Cress by Marissa Meyer

Cress by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles, #3
Source: Gifted by the incredible Inky
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: February 4, 2014

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.

"I'm scared of her, and her army, and what she can do. And everyone expects me to be strong and brave, but I don't know what I'm doing. I have no idea how to overthrow her. And even if I succeed, I have no idea how to be a queen. There are so many people relying on me, people who don't even know they're relying on me, and now they're dying, all because of some ridiculous fantasy that I can help them, that I can save them, but what if I can't?"

I originally started to write this review last night, but I could think of nothing to say. Nada. I'm a blank book, and there is nothing written in the pages of my mind that could properly describe exactly how I felt about Cress. But I'll try, and maybe you'll think I have something interesting to say about it.

I went into Cress with some big expectations... I was expecting to be wowed, and to a degree I was. This book takes us deeper into the world of The Lunar Chronicles, with the introduction of new plot and a few new characters. And intermixed with all these new characters are the characters that we know and love, like Scarlet, Iko, Cinder, Kai and Wolf. It was fun to see them again, and I enjoyed their group dynamic, but most of this one was all about Cress, one of the new characters.

Do you recognize the name? You should, it's on the front of the book. Cress was... interesting. I didn't like her as much as I liked Scarlet, but she's right up there with the original main character, Cinder. (If you can't tell, Scarlet is my favorite main character, but that may change with the next book. The peek we got at Winter was AMAZING.) But back to Cress. She's cute, really.  She's very innocent, very naive, and very unsure of herself, but I liked her. She was very nerdy, very easy to identify with... but mostly the epitome of a shy, quiet girl.

Just to screw with us, Thorne is the complete opposite. Cress has built him up in her mind to the point of hero status, which was cute, but unlikely. The glimpses that we got of Thorne show that he doesn't think of himself as a hero. Sometimes, he was, but most of the time... Thorne is just an average, normal kind of guy. That doesn't mean that I didn't like him, though! I did like him. But I feel like their romance was a little bit insta-lovish. Kind of. Like, a little bit. I liked it and all, and I didn't think the romance between them was stupid or anything (I actually thought it was adorable while reading) but the more I think about it, the more I realize that it was just a tad not perfect.

I liked that we saw character growth throughout the book - Thorne definitely became a better person, and Kai grew up a little more. I think he's shaping up to be a great leader - and I respect his character. I didn't get the point of views mixed up, but I do kind of want to call Cress Cinder. I'm not sure why - their characters are nothing alike, but I JUST DO.

Cress was nonstop twists and turns and new plot points - sometimes I felt like I would never be able to keep up, but I managed quite well. I'm really excited to see how this last book will turn out - especially since Winter is SNOW FREAKING WHITE, and OMG. Winter is totally going to rock - she's crazy. Like, "the walls are bleeding, but they don't believe me" crazy, and I'm going to have fun with her. And Jacin! :D

The worst part of Cress? (I hear you all saying "what? Worst part? What are you talking about?") It was the ending. Because now, no matter what I read... I'm stuck waiting on the next book in this series for A YEAR. AT LEAST. All in all, this was a really good continuation of the series, and I'm DYING for Winter.

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles, #2
Source: Bought
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: February 5, 2013

The fates of Cinder and Scarlet collide as a Lunar threat spreads across the Earth...

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.

I am 110% sure that Scarlet was much better than Cinder could have ever hoped to have been. With Scarlet as our main protagonist, nothing was ever boring. And better yet, I truly identified with Scarlet! I loved her fiery, independent personality, and the way that she wasn't afraid to tell it like it was.

I also really loved Wolf, even if he did do a few things that I didn't see coming. He's basically.....*sigh*

I loved the romance between them. Although it came along fast, I have to say that I never felt like it was instalove or like it wasn't real-- the tension between them was fantastic! I'm seriously having such a hard time writing this review-- all I really feel like saying is: aoerihgoeirioelhroiehrgoeihyr.

That's how jumbled all of my thoughts are right now-- I just can't straighten them out! I loved the interspersed chapters told from Cinder, Kai, Thorne and Wolf's point of view. Although Scarlet is our main character, (and she's fabulous!) I liked seeing little bits of development on the other characters. I think that my one problem with this book would have to be that I don't remember Cinder being so...I don't know how to explain it. I guess she isn't really the same person to me anymore.

Which is sad, because I loved her. But I'll get over it, and she's still a great supporting character in this one! On another note, the world-building was FABULOUS. I was immediately drawn into it, and I could picture every tiny detail. I witnessed the fights. I was there. IT WAS CRAZY AWESOME.

All in all, I have to say that Scarlet left a fantastic impression on me-- when does Cress come out again? Oh yeah...2014. Well, I'll find some way to occupy my time. *twiddles thumbs*

"Yeah, well, I try to think for myself once in a while, rather than buy into the ridiculous propaganda the media would have us believe." She frowned, realizing that she sounded exactly like her grandmother. She tempered her annoyance with a sigh. "People are just so quick to accuse and criticize, but they don't know what she's been through or what led her to do the things she did. Do we even know for sure that she did anything?" ~ Pg. 164

Cinder(The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marrisa Meyer

 First point of discussion, I received this book free of charge from a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway(I know I was so excited! An arc book!). And I read the entire thing within one day. I loved it. The writing of this book just kind of flows from one part to the next (Unlike this review).  And each part of the story,(divided into four parts) starts with a quote from the original story of Cinderella. The Story starts with Cinder replacing her too small foot,(she's a cyborg) and meeting the prince(of course). And it takes off from there. Here's the Blurb:

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 wasn't expecting much when I read this book but I got a lot more than I expected. Four Stars.
 I am looking forward to reading the next installment of this series,
                        Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
                       Expected Publication 2013
    "Even in the Future The Story Begins with Once Upon a Time"