Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

56 reviews

skye_era_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring 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
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

WOW. This was my first Cinderella retelling and I cannot put into words how much I loved it — plus it was sapphic so that’s a huge win! 
Cinderella is Dead shows a dark twist to our beloved Disney version of Cinderella. The people of Lille are under the rule of a very cruel king who demands that everyone lives by his rules and the rules of the Cinderella story. Girls and women are forced to go to the ball, where men will either choose them or they will be forfeited. But Sophia wants to put a stop to this. She does not want a husband, and she intends to save herself and the people of Lille from the king’s reign.
I absolutely loved Sophia and Constance’s relationship, and loved

Amina (the “fairy godmother” until we realize she was the king’s mother!! I was GAGGED at that point okay! I was YELLING.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lentils1012's review

adventurous challenging dark inspiring 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? No

4.25

Even though I needed some time to get into it, I ended up really enjoying this book.
I also was kinda surprised by the amount of toxic masculinity but it was great to see the protagonist fight against it and being very brave. I loved Sophia und Constance and their relationship, especially if you compare it to Sophia's relationship with Erin. 
The only thing which confused me a bit was Amina's character and behavior. Therefore I maybe would have liked the book to be a bit longer for a better understanding of what she did in the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Slavery, Torture, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

mariamj's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.5

Amazing take in a classic fairytale. It was really dark with so many twists and turns. Love every minute of it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexism, Violence, Blood, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

Minor: Homophobia and Pedophilia

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

veeloucagraph's review against another edition

lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

1.5

What a dumpsterfire 
Check out my rant: 
https://youtu.be/lJJe_m6bCMA

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Gore, and Toxic relationship

majesticisme's review

adventurous hopeful inspiring sad slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

The entire focus of this book is systemic womens’ oppression within a fairytale/kingdom/fantasy setting, so if that is a topic which is triggering to you then I suggest you do not read. Women are objectified, harassed, married against their will, etc. but of course described by the author in a negative way. A woman is decapitated as she is falsely accused of assisting the main character. Another thing that may be triggering is a brief horse death as well as a bunny death which is more detailed.

t1k1_bab3r's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? No

2.5

This book is really good, but I’m not sure how to describe it. It’s not a good book. It’s not a bad book. It’s a book. If someone told my they didn’t like this book I wouldn’t understand why but equally to say it’s good is laying it on a bit thick. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Blood, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Vomit

laineydunne's review

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail

pkc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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? No

5.0

I bought this on a bit of a whim in 2021 thinking “why not indulge in another subversion of the Cinderella fairytale?” but I guess…like there’s no other subversion worth consuming. This is it. 

Holy crap I LOVED this story.

The protagonist was so engaging, so strong but proudly showed her vulnerabilities. The villain made my skin crawl. The love interests were fully formed characters in their own right who didn’t just serve to enhance the protagonists story. Representation was incredible (a POC MC, very queer).

Around the tail end of last year, I saw someone do a list of reading icks that they’d hope might be left in 2022. One of them was adults reading young adult books, as if it was somehow a lower class of read that shouldn’t be indulged. It really rankled me when I saw it as a 33 year old lover of YA and books like this beautifully explain why. 

This a story, aimed at young adults, that is absolutely about using your voice to speak out against oppression. It’s not the manic pixie dreamgirl or feelingsy guy that you find in the stereotypes that the genre is wrongly thought to comprise of exclusively. 

Sophia is a strong, ferocious human being who is guided by and intently focused on the right thing to do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

scarletthequeen's review

adventurous dark inspiring 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Homophobia