Book Review: Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer

Book Review: Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer
Release Date: 4th February 2014

Publisher: Puffin Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 550
Rating: 5.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2014 SSC

Summary from Goodreads:

"Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard. 

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

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only 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 goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can."

Review:

It wasn't my intention to post this review today, but after finishing this gem yesterday, I just had to get my feelings out there. Because OH MY GOD THIS SERIES. It's going to be one hell of a struggle to wait a year for the last instalment.

I can't believe what Meyer has managed to do with this series. Not only does she effortlessly and flawlessly work a fairytale into each novel, but she follows the overarching plot as well. You'd think that adding another main female protagonist (to add to Cinder and Scarlet) would be a few too many POVs, but somehow it works. The number of POVs in this novel is astronomical, and yet, it doesn't feel forced, or a pain, to read from each character's POV. I've had problems with multiple POVs in the past, just in that usually I prefer one POV over the other. But Meyer has created fascinating and interesting characters that this isn't a problem; I don't even mind jumping around POVs mid chapter, it's just written that well.

I don't want to start going in depth about the character's or the plot, because I feel I might wander into spoiler territory. I'll just say that during the final section (Cress was separated into four sections), my heart was pounding, I was frantically flipping through the pages, and I absolutely adored that ending. It's been a while since I've been so invested in a story and it's characters, to the point where even though I'm sure they'll be ok, I still worry for them throughout their escapade. It's been a while since a plot has kept me guessing, and thrown plot twists at me that I hadn't even considered. It's been a while since I've picked up a book and read over 150 pages in one sitting. This series right here is why I read YA, because when it's done right, it's just so damn good.

Just a quick little competition

Whilst transversing the blogsophere the other day, I stumbled upon this AMAZING competition for a Marissa Meyer, aka the author of The Lunar Chronicles, swagpack and I just had to share it, because I loved both Cinder and Scarlet oh so very much. Check is out HERE.

Book Review: Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer
Release Date: 5th Feb 2013

Publisher: Puffin Books
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 452
Rating: 5.0/5.0

This book was read as part of the 2013 ODY, 2013 GVR and 2013 BSR

Summary from Amazon:

"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. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. 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."

Review:

This was a fitting sequel to Meyer's debut novel, Cinder. To be honest, I was worried that the introduction of new main characters might interfere with what was already set up in book one, but it all worked out really well.

What I love about this series is that each book incorporates a retelling of an old fairytale. Cinder, if you can't tell based from the name, was based on Cinderella, and Scarlet has been based on Red Riding Hood. I was worried a bit when I found this out, because I wondered how Meyer was going to effectively incorporate a new story and new characters, whilst also continuing on the story she began in Cinder. But, Meyer was very clever with how she used the characters of Scarlet (little red riding hood), Wolf (that one's pretty self explanatory) and Scarlet's grandmother Michelle, so that they had significance to the continuing storyline from Cinder. 

Overall, Meyer continued the fascinating story of Cinder in the second novel in the Lunar Chronicles, and I'm really excited to see where the next novel takes us. 

Book Review: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

Release Date: 3rd January 2012
Publisher: Penguin
Format: Paperback 
Pages: 387
Rating: 5/5

This book was read as part of the 2012 Debut Author Challenge

Summary from Amazon:

"Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . .

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future."

Review:

I had been dying to get my hands on this book ever since reviews first started appearing last year. I was a bit wary at first because I wasn't sure how well an appropriation of the classic fairytale Cinderella would fare, considering Cinderella was being updated to a cyborg mechanic. But I have to say that I absolutely loved everything about this book, and the appropriation of Cinderella was done really well. If you didn't know that this was a retelling of Cinderella, you may not have even been able to pick up on it.

Even though you knew basically where the plot was heading, this was still an enjoyable and unpredictable read. And this is mostly the case because this story is set in the new, dystopian world of New Beijing, with Cinderella as a cyborg. These two main plot twists add a whole new dimension to the story, and allow Cinder to stand out as a great story all on its own, and not merely a retelling of a classic fairytale.

My only issue was with the relationship between Cinder and Princess Selene. As soon as the princess was mentioned, I knew what the connection there was, it was so obvious. But nonetheless, this was an amazing debut novel, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment.