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ji_llreads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I’ve enjoyed a lot of Marissa Meyers books in the past, but although this book had its redeeming qualities it definitely wasn’t my favorite. The story was interesting but became a little too dark for me even with its light jokes and witty banter. I also feel as though the book can become slow and a little hard to read at times, especially at the beginning and middle sections. This is all my opinion though, so if you enjoy good storytelling and fairytales with a darker twist, you’ll surely enjoy this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Abortion
taryn_g's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, and Death of parent
Minor: Abandonment
clawclawclaw's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Violence
aishawilson's review
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
nah bro i was thinking yesss cos i love the lunar chronicles so much and i saw this and thought, dope, will be along the same lines right? and yes i did get to have the same writing style again which was lovely and omg love a fairy tale rewrite but this book gets far more gory/gritty and leaves no survivors (for the purpose of no spoilers, i am referring to my heart which very much did not survive). it's a weird in-between vibe that makes you think, hm, the warning bells aren't too loud surely everything is fine right.. and sometimes it is fine and sometimes it is so not fine.
Some other notes just in hindsight:
in all honesty, i was not deeply connected to Serilda and more saw her as a way to get to the other characters that i did like, Gild and Lorraine especially. i didn't have anything against her, but it's possible that i felt like i was being pushed to sympathise and root for her just because so much was going wrong for her, rather than because she was a genuinely likable character.
and speaking of things going wrong for her... some of it was too much. dad becoming a zombie? where did that come from? we already knew he was dead and Serilda wanted revenge - I'm not sure what the zombie thing did for the plot except reintroduce the teacher as a good character, which easily could have been done another way. obviously a lot of bad stuff happens in this book to people who dont deserve it, but he literally didnt deserve it and i feel like there was zero explanation as to how it happened? like is zombification a random incident or did something in their lives trigger them to come back as undead to eat their families?
and while on the topic of undeserved deaths.... you already know what I'm talking about. what the fuck.... all 5 kids? dude no fucking way.. still struggling to fathom it tbh.
Some other notes just in hindsight:
in all honesty, i was not deeply connected to Serilda and more saw her as a way to get to the other characters that i did like, Gild and Lorraine especially. i didn't have anything against her, but it's possible that i felt like i was being pushed to sympathise and root for her just because so much was going wrong for her, rather than because she was a genuinely likable character.
and speaking of things going wrong for her... some of it was too much. dad becoming a zombie? where did that come from? we already knew he was dead and Serilda wanted revenge - I'm not sure what the zombie thing did for the plot except reintroduce the teacher as a good character, which easily could have been done another way. obviously a lot of bad stuff happens in this book to people who dont deserve it, but he literally didnt deserve it and i feel like there was zero explanation as to how it happened? like is zombification a random incident or did something in their lives trigger them to come back as undead to eat their families?
and while on the topic of undeserved deaths.... you already know what I'm talking about. what the fuck.... all 5 kids? dude no fucking way.. still struggling to fathom it tbh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child death and Violence
Minor: Abortion
kbairbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It’s tricky because I believe Marissa Meyer is a master at her craft. This was genius storytelling, in my opinion, but I also don’t like scary things and I would classify this book as horror. Sooo I’m amazed by the storytelling and horrified by the contents.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Torture, Pregnancy, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Abortion
nrogers_1030's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
TW: lots of death & children aren’t excluded
- Also I don’t think my review has any spoilers, but 🤷🏻♀️
Okay, so here’s what I love: the storyline, it’s great. I love the fairytale creatures, the haunted castle, all of it. At times, it did get a bit repetitive. What’s the one thing.. well person, that drove me up the wall? SERILDA. Her constant lying had me wanting to drop the book. It’s such a pet peeve of mine. It’s so hard to not get worked up over it. Granted, she has some redeeming qualities, but it’s really hard to like her. She’s a liar and she’s a bit dense… like how many times does everyone have to tell her how magical bargains work!?! 🤦🏻♀️
That being said, I adore Gild and he makes up for her. I really like what’s going on in the story and the cliffhanger is absolutely maddening! I’ll def be reading the sequel… even though Serilda will be in it 🙄😂
That being said, I adore Gild and he makes up for her. I really like what’s going on in the story and the cliffhanger is absolutely maddening! I’ll def be reading the sequel… even though Serilda will be in it 🙄😂
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Violence, Blood, Child death, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Torture
jen1804's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Not sure how I feel about this book. It’s obviously the first in a series as the ending is left very much on a ‘what happens next?’ vibe. If it was a stand alone then the ending would be extremely disappointing.
It felt quite YA, and the main character’s depth of emotions seemed really shallow which was a shame. She goes through so much loss and yet I don’t feel the book really explores the grief an 18 year old would be experiencing at the loss of her father, especially after seeing him reincarnated as what is essentially a zombie before needing to then decapitate him, like that’s gonna give the girl some trauma and yet Serilda seems very okay throughout and I don’t find it very realistic. Similarly, the way her emotions are so simply described causes the reader to achieve no great connection to Serilda and thus when further tragic events occur, I found myself feeling no sense of loss or heartbreak for her.
I found the romance between Serilda and Gild happened really fast and overall it was bizarre, it’s not built on much at all and I found myself thinking ‘what, why???’ whenever things seemed to progress between them. I wanted more depth and more complex relationship threads to be woven.
The main character herself is kinda weedy and a bit pathetic, she does not have a strong personality, or any real strength. It is a rumplestiltskin retelling where she heavily relies on the assistance of Gild and his power to spin straw into gold whilst she just sits and tells him stories. The ending gets a bit more interesting when her story telling becomes a way of actually achieving something. I’m used to badass female main characters in fantasy books and this simply did not deliver, but I expect I will read the second book to see whether her character builds into someone more powerful.
Satisfactory ending? No, but there’s a second book.
It felt quite YA, and the main character’s depth of emotions seemed really shallow which was a shame. She goes through so much loss and yet I don’t feel the book really explores the grief an 18 year old would be experiencing at the loss of her father, especially after seeing him reincarnated as what is essentially a zombie before needing to then decapitate him, like that’s gonna give the girl some trauma and yet Serilda seems very okay throughout and I don’t find it very realistic. Similarly, the way her emotions are so simply described causes the reader to achieve no great connection to Serilda and thus when further tragic events occur, I found myself feeling no sense of loss or heartbreak for her.
I found the romance between Serilda and Gild happened really fast and overall it was bizarre, it’s not built on much at all and I found myself thinking ‘what, why???’ whenever things seemed to progress between them. I wanted more depth and more complex relationship threads to be woven.
The main character herself is kinda weedy and a bit pathetic, she does not have a strong personality, or any real strength. It is a rumplestiltskin retelling where she heavily relies on the assistance of Gild and his power to spin straw into gold whilst she just sits and tells him stories. The ending gets a bit more interesting when her story telling becomes a way of actually achieving something. I’m used to badass female main characters in fantasy books and this simply did not deliver, but I expect I will read the second book to see whether her character builds into someone more powerful.
Satisfactory ending? No, but there’s a second book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Violence, Child death, and Suicide
arthur_ant18's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Death of parent, Child death, Animal death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Confinement, and Gore
Moderate: Slavery, Animal cruelty, Suicide, Pregnancy, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Minor: Abortion, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, War, and Sexual content
mundanedaydream's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Gore, Confinement, and Blood
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Torture and Abortion
biohazzardous's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
It starts off really building up the world and the mystery but once it’s the last two moons things finally pick up and take HARD turns. I wished the buildup didn’t feel like a slog at times. And while I liked the characters that was the only thing really pushing me since the mystery element took so long to build. But now that it’s getting somewhere I’m very much looking forward to the second book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Violence, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Kidnapping, and Abortion
Minor: Torture and Vomit