Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Winter by Marissa Meyer

6 reviews

noellegrace8's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

A perfect ending to a fantastic series. I'm going to miss it...

Also. Winter & Jacin > everyone else. I freaking love them.

Winter's story also has the most clever parallels to her fairytale as well (in my humble opinion). Cinder is a close second, but I think Winter's story is a lot more exciting.

The revolution is a bit challenging, as it (understandably) has to wrap up every bit of convoluted plot line and can be a bit anxiety-inducing. Sometimes you genuinely feel that the characters are about to die and/or lose.

The last chapters are done in the way of the movie version of the Return of the King - where we get to see each person's ending. It is a bit saccharine, but in the perfect way that modern fairy tales are.

I was glad to see Cress & Thorne finally be solid. It was frustrating to read their back-and-forth in book 3, but there are some PERFECTLY written scenes between the two of them in this one. Also, can I just say that I love the mild allusion to other versions of Rapunzel? Like how Thorne stabs Cress in the side just like Mother Gothel stabs Flynn in Tangled?

I did struggle a bit when it was revealed that Levana has a disfigured face. Mostly because I don't understand how cyborgs are a reality but plastic surgery isn't? But more than that, it seemed like a weak/frustrating plot device, one that goes against the whole idea of Snow White (that the Evil Queen *is* in fact gorgeous on the outside, but can't understand that her *heart* is ugly). Still not anything worth docking stars for.

Seriously. So. Good.

I don't factor audiobook narrators' performances into my overall star rating, but I would give Rebecca Soler a 4.25/5 for this one. As previously stated in my other reviews of books 1-3, I got used to her slightly different voices and grew to appreciate them, especially certain characters. There were still some pieces that should have been re-recorded due to minor errors, but again, that feels like it should be on whoever did the mixing and production. But the one thing that really made me dock that .75 this time was Winter's voice. She is voiced like a baby, and it was grating on my ears. I also don't appreciate the infantilization of a character who is 17 with a love interest who is 19. It just feels icky. I think she could have come across as "crazy" yet "alluring" and "innocent" without being voiced as a child.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, Classism, Blood, Gaslighting, Body horror, Death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Violence

Moderate: Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Grief, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, Animal death, Murder, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Cannibalism, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Torture, Xenophobia, Medical content, and Gun violence

Minor: Alcohol, Body shaming, Grief, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Child death, Genocide, Sexual violence, and Adult/minor relationship

nexusthegreat's review against another edition

adventurous 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

AAAAH I LOVED THE LUNAR CHRONICLES. The ending answered all my questions and had me feeling satisfied with the character’s development.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Terminal illness, Gaslighting, and Violence

Minor: Slavery

tiana_king's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring 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

4.75

The beginning is slow but once Cinder’s plan gets going there is none stop action. You will be on the edge of your seat for most of it and the ending is pretty much everything you hope it will be. But do bring some tissues. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Classism, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, War, Confinement, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Body shaming, and Blood

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Terminal illness

Minor: Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Gore

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

tkatt20's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

I find myself let down quite often by the ending of a series if I feel the stories weren’t concluded well or if I have too many questions left unanswered, but this book pleasantly surprised me. I felt like it was an excellent wrap up for all the characters and I am very happy I stuck it out to the end even after my first impression of the series. There was just enough danger that it kept me engaged through the majority of the story and I didn’t feel like getting through it was a chore even though this book is over 800 pages long. I was very pretty shocked about how graphic the violence got but I feel like it did a good job showing how brutal war is and the toll it took on the characters which is something I find many other books tend to gloss over especially in the YA genre. I also liked how things weren’t just immediately "perfect" for the characters at the end, you finish knowing that the characters would have a lot more to get through and I feel like that type of ending is very natural and satisfactory.

One thing I did note while reading, is this book is the most inclusive in the series when it comes to the fairytale crossover that takes place in each book prior. Although I’m not a huge fan of Snow White as a story, Winter included a lot more of it’s classic compared to the others in the series. While I did enjoy it, I do feel like it was a tad too much and part of that storyline was almost completely unnecessary and just made the book drag on. The ending would have been the same without the 10+ chapters the characters spent dealing with this issue. This book easily could have been a 5 star read for me if it wasn’t for the little details like that, and by the end I still feel like there were too many plot holes and a few poorly executed storylines that just weren’t redeemed by all the good this book did. With that being said, I do still think this was a very strong ending to the story and I will truly miss reading about these characters now that I have finished, but I can definitely see myself coming back and rereading this series in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Mental illness, Murder, and War

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Rape, Terminal illness, and Torture

zoeelora's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Violence, and War