Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

58 reviews

young_adult_bookshelf's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

 Favourite Quote:

“Vanity is a factor, but it is more a question of control. It is easier to trick others into perceiving you as beautiful if you can convince yourself you are beautiful. But mirrors have an uncanny way of telling the truth.”

 Premise: 

Cinder is a gifted mechanic in new Beijing, with a secret behind her talent with tech, she is a cyborg. Trying to survive the endless hatred from her stepmother and the illness that is taking people's lives all over the world, Cinder's life gets intertwined with Prince Kai. Finding secrets about herself and her past, she must decide who will be loyal to and how much her own freedom is worth. 

Review:

Cinder was a really enjoyable book, with an interesting storyline and characters. I found myself invested in the story quite quickly. It is a retelling of Cinderella and it is certainly not like any other version of the classic fairy tale. If the other books in the series are in any way similar to this, I will definitely be reading them. 

Cinder is bold and headstrong, she does not let the discrimination against her being a cyborg stop her in the long run. This comes from her stepmother and stepsister to the way cyborgs are seen as property and no longer human. The relationships between Cinder and those she trusts are all very natural.

The plot was enjoyable and kept your attention. I found that I read large chunks of the books without even realising how much I read. The book just flew by due to how easy and enjoyable it was.

If you want to read a book that is adventurous, emotional, funny and slightly mysterious, Cinder is definitely a book for you. I am looking forward to when I can read the rest of the Lunar Chronicles, as this was great.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, and Death

Moderate: Medical trauma

Minor: Blood

strabbyfieldz's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

OK so I have to first say that, thanks to Asian reviewers writing on the world-building of Cinder (reviews like this! https://noveltoybox.wordpress.com/2013/02/24/review-cinder-lunar-chronicles-1-by-marissa-meyer-2012/) it's messy and pretty offensively not very accurate esp because Meyer kind of just smushed lots of cultures together. also Levana straight up just being the western beauty standard in her super beautiful form?? no thanks. its not good or okay, obviously. I love and hold a special place in my heart for the characters, I just wish that the world they inhabited was a bit better thought out, instead of an aesthetic coating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Moderate: Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, and Car accident

Minor: Self harm

there isn't any actual s//lf harm, like, intentionally, but there is a few sections describing a similar sort of damage to wrists that made me feel pretty on edge so I'm just putting it as a precaution!!

ashcxl's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Ableism

Minor: Blood and Violence

It's a modern Cinderella retelling, and part of the plot is that there's a major pandemic going on.

The main character's sister dies of this illness.

filipa_maia's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-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

4.0

I started this book not expecting much from it. Being a retelling of Cinderella and all I though that it might be quite boring. But, to my surprise, and despite being very predictable, I really liked this book.

The story is set in the future, a hundred plus years since the IV World War, it involves humans, androids, cyborgs and Lunars (royalty who lives on the moon)... this is what makes the story so interesting (that, and the fact they are facing a deadly plague).

The story was going really well untill the end. It seemed rushed and not thought through. All those big reveals, everything happening at the same time... it was very confusing. I understand that in the real story, Cinderella has a deadline to meet - at midnight she becomes a "regular girl" - so I understand the rush to put all these events happening at the same time... but I don't think it works as it should have been. And that last interaction with the doctor was just ridiculous - Ok so now you run away from prison, all by yourself and meet me in Africa - excuse me? Is she supposed to get to Africa and ask around for the doctor? I don't know how Africa looks like in the future, but right now, is a gigantic place and I'm pretty sure that "ask around" wouldn't work.

Nevertheless, i intend to read the next book and see what will happen to Cinder now. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism

Moderate: Death, Blood, Abandonment, Body shaming, and Grief

Minor: War, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

christinastuart26's review against another edition

adventurous 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, and Violence

Minor: War

loverboy's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Terminal illness, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Body shaming

Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Racism, Ableism, and Body horror

Minor: Suicide attempt and Blood

maria_pell's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Ableism, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, and Medical content

Minor: Excrement

cadybooks's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted sad 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Ableism

Moderate: Medical content

Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, and Blood

camilayhsjsk's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Child death, and Death

Minor: Blood

baponthecob's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I dont hate it????
It was a little slow bc of exposition and setup and all of that, but it wasnt bad.
The way Cinder was 16 and Kai was 18 bugged me a lot so I'm just pretending that's not a thing.
To me, they vibe more as friends. I would like to see them get closer platonically and actually bond over something and get to know each other. Bc rn their entire thing is banter and flirting.
I like Kai and Cinder as individuals. They're both sarcastic little shits lol. Sometimes it was a BIT MUCH, but it added funny bits.
All the scenes with Adri made me feel really conflicted? They tugged on my heartstrings, man. There were a lot of scenes that were just painful. /pos 
Also, as a reread, I can see a lot of foreshadowing and setup for future books.
Overall, I'm pleasantly surprised at how this holds up. I understand why 12-year-old me liked this so much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Terminal illness

Moderate: War, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Child death, Grief, and Medical content

Minor: Gun violence, Violence, Self harm, Xenophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Adult/minor relationship, and Blood

The adult/minor relationship is 18 & 16