Reviews tagging 'War'

Fairest by Marissa Meyer

9 reviews

good_names_dont_exist's review

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: War, Rape, Grief, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Classism, Colonisation, and Infertility

strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

“Here is what I think of love.” Is the last line of the book and I think it sums it up pretty well. 

When starting the book I was hoping that it would humanize Levana a little bit and make us like her more, but I was wrong. It was annoying because I feel that when you are reading about a villain you want to know what events led to them Losing their humanity, but it seemed Levana never had any. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Murder, Blood, Child death, Grief, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Body horror

Moderate: Pregnancy, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Minor: War, Sexual content, Bullying, Gore, and Pandemic/Epidemic

prashiie's review

dark emotional sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

"She did not want to go down in history as the fairest queen this little moon had ever known. She wanted to be known through history as the fairest queen of the galaxy. As the ruler who united Luna and Earth under one monarchy."

Queen Levana’s origin story. Levana is smart and cares about Luna, unlike her sister who got crowned queen after their parents’ death. But even though her heart is in the right place, her way of achieving things is wrong. But she didn’t have good role models in her life. Her parents’ marriage wasn’t a good example of love and her relationship with her sister was toxic. Her sister, Queen Channary, was very manipulative and such a bully to her. It made me wonder how things would have turned out if only her sister was nice to her.

The choices that Queen Levana makes were so frustrating! There were so many moments where she could have chosen a different path but that wouldn’t have made sense. She believes that she has to make these choices for Luna to thrive. She is convinced that only she could be a great queen and that she deserves to rule over the galaxy. Just like Icarus, she is getting too close to the sun.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Infertility, Child death, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Classism, Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment, War, Blood, Pregnancy, and Death of parent

moe_bee's review

4.5

This bitch is crazy. She's a sad delusional child who is fucked in the head. I think this book gives her character a lot more depth and I'm glad it was added to the series. I can't wait to start Winter. I honestly feel bad that she's so fucked up and like crazy to the point that she's unlovable. She is quite literally a psycho. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Child abuse

t_swizzle's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Death of parent, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Death of parent, Infertility, Gaslighting, and War

Minor: Pregnancy and Violence

anielabooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Wonderful novella. It’s great to see Levana’s backstory. I loved that Meyer made us understand Levana but not truly accept her. Amazing depiction of the effects of severe childhood trauma on how children grow. I really appreciated the subtle references to previous books too.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Dysphoria, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Grief, Infertility, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Gun violence, War, Infidelity, and Medical content

aidamaria_reads's review

dark sad tense medium-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

3.0

Fairest (part of the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer) tells the story of lunar queen Levana. Honestly, if it had not been part of this series, I would not have wanted to pick up a book centred around such an appalling main character. Levana is severely damaged and grew up to become a madwoman, despite her trying to justify her actions with flawed logic. But anyone who has read any book of the series already knows that. It was nice catching a glimpse of Winter and Jacin’s backstory though, but overall this part doesn’t make it past three out of five stars for me.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War

wiildsage's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Murder, Sexual assault, Child death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Terminal illness

Minor: War

gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.0

Fairest gives you the backstory of Levana that leaves you both sympathetic and not towards her.

The story slowly shows us how her upbringing and trauma slowly drives her to make questionable and awful decisions that eventually lead her into becoming the Levana you know from the main series.
It also shows us what Lunar is like when not actively at war with Earth and the values that they hold.

The novella does really well to add to the series for both Levana as a character but also to the Lunar culture.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Torture, and Child abuse

Moderate: Death of parent, Classism, War, Murder, and Death

Minor: Sexual assault