Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

45 reviews

anonymous_traveller's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Violence, Vomit, Ableism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Lesbophobia, Sexism, Misogyny, Grief, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, War, Murder, Physical abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, and Slavery

16kneidels's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Confinement, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Blood and Fire/Fire injury

maybeimali's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

If you love the story of Cinderella do not read this. Great feminist text that gripped me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Child abuse, Death, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Gaslighting, Gore, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Sexism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Lesbophobia and Homophobia

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Torture, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Sexism, Physical abuse, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Abandonment, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, Body horror, Animal death, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Police brutality, and Child abuse

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Child death, and Classism

Minor: Infidelity and Bullying

proudtobeabookaholic's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

Cinderella is long since dead, but not her story. Every girl has to recite it every day, from when they're tiny until the ball when they have the chance of being chosen as wife to a man. But Sophia doesn't want to be chosen by a man. She's in love with Erin, but that's not acceptable. Sophia tries to prompt Erin to run away with her before the ball, but Erin wants them to abide by the King's laws - no matter how unfair they are. Sophia refuses to give up, but to resist the King may lead to death...

A delightful and different twist of Cinderella! The crown approved version of the story is actually pretty far from the truth. With it the King has gathered unprecedented power of the people and anyone trying to oppose is punished with death. It's mostly women who suffer under the King's laws, and it's clear they're considered less valuable than men. It's really frustrating to read, especially when we know there are women suffering like this in some parts of the world, even today. Sophia refuses to accept this, but I wouldn't call her a classic heroine. She's afraid and doesn't quite know what to do, but she's still intent on making a change. At the beginning she's alone, but then she meets Constance, a descendant of one of Cinderella's step sisters. She's got the real story about Cinderella, the ball and Prince Charming, and together they plan to overthrow the King. 

I enjoyed this book very much and I was always eager to pick it up and continue reading again! I like that the main character is a black, gay woman; it's a great contrast to the original story. I also appreciate that Sophia is very human, and someone who eventually can't stand the life she's meant to live. She decides that she and every other woman is worth more. A strong feministic message! I definitely want to read more by Kalynn Bayron!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse

bethhstanley's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

I found myself saying "yeah we get it, move on" so many times. Honestly it was a great story but frustratingly slow and repetitive. The big revelations were clear throughout the book and i felt like either: Sophia was an absolute idiot for not figuring it out, or Bayron thinks the readers are idiots and needs to spell it out for us.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Murder, Sexism, Homophobia, Grief, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Slavery, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, and Misogyny

ahopper7's review

adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Confinement, Death, and Physical abuse

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

saskiahill's review against another edition

fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Trafficking, Grief, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Murder, Torture, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Physical abuse

snowielazuli's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad 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? N/A

3.5

This book is good for a YA public looking for fantasy and a more adult take on a classic fairy tale. 

The characters are young and it translates in the way they act sometimes, but what's going on around them can be a little gory (without too much details though), so watch out for trigger warnings if needed. 

Don't go thinking it's a big world build, but it's just enough for the story to make sense, in that little region where everything goes on. It's fast but everything you need to know is there.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Death

bookswithlauren's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad 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

4.5

I enjoy books that take our classic fairytales and twist them, look at them from a different perspective and weave an entirely different story. I particularly enjoy how Kalynn Bayron explores how much of a negative impact fairytales can have on a society, something I have often thought about. 

We are fed these stories about lives, people, how they do and should live, from a very young age. When, in reality, they are idealistic, narrow minded and unrealistic. Not every girl is going to grow up to find and marry the man of her dreams, have children and live a perfect life she loves as a home maker. But these stories don't show us any diversity or inclusion of any kind. Children learn from fairytales and I don't think our typical fairytales are teaching anything useful and I love the way Kalynn explores this in Cinderella is Dead.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Murder, Classism, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Torture, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Blood, Bullying, Death, Grief, Gore, Slavery, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Trafficking, and War