Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

15 reviews

anielabooks's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

Can absolutely see the parallels in this retelling. Obsessed with the relationship. Absolutely hated Adri and Pearl. I wish there would’ve been a fairy godmother element to it. The plot twist was very predictable but I still liked it. I wish we had gotten more Iko scenes.

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Content Warnings

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

Minor: Car accident, Self harm, and Gun violence

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

keiwald's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

Finished part one in an hour. I got sucked in so fast, I wasn't expecting to care about the side characters right away. The plot was expected but still had its own uniqueness from the fairytale retelling. Finished the book in less than 24 hours and desperately want to get my hands on the next book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body shaming, Self harm, Torture, and Terminal illness

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Vomit and Gun violence

empathephant's review

mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

I think I really do just have a problem getting my brain to adjust the the new conditions of an SFF universe, because on this second read through I enjoyed the book so much more, no longer being unfamiliar with the setting and vocabulary. I need to remember this and just push through in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Blood

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Confinement, Gun violence, Mental illness, Excrement, Dementia, Violence, Slavery, Vomit, and Car accident

A pandemic that causes nearly death threatens the world. The plot takes place under the looming threat of war, centering on trying to prevent the war. Main character is an orphan, living in an abusive adoptive family.

At various points in the book, main character and other character are imprisoned, subjected to mind control, and manipulated into harming themselves. Two characters die from the pandemic, one in squalid conditions.

Book maintains a relatively lighthearted tone throughout, with moments of darkness and grotesqueness.

nidorina's review

adventurous fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Fast-paced and fun with pretty prose that demands intimate familiarity with the genre from the reader if any visuals at all are going to be had, because it has little description to offer. Predictable throughout, even besides the fact that I know how Cinderella goes, but still enjoyable.  The cultural mishmash of the setting felt strange at best and sometimes approached vaguely offensive, but I'm not in any place to speak definitively on that. The romance was absolutely insipid, without any chemistry or substance; Cinder's attraction to the prince felt no different than her fourteen-year-old sister's celebrity crush. The love interest doesn't stand especially well as his own character, either, and I spent his chapters desperate to get back to Cinder's much more interesting perspective.

Despite having a lot of complaints about this book, I thought it was a very exciting read! I blitzed through it in a way I haven't with a book in a long time. This author's pacing is flawless, and the concepts the book is built on are incredibly interesting. If I didn't have to deal with the dull romantic plot with a dull love interest, or if the book was willing to offer more substance about them, I'd be hungry for more of how they're built. Ultimately, though, the book didn't have a ton of merit on its own except as a setup for a sequel that I don't intend to continue with.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia

Minor: Self harm