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skirts_afire'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
4.75
I really enjoyed how the author tied seemingly insignificant things back around to have big impact. How the stakes kept being raised and the heroines weren't made of Teflon. Their injuries and losses kept building and weren't forgotten. It was a very good series.
But gosh teenagers and their hormines are annoying!
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, and War
Moderate: Ableism
the_rolypoly_man'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
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism
noellegrace8'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
5.0
Also. Winter & Jacin > everyone else. I freaking love them.
Winter's story also has the most clever parallels to her fairytale as well (in my humble opinion). Cinder is a close second, but I think Winter's story is a lot more exciting.
The revolution is a bit challenging, as it (understandably) has to wrap up every bit of convoluted plot line and can be a bit anxiety-inducing. Sometimes you genuinely feel that the characters are about to die and/or lose.
The last chapters are done in the way of the movie version of the Return of the King - where we get to see each person's ending. It is a bit saccharine, but in the perfect way that modern fairy tales are.
I was glad to see Cress & Thorne finally be solid. It was frustrating to read their back-and-forth in book 3, but there are some PERFECTLY written scenes between the two of them in this one. Also, can I just say that I love the mild allusion to other versions of Rapunzel? Like how Thorne stabs Cress in the side just like Mother Gothel stabs Flynn in Tangled?
I did struggle a bit when it was revealed that Levana has a disfigured face. Mostly because I don't understand how cyborgs are a reality but plastic surgery isn't? But more than that, it seemed like a weak/frustrating plot device, one that goes against the whole idea of Snow White (that the Evil Queen *is* in fact gorgeous on the outside, but can't understand that her *heart* is ugly). Still not anything worth docking stars for.
Seriously. So. Good.
I don't factor audiobook narrators' performances into my overall star rating, but I would give Rebecca Soler a 4/5 for this one. As previously stated in my other reviews of books 1-3, I got used to her slightly different voices and grew to appreciate them, especially certain characters. There were still some pieces that should have been re-recorded due to minor errors, but again, that feels like it should be on whoever did the mixing and production. But the one thing that really made me dock that extra half star compared to last time, was Winter's voice. She is voiced like a baby, and it was grating on my ears. I also don't appreciate the infantilization of a character who is 17 with a love interest who is 19. It just feels icky. I think she could have come across as "crazy" yet "alluring" and "innocent" without being voiced as a child.
Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Slavery, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Colonisation
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
msradiosilence'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
3.5
Content warnings at the bottom. :)
Listen, Levana was wrong. She was bad, she killed LOTS of people, and she deserved retribution, but the way they defeated her was just horrible. So she
This book is also like 200 pages too long. The rest of them just kept running and hiding and separating and it kept happening. Twice is redundant, three times is annoying, and four times is fucking ridiculous. Talk about tedium.
And somehow, even with the book being too long, Winter and Jacin’s relationship was too rushed. How can a book be too long and have the main romance be so quick? Yadda yadda, that’s how. Those 200 pages of the same shit could’ve been dedicated to building Winter and Jacin’s relationship.
The one thing that we had a decent time of was the setting, at least. Meyer did a grand job describing the moon and its colonies, which…if you could do it well in this book why didn’t you in literally all the other books? Ugh.
Rating: 3.5
Would I recommend? Not really, unless you enjoy hypocrisy, 16yo moon queens, and long drawn out action sequences.
Content warnings: Genocide, Medical content, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Classism, Car accident, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, War, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Gun violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Body shaming, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
ameydireads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
I did like Winter, although I didn’t fully understand why she chose to not use her Lunar gift every now and then. This would have kept her safe from Lunar sickness. Like Scarlet mentions, she could have just used it to change the color of her dress. Her reply to this is somewhat acceptable, but not fully satisfying.
But she did make a very good point with which I fully agree!
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Child death and Abandonment
janaya's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and War
Moderate: Child death, Death, Torture, and Death of parent
calamityin's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Second read: 3.5 stars. (I found it too long and too much the second time around, to the point where the fun parts were overshadowed by the fact that I had so much book left. I liked it, but it didn't stand out.)
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Slavery, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Murder, and Classism
Minor: Body horror, Child death, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Pandemic/Epidemic
ednam0dewannabe'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
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Blood, Dementia, and Death of parent
Minor: Child death, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Gaslighting