Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

9 reviews

gillian_aftanas's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Terminal illness, and Grief

Minor: Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Infertility, Rape, Sexual assault, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Misogyny

uranaishi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness and Chronic illness

Moderate: Confinement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Minor: Violence, Classism, Blood, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Ableism, Alcohol, Child death, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Death, Infertility, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Lesbophobia

kelisabeth's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Medical content, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness

thoughtsontomes's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

3.0

I enjoyed the first half of the novella more than the second because I do feel it went a little off the rails with some things but overall it was fine.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness and Self harm

Moderate: Rape

brokenbodybitch's review

4.0

I really enjoyed this book; I think it was a very interesting take on the sleeping beauty story and I liked how the disability rep was sprinkled into the story. This may have been pretty short but I love the amount of detail added, it was very well developed for how short it is, and yes your base knowledge of fairy tales is slightly required but it is still explained just the right amount to refresh your memory. This retelling talks about other retellings which I really liked [very multiverse and it was fun], and I specifically liked how the differences between versions and how they were talked about; they were used to put other things in context and different lessons were pulled from the stories to add to the 'current' plot line. I really liked the disability rep in this book because yes she is independent or whatever but she knows her body limits her and I liked how the limits were touched on (to an extent). There is a magical cure in the end of this book BUT I personally don't think it was completely horrible, I think it was handled respectfully for the most part but it is something to be wary of going into it.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Medical content, Terminal illness, Grief, Blood, Chronic illness, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Abortion, Rape, Sexual assault, and Self harm

Minor: Violence

panthalassa's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Self harm, Chronic illness, Blood, Confinement, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Abortion

mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted 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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Violence, Blood, Rape, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Sexism, and Self harm

beforeviolets's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

4.25

4.25

TW: medical content, terminal illness, discussions of death and mortality, grief of self, prescription drug use, self harm (for magic), blood (brief), warped sense of reality, SA (offscreen, past, recounted), pregnancy from SA (mention), abortion (mention), imprisonment, violence (minor)

I'd also like to add an additional TW mention. This book contains gruesome illustrations in a cartoony-silhouette style including imagery of people and animals missing body parts, people hung on trees, getting torn apart, having switched body parts, etc. They aren't realistic or heavily detailed.

This was such a fascinating perspective on Sleeping Beauty and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Usually, I'm not a fan of snarky MCs that use a lot of "relatable" references but Zinnia is written in such a complex way that her snark and her commentary actually makes her a reliable and grounded touchstone throughout the story. Her cynical nature seems to have developed organically as a coping mechanism and actually develops our understanding of her approach to dealing with her own mortality instead of being used as a cheap tool to make her seem quirky. Her references also feel earned. They're not overly done, but are rather sprinkled through in the natural way that young adults actually insert references into conversation. (Even the Harry Potter reference was immediately shamed, offering a sense of self-awareness that I found really helped.) And most of her references feel lived in and realistic. Zinnia is clearly a critical consumer of media and has spent a long time researching fairytales and storytelling tactics and tropes and history and it absolutely shows. She brings things up in such a way that feel not only informed by her experiences but that feel informative to us as an audience. It helps our understanding of the stories that are being played out, rather than just emphasizing her interests. Like sure, she's snarky, but she's interesting and full of relevant information. It makes her SUCH a valuable window into the world.

I also love how this story discusses love and support. Our main character goes on a huge journey from keeping people at arms length to not only being able to express her love, but being able to ask for help and share her hopes and her fears. I read a book recently that had a character with fibromyalgia and in a moment of need, she essentially ignores her pain and illness for the sake of dramatics and heroics and I love that this book did the exact opposite. Zinnia is ABSOLUTELY limited by her illness and no amount of willpower or wishful thinking can change that. This book does contain the "miracle cure" trope to some extent, but I think approaches it (in my opinion) in a better way. 

Overall, just so tastefully done. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Medical content, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Self harm, Rape, and Pregnancy

Minor: Abortion, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Violence

brazenbookbabe's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful 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? It's complicated

3.75

A really fun, queer take on the Sleeping Beauty myth. A fun and short read! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Terminal illness

Minor: Sexual assault, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts