Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

61 reviews

pkc's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

I bought this on a bit of a whim in 2021 thinking “why not indulge in another subversion of the Cinderella fairytale?” but I guess…like there’s no other subversion worth consuming. This is it. 

Holy crap I LOVED this story.

The protagonist was so engaging, so strong but proudly showed her vulnerabilities. The villain made my skin crawl. The love interests were fully formed characters in their own right who didn’t just serve to enhance the protagonists story. Representation was incredible (a POC MC, very queer).

Around the tail end of last year, I saw someone do a list of reading icks that they’d hope might be left in 2022. One of them was adults reading young adult books, as if it was somehow a lower class of read that shouldn’t be indulged. It really rankled me when I saw it as a 33 year old lover of YA and books like this beautifully explain why. 

This a story, aimed at young adults, that is absolutely about using your voice to speak out against oppression. It’s not the manic pixie dreamgirl or feelingsy guy that you find in the stereotypes that the genre is wrongly thought to comprise of exclusively. 

Sophia is a strong, ferocious human being who is guided by and intently focused on the right thing to do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Grief, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, Animal death, Biphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Torture, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, and Sexism

wynnie's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Death, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Violence, Pedophilia, Lesbophobia, Confinement, Classism, Body horror, Blood, Terminal illness, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, and Sexual assault

Minor: Chronic illness, Trafficking, Animal death, Confinement, and Suicide

Far darker than you would initially think, quite a lot of mentions of triggering topics. Sexual violence against women is talked about frequently.

kshertz's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This is so good for a debut novel. I loved the whole concept! I feel like it needed some editing (which I hardly ever catch so it was noticeable) but of course it was the first book! I loved the characters and rooted for them. I was happy with the ending. I would have loved for the Cinderella story at the end to be longer!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Misogyny, Violence, Abandonment, Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, and Lesbophobia

thebookpaiges's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Sexism, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Death

Minor: Body horror and Violence

a_sleepy_berry's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Classism, Murder, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Body horror, Child death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Rape, Sexism, Torture, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Violence, Homophobia, and Outing

suklaa's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.25

Be a light in the dark 

Wow. Idk if I had low expectations or something but I was honestly blown away by this book. Once the story really started to pick pace I couldn't stop reading! I loved this idea of a classic fairytale turning into a dystopian world. 

There were some nice plot twists too but some of them were predictable and cliche. 

This is such an epic book and I really need to see it turned into a movie!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Homophobia, Animal death, and Body horror

deadgirlwalking23's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Murder, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Torture, Body horror, Confinement, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Gore, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Physical abuse

a_libra_library's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I loved the idea. How the story of Cinderella was used as political propaganda and our main character was ready to dismantle a throne and centuries of ideals.  
However the addition of magic and history and plot twists were too many and muddled the story. Too many lines that kind of lead nowhere. 
I loved the sapphic, black romances and our main character staying true to herself and her people- Sophia is a strong lead and I wish I could read more about her and her love interest after the story was over. 

Kalynn is such an amazing author and building a world or a scene I'm excited for her other works. She's so good at writing gore and haunting moments! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child death, Colonisation, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Classism, Death of parent, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment

jjjreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Child abuse, Classism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Slavery, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Violence, Child death, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Bullying, and Hate crime

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Death, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Grief, and Outing

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful fast-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Death, Murder, Body horror, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Homophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Lesbophobia, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Bullying, and Kidnapping

Minor: Vomit, Excrement, and Suicide