Winter by Marissa Meyer

 

WINTER is here!

What an amazing conclusion to an epic series! WINTER is the book I've been waiting for all year and it didn't disappoint. With over 800 pages, it did take me a few weeks to complete, but it was definitely worth it. With The Lunar Chronicles, Marissa Meyer has created a wonderful futuristic world and each novel is a reimagining of a well known fairytale. WINTER is slightly based off Snow White but this is definitely not the typical Disney fairy tale. It has spaceships, a revolution, an epic battle scene, a deadly plague and so much more. Of course it does have princesses, a king and a queen, and you can expect some romance but it's definitely not  your grandmother's fairy tales.

Marissa Meyer's futuristic and sci-fi world couldn't be more perfect, in my opinion. I think the main reason why her series is such a success is because of her attention to detail while creating this world and her characters. While Winter isn't my favourite character, her craziness does add something interesting to the story. Raised on Luna, a colony on the Moon that is lead by a less than desirable queen, Winter is hated by her stepmother, Queen Levana. Winter's natural beauty is admired by all, and Queen Levana could only hope to be admired that way. Queen Levana's scarred face has lead her to fool every one on Luna with her glamour and never shows her true face. Levana is outright jealous of Winter and she has done everything in her power to make life miserable for her stepdaughter. Winter's refusal to use her glamour has made her a little crazy, which doesn't really help her case. However, the people of Luna still adore Winter and that makes Levana even more furious.

While the other three books of the series tell the story of one character in particular, all storylines converge into one, in WINTER. Cinder has come to Luna to gain her rightful place on Luna's throne, while Scarlet and Cress are dedicated to their friend, and helping in anyway to achieve her goal. Levana's tyrannical rule has caused pain not only on Luna but has also threatened planet Earth's survival. With the Lunar plague still a threat to everyone, Cinder has to find a way to not only overthrow Levana, but also find a way to cure the plague that has killed so many people back on Earth.

And who could forget the four girls' love interests... Kai, Wolf, Thorne and Jacin all play a major roles in the series, but I love how the author made sure the girls are always the real heroes. Sure, the boys help a lot in fighting Levana's tyrannical rule, but they are able to win every little battles because of the girls' courage. One of my favourite characters actually remains Iko, Cinder's android and best friend. The comic relief the android provides is balanced just right with everything else that happens in the series. Also, the relationship Cinder has with Iko proves how Cinder cares for each and every personality, whether human or mechanical. In my opinion, that trait is a desirable one for any Queen to have, which gives us all the more reasons to believe in Cinder.

The epic battle scene near the end of the book is the beginning to the end. It's the cumulation of every event in this series and all characters have a particular role to play. So many fans have been waiting a long time to see what happens to these characters, and personally I wasn't disappointed. Marisa Meyer has succeeded in concluding her epic series in the most epic of ways. I'm very satisfied with this series and it's a must read for anyone who enjoys YA or sci-fi in general.

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Posted by Tynga at 02:45

 Feiwel amp; Friends, glamour, Macmillan, Marissa Meyer, Purchased, Retelling, Review, sci-fi, Science Fiction, spaceships, The Lunar Chronicles, werewolves, young adult  Leave your mark

Fairest: Levana's Story by Marissa Meyer

Fairest has been one of my most anticipated books of 2015. That and the final book of the series which is coming out fall 2015. Marissa Meyer keeps wowing me with every new book she writes. Although Fairest is more of a novella than a novel, it's longer than most novellas and long enough to give us a good analysis of Levana, the lunar Queen that reader love to hate.

As far as antagonist origin stories go, this one is pretty toxic and twisted. It introduces us to a sad and pathetic Levana, and honestly, after reading all those awful things about her in the other books, I never thought I would actually pity her. Her loveless childhood is probably the reason she is the way she is now. Being raised with no real affection from her parents is probably the reason why, as a queen, she wants the love of all her people. We see her transition from a pathetic teenager looking for love in the wrong places, to a Queen that wants the be the fairest of them all.

As Queen, she really wants the best for her people but in trying to achieve too much, she's running out of resources. That's why she turns to earth and we finally learn the origin of letumosis, a deadly disease the people of Luna are immune to but that is deadly to the people of Earth. The beastly soldiers the scientists are building for Luna are also introduced, but we don't actually get to meet any of them. As far as Evil Queens go, Levana's probably not the worse one out there. She really thinks she's doing the right thing for her subjects, but she's definitely going about it the wrong way. She wants to be loved by all her subjects, probably because she suffers from low self esteem and is trying to compensate by getting what she never got from her parents. I get that she suffered a horrible accident as a child that left her scared and disfigured but frankly, she is very good at glamour and can look like anyone she wants. Still, the illusion of beauty isn't enough for her. The things she does are truly evil, but to her, they are just means to an end. I shiver at all the evil things she did. In a way, I understand why she did them all, but I still don't agree with her reasoning

Timeline-wise, this story begins before Cinder was ever born so I guess it can be seen as a prequel to Cinder but honestly, I think everyone should read this after the three full length novels that were published prior to this one. I think the author made the right decision in not sharing too much information about Levana in the previous books, keeping her a mystery as long as possible. Now is the perfect time to publish Levana's story, right before the full length novel about Winter, Levana's stepdaughter, is released in the fall. I can't wait to find out more about Winter and to see how all the other characters live's unravel.

Read an excerpt

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Posted by Tynga at 01:37

 fairy tale retelling, Fairy Tales amp; Folklore, Feiwel amp; Friends, Macmillan, Marissa Meyer, Purchased, Review, Science Fiction, Science-Fiction, The Lunar Chronicles, YA, young adult  3 People left their mark

Cress by Marissa Meyer

Marissa Meyer has had me hooked since the beginning of this series. The third book of The Lunar Chronicles, CRESS, is no exception. Although it's not my favourite of the three, it still has the same feel, the same comedy, and the same insane drama as the others.

Based on the Rapunzel fairy tale, like the other two books, it's only inspired from the fairy tale and not a true retelling. I don't think I've ever read or heard the whole Rapunzel story but from what I know, what's really been retained from the fairy tale is the long hair and the tower. However, because this is science fiction novel, instead of a tower, the damsel in distress, Cress, is locked up in a satellite in space. Her captor is the Lunar government that thrives by preying on the weak, which includes untalented members of its society, like Cress. By untalented, I mean unable to control people with her mind and unable to glamour her appearance. Lunars see themselves as a superior race of humans and they frown upon having untalented shells in their society. I really liked Cress's addition to the story because we really get to learn more about the Lunars and their culture, and we more or less begin to learn Lunar Queen Levana's ultimate evil plan of world domination.

I'm really glad the main characters of the two other books play a major part in this novel. One thing that I'm not crazy about with some series is that you fall in love with a character, and then you barely see him or her again in the rest of the series. That is not the case with this novel since Cinder and Scarlet play pivotal roles in Cress's story. What's also great is that the author isn't too keen on happily ever afters and leaves us with crazy cliffhanger all round. Not only with the stories themselves, but also with the romance. As the end of the series grows closer, it seems like things are beginning to wrap up, but it's great fun to see how the romantic relationships are evolving with each book, even if it is from a distance.

Speaking of romance, Cress and Thorne seem like an unlikely pair and theoretically shouldn't fit together, but for some reason, his sarcastic personality and her eccentric personality work together. It's also fun so see the womanizing, worldly Thorne fall for the naive Cress. I'm really glad that Prince Kai has a bigger role in this third instalment. It seemed like book 2 didn't feature him all that much, especially as Cinder's love interest so it's nice that their story is being revived.

Overall, I really enjoyed CRESS but with one exception. It felt like the story lagged around the middle of the novel, like everything was going too slow. It's probably because all the characters were separated from each other after an unfortunate incident, but it felt like it took so long for them to get back together again. Maybe that's the price you pay for having such a large cast but I would never sacrifice this cast for a faster pace book.

CRESS is without a doubt a great addition to the series. Political intrigue, great character interactions, heart warming romance, and fun comedic relief is what Marissa Meyer is becoming famous for. Inspiring great stories from fairy tales and placing them in science fiction doesn't hurt either but I think her writing style is unique because combining all those characteristics together make her a great storyteller. Like CINDER and SCARLET, CRESS has set my expectations very high for the next book and I'm really looking forward to meeting Winter. We briefly met her but we don't know much about her yet. We do know that she's a princess, and some Lunars believe she's the legitimate ruler of Luna, so we definitely have another great novel coming up.

If you haven't read this series yet, I highly suggest that you do. If there's one series I've reviewed on this blog that I would totally recommend, it's this one, and since it all starts with CINDER, that's the one you need to read first.

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Posted by Tynga at 01:58

 androids, cyborgs, fairytale retelling, Feiwel amp; Friends, Macmillan, Marissa Meyer, plague, Purchased, Review, Science Fiction, Science-Fiction, The Lunar Chronicles, young adult  6 People left their mark

Novella November: The Queen's Army by Marissa Meyer

I think it's safe to say that nearly the entire universe, if not the entire universe, loves Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series. My anxiety over the wait for CRESS is ever increasing, so I knew that I'd be reading this novella without question. And, boy, am I happy I was able to read this. While it's a very quick read, it's full of background information on our beloved Wolf. This book can be read either before or after SCARLET and the small back-story that it reveals to you will make certain events in SCARLET all the more meaningful.

This novel depicts Wolf's transformation from normal boy into a recruit in the Queen's Army. It shows his journey and inability to keep away from fighting, despite the fact that it's something he never supported. It shows how his desire to observe instead of partake in the action made him all the more skilled. But what I loved most about this novella is the dark and gritty irony of it all. Despite everything, Wolf could not avoid the very thing that he never wanted to happen: becoming the bloodthirsty Alpha that allows his animalistic ways to take over. That's right, we discover how Wolf became Alpha, and it's certainly worth a read.

As far as background information goes, we learn why Wolf isn't the most obedient, why he, if anyone, can be swayed by emotions. We learn what exactly caused the huge rift between him and Ran. It's not something I expected, but that's what makes it all the more heartbreaking. We learn why he hesitates when he nearly kills people in SCARLET, just how he got that scar from that unknown stupid mistake. To sum it up nicely, we learn about his journey and why Wolf is the way he is.

In less then twenty pages Meyer has convinced me that I fully understand perhaps one of my favorite mysterious heroes in all of young adult literature. And now that I've got this beautiful little gem under my belt, my anxiety over CRESS has increased ten-fold. With this knowledge of Wolf, I want to see what is explored in his future and Scarlet's future, not to mention Cinder and Captain Thorne's. And, of course, who doesn't want to meet Cress?

I highly recommend this free novella to everyone. Though it is meant to be read before SCARLET, I recommend reading it after SCARLET only because it'll make you love Wolf even more now that you know the experiences that caused him to act the way he did. However, reading it first will have a somewhat similar effect if you can remember everything. Either way, if you are a fan of this series, this is not a novella to be ignored because of the enlightening character back-story that it provides.

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Posted by Tynga at 01:07

 Dystopian, Fantasy, Free, Macmillan, Marissa Meyer, novella, Review, Science Fiction, The Lunar Chronicles, Tor Books, young adult  Leave your mark