Cress - Marissa Meyer

Rating: ★★★★★

Publication Date: February 4, 2014
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Genre: YA
Pages: 550 pages
Goodreads

My obsession with the Lunar Chronicles continues with the third book in the series and the one I was most excited to read based on the gorgeous cover. (my reviews of Cinder and Scarlet) And once again, Marissa Meyer didn't disappoint me at all.

Cress starts off right after we left the characters in Scarlet, with the major difference being, as expected, the introduction of Cress (Rapunzel) as a main character. While this isolated tech-savvy girl was introduced before, we now finally find out why she is locked away and how she is connected to Lunar. I can't go too much into her role without giving away the plots of Cinder and Scarlet, but trust me, it's good.

Once again, Marissa Meyer creates not only a new, well-rounded character, but is also able to incorporate all the characters we have seen before. By now the main casts consists of around 6 characters and throughout the book I was impressed with how well their point of views are alternated and how not one voice gets lost. Most importantly, all the characters are vastly different from each other and I think every single reader will find someone who they will enjoy.

Personally, Cress is one of my favourite characters. She's almost a combination of Disney's Rapunzel and Ariel. She's excited to explore the world, a little naive, often underestimated and yet delivers when she needs to. She's not as logical as Cinder is, nor as passionate as Scarlet, but she is able to learn everything about earth very quickly (a place she had never been before the book starts) and to use all her skills to her advantage. I can't wait to see how she develops in the next book and how she'll respond to the Lunar people who have kept her captive her whole life.

Overall, Cress is an amazing addition to the Lunar Chronicles series. Once again, a new kickass female character is introduced and I fell in love with her. This is by far my favourite book in the series, since I didn't need any time to get into the story - we're dropped right in the middle of the action where we left off with Scarlett and there's no time to think, only to enjoy the story and the amazing cast of characters.

Cinder - Marissa Meyer

Rating: ★★★★★

Publication Date: January 3, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Genre: YA
Pages: 390 pages
Goodreads

The internet has failed me. For YEARS I have seen the Lunar Chronicles books pass and while everyone seemed to love them, no one really told me why. And that's why I didn't read them until now. AND HOW I LOVED CINDER. Next time, please let me know when I'm blatantly ignoring a book series that I could be falling in love with - it's what the comment section of this blog is all about after all!

Cinder is the story of the future world where a cyborg mechanic named Cinder meets the prince of her country in a most crucial historical time. Cinder is, like her fairytale namesake, stuck with a stepmother that hates her and one evil stepsister, but surprisingly also one nice one. When the prince asks her to fix something for him, she's suddenly thrown into a major medical problem which is basically the future version of the plague. Mechanics aside, the real problem is is whether a cyborg can help a human being, and a prince at that, save the world.

Now the first 50 pages of CInder had me in belief that fantasy isn't for me and that I wouldn't enjoy reading this book after all. We're introduced to Cinder and for me, the whole "she's not like other girls" vibe was just laid on too thickly. We get it. YA narrators are never like other girls and are special little snowflakes. But then again, they are not because they do things other girls will do and most importantly, what's wrong being like other girls? That pet peeve put aside, I struggled through these pages and after them, I was completely hooked. 

I'm still on the fence of Cinder as a character. She shows some amazing moments, but sometimes she just read too generic for me. I like the play on the original Cinderella character; not only is Cinder poor, she's also a cyborg while the prince is a human which is something just not done in that world. It made the divide between the two characters bigger and more believable when Cinder insists on constantly lying to the prince. However, at times I felt that Cinder was just kickass just to be kickasss. It was fake and out of character, but since there are more books in this series, I'm very excited to read them so I'll get a better grasp on her as a character.

A character that I did fall in love with is Lunar princess Levana who is just AMAZING. She's mean, cunning, intelligent and beautiful - exactly everything I want my villain to be. She doesn't hesitate to do whatever she needs to do to get what she wants and she manipulates absolutely everyone in the process. I loved how brutal she is and I can't wait to read more about her story in the other books.

Overall, this book was far from perfect. Cinder is an average character and the big plot twist at the end is something most readers will see coming before the halfway mark. However, I LOVED this book. I can see all its flaws and I can discuss them and yet I still absolutely adored it. It was just so much fun to read and so easy to escape in the world that Marissa Meyer created. This book really transported me from my own life to Cinder's and I think that's an amazing achievement for any book - so just for that reason, I can't give this less than 5 stars.