Cress by Marissa Meyer (Book Review)

"Her satellite made one full orbit around planet Earth every sixteen hours."

Review: This is the third book of a 4 book series and before I review it, please see my reviews on the first two books, in the Lunar Chronicles, below:

Cinder

Scarlet

I have to admit, this series is getting better and better as I continue to read them! I'm a huge fan of the writer more than I am of the books so I could be a little biased there, but I admire the fact that Marissa Meyer takes the time to communicate personally with her fans (including me!!) whenever we should ask her a question or just want to say how much we love her books! Not many authors would do that and so I feel it necessary to point out just how much she (and most other rising Young Adult writers) cares about her readers.

Firstly, this is a series that intricately weaves several fables together into one large fantasy filled with hope, despair, and a good old fashioned fairy tale as well. It all started with the all too common story of Cinderella (Cinder) but it was definitely not the one you may have seen on television! This version has droids and Lunars (really creepy human looking aliens), which you won't find in those fairy tales today. But it does maintain the same premise of a girl who seemingly has nothing but herself to look after, living with a step-mother who despises her, and two stepsisters. Luckily, only one of them is wicked, the other is actually quite sweet. But I won't spoil it for you in case you haven't read it yet. There's a Prince (Kai) who meets Cinder and invites her to the ball, where she loses her foot instead of her glass slipper! But you can see where the fairy tale and the fantasy meet and mesh together rather well. I give most of the credit to Marissa who's been doing a tremendous job.

Last year was Scarlet, and I don't think I need to go into the story of Little Red Ridinghood with you? But let's just say I'm sure a lot of the teenage girls quickly fell in love with the character of Wolf instantly. Me? Eh, I could take him or leave him. Personally, not until this third book did I find a character I could truly relate to.

Don't get me wrong, I realize Cinder is at the epicenter of this all. If not for her none of these fairy tales could ever have come together, let alone be fighting to rid the world of the truly evil Queen Levana! But by the end of the second book I didn't really like Cinder who hadn't truly found her confidence and I didn't like Scarlet who seemed a bit too over confident. I'm kind of like Goldilocks who didn't find the "just right" character until this book!

Cress (short for Crescent Moon) is someone who I related to from the very first page of the first chapter! The isolationism, the way she created a world for herself in order to keep her mind active and to keep from feeling like she's going crazy. Also, the way she imagines she's in a movie and essentially is talking to her younger self for company. I was almost ashamed to admit it, but that's ME! And I must thank Marissa Meyer for creating this character (almost just for me) so I would know I'm not the only weirdo! A little daydreaming never hurt anyone, especially if it relaxes you and helps you get through really difficult times. Which, for Cress, if not for her daydreaming and pretending, I don't think she could have survived outside of her satellite.

This story unites the characters who are going to essentially save the world. Namely Cinder, Cress, Captain Carswell, Wolf, & Iko who FINALLY gets a body! Oops, was that a spoiler? Sorry! Anyway, we get a brief glimpse into the life of Cinder's stepmother who I will never feel sorry for and of course we see the Prince as well. In fact, a bit of a kidnapping/rescue mission happens there. The wedding of Queen Levana and Prince Kai is scheduled to happen during this book, if you recall? This is assuming you've read the first two...well, things don't exactly go according to the Queen's plan.

The best part, aside from getting to meet and know Cress, is what happens to Scarlet! I don't want to give it all away, but let's just say through her we get to meet the main character of the fourth (and last) Lunar Chronicles book, Winter! Turns out she's the Queens daughter and I'm not quite sure yet if she's got one too many screws loose or if she's doing a really good job of pretending? Hmm...guess I'll have to wait for February 2015 when Winter comes out! So excited!

Summary: In this third book in Marissa Meyer's bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, 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 prevent her army from invading Earth.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped 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 being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she’d ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

Cress

The Lunar Chronicles, #3

by Marissa Meyer

550 pages

Feiwel and Friends, 2014

Young Adult fiction

Read in 7 days

Rating: ★★★★★

Amazon | BN

To learn more about Marissa Meyer, visit her site here.

Through the Ever Night by Veronica Rossi (Book Review)

Through the Ever Night

by Veronica Rossi

341 pages

Harper Collins, 2013

fiction/young adult

Read in 3 days

Another Review

My Rating: N/A 

Amazon.com / BN.com

"Aria was here."

Review: It's just not gripping me the way Under the Never Sky did. Then again, that book wasn't all that riveting to me either. I find this book to be lacking in story line so it's trying to make up for it with the love story which seems a bit forced to me. I'm trying to remember this is a young adult book so it doesn't necessarily have to have a stellar story to sell millions of copies. Unfortunately, I think my interest in the series will end with this book.

I think I would have liked it more if the relationship between Aria and Perry didn't exist. YES, I know they are the main characters and if not for their meeting in the first book there wouldn't be a need for a second and third book. However, the relationship Perry has with Cinder paralleled with the relationship Aria has with Roar, this book could actually have potential to survive. There is nothing wrong with the characters. In fact, I even like the bitchy ones because their reasoning for bad manners and terrible attitudes is understandable.

I will go back to this book and finish it, but at a much later date and time, when I feel I can give it the proper attention it deserves. Do not let my lack of interest in finishing the book at this time deter you from reading it. There is something here, I'm just not in the right frame of mind right now to pick up on it. I urge you to click on the link above for "Another Review" where I've come across a review that puts the book in a much better light and gives me hope that I will come to appreciate the book when next I pick it up.

Synopsis: It's been months since Aria learned of her mother's death.

Months since Perry became Blood Lord of the Tides, and months since Aria last saw him.

Now Aria and Perry are about to be reunited. It's a moment they've been longing for with countless expectations. And it's a moment that lives up to all of them. At least, at fi rst. Then it slips away. The Tides don't take kindly to former Dwellers like Aria. And the tribe is swirling out of Perry's control. With the Aether storms worsening every day, the only remaining hope for peace and safety is the Still Blue. But does this haven truly exist?

Threatened by false friends and powerful temptations, Aria and Perry wonder, Can their love survive through the ever night? In this second book in her spellbinding Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi combines fantasy and sci-fi elements to create a captivating adventure—and a love story as perilous as it is unforgettable.

To learn more about Veronica Rossi, visit her site here.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer (Book Review)

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)
by Marissa Meyer

387 pages

Macmillan Publishers, January 2012

young adult/romance/science fiction/dystopian
Read in 4 days

Another Review...

My Rating: ★★★★1/2

Amazon.com | BN.com

My Review: Very few people don’t know the story of Cinderella. If you’re like me, you’ve seen several movie versions of the movie growing up as well. Not only that, but being a fairytale, it’s easy to see aspects of this story in other, more modern tales. The classic (and oft times tragic) story of girl who likes boy but due to some societal or financial reason she does not feel worthy of his affection. Similar to that of Romeo & Juliet, only not as tragic because in Cinderella it’s one of those “and they lived happily ever after” kind of endings. This book is the story of Cinderella but told in the future and in Beijing, China. I think that location would never have entered my mind for a Cinderella remake but I must say, for the larger story she’s looking to tell in the continuation of this series, it works.

If you like the fairytale and are not open for huge change from that idea this book will not interest you. Otherwise, read on, because there is something for everyone in this story. Cinder is a cyborg (meaning certain parts of her anatomy and internal organs are robotic) and as such is looked down upon by some people, including, of course, her wicked step-mother Adri, and her two step-sisters. I was happy to see that one of the step-sisters actually befriends Cinder and they get along rather well until tragedy hits. I’ll try not to give any spoilers but let’s just say there is SO much more to this story that some stupid ball and fairy godmother. There are no pumpkins (unless you count the orange car she finds in the junkyard) or midnight bells to listen for. There is a greater danger in this story than losing ones slipper too. Try losing ones mechanical foot!

One criticism I had with the book was the humor. I found it VERY dry, but I suspect that is because the culture where it takes place is different from what I’m used to here. If that is the case then I get two thumbs up to the writer for being so thorough in her research on this book that she was able to perfectly capture the way the Chinese communicate to each other in dialogue.

Summary: 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.

To learn more about Marissa Meyer please visit her site.