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noellegrace8'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? Yes
5.0
Also. Winter & Jacin > everyone else. I freaking love them.
Winter's story also has the most clever parallels to her fairytale as well (in my humble opinion). Cinder is a close second, but I think Winter's story is a lot more exciting.
The revolution is a bit challenging, as it (understandably) has to wrap up every bit of convoluted plot line and can be a bit anxiety-inducing. Sometimes you genuinely feel that the characters are about to die and/or lose.
The last chapters are done in the way of the movie version of the Return of the King - where we get to see each person's ending. It is a bit saccharine, but in the perfect way that modern fairy tales are.
I was glad to see Cress & Thorne finally be solid. It was frustrating to read their back-and-forth in book 3, but there are some PERFECTLY written scenes between the two of them in this one. Also, can I just say that I love the mild allusion to other versions of Rapunzel? Like how Thorne stabs Cress in the side just like Mother Gothel stabs Flynn in Tangled?
I did struggle a bit when it was revealed that Levana has a disfigured face. Mostly because I don't understand how cyborgs are a reality but plastic surgery isn't? But more than that, it seemed like a weak/frustrating plot device, one that goes against the whole idea of Snow White (that the Evil Queen *is* in fact gorgeous on the outside, but can't understand that her *heart* is ugly). Still not anything worth docking stars for.
Seriously. So. Good.
I don't factor audiobook narrators' performances into my overall star rating, but I would give Rebecca Soler a 4.25/5 for this one. As previously stated in my other reviews of books 1-3, I got used to her slightly different voices and grew to appreciate them, especially certain characters. There were still some pieces that should have been re-recorded due to minor errors, but again, that feels like it should be on whoever did the mixing and production. But the one thing that really made me dock that .75 this time was Winter's voice. She is voiced like a baby, and it was grating on my ears. I also don't appreciate the infantilization of a character who is 17 with a love interest who is 19. It just feels icky. I think she could have come across as "crazy" yet "alluring" and "innocent" without being voiced as a child.
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Classism, Blood, Gaslighting, Body horror, Death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Violence
Moderate: Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Grief, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, Animal death, Murder, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Torture, Xenophobia, Medical content, and Gun violence
Minor: Alcohol, Body shaming, Grief, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Child death, Genocide, Sexual violence, and Adult/minor relationship
novelnerd_11's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Murder, War, Death, Violence, Toxic relationship, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gun violence
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
csmall73'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? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Sexual violence, Self harm, Genocide, Gaslighting, War, Gore, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Racism, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Violence, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Gun violence
dontwritedown'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? Yes
3.0
As I mentioned in the previous review, Meyer doesn't know how to write introverted, non-sarcastic characters without coming off bland. This is mitigated somewhat by Winter having some eccentricities, but still.
I also feel like Meyer's writing took a huge shift in this book, almost like she had a ghostwriter in the first two books and these are fully her own pieces of writing. There also appears to be huge swaths of text that just drag on but every once in a while, the writing we fell in love with in Cinder comes through. It's truly weird, I don't know how to explain it.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Torture
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: Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, and Misogyny
Minor: Animal death
nerdybirdy101's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, Toxic relationship, and Medical content
riv2002's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Medical content, and Toxic relationship
abigailnoack'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? No
4.75
Winter is such a fun character, but I have to say I was disappointed by her lack of agency. Out of all the four main girls in the series, she does barely anything to progress the story. I love how the Snow White story comes into play, complicating her relationship with Levana and Jacin - it’s super intriguing. I kept feeling like Winter didn’t have any personality aside from being “crazy." Friends to lovers is my absolute favourite trope and Jacin and Winter have some of the best moments together. I wish we had these characters earlier in the series (or at least got more of their backstory), just for more of their romantic interactions. They have such a fun dynamic - Winter totally openly loving Jacin while he's doing everything he can to withhold his affection. It's so sweet how Jacin is always the only one who can pull Winter out of her hallucinations. And it's cute how Jacin doesn't exactly believe everything Winter says, but always plays along. It's unfair that they only really get introduced in the last book (I know Jacin is in the last book, I mean as a romantic relationship) and then they are separated for a good chunk of the book :(
This is the book in the series that I had the least memory of during my reread, probably due to it being very long, there’s more characters and a lot more plot lines intersecting. With all the characters as well, it gets a little hard to keep track of everyone: where they are and what they’re doing, since it becomes rare for the whole crew to be all together at the same time.
My main complaint, I guess would be that it's a bit of a slow start. I mean, revolution's take a lot of planning and preparation, and they sure did a lot of that at the beginning of the book. It wasn't boring necessarily, it just takes a little while to lift off its feet. Which feels extra long since this book is a beast!
It's really cool that this book is mostly set on the moon.
Marissa Meyer is so good at creating all these little moments for the characters and by far my favourite in this book is the missing fingers club. I love that wholeheartedly
I know a lot of people complain about this, but personally I love how the ending is so perfect and cliche and everything is all wrapped up in a bow. It’s fun to have a moment at the end of the book where all the characters have these dramatic love confessions and there’s no more loose ends in the plot. Although I do wish it wasn’t as much “everyone gets together at the end” and at least one couple was more steady throughout the series, just for some variety.
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Death
Minor: Animal death and Toxic relationship