Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

30 reviews

msbedelia's review against another edition

I understood that this was a "Black, queer Cinderella destroys the patriarchy" book for young adults (great premise!), but I didn't anticipate just how much unrelenting misogynist violence and violent rhetoric there would be to show just how bad the society she's fighting against is. I usually reach for YA for something lighter- even when themes are mature- but in terms of triggering events, this *feels* more like The Handmaid's Tale, and without the lyrical prose and insight that made that work so beautiful. This book might be *extremely* fun for someone in the age range it was intended for, but despite my curioristy for how it turns out (and what the truth about Cinderella is!), I have to DNF at this time. I can't do the unrelenting dystopia, and the overt nature/simplicity of the authoritarianism- while very much a YA genre feature- is also boring and grating to me. But again- would probably encourage a teenager to read it and see what they thought. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Misogyny, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Acephobia/Arophobia

anonymous_traveller's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Ableism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Misogyny, Grief, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, War, Murder, Physical abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, and Slavery

queerghstbuster's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I almost dnf'd this book and although the ending was kinda great, I didn't enjoy from the half till almost the end of the book so I'm kinda sad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Death

Moderate: Violence

Minor: Sexual violence

broccoli_j's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book is similar to „the lunar chronicles“. The sapphic love story is very prominent in the book and the challenging of societal norms contains just sexism. 

All in all it’s a good book for a younger ya audience 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Violence

bzliz's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful fast-paced

• 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? No

3.75

In a harrowing world where women are commodities to be bought and sold, used and abused, Sophia desires more. She’s memorized the story of Cinderella just as the King has mandated and she has a few qualms with the lessons the citizens of Lille are supposed to learn from it. Sophia’s best friend (and first love), Erin, makes it clear that she’s not willing to go against the grain of society to hopefully live in exile with Sophia. Heartbroken, Sophia attends the annual (mandatory) ball where men get to select wives for themselves and the girls have absolutely no say in anything but she escapes after her friend Liv is singled out by the cruel king and dragged away. She meets Constance while taking refuge in Cinderella’s tomb, who offers her an escape, a chance at freedom, and eventually an opportunity to kill the king and fix their broken society. 

The world is pretty vivid in how horrible it is. Abuse of all kinds apparently runs rampant and people truly just ignore it in hopes that they won’t get executed for speaking out. Obviously some people aren’t chill with what’s going on but they keep to themselves for the most part because they’re punished if they do speak out. I liked Sophia’s connection with Luke but I wish it was more substantial- like they’d been friends for a while and he really had a reason to stick his neck out for her- because when he came to save her at the ball, it felt unnatural. Like he’s been protecting himself for so long but after a few sassy interactions he feels compelled to protect her so they can both be secretly gay together but still stuck in this horrible place. I’m also confused by Erin’s characterization. She breaks Sophia’s heart by refusing to run away out of her own sense of self preservation and wants to follow the King’s terrible laws, but she already broke rules and norms by having a relationship with Sophia. Someone that set on keeping themself safe doesn’t seem like they’d ever admit or act on any gay feelings. 

I enjoyed the dynamic between Sophia and Constance, and I really liked Amina’s murky morality. Even though it was easy to guess at the “plot twist” of the prince’s secret to youth, I did not see Amina’s plot twist coming. Constance wasn’t a knight in shining armor; she was a solid foundation on which Sophia was able to build her own feelings of rebellion against tyranny and I think the message of “we can stand up to things that are wrong and also girls can save themselves” is a pretty good one to put out in the world. 

Mind the content warnings, especially if you can’t stomach descriptions or discussions of misogyny, sexual assault, physical abuse and domestic violence, and implications of pedophilia. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Classism, Homophobia, Slavery, Child abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, and Trafficking

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

paigereitz's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

This was a cute story and I enjoyed it, but it was a little direct/on the nose at times. I really liked the concept, but the delivery was so-so. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Death of parent and Sexual violence

wynnie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Death, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Violence, Pedophilia, Lesbophobia, Confinement, Classism, Body horror, Blood, Terminal illness, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, and Sexual assault

Minor: Chronic illness, Trafficking, Animal death, Confinement, and Suicide

Far darker than you would initially think, quite a lot of mentions of triggering topics. Sexual violence against women is talked about frequently.

directorpurry's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexism, Violence, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Sexual violence, and Confinement

bookswithlauren's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-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

I enjoy books that take our classic fairytales and twist them, look at them from a different perspective and weave an entirely different story. I particularly enjoy how Kalynn Bayron explores how much of a negative impact fairytales can have on a society, something I have often thought about. 

We are fed these stories about lives, people, how they do and should live, from a very young age. When, in reality, they are idealistic, narrow minded and unrealistic. Not every girl is going to grow up to find and marry the man of her dreams, have children and live a perfect life she loves as a home maker. But these stories don't show us any diversity or inclusion of any kind. Children learn from fairytales and I don't think our typical fairytales are teaching anything useful and I love the way Kalynn explores this in Cinderella is Dead.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Murder, Classism, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Blood, Bullying, Death, Grief, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Trafficking, and War

sven47's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.5

If Iran was like Enchanted (the movie). 
Women are things, on this one. My feminist heart screamed many times over the sexism and brutalism men in this fantasy world treated women. 
The plot was obvious to me from the start, the villain mechanics, and all the magical plot points, but it didn't bother me because I was so invested in Sophie's, our main girl, journey and eventual win. 

The romance felt rushed but I was happy for a black queer character to find her happiness so I was totally ok with that as well. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexism