Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Winter by Marissa Meyer

60 reviews

inkysplodge's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Sexual assault

abigail_reads06's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

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

4.5

I did really enjoy this book, but with how long it is it did feel like it dragged out a little too long.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Rape

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

theespressoedition's review against another edition

adventurous challenging tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Well, I finally did it. I finished my reread of The Lunar Chronicles and boy, it was a wild ride. I forgot how long Winter was, but I wound up reading the last 400+ pages in one sitting because I was so hooked. That's how excellent Marissa Meyer's writing really is. Even though the books are on the chunky side, they're just so easy to read and understand. It doesn't feel like pointless information just to make the books longer - every chapter is filled with adventure!

The culmination of the series is so well-done with this book. It brings all of the characters together, shows us how evil is vanquished, and gives us hope for the future. However, there's a little bit of an opening ending, which I really like. Not everything is wrapped up in a nice, neat little bow. There's just enough to question what could come next for the characters. Maybe I'm bizarre for liking that - especially after four long books, but I really enjoy visualizing what could happen for all of these awesome characters we've come to appreciate and understand in a new way.

At a certain point, you might forget that you're reading fairytale retellings. I know that I did. In fact, it wasn't til Winter mentioned (for probably the eightieth time) that she was "a girl of snow and ice" that I thought, oh yeah, this is based on Snow White. Insert laughter here! They're just so well-written that I didn't even think about how similar they were to already-familiar stories. I loved every second of it.

Now that I own the box set, I'm really excited to read the two novellas that come with it. I remember picking through Fairest in the past, but I can't seem to conjure what it was about (aside from knowing that it has to do with Levana) and I never read Stars Above. I can't wait to dive in and enjoy even more of this world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Torture, and Violence

jerry_pov's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, and Rape

ednam0dewannabe's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

... good soup

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Domestic abuse, and Gun violence

Minor: Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Grief

anaconda's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, War, Murder, Mental illness, Gun violence, and Gore

Moderate: Animal death

lagiven's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Winter is a good finale to the series, and it's satisfying to see all the storylines wind together. It's definitely plot-focused, but the characters are entertaining and well-rounded. It's also fun to see how Meyer uses the original fairy tale to inspire her novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, and War

Moderate: Animal death, Medical trauma, and Sexual assault

jomarie's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, War, and Mental illness

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