Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Winter by Marissa Meyer

3 reviews

crondeau_yvr's review

adventurous emotional funny mysterious slow-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

4.5

Fantastic book and ending to the series. I will miss these characters very much. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Xenophobia, and Violence

prashiie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

 "Selene. She was meant to die thirteen years ago, yet here she was disastrously alive. And just as Levana had feared back then, she would take everything from her. Everything that Levana had worked so hard for."

The revolution has started and damn, what a nerve-racking story. Nobody expected it to be easy and they had to endure a lot! They get separated from each other so many times. I really enjoyed how Marissa Meyer has brought the story from so many different perspectives. Winter is based on Snow White and we see many aspects of the fairy tale returning in this story. I loved most of the characters! Cinder is just badass and she and Kai are perfect together. Iko and Thorne are the funniest and somehow manage to lighten the mood. They might be my favorite characters. 

"Her eyes suddenly rolled up into her head and she collapsed onto the floor. Kai jumped back. "What happened? Did I hit her power button or something?" Frowning, Cinder took a step closer. "Iko, what are you doing?" "Kai hugged me," said Iko, eyes still closed. "So I fainted."

"Did you see any rice in there? Maybe we could fill Cinder's head with it." Everyone started at him. "You know, to … absorb the moisture, or something. Isn't that a thing?"

But Cinder also has her funny moments!

"When she catches you," the guard snarled, "my queen will eat your heart with salt and pepper." "Well," said Cinder, unconcerned, "my heart is half synthetic so it'll probably give her indigestion."

And it was so cute to see Thorne and Cress’s relationship. The only character I am indifferent to is Jacin. He does a lot of good but also brings Cinder’s mission in danger many times. His relationship with Winter is very strong, just like Scarlet and Wolf’s bond, but I was less invested in it. And oh my gosh, Adri and Pearl return in this story and their behavior towards Cinder is still disgusting!

Cinder eventually was very generous toward them and until the end they did nothing to deserve her kindness. 

 
I did like Winter, although I didn’t fully understand why she chose to not use her Lunar gift every now and then. This would have kept her safe from Lunar sickness. Like Scarlet mentions, she could have just used it to change the color of her dress. Her reply to this is somewhat acceptable, but not fully satisfying. 

I expected her to never use it but in the end she did it to save Jacin and it took a big toll on her mental health. If only she used it every now and then….?

 
But she did make a very good point with which I fully agree!

"Let's not be cruel. One should never save cake for later when it can be eaten now."

All in all, an easy read even though the book itself was so big. I wouldn’t have complained if the book was published in two somewhat smaller parts because I think I sprained my wrist by just holding the book. But definitely worth it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Chronic illness, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, War, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Body horror, Classism, Death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Child death and Abandonment

maria_pell's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

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