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Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'
Geekerella. Cenușăreasa la convenția SF by Ashley Poston
22 reviews
rebeccaisabelle's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I like the overall cinderella theme of the book. It was really cute. The better between the main characters is also cute. I didn't like how the 'evil stepsisters' - especially Chloe treated Elle. same for Brian - the way he treated Darien , but that's expected in Cinderella adaptations so it's okay. I thought Elle was gonna buy her house afterward. No mention was made at the end of the book. I thought we would have seen a bigger confrontation at the end btwn Darien and his father. I thought the father would have shown up or something but he didn't. I'm glad Gail got promoted. Well deserved indeed. There was character development throughout the book but I felt that most of the conversations between the main characters were on their phone/ online. I would have wanted there to be more physical interactions between them, even if they didn't know the others' secret as yet. The phone texts I believe took up more than ½ of the book. Instead the texting part could've lasted around ½ the book and their physical interactions could have started right after. They could come across each other more than once. Let their lives intertwine a bit more - the parts when didn't know the either was their phone crush. Kind of like Miraculous Lady Bug and Cat Noir in a way. Both protagonists could feel that their phone crush would never reciprocate what they were individually feeling and slightly give up on pursuing a relationship- conflicted. Then in person, they are seeing each other, not knowing it's their phone crush,start off hating each other then finally liking the other through a series of events (standing up for another, etc.), then they could feel even more conflicted because they feel they are being unfaithful to the phone crush...only to find out they were them all this time. I feel like I would get slightly upset reading that kind of book but it would've been more interesting for sure. I would have also wanted to see more of their interactions after they got together .
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment
emilywemily6's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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? No
4.0
While this book started off slow, I really enjoyed this cheesy YA retelling of Cinderella! I loved the sci-fi fandom aspect and how thoroughly the author created the fandom. It felt new and fresh and I wish I could watch the TV show! The FMC’s relationships with her step sisters and step mother were abusive and honestly made me really uncomfortable, to the point that they took away some of my enjoyment of the book. The FMC made a lot of poor assumptions about other people that also weren’t very fitting for a Cinderella-type character. I love the shenanigans at the very end of this book too! I wish we got a more in-depth look at the epilogue for these characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Lesbophobia
Minor: Sexual harassment
nat_alley's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism
Moderate: Lesbophobia
bzliz's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Oof. I like Ashley Poston and I was looking for something light to read but this was insubstantial in every way. The characters were flat and the plot was like a Disney Channel movie but even less intelligent. There was zero nuance about anything. It borrowed heavily from A Cinderella Story with the anonymous texting and the main character (Danielle aka Elle, in this case) being heavily invested in her dad’s passion (a nerdy sci-fi series and convention here instead of baseball and his diner) but the evil stepmother takes everything away. I half expected her to find a secret will that showed everything went to her instead of her stepmother.
The only positive I can point to is the love shown to fandom. It’s the only good thing in Elle’s life and was a way she connected to her dad and explored the world socially. If you ever had a tumblr phase, this aspect will resonate with you.
Unfortunately, everything else is jam packed with all the emotional abuse Elle endures, seriously oversimplified aspects of the entertainment industry (Darien’s big budget sci-fi action movie is filmed in 23 days and is completely edited and premiered within the year… there’s no universe where this could happen), and some minor drama about gatekeepy geek boys and bad dad manager behavior.
The only positive I can point to is the love shown to fandom. It’s the only good thing in Elle’s life and was a way she connected to her dad and explored the world socially. If you ever had a tumblr phase, this aspect will resonate with you.
Unfortunately, everything else is jam packed with all the emotional abuse Elle endures, seriously oversimplified aspects of the entertainment industry (Darien’s big budget sci-fi action movie is filmed in 23 days and is completely edited and premiered within the year… there’s no universe where this could happen), and some minor drama about gatekeepy geek boys and bad dad manager behavior.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Animal cruelty, Sexism, Car accident, and Toxic friendship
rafacolog's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Death of parent
lilykazily's review against another edition
emotional
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Emotional abuse
theonlybaillie's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Physical abuse and Toxic friendship
lakinglaze's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I wanted to love this story so much more than I did. It made my geeky little heart sing with the references to some of my most favourite fandoms! However, the characters took far too long to stand up for themselves and I like my characters with a bit more candor and backbone than these. They just felt a little lacking for me, but the story was fun though.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism
cait's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-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
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
katie_k1's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Physical abuse and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia