Cinder by Marissa MeyerMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Content: Clean
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 is the second fairytale re-imagining with a futuristic/sci-fi twist that I've read this year and really loved, the other being A Long, Long Sleep. I ended up loving both of them.
I've never been a huge fan of the Disney version of Cinderella, and this version of Cinderella pretty much turns the Disney version on its head. Cinder is in many ways, the anti-Cinderella. She doesn’t wait around for other people to rescue her. She is smart and industrious, and she was such a fun and interesting character. The fact that she was a cyborg made the story so much more interesting.
My favorite scene is when she is driving to the ball. Some people might consider the following minor spoilers, so even though I don't I'm giving a warning anyway:
I just loved that she drives the old beat up car with the busted headlights, cracked windshield, and missing back window to the ball. I also love that the car is orange like a pumpkin. She crashes the car into a tree right as she gets to the palace, steps out into the pouring rain and says hello to the greeter at the door in her wet hair, and stained and wrinkled dress. I loved how everyone at the ball stares at her not because she is beautiful, but because she looks like such a mess. And the part where she leaves not just her shoe behind but her foot as well is great.
This is a very inventive story and I’m looking forward to reading the sequels.
Scarlet by Marissa MeyerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Content: Clean
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. 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.
Scarlet is a great follow up to Cinder. I liked the way the wolves were woven into the story. Not sure exactly why they are needed if the Lunars have mind control, but lets not over analyze it.
Scarlet is a great heroine and I loved her backstory with her grandmother. I loved her grandmother's story as well and the way it was intertwined with Cinder's. Wolf was also easy to like and I felt really bad for him and the things that he went through.
I'm still loving this series and will continue on to the next book.
Cress by Marissa MeyerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Content: Clean
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.
So far none of the books in this series have disappointed. I loved Cress and I loved the way Rapunzel gets a makeover with ratty, tangled hair. Cress's naivety was charming, and I loved her interactions with Captain Thorne. Who by the way, with his smiling, winking, flirting with anything that walks, self-assured arrogance reminds me a lot of Captain Jack from Doctor Who.
There were a lot of important developments to the plot of the series in this book. I was very pleased at where it ended and that Kai and Cinder are reunited. Oh and Iko gets something really cool. I just loved Iko in this book.
I will definitely be reading the last book in the series when it's released.
Winter by Marissa MeyerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Dystopia
Content: Clean
Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mark her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.
Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won't approve of her feelings for her childhood friend--the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn't as weak as Levana believes her to be and she's been undermining her stepmother's wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that's been raging for far too long.
Winter is the fourth and final book in the Lunar Chronicles series. Just like the other books in the series it is based on a fairy tale. In this case the fairy tale is Snow White. And yet again I really enjoyed the way the author incorporated the fairy tale into the futurist sci-fi type story. Over-all this was an excellent ending to the series. By this point there are a lot of characters to keep up with, but the author pulled this off amazingly well with plenty of time spent on each of them.
This is one of the only YA series that I can say never got old. Each book is a good read and the quality of the series never fades. Another reviewer said that this series is like anime in book form, and I like that description. It didn't surprise me at all when I found out that Marissa Meyer had once written Sailor Moon fan fiction.
I think the only drawbacks to this book was that the end battle dragged out a little long for me, and there could have been more thought put into strategy and planning before they all headed into battle. I wasn't quite satisfied with the way the book ended either as it left a couple of things unresolved. The best thing about this book was the theme of loving and accepting ourselves and others the way they are. I also think that it's great that Marissa Meyer doesn't shy away from letting some horrible things happen to her characters.
Stars Above by Marissa MeyerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-fi
Content: Clean
Stars Above is a collection of novellas set in the Lunar Chronicles universe. It features the characters from the series and expands on their stories. I had already read Glitches and The Queen's Army, but not any of the other stories. I think they were all very good and in my opinion essential reading for anyone who has read The Lunar Chronicles. Anyone who doesn't read this will miss out on the back stories of all the important characters from the books and a very important wedding. I do wish that the last story could have been integrated into Winter. It would have made a much better ending for the book than the one we got. I also wish that I had been able to read the novella The Princess and the Guard before I read Winter because it helped me to know those characters better and get a real sense of the bond they shared, which I felt was kind of missing in Winter.
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