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fromjuliereads's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Heads up that there is an HP reference and I am still REELING at the stark opinion on P&P adaptations - mini series is superior, FIGHT ME.
Moderate: Chronic illness, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Confinement, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Medical content
Minor: Rape, Alcohol, Pregnancy, and Sexual assault
aardwyrm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Death, Ableism, Alcohol, Blood, and Medical content
panthalassa's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Death, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Cursing, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Self harm, Chronic illness, Blood, Confinement, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Abortion
emilypete17's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Terminal illness and Chronic illness
Moderate: Sexual violence, Medical content, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Medical trauma
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Alcohol, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, Violence, Pregnancy, Abortion, and Cursing
Brief allusions to sexual assaults(off page). Chronically/terminally ill main character.claudiamacpherson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, and Terminal illness
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Drug use, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Infertility, and Misogyny
mermaidsherbet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Graphic: Terminal illness
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Violence, Blood, Rape, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Confinement, Death, Sexism, and Self harm
rivercat0338's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
Graphic: Terminal illness and Medical content
Moderate: Rape
corriejn's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
I finished this only because it's short, and also there was a sleeping cat on my lap keeping me from getting up to do something else. I really need to start screening book recommendations better.
I found this just incredibly boring. One-dimensional characters, entirely unsurprising plot "twists," and thoroughly self-conscious "oh hey, lesbians!" references slung in at enough points to attempt to get it shelved with LGBTQIA+ lit. All of the themes (terminal illness, friendship, queerness, agency over life choices, etc., etc.) fail to reach a level of relevance that leave the reader actually caring what happens. Imagine the Steve Buscemi "how do you do, fellow kids?" meme and that gives you a rough sense of the smoothness of the author's attempted connection to... frankly, I'm not even sure exactly what the target audience of this book is meant to be (I considered that question during most of the fortunately short slog through it). Toss in a few unearned, inspirational-poster-caliber cheesy life lessons, and you've got this book.
Graphic: Terminal illness and Medical content
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Minor: Homophobia
caidyn's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Medical content, Chronic illness, and Terminal illness
beforeviolets's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
TW: medical content, terminal illness, discussions of death and mortality, grief of self, prescription drug use, self harm (for magic), blood (brief), warped sense of reality, SA (offscreen, past, recounted), pregnancy from SA (mention), abortion (mention), imprisonment, violence (minor)
I'd also like to add an additional TW mention. This book contains gruesome illustrations in a cartoony-silhouette style including imagery of people and animals missing body parts, people hung on trees, getting torn apart, having switched body parts, etc. They aren't realistic or heavily detailed.
This was such a fascinating perspective on Sleeping Beauty and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
Usually, I'm not a fan of snarky MCs that use a lot of "relatable" references but Zinnia is written in such a complex way that her snark and her commentary actually makes her a reliable and grounded touchstone throughout the story. Her cynical nature seems to have developed organically as a coping mechanism and actually develops our understanding of her approach to dealing with her own mortality instead of being used as a cheap tool to make her seem quirky. Her references also feel earned. They're not overly done, but are rather sprinkled through in the natural way that young adults actually insert references into conversation. (Even the Harry Potter reference was immediately shamed, offering a sense of self-awareness that I found really helped.) And most of her references feel lived in and realistic. Zinnia is clearly a critical consumer of media and has spent a long time researching fairytales and storytelling tactics and tropes and history and it absolutely shows. She brings things up in such a way that feel not only informed by her experiences but that feel informative to us as an audience. It helps our understanding of the stories that are being played out, rather than just emphasizing her interests. Like sure, she's snarky, but she's interesting and full of relevant information. It makes her SUCH a valuable window into the world.
I also love how this story discusses love and support. Our main character goes on a huge journey from keeping people at arms length to not only being able to express her love, but being able to ask for help and share her hopes and her fears. I read a book recently that had a character with fibromyalgia and in a moment of need, she essentially ignores her pain and illness for the sake of dramatics and heroics and I love that this book did the exact opposite. Zinnia is ABSOLUTELY limited by her illness and no amount of willpower or wishful thinking can change that. This book does contain the "miracle cure" trope to some extent, but I think approaches it (in my opinion) in a better way.
Overall, just so tastefully done.
Graphic: Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Medical content, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Self harm, Rape, and Pregnancy
Minor: Abortion, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Violence