The Lunar Chronicles

Cinder 

photo from amazon.com 

Overall review ☆☆☆☆☆

I just finished an amazing book, Cinder. I love how my bloggy friend Jen put it "When you tell people you are reading a story about Cinderella as a Cyborg... you are going to get strange looks. When you tell them you are becoming rabidly obsessed about a story about Cinderella as a Cyborg... yeah. It doesn't get much better, I'm afraid. But then curiosity might get the better of them, and they might read it, too. And when they become hooked, they will tell you - "I'm sorry I thought you were insane. This book is awesome.

This is the goodreads blurb about it, can't really explain it better then they do:

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.

I loved every single page of this book. It purchased it on a whim while browsing Hastings, on sale for Mother's day. I started it on Saturday, May 9 and finished it Thursday May 14. Yes, it was that good. The funny thing is, my sister loaned me this book and I had it in my home for more then six months and didn't touch it. She finally took it back home. I regret not reading this sooner, but now I can read the next two in the series and not have to wait so long for the next to be published.

The characters and how the relationships were described really well. They were both relate-able and like-able. The book is from Cinder's point of view, but I still felt attached to a few of the other characters. I also really like that it's a spin on the Cinderella story, but not exactly like it. This book was definitely a page turner. I can't tell you the number of times I put off other stuff just to read this book. In fact, I have been reading two others for far longer and finished this one first.

There was one thing I didn't like about this book. It has a "big twist" that is pretty easy to guess. That made the ending a little bit less climatic, but still excellent. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes the dystopian/fantasy genre. My husband has already been given the money to go and get me the second book (maybe the third, though he did tell me no. lol) I give this one a five of five stars. It was wonderful and the kind of book I can find myself reaching for to read again.

Scarlet

Overall review ☆☆☆☆☆

Immediately after finishing Cinder, I had to purchase and start on Scarlet, book two of the Lunar Chronicles. This is the summary goodreads provided:

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.

Again, this is book two in the Lunar Chronicles. If you haven't read Cinder, you shouldn't read this review because it contains spoilers. It does not however contain spoilers about Scarlet. Does that make sense? The above summary of the book tells you a great deal about what the book is about. I am not so good at writing summaries of books, so I will just use what the publisher and author thought worked well. ;)

Scarlet is a fantastic book. I finished it in just five days. Probably could have finished faster, but I forced myself to put it down so it would last me until today when I could buy book three, Cress.

This book was another amazing piece of work by Marissa Meyer. She did a fantastic job introducing the new characters (who happen to be the main characters in this book) and still keeping you up to date about the characters you love from Cinder. This book changes points of view from Cinder, Scarlet and Kai's perspectives. I feel like the author did a great job going back and forth between characters without confusing the reader. When I started this book, I was a little disappointed that it wasn't from Cinder's point of view again, but quickly got over that as I dove into Scarlet's story. It was so easy for me to get caught up in this book and not be able to put it down. I finished the final 1/3 of the book in just one sitting.

I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the sci-fi fantasy type books and I personally give this book five out of five stars. AMAZING! Can't wait to delve into book three.

Cress 

Overall review ☆☆☆☆☆

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.

I just finished Cress on Friday. Decided to take a few days before writing this review because I was a little disappointed with the ending, but more on that later.

Cress is the third book in the Lunar Chronicles. It lives up to its predecessors quite nicely. I loved every part of this book, much like the others. 

Please stop reading if you haven't read the first books, this contains some spoilers for those books. 

As a whole, this series takes a great twist on the classic stories that we all know. With Cinder, rather then losing her shoe, she looses  her foot. With Wolf, he is a genetically modified lunar shell. Just love the way the author took the main characters and made them her own. 

I love the way this one jumps view points to the different characters, like it did in Scarlet. There were some times it was beyond frustrating when it changed because I just wanted to know what was going to happen with the person I was reading about. It did all tie together in the end. 

I think Cress is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters. She starts off as this sheltered, very innocent character but quickly develops into an amazing one. My favorite has to be Cinder, but Cress is a very close second. The characters in this novel all had very relate-able qualities. Even though their lives are completely different then mine, I was still able to relate to the way they interacted with each other and even the way their characters developed in the story line. 

This story kept me turning the pages. I totally thought I guessed what was going to happen and was completely wrong. There were a few parts of this story that left me crying, others had me worried for the safety of the people I have grown to love. 

There is one part of the book I dislike, but I'm not going into great detail. I feel like a character who died could have played a bigger part in the future of this series. However disappointing, it did leave me with closure and wasn't something that seemed just tossed into the plot simply for the twist. 

Overall I think this is an excellent addition to the Lunar Chronicles. I very much look forward to the next books. I have Fairest on my kindle and can't wait for Winter to come out in November. 

If you are into the futuristic novels and the dystopian, this is for you. I loved this book and whole-heartedly recommend this series to anyone who will listen to me. 

Fairest

Overall review ☆☆☆☆☆

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.

Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.

Fairest is book 3.5 in the Lunar Chronicles. It is Queen Levana's story. I admit, she is not a likable character, at all. All the books so far in the series show her in such a way that I don't know that you can help but despise her. Not going to lie, I was a bit worried this would be one of those stories that tries to justify how the antagonist acts but this did not turn out to be that way. 

This book is entirely from Levana's point of view, starting with the assassination of her parents, right through to where book one would begin. 

First thing about this book I love is the cover art. Much like the previous books, she gives you just a tease of what is in the book. Why do you see a queen shrouded in a veil. And why do you see her reflection in a mirror even though in the other books you know that she hates mirrors. Just a very captivating cover.

I loved that the intention of this book wasn't to make you love the character. Not sure that is even possible with this character. The book does however give you some insight to how Queen Levana came to be. It was also nice to have the character you meet at the last of book three. A nice thing to be able to see how she plays into the story. 

Not sure that I really have a favorite character in this book. All the characters seemed real enough to me. Meyer did a wonderful job making them relate-able and real, even though the entire premise of the book is fiction. While reading there were a few questions I kept asking myself, one of them was how did she become the "ugly and disfigured" princess. You don't learn the answer to that until the end, though there are hints scattered to keep you turning the pages. 

The only thing I think I didn't like about this book was how short it was. I finished it in two sittings. A little disappointing when you compare it to the other books. I would call this more of a novella. It was especially frustrating to have purchased it for almost ten bucks only to finish it so quickly. I am a cheap person though!

I think this is an excellent addition to the Lunar Chronicles. You have no idea how much I am looking forward to Winter (due out November!!)