Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

40 reviews

young_adult_bookshelf's review

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

shiveryteacup's review

challenging hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Medical trauma, and Medical content

maria_pell's review

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

aidamaria_reads's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

How I wish I would have read this sooner! I should have picked it up when I was still a teenager. As a sixteen-year-old girl with a brand new pair of prosthetic titanium hip joints, I would have loved to read about and relate to a cyborg girl with a prosthetic hand and foot. 🦾

Either way this is one of the best fairytale retellings I’ve ever come across. Even though one plottwist was a little obvious to me, the story remained gripping, the world building is *chef’s kiss* and I’m so excited to start the second book in the series soon! It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a story this much so I’m giving it a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5 out of 5 stars) rating. Definitely one of my favourite reads of 2021. 🏆

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Content Warnings

Minor: Ableism, Abandonment, Bullying, Body shaming, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Medical trauma, Terminal illness, Violence, and War

travisdabis's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Definitely a teen book :). Was a fun read, mostly bought it because the updated cover art (not shown on this app, look it up tho!) Was very beautiful. Very interesting to see 2012 perspective on how society would react to a pandemic.
Nonetheless, interesting book, discussed pandemics, politics, cyborgs, and more. It did keep me very engage, though the 'twists' were a little expected! But I don't think that's terrible story telling. Definitely a book, pretty good read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content and Medical trauma

Moderate: Abandonment, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, and Body shaming

Main character is missing limbs and has prosthetics. Consistent descriptions of how stuff feels and very medical centered. Also there's a pandemic going on so talk about that too. At one point she cuts herself with a knife for plot.

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

lizardbet's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Terminal illness, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Colonisation

awkwardpotat013's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm sad I didn't pick up this series sooner!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Terminal illness, and Death

Moderate: Bullying, Xenophobia, Violence, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical trauma, and Medical content

Minor: Gun violence and Suicide attempt

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.

rednikki's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.0

Had I known that one of the primary plot threads of this book was a deadly plague, I might not have chosen to read it in the Year of Our Lord 2020. And it is not the only thing in this novel that reflected a disturbing aspect of our current society. That having been said, the book is fast-paced and action-packed in a fairytale future (albeit one as spooky as the pre-Grimm fairy tales). so it could help you escape from the issues surrounding us right now. Some of the characters seemed to be more plot devices than three-dimensional beings. Regardless, I was entertained enough that I will probably read the sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness