Reviews

Eeeeep!!! I love love love this book. After Cinder this is my favorite book in the series so far. I can really relate to Cress as a character cuz she's awkward and she fantisices about being a hero or damsel, sometimes both. And Cinder is coming into her powers and we learn more about Luna and the letumosis plaque and. WINTER.CAN.NOT.COME.SOON.ENOUGH!

BEAUTIFUL COVER I SEE!!

thewordslinger's review

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adventurous challenging emotional medium-paced

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

4.25

Well, the plot of this series officially has me in a chokehold.

But I have a few thoughts about this book (and about the series as a whole) that I need to get off my chest.

1. I honestly could care less about the fairytale elements of this series. I don't really find any of them necessary to the plot. There were moments in this book where it felt like Cress (and by extension, Thorne) was being forced to fit into the familiar Disney Rapunzel mold. And it's odd, because while I <i>adore</i> Disney's version, every retelling that tries to mimic that manic innocence gets on my very last nerve.

2. I had a hard time picturing Cress as a full grown woman. The way she acts, the way she talks, her almost rabid innocence (which I suppose is at least genuine, given her situation, but no less irritating), the constant daydreaming... all of it make her sound like she's about 12. But I think she's supposed to be in her upper teens????

2-a. Which makes the 'romance' between her and Thorne a little awkward. I put romance in quotes here, because I don't really think it's gotten that far yet.

3. And! The amount of times Cress squeaks or squeals or yelps has me picturing her like this:

<img src="https://i.giphy.com/cJAhFLqngeGChX8JuS.webp"/>

What am I supposed to do with this image in my head? The noises were happening soooooooo often.

4. Kai and Cinder still don't exactly gel in my head either. I'm sorry, I don't think these two have any chemistry. We're in book 3, and they've had zero contact for like 2 whole books and there's just not enough time to create that bond. While I AM glad he's joined Team Rebellion (even if it was against his will) and accepted that Cinder's told him the truth about who she really is with grace, I still think he's kind of an idiot. And outside of him apparently being super pretty, I don't understand what Cinder sees in him, either.

5. The only couple I HAVE actually enjoyed so far were forced apart early on in this book and still aren't back together. Boo. Here's hoping Wolf and Scarlet don't take half the next book to get back to each other.

6. One last thing: I'm <i>really</i> tired of all of the "it's all my faults." We're in book 3. Everybody now knows what's really going on and what needs to happen. Everyone knows war's coming (it's just getting started) and that lots of innocent people are about to be slaughtered. So all of this panicky crap these characters keep doing is pointless. And it's said so often, by so many different characters, I've quit caring. It just reads as wasted page space to me. It's time to (wo)man up and start kicking ass.

Having said all of that, this is still such a great read. I know my gripes are personal, and not everyone's gonna share them. So for the plot alone, even if I didn't like ANY of the characters, this would still be a solid 4 star read. I can't believe it's taken me so long to get around to this series.

khadija2004's review against another edition

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challenging funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing 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? Yes

5.0

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