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msradiosilence's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
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? Yes
3.5
TLDR; 3.5 rating, age gaps, and once again no setting descirptions.
Content warnings at the bottom. :)
Well, I can’t always have nice things. Once again, Meyer seems allergic to describing her settings in any detail, and once again it’s set in a culture that she, as a white woman, has no claim on. As such, and additionally with my other gripe, this is the beginning of the Lunar Chronicles downhill plummet.
Much like in Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer and Muse of Nightmares, I hate age gaps like the one in Cress. Cress is 16. She’s a child. And Thorne is a grown ass man. It’s especially icky because he pushes her away not because she’s a child but because he doesn’t think he’s good enough for her. So, gross. Hate it. Also, their miscommunication drives me nuts. I hate miscommunication plots.
I also don’t like that Dr. Erland is reveled as Cress’ dad in this book and it’s literally mentioned ONCE in the next one. I feel like that’s information that is relevant, not only to Cress but to her emotional stability in the next installment? But nope. There’s no mourning, she’s fine after finding her dad and then watching him die.
Rating: 3.5
Would I recommend? Kind of, especially if you enjoy age gaps, found family and literally found family, and sci-fi fairytale retellings.
Content warnings: Death, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Genocide, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Ableism, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Dementia, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Violence, War, Medical content, and Torture
Content warnings at the bottom. :)
Well, I can’t always have nice things. Once again, Meyer seems allergic to describing her settings in any detail, and once again it’s set in a culture that she, as a white woman, has no claim on. As such, and additionally with my other gripe, this is the beginning of the Lunar Chronicles downhill plummet.
Much like in Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer and Muse of Nightmares, I hate age gaps like the one in Cress. Cress is 16. She’s a child. And Thorne is a grown ass man. It’s especially icky because he pushes her away not because she’s a child but because he doesn’t think he’s good enough for her. So, gross. Hate it. Also, their miscommunication drives me nuts. I hate miscommunication plots.
I also don’t like that
Rating: 3.5
Would I recommend? Kind of, especially if you enjoy age gaps, found family and literally found family, and sci-fi fairytale retellings.
Content warnings: Death, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Genocide, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, Ableism, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Dementia, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Violence, War, Medical content, and Torture
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gore, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, War, Grief, Death of parent, Dementia, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Child death, Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Alcohol, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, and Blood
nytephoenyx's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
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? No
4.0
Really good, just as good as the other books in the series. Even though it was a bit of a side plot, I really liked Cress and Thorne’s journey. Looking forward to the next one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Ableism
Moderate: War
psliz's review
adventurous
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? No
3.5
felt like a catch-up book with everyone trying to reunite but i did enjoy the romance (if you ignore the uncomfortable and unnecessary age gap)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War, Torture, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, and Confinement
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Ableism, and Kidnapping
emiliaphrodite's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
i know i adore this book because no matter the scene, if characters are talking, i’m in love.
buttttttt now that i’m older, my perspective on this book has really changed. kai acts like a child when he’s a literal emperor, although he does have some self-awareness, and i appreciate that. i kid you not, the way thorne treats cress while they’re in the desert? that’s the way i treat my students in ELEMENTARY.
the biggest turn-around of all is that wolf is actually my favorite now, and he and scarlet genuinely feel like the most mature characters from the crew. tall, hulking, chivalrous? yes plzzzz 🤤
i read somewhere that there are a few microaggressions in the book, and now that they’ve been pointed out to me, I can’t unsee them. someone tell me why the linh family has a vietnamese last name, practices more japanese culture, but lives in china??? i understand they’re all united under the commonwealth now, but i would’ve appreciated not having to jump through the numerous logical leaps and bounds in order to excuse this extreme blurring of asian cultures.
that doesn’t even begin the notes on ableism scattered throughout the book. the words “crazy,” “lunatic,” and “psychotic” are tossed around way too easily. that’s just the beginning.
it’s giving white woman learns about racism and thinks she’s done something. and yes, she did, but she also clearly didn’t do her research. why is it that scarlet’s accent is only mentioned now when cinder and thorne would’ve noticed in their chapters immediately, but when they’re all in africa, the author doesn’t forget to mention the accents of the locals once? not to mention lunars likely have their own accents? overall, the world building was so poorly done that it’s easy to see why and how the author slipped up and failed to mention all these differing accents in the beginning.
i am not saying i don’t love this book. i really, genuinely do, and cresswell will always be adorable to me. but now that i’m older and my world view is different, things like this don’t just skip past the way they once did.
buttttttt now that i’m older, my perspective on this book has really changed. kai acts like a child when he’s a literal emperor, although he does have some self-awareness, and i appreciate that. i kid you not, the way thorne treats cress while they’re in the desert? that’s the way i treat my students in ELEMENTARY.
the biggest turn-around of all is that wolf is actually my favorite now, and he and scarlet genuinely feel like the most mature characters from the crew. tall, hulking, chivalrous? yes plzzzz 🤤
i read somewhere that there are a few microaggressions in the book, and now that they’ve been pointed out to me, I can’t unsee them. someone tell me why the linh family has a vietnamese last name, practices more japanese culture, but lives in china??? i understand they’re all united under the commonwealth now, but i would’ve appreciated not having to jump through the numerous logical leaps and bounds in order to excuse this extreme blurring of asian cultures.
that doesn’t even begin the notes on ableism scattered throughout the book. the words “crazy,” “lunatic,” and “psychotic” are tossed around way too easily. that’s just the beginning.
it’s giving white woman learns about racism and thinks she’s done something. and yes, she did, but she also clearly didn’t do her research. why is it that scarlet’s accent is only mentioned now when cinder and thorne would’ve noticed in their chapters immediately, but when they’re all in africa, the author doesn’t forget to mention the accents of the locals once? not to mention lunars likely have their own accents? overall, the world building was so poorly done that it’s easy to see why and how the author slipped up and failed to mention all these differing accents in the beginning.
i am not saying i don’t love this book. i really, genuinely do, and cresswell will always be adorable to me. but now that i’m older and my world view is different, things like this don’t just skip past the way they once did.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Cultural appropriation, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexism
cadybooks's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
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