Fairest

A Synopsis:
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. 


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

Review: (non spoilery)
Fairest is the 'bridge' book between Cress and Winter and fills in the gaps and answers questions that readers have of Levana, the series' antagonist. The novel was short and sweet as will be this review! Fairest was fast paced, which suited the tone of the novel. It sheds some light on Levana's backstory and while I sympathise with her on some aspects, that isn't enough to justify her actions. It also displays a side to her psyche which fuels her to her actions leading up to the events of The Lunar Chronicles. 

Levana is one of my favourite antagonists of all time in that she is so complex and vague. Her contrasting beauty and evil intentions create a character that is so common to YA literature yet so unqiuely different. Levana is cunning and mad and everything I love in a villian it blows my mind.

My only complaint would be that the writing felt stunted or disjointed at times as sentences would end abruptly and new ones would start without reason. Although this book is short, it provides an interesting view on Levana and reveals her 'motives' and reasons for the evil that she does. I would definitely pick this one up if you are thinking of reading TLC and don't want to jump into Winter straight away!
4 Books.

Have a good one, J Woo.

Cress

A Synopsis:


Even in the future. there are damsels in distress...
In the third installment of the Lunar chronicles, Cress, having risked everything to warn Cinder of Queen Levana's evil plan, has a slight problem. She's been imprisoned on a satellite since childhood and has only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress a great hacker. Unfortunately, she's just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice. 
When a daring rescue of Cress involving Cinder, Captain Thorne, Scarlet, and Wolf goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes as a high price. Meanwhile, 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. 
(Taken from Goodreads.)

Review: (non-spoiler and spoiler sections)

Non Spoiler Section: Cress is the third installment in the Lunar Chronicles and, like the rest, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The pages flew by and I found myself immersed in a world full of detail and adventure. Our cast of characters are vivid and full of substance and bring so much laughter and suspense. My personal favourite now character is Cress due to her diligence and smart thinking. She's bright and also has an awesome romance with Thorne. The plot was slow for a long time however, with nothing much happening until the 150 page mark. But then things definitely picked up and multiple bomb shells and plot twists were dropped leaving me aghast and confused. Marissa Meyer definitely does not keep the reader bored and carves an excellent story that leads to the epic conclusion of Winter.
In short, Cress was another brilliant book in The Lunar Chronicles (Probably my favourite) with amazing characters, awesome plot and general epicness.


Spoiler Section: OKAY WHO ELSE KNEW THAT CRESS AND RAPUNZEL ARE BOTH TYPES OF LETTUCE. At first I had no idea about the connection with the names and when I found out I couldn't help bursting out in laughter. The whole crew was out-of-sorts in this novel with Scarlet on Luna, Cinder and Wolf in a dodgy African town and Cress and Thorne in the Sahara Desert. The book switched POV's meaning that reader's could see the larger scope of the story. However sometimes certain characters would get the larger share of POV's (eg. Thorne and Cress got mentioned heaps whereas Scarlet was only mentioned towards the very end). There's one character I feel the need to mention. Jacin. Why did he exist? He was so unnecessary towards the plot I felt he was just there as some leadup to Winter wherein he gets a love story and character development. I felt that it would have been better for Marissa Meyer to introduce him in Winter than to rather give him a smaller cameo towards the end where he gets caught by Levana.
I also felt that some aspects of the plot were obvious and convenient, like that time where Cress and Thorne got captured by the desert shell smugglers who conveniently dropped them off at Dr Erland's however I let it slide because I just wanted all of them to reunite.

Negatives aside, Cress shined beautifully towards the end. The story just took off and the crew prepared the 'kidnapping?' of Prince Kai. WHO ELSE THOUGHT IT WAS HILARIOUS WHEN IKO WAS STOLE THE CLOTHES FROM THE ANDROID, I WAS ROLLING ON THE FLOOR LAUGHING. Again, Marissa Meyer creates this multiple POV story where different characters have different jobs to get done and each chapter ends in a minor cliffhanger or buildup of suspense that when it's over and it's the beginning of a new POV you can't help but screaming.
Once they 'kidnap' Kai and battle Mira and her minions (haha alliteration) there's the heartbreaking scene of Dr Erland's death. His death brought out so much of Cress' character that I truly think that she has gone through more character development in one novel alone than Cinder has done in three.
To conclude, Cress was awesome and you should read it because it is hilarious and heartbreaking and everything good in a science-fiction, futuristic, dystopian-ish, possible space opera?, young adult book.
4 and a half Books.
(Sorry for missing out on last Thursday and this Monday's review. School has started and it's a bit chaotic. Will be back to schedule soon!!)

Have a good one, J Woo.