Review: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

Title: Fairest
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3.5
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: January 27th, 2015
Source: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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.

Oh my gosh, I've waited so long for this book. The Lunar Chronicles, I had originally put off for a while. I just was not interested in them at all. But they were so well loved by EVERYONE, that I just had to try them. My friend Jess and I had decided to make them buddy reads.. so we read them all back to back. 

So when it came out.. we had to do a buddy read. It's been hard lately, being as busy as I am, and as busy as she is.. but we came together and got this one done. My goodness I miss reading with her. And what a fantastic book to start out with after our lull. 

If you thought that Queen Levana was crazy after reading Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress.. well you were right. lol. But crazy might not be a strong enough word to describe her. And heck, her whole family. 

There are so many things that I loved about Fairest. One being the length. This is no half ass novella. It's got girth! Some novellas are kinda pointless. They give you a tiny bit of insight, but they are mainly to tide you over until the next installment. Fairest is so much more than that. 

The most important thing that I loved is getting to know Levana. At times I really felt bad for her. We learn where her obsession with no mirrors stems from. We learn why she's F'd up in the first place. We learn so freaking much! It's a hear breaking punch to the gut. Nothing excuses her for the horrors she's unleashed through out her life, but I understand what has made her the monster she is. 

Also, we learn a little bit about Winter, and I don't know about you all, but I cannot freaking wait to get my hands on that book. 

I loved Fairest so much.. SOO SOOOOOO Much. <3 These books are awesome. 

About the author:

Marissa Meyer lives in Tacoma, Washington, with her husband and three cats. She’s a fan of most things geeky (Sailor Moon, Firefly, color-coordinating her bookshelf . . .), and has been in love with fairy tales since she was given a small book of them when she was a child. She may or may not be a cyborg. Cinder is her first novel.

Find Marissa:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest

Read More

Labels: cinder, crazy, cress, fariest, favorites, feiwel & friends, lunar chronicles, marissa meyer, novellas, retellings, reviews, scarlet

{Mini} Reviews: The Lunar Chronicles 1-3 by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
Publisher:  Macmillan
Publication Date: January 3rd, 2012
Source: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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

These are my thoughts on books 1-3, so there may be spoilers unless you've read all three of these books.

AHHHHHH!!! Why did I wait so long to read this book!!! I’ll tell you why. Fairytale retellings don’t really wet my muffin. I’ve read a few, but it takes me a while before I get the urge to pick one up. So many things can go wrong, especially when your messing with stories I loved as a child.

Take Cinderella for instance… a cyborg Cinderella? Come on now, that sounds lame as shit. Or so I thought. You see, I saw the cover and saw everyone talking about it when it came out. Still, I thought, Nah! This book is not for me. Then Scarlet came out… more raving! *sigh* Really? It can’t be that good, it doesn’t sound that good. Alas, Cress was released and I couldn’t put it off anymore. The blogger applause was deafening, so I proposed to Jess that we give Cinder a try and if we liked it, then we would read the others.

WE Loved it!!! Our normal 25% a day turned into finishing it in about 48 hours. Lol. Some books you just can’t put down. You just can’t. I think Jess almost wet herself the night I told her we could continue reading past 50%, she was fiending, but truth be told, I was too!

As a retelling of Cinderalla, I thought it was excellent. So different and original, but I loved all the little details that were thrown in, that would immediately bring my mind back to the fairy tale.

Love Love LOVED!!!! This Book!

Title: Scarlet
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #2
Publisher:  Macmillan
Publication Date: February 5th, 2013
Source: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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.

The week after we read Cinder, we picked up Scarlet. It picks up right where Cinder leaves off. I was pleasantly surprised to see that not only do we read from two knew pov’s, we still got to keep everyone elses!

It confused me at first, but I quickly got used to it bouncing around between them all. And it really gave you a feel for what was going on at all time. Scarlet, she’s feisty and I like her. I liked Wolfe too, but I’ll be honest, I’m still weary of him. He’s the wolf!!! Ya know?

The same as in Cinder, this retelling is so original. I’m kind of blown away honestly and I’m not sure how she comes up with this stuff. Authors are awesome. I loved that you get to learn more about Cinder. More about the revelations that are revealed at the end of book one. It’s good stuff.

Title: Cress
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3
Publisher:  Macmillan
Publication Date: February 4th, 2014
Source: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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 high 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.

Oh my freaking gosh, If I thought these books couldn’t get any better, boy was I wrong. Cress, I loved her. Rapunzel is one of my favorite stories, so I was all over this one.

Again, it’s such an original take on the whole thing. So much happens in this one. There is an “OMG, No WAY!” moment towards the end. I love those moments. I love how all these books tie into each other, and the characters too.

This was another buddy read with Jess. We read them all in three weeks. We thought Cress was the last one! Nope, now we have to wait for Winter. *sigh*. It will be worth it I’m sure.

I decided to review all of these together, because they are just too good to review on their own. I had trouble finding enough words for mini reviews. I really feel like if you haven’t given this series a try, you should! The first one is only 2.99 for kindle I believe, so you should totally....

Give it a shot!!! 

About the author:

Marissa Meyer lives in Tacoma, Washington, with her husband and three cats. She’s a fan of most things geeky (Sailor Moon, Firefly, color-coordinating her bookshelf . . .), and has been in love with fairy tales since she was given a small book of them when she was a child. She may or may not be a cyborg. Cinder is her first novel.

Find Marissa:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest

Read More

Labels: cinder, cress, macmillan, marissa meyer, retellings, reviews, scarlet, the lunar chronicles