Reviews tagging 'Pandemic/Epidemic'

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

48 reviews

marissasa's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

Although I find less YA dystopian novels that I like as I get older, this one definitely held my interest with its unique sci-fi elements and the Lunar mutant race of people as antagonists. I thought this first entry into the series was well-written and the main character Cinder's emotions and actions felt true to her personality and her status as a misfit teenager who ends up questioning her entire identity, but as an adult reader you have to keep in mind the book's audience and just roll with it when she acts irrationally. The part I am most critical of in this book is the romance subplot, because it felt like their feelings for each other grew really fast despite having limited interactions in person, although maybe this can be chalked up to the way teenagers fall in love really fast in real life too. I liked the high stakes and danger that was ever-present throughout the book, and although some of the major plot points were predictable, they were written with ample build-up and the explanations following the reveals made sense for the story. I will continue this series and am curious to see how it ties in with the other fairytale-inspired sequels.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

good_names_dont_exist'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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Terminal illness, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, and War

rronnniii's review

adventurous funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Slavery, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Gun violence, Violence, and War

thumbeleia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Colonisation, and Deportation

Minor: Hate crime, Infertility, and Alcohol

bean_7088's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Cinderella but cyborg Sci-fi


I had some big gripes with how some of the characters were written. 
Kai was my biggest gripe. I just could not believe that a boy raised to be the next emperor would be so bad at politics. So bad at interacting within that political sphere. 
I also didn't quite understand the prejudice against cyborgs? I could understand if people were wary because cyborgs were stronger/smarter/faster whatever but that's not how it was portrayed and so it was a bit forced and weird. 
I hate the died literally seconds before they could be cured thing 🙄 
Even though I had gripes, and the ending was immediately predictable. I still want to read the rest of the series. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Little big of cyborg body horror and descriptions of previous injuries from fire Extremely emotionally/verbally abusive parent. Bigotry against cyborgs and other people Pandemic. Death of sibling.

memmah's review

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Medical trauma

Minor: Confinement, Medical content, Car accident, and Death of parent

aiplusyou's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

this was a re-read, but since i first read this book when it came out i only half-remembered the plot. it's as good as i remember, and i would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves sci-fi and fairytale retellings. i will say that in a post-covid era it may be a little triggering to read for some readers, however, as it does deal with a worldwide pandemic. this is not a spoiler, you learn this in the first few pages, but it is a theme throughout the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Racism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Pandemic/Epidemic

brucethegirl's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

An amazing sci-fi retelling of your favorite fairy tales. Cinder opens on the android and human filled crowded streets of New Beijing. Cinder runs a robot repair stall in the over crowded marketplace. Quickly, the authorities swoop down on a woman who suddenly begins showing signs of the highly contagious and fully deadly disease rampaging across the land. In a single scene that post COVID made me check the publication date, the stage is set for an amazing retelling of Cinderella. With robots. 

I loved the way this book introduced the world that Meyer built. From the Prince, to Cinder's step-mother, to all the little details that unfolded as the story progressed. The world building here was stunning. I love this exact kind of slowly unveiled, never to overwhelming, sci-fi. It's high sci-fi without ever getting too wrapped up in over explaining. 

I will say there was nothing revolutionary here, even for when it was published. The twists and turns are almost entirely predictable between genre conventions and the original story itself. There's nothing here that will make you gasp or surprise you. I also didn't care for how the story ends. It really felt like there should have been some semblance of a closing scene. A cliff-hanger in the worst way because there's absolutely no closure to anything introduced in book 1. A personal pet peeve about series. 

All that said, however, it was a super fun book that I finished in one sitting. I am also very excited to start book 2 and hopefully complete the series. Should all books turn out to be as fun as this one, I'll be buying that box set I keep seeing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Forced institutionalization, and Pandemic/Epidemic

tinysierra's review

adventurous

4.75

You ever just start a book and know from a few pages in that it’s going to become a favorite already?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic

mirrorstorm_'s review against another edition

adventurous emotional

• Loveable characters? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Death, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Minor: Gun violence and War