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shiveryteacup's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Medical content, and Medical trauma
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
carynnbanner's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Minor: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
frankietheavidreader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Moderate: Body shaming and Chronic illness
Minor: Abandonment
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.liorae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Moderate: Body shaming
Minor: War
kthedestroyer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It's not that I don't like it because I really do (I mean, 4 stars is still a lot) but there is just something about it that I don't get as emersed as I should have.
It honestly might be the pacing. I feel like it's too fast and too slow at the same time. Everything happens so fast so you can't get to know the characters well enough but then again it seems like some scenes take forever.
Maybe it's something about the fact that Cinder's 16. Look, I have nothing against 16-year-olds but there's just no way that I wouldn't break under pressure 2 years ago if I was in her place. When I look at those kids now, I feel like it would be even worse.
I also think that Peony's death came too soon. I mean, she was in the book for like 50 pages and Meyer was just like: "Okay, time to die biatch." I feel like this is why I didn't really care about her death. Sure, Cinder's reaction was devastating but then again, we kinda forget about it right after that scene is finished.
I also miss my girl Iko for the majority of the book. Adri, I hate you for what you did. It's your fault that our fairy godmother is absent. You shall suffer (this is what we call foreshadowing).
It's getting a bit too negative in here, don't you think?
I thought so.
Okay, I know. The romance between Kai and Cinder is very convenient but I crave it. This whole book could have been just a back and forth conversation between them and I would love it. It's a sugar bomb and anyone who knows me would probably question if it was really me who wrote this review when I told them that this is the main reason why I like the book.
Sorry, I lied. It's not the romance... it's the SASS and Iko's hilarious comments.
Firstly, we have Cinder's sass which is not visible that often but when we get her snarky comments, my day instantly gets better.
Secondly, Iko is hilarious. I love her and her obsession with shoes and dresses and Prince Kai. I would love to see more of her in this book (I, again, blame Adri).
And of course, the star of the book... Prince Kai. That man is playing with his life. Levana is a ruthless queen who shows no mercy and this idiot of a man still shoots some very ironic or sarcastic comments even though she would probably want to cut his head off.
Pure gold.
Also... the ending is heartbreaking. I kinda want to kill Kai for the words he said to Cinder. The sass saved him this time but still. This is why I still prefer Thorne over Kai.
Marissa Meyer is most definitely one of my top 3 favorite authors but it shows that this is her first (I think) published book. Fortunately, it only gets better from here.
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, and Fire/Fire injury
buwubie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
His attraction towards cinder is a bit sudden but i’m choosing to see it as a consequence of his situation and his need to find someone to release his emotions on to that isnt royalty or working for them.
overall loved it!
Graphic: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Forced institutionalization
talkstofish's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I enjoyed this reimagined fairytale in a sci-fi setting! The world-building is pretty good, but I do find the characters a little lacking in growth. I expect that they grow and develop over the course of the series.
*** Note: The audiobook version is fine. The voice actor plays up the role of a 17-year old girl, so it feels a lot more like the natural thoughts of a teenager.
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, and Medical content
Moderate: Grief and Suicide attempt
Minor: Child death
The main character is a cyborg and many people shame her for having tech parts to survive a traumatic accident. The plot focuses heavily on a plague, so there is medical content and death related to it.theespressoedition's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
To this day, I think The Lunar Chronicles are the best fairytale retellings ever. They're so unique and fun - and honestly, they're timeless. They stick closely to the original stories in a lot of ways - and then, of course, Meyer always puts her incredibly creative twist on them! She's one of my favorite authors for a reason.
It was hard for me to separate whether I was just doing a great job remembering the book or whether the plot twists I found shocking in the past were actually totally predictable. I definitely remembered a lot more than I expected, but I also wondered if maybe I would've picked apart the narrative if this was my first time reading. However, it really didn't matter if it felt "predictable" this time around or not because it was such an enjoyable read and just like last time, I was immediately ready to jump into the next book in the series to find out what happens!
These are not complicated books at all and they're super easy to digest quickly. I'm looking forward to continuing my reread. It'll be so great to see how I feel about Scarlet after so long (because that was my favorite book the first time around)!
Graphic: Child death and Death
Moderate: Body shaming and Death of parent
Minor: Ableism
I don't really know how to classify this particular trigger warning: there is a lot of disdain and hatred against cyborgs in the book, so in this particular sci-fi universe, I would consider it racism - however, it's clearly a fantastical classification because cyborgs aren't reality.