly interesting. If I didn't have to deal with the dull romantic plot with a dull love interest, or if the book was willing to offer more substance about them, I'd be hungry for more of how they're built. Ultimately, though, the book didn't have a ton of merit on its own except as a setup for a sequel that I don't intend to continue with.
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia
Minor: Self harm
reocalabra's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Minor: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, and Medical content