Review: Cress by Marissa Meyer

ISBN: 9780312642976
Source: Purchased
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3
Release Date: February 4, 2014
Goodreads  |  Amazon
See my reviews for previous books in this series
*Please note that this review may contain spoilers for the first two books in the series, Cinder and Cress*

     SYNOPSIS:

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 has been a long, long time since I've been as excited for a book as I was for Cress. I spent days texting, tweeting and posting about the countdown to #SaveCRESS and it was so much fun! Thankfully the book lived up to the hype, too!

I have so many thoughts about this book that I can't seem to form coherent ones. First of all, it was amazing. I LOVED Cress and at first I didn't think I'd love her but she was smart and innocent and sweet and ADORABLE. I did think, however, that with so many POVs that are now in play, Cress didn't really get her due. She still has so much development potential as well as some with Thorne and I was kind of hoping for something a little more solid on that front, but hey, ya can't win em all.

I went through so many emotions while reading Cress, but mostly I was angry, scared and weepy! The characters did not have an easy go of it this time around. I spent most of the book with my mouth gaping open hoping and praying that Meyer was not going to let things end up badly. For the most part, it ended up alright but I'm still a little heartbroken over a few things. :(

We met a few more extremely important characters in this book, like Winter and Jacin Clay. And um, the jury is still out on them. I have to be honest, I was not loving Jacin. He was a little bit of a tool, and I felt pretty bad about that considering I know he'll have a pretty big role in Winter. And Winter... I am so, so interested in her character but she is so far from what I was expecting that it makes me kind of nervous.

I sort of forgot how much I liked Meyer's writing in that it's still a bit juvenile considering the age group that is really becoming the fandom for this series. I like the innocence that is still part of the story, especially in a genre that is flooded with smutty adult fiction disguised as YA because the hero/heroine is 17 or 18. However, sometimes it was a little slow because she took her time with every little detail but I loved it and I love that every thing that happens at this point adds a new puzzle piece to the story as a whole.

I really, really loved Cress and I'm looking forward to re-reading the series again before Winter comes out because um, I CANNOT WAIT ONE ENTIRE YEAR FOR WINTER. GIVE. ME. NOWWW.

RATING: ★★★★ 1/2

Cress was my most anticipated book for 2014 and it did not disappoint. I love every character even more than I already did and I'm really intrigued to see how this is all going to work out with Winter and Jacin, and how things will resolve for the characters that we already know and love.

Did you get to read Cress already? What did you think!? I absolutely loved it and I hope you did too! Tell me what you thought!

A.

Cover Reveal (and other wonderfulness): Cress by Marissa Meyer

OK I'll keep it short and sweet, cause I know for sure that I can fangirl about this for days. The cover for the third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cress, has been revealed:

I absolutely love it. Its gorgeous!

Anyhow, it gets better! In a recent interview with Marissa Meyer, the author mentioned that her series is being turned into a movie series - well they are at least making the first one. I certainly hope they make the rest! I know, I know - a lot of you are not fans of book-to-movie adaptations. I, however, and though I know movies leave a lot out, love them. I love seeing my favorite stories come to life on the big screen!

She also confirmed that the books will become more sci-fi in the last two installments - my heart beats for you, Marissa. I love sci-fi! :) She also reveals the names of some of the other important characters we will meet. 

And there's and excerpt of Cress! Go read it! :) Also, in the first uncorrected chapter references Cress and "Crescent" so that speculation is confirmed also!

A.

Edit: The first chapter is also live, apparently: an uncorrected proof. Woohoo!!

Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

ISBN: 9780312642969
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Release date: February, 2013
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #2
Page count: 452 pages

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:

"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."

IN-DEPTH REVIEW:

I usually take notes while I read books, because lets be real, can you always remember what happens throughout the whole 400+ pages of the books you read? Most likely the answer is no. Or a lot of times for me, I will hate/love a book in the beginning and then feel the exact opposite at the end and its hard for me to remember why I felt a different way 400 pages ago.

What I'm trying to say is that for some reason, I only have about four lines of notes on this book so I'm having a hard time putting my thoughts on the book in its entirety into words. It took me three long weeks to read this. I dont want to be unfair, though, because the main reason it took me so long is that I have been very distracted with my recent engagement and I've been obsessed with all things weddings ever since. I finally finished Scarlet at work today, then OF COURSE I found myself wishing it didnt end.

As I stated before in my review of Cinder, Meyer's writing is fantastic. Not once did I encounter awkward wording or things I couldnt picture in my head or understand based on the way it was written. It came alive and I connected with the story, felt like I was with Scarlet and Cinder on their adventures.

I do have to say that I don't think I connected as much with Scarlet as I did with Cinder, and it was throughout the first half of the book that I found myself just reading about Scarlet and hoping and hoping for more about Cinder. I just felt like Scarlet's story took too long to develop into an actual adventure to save her grandmother. Then the romance started between Scarlet and Wolf, the mystery "Loyal Soldier to the Order of the Pack" with the sexaayyy eyes. Yeah, uh, boo to you Wolf, for all of that! I wont say more for fear of spoilage. But keep in mind that at one point, I wasnt sure if Wolf was gonna pull through as a good guy for this one.

Anyhow, I hate to be the girl who didnt like the book until the characters made kissy faces at eachother, and I do feel like the actual romance was a little much, but it still finally made things more than just mildly interesting. Needless to say, by the end of this book my heart ached for the two of them and I hated Wolf no more!

Cinder is my absolute favorite, her sarcasm, wit, badass-ed-ness, I just love it all, and with the long stretches of several chapters about Scarlet, I wanted to yell at the book and ask Cinder to come back. I once again loved the charming and clever way Meyer added the original fairytale of Little Red Riding hood into the story without being boring and still making it absolutely different. Also, I have a lot of questions about Thorne Carswell. He's gotta have something going for him, right? I mean, did he only serve the purpose of the "lumberjack" that saves Red Riding Hood aka Scarlet, or is he gonna be matched up with the chick from the next book? Like, what's his deal? You know authors dont waste attractive and funny character on secondary spots.

I really dont have much more to say about this book because I already love the series. It is so fresh and unique and so unlike any other dystopian out there, and I am sad that I will have to wait until next year (I mean come on, REALLY?!) to read the next one.

SUMMARY OF MY THOUGHTS:

Not suprised to have loved this one. Certain parts moved a little slower for me at first and I didnt connect as easily with the new characters, but by the middle of the book everything moved much quicker and I loved the new characters (almost) as much as I love Cinder, Kai and Iko! I would recommend this book (or the series itself) to dystopian lovers who are getting tired of the same old stuff. This is a fantastic and unique retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and I cant wait for the next to be released next year.

RATING:  ★★★★ 

I give this second installment of the Lunar Chronicles four stars because I loved it and the only thing that made it a little below amazing was that the first half was a little slow.

Have any of you read Scarlet by Marissa Meyer? If so, do you agree or disagree with my review? If not, do you plan on reading it? Love hearing what you all think

A.

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

ISBN: 9781250007209
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: January 2012
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
Page Count: 448 pages

SYNOPSIS:

"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..."

In this Cinderella retelling, Cinder is a cyborg - formerly human, and has parts of her body replaced with robot parts - sort of like prosthetic limb but with wires and a control panel... I guess you'd have to read it to understand haha. She is also a gifted mechanic living in a future after the fourth world war, living in the Eastern Commonwealth in New Beijing, under the rule of Emperor Rikan and his dreamy son Prince Kaito (Kai for short), where the world has become plagued by an epidemic called the "blue plague".

The heroine, Cinder, lives with her "Stepmother" and two "Stepsisters" (technically her adoptive family). Her stepmom and one of her sisters hate her, and find her disgusting because of her cyborg qualities. As it happens, cyborgs are thought of as less than human and are considered property in New Beijing and have less rights than humans.

Prince Kai asks the gifted mechanic to fix his android and subsequently becomes enchanted by her...awkwardness? Most definitely not her beauty or wealth or family name. He asks her to the BALL! Yes, this book has a ball, and she turns him down because she is a martyr and doesnt want to embarrass him by letting him show up to this ball with a cyborg, especially because he doesnt know she is a cyborg.

With Cinder looking for a cure for the plague to save her sister - and the rest of the world - and trying to save Prince Kai from the evil-doings of the Lunar Queen Levana, who rules the "magical" creatures that inhabit the Earth's moon, now called Luna (which actually means moon in spanish - haha), she finds herself in a few predicaments that lead to her finding out some whopping secrets about her past that by the end of the book, she STILL cant wrap her head around.  There is something about Cinder... something she doesnt even know that will change her life as she knows it.

IN-DEPTH REVIEW:

This book was not just your average fairy tale. I enjoyed this book so much, and had to refrain from going out to purchase the sequel immediately (just because I have so much else to read). I found the world Meyer has built, with all her cyborgs and moon people and blue plague stuff, to somehow be more realistic than many of the popular dystopian novels out there right now. I know it sounds crazy, but I could picture myself as part cyborg more than I could picture myself fighting 20-something other children to the death in a giant arena. Dont get me wrong - I'm a huge fan of The Hunger Games, I'm just saying... I would be more likely to believe in people inhabiting the moon, thats all.

Writing style: superb
Plot: Interesting and moved quickly.
World building: SUPER COOL!

I actually found this to be a light, fun novel, even with all the death going around. The blue plague is the newest generation's version of the Bubonic Plague - the kids were even singing "Ring around the Rosie" at one point. For those of you that don't know the history behind that kid's game... check it out. You'll never want your kids to play it again.... creepy!

I loved the way Meyer worked in the Cinderella fairy tale without being over the top. It was a story that would still be a story if the Cinderella aspects were taken out, which was great for me. I mean who doesnt love fairy tales? But I'm 23, and though I loved to revisit my childhood, I like to think of myself as slightly more of an adult than I was when I was five. I'm glad there was a real story and plot that wasnt solely focused on Cinderella.

I loved the Prince, and Cinder because they were cute but not too much, and Cinder was funny and sarcastic which I always enjoy in my heroines. Meyer created two wonderful villians in Lihn Adri and Levana the Lunar Queen. I hated Levana and somehow despised and pitied Adri at the same time.

**SPOILER**
Its weird because at the end of the book there are some discussion questions and one asks if the reader thinks there was a character representing the "fairy godmother" in this story, and in one instance I will consider Dr. Erland the fairy godmother who gives her the money to escape and get gasoline for her car, which is sort of her "pumpkin carriage" being orange and all, and he champions her and wants to help her. And sort of could be Iko her android who saves her dress and finds her the cyborg foot. Might I just add how much I loved that and how much I loved the touch of Cinder losing her cyborg foot instead of her shoe on the stairs outside of the palace when she left the ball. Anyhow, in the other instance, I think Cinder was her own fair godmother. She paid for the cyborg foot, and repaired the car and got herself to the ball and tried the save the world alone. And I love that aspect that girls can sometimes need saving, but most times they can save themselves. Way to go Meyer! Girl power!!
**END SPOILER**

There wasnt much I didnt like about this book. I found myself a little bored a few times - only for a few pages though, before the action started back up. That was about it, though. I thought I'd be tired of dystopians by now, and wondered if I'd be over this one before I even finished it, but its so different and original and FUN. I loved this story - hats off to Marissa Meyer! Once I find it reasonable to buy another book to add to my pile of 50+ TBR books, I will be picking up the next one, and I cannot wait! Another thing that upsets me, by the way is that the third and fourth installments of this series arent coming out until 2014 and 2015. What if the world ends by then!? I cant die without reading the rest of the series.

SUMMARY OF MY THOUGHTS:

I enjoyed this book very much. The writing was wonderful; it was extremely unique and creative and very different from other dystopians crowding the market; it was fun, light and believable; and I cant wait to read the next in the series!

RATING: ★★★★

This one gets a four star rating! There were some slow parts for me, but never slow enough for me to lose interest. The characters, dialogue, world and plot were believable, even though it was chock full of cyborgs, androids, moon people and monarchies. I liked this book so much and I would recommend it to anyone who likes sci-fi/fantasy novels, young adult fiction and dystopian novels - oh, and fairy tale retellings!!

Have you gotten to read this one yet? If you have - what did you think? Do you agree or disagree, and why?

A.