The Lunar Chronicles 3,5: Fairest - Marissa Meyer

In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.

Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?

Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now

Cover
I love this cover! I'm not sure that it's my favourite of this series, because I also really like Cinder's cover, but this is definitely the most crowded cover, and I love that. This cover is great, the references are amazing.'

Levana's still horrible
I had expected to feel bad for her after I read this book. I did not. Yes, I kind of understand her more now, definitely when it comes to her sister Channary, but Levana is absolutely crazy. I LOVED THAT. I've never read from a villain's perspective, and it was just so refreshing! The things Levana did are just horrible. Definitely the ones surrounding Evret Hayle and Solstice. That was just so disgusting. 

EVRET HAYLE DESERVED BETTER
WOW, how much shit can this guy go through? First, he loses his wife, then, he gets forced into a marriage, then, he-
I just love him so much. I feel so bad for him, I have no words actually. This man is so brave and smart, I just loveD HIM.

Channary and Winter
Channary.... what a bitch. The things she had done might have been even worse than Levana's. Or maybe not, I don't think so actually, nothing can top Levana's. Anyway, I thought that the mother of our dear Selene would be less mean? It was really weird to see her act so mean. I did like to see more into Selene's mother's life though.
Winter is such a baby (quite literally)! She is the sweetest and I am so excited to read the next book! We are finally getting a book with Winter's experiences! Her opinion on her stepmom! YES! I'm pretty sure that I am going to love her, and I'm also really excited to see Jacin again? After Cress and him being mentioned in this book, I want to see if I'm going to like this guy or not.

This was the first book that was actually about Luna and based on Luna! I can't tell you guys how happy I am with that enough, honestly. Luna seems really interesting and I really wanted to know how life on Luna was created. The glamour-thing is also so interesting. Gaah, I love Luna already, maybe even more so than Earth. I can't wait to read Winter, because I want to know how this is all going to end. Are Earth and Luna finally working together? Anyway, I loved this novella. So interesting and it really pulled me in, 5/5 stars.

Dominique

The Lunar Chronicles 3: Cress - Marissa Meyer

In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she's just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

Cover

The cover is not my favourite in the series (left). However, the Korean cover is absolutely gorgeous! I love looking at different covers. I'm a big fan of Japanese covers of books as well. I do like these covers though, because it does have a lot of references as to what fairy tale it is about.

Cress
Cress is my actual favourite character ever. She is so sweet and sensitive, but still bomb as hell. After spending 7 years trapped in a satellite and after never being on Earth in her life, she was finally freed and she and Thorne 'travelled' to Earth. It was lovely to see her adjust to her new environment, even though she honestly didn't get the time to do so. Still, I thought she was great. Not as badass as Cinder and Scarlet, but so incredibly lovely. Her family background was great! I'd have loved to see more moments with her and her father though.

"Captain" Carswell Thorne

My second favourite character. His sarcasm really made this long trip through this book way better. His backstory is really interesting. I loved that Cress still saw the best in him and seeing him gradually falling in love with her I loved even more. I would have probably stopped reading this series if it wasn't for this guy. 

Scarlet and Wolf (Ze'ev)

Meh. I don't really love them anymore. Don't get me wrong, they're likeable and I loved them in the second book, but I didn't really feel anything for them in this book. Wolf is still average, and Scarlet was almost nowhere to be seen. That bothered me a lot, because I really like Scarlet. However, it was interesting to see more of Luna through Scarlet's eyes.

Cinder and Kai(to)

I used to say that I found Cinder boring in the first book. I take that back. She's amazing! How she handles everything is just great and I have massive respect for her. She works really hard and I can't wait to see her beat Levana! I also loved the little Cinder x Kai moments we (finally) got! I can't wait so see more of them, they are so cute. Kai is lovely. Seeing him struggle with the wedding and the engagement and stuff was really cool to see, I love the chapters in which we get to see things from his perspective.

I'm so excited to read Winter! I can't wait, I really want to know how this story is going to end. This was a great book, but maybe a bit too long. The book had a lot of parts that I got bored with. I honestly don't know how to rate it, because Cress is my favourite character after all, but I guess it's a 4/5 stars?

Dominique

The Lunar Chronicles 2: Scarlet - Marissa Meyer

Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive. 

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Cover
While I do prefer Cinder's cover, I am again convinced that this cover suits the book. The font is lovely, and you can see that the book is about Little Red Riding Hood. Scarlet's red hair is also visible. I am not disappointed.

Scarlet
She was lovely. I was not let down by her. I have seen that most readers prefer reading about Cinder, but I like Scarlet way more. Scarlet is a little more romantic, and a little more daring. She is also family-oriented, I loved reading about the parts with her and her grandma. I found it a bit annoying that she fell in love with Wolf after knowing him for just one day, I do like them together. She does not let people walk over her, and neither does Cinder. Female characters in this book series are just amazing.

Cinder
I spot character development! I didn't love her in Cinder, but she was way more enjoyable in this book. I love her little discussions with Captain Thorne and I love how she is somewhat insecure about her body. She handles the news about Princess Selene well and I really love her for that. I honestly do not know if I love Scarlet or Cinder more in this book, cause every character in this book was just so good.

Wolf (Ze'ev Kesley)
Eh, I don't really know about him. While I trust him, I am not head-over-heels with him.I just do not like his past and what he believes in. I am just not a werewolf person (although I know that he is not a werewolf, he kind-of is). However, I like how he is willing to help Cinder and you can see that he really cares about Scarlet.  

The villain and the ending
Aaah, Levana, she is too interesting to hate, honestly? I want to know more about her, I want to know where she came from and how she became this way. Which is why after reading Cress, the series's third book, I am going to read Fairest.
Endings of books, both in Cinder and Scarlet, are honestly not that amazing? I expected both plot-twists, and both endings didn't grip me. I am scared for my lovely Kaito though, and I hope that they do more with him in Cress and Winter.

The only problem I have with this book series is that all the books are so long, definitely the third and the fourth book. I don't think that they have to be so long. Anyway, I really, really loved this book. This book was so much better than the first, 4.5/5 stars.

Dominique

The Lunar Chronicles 1: Cinder - Marissa Meyer

Sixteen-year-old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being cyborg does have its benefits, though: Cinder's brain interference has given her an uncanny ability to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. This reputation brings Prince Kai himself to her weekly market booth, needing her to repair a broken android before the annual ball. He jokingly calls it "a matter of national security," but Cinder suspects it's more serious than he's letting on.

Although eager to impress the prince, Cinder's intentions are derailed when her younger stepsister, and only human friend, is infected with the fatal plague that's been devastating Earth for a decade. Blaming Cinder for her daughter's illness, Cinder's stepmother volunteers her body for plague research, an "honor" that no one has survived.
But it doesn't take long for the scientists to discover something unusual about their new guinea pig. Something others would kill for.

Cover
Pretty! I feel like the cover on the left is not that special, but so fitting! You can see the cyborg parts, and since this is loosely-based on Cinderella, I thought it was great that there was a heel on the cover.
The Russian/Slovenian/East-European-I-don't-mean-to-offend-you cover is also absolutely gorgeous. I cannot see Cinder in that dress though, so I think hat must be Levana? Anyway, I like the moon on it, since this book is sort of about people on the moon.

Linh Cinder aka a great, great main character
I really enjoyed reading from her perspective. She's no where near arrogant, but she knows how to stand up for herself. She has her own insecurities, but she's very strong and she knows how to hide them. She didn't spend all her time pitying herself, but most of the time worrying about her special gifts. She's selfless, hence why she cares about her sister more than she does about herself. And when meeting the prince, she spoke to him in a normal, polite way and she didn't freak out. Yeah, I totally loved her, although she was a bit confusing in the beginning, with her being a cyborg and all.

Prince Kai(to), an Asian representative
Okay, yes, I didn't love Kai to death. I liked him, but he didn't make me squeal out of love. Anyway, one thing I did love about him, was the fact that he was Asian. I am white, so again, I cannot say anything for the Asian community, but I have noticed that Asian people are not represented enough. It was very fresh and lovely to see more people in ya books. But yes, I think Kai's greatness was just average, but that might change in later books, because then he'll start to understand Cinder more and such.

Queen Levana
She was probably the most interesting character in this book. An experienced Lunar with a dark history and with powers that can change everyone's opinion about her. Her 'glamour' powers were really intriguing. I want to know more about Lunar people and what they can do, because I feel like this book was just an information bomb in the first half. What I actually wanted to know is how Lunar people became Lunar people and how they got their powers. I might read Fairest (the novella about queen Levana) sometime if everything is explained in there.

Pacing, ending, secret-reveal
The pacing.... was a bit slower than I'd expected. I couldn't really get through the first few chapters and it was all so confusing that I doubted that I would like it. But yes, I did like the book. Maybe a bit too much, cause I couldn't put it down. I finished it in two days! Wow! 
The ending was also a bit less exciting than I'd expected. At the ball, Cinder started saying such weird stuff that I actually had to close the book and get time to facepalm myself. Yes, I later found (through a friend who had also read the book) that she said these things because Queen Levana forced her to. Still, what happened at the ball just didn't make sense and was so unbelievably dramatic. The secret-reveal was also quite predictable. 

I'm definitely looking forward to reading Scarlet, the second book in the series. Although I've heard some bad reviews, I liked Cinder, so I only expect the series to get better and better. This book deserves, in my opinion, 4/5 stars.

Dominique