Cress by Marissa Meyer

Cress by Marissa Meyer

The Lunar Chronicles #3

Release Date: February 6, 2014

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Source: Christina!

Star Rating: ★★★★

Rating: Essential

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.

Scarlet was one of my favourite reads of 2013, and I had been looking forward to Cress for a year prior to its release. The lovely Christina let me and a bunch of other European bloggers borrow her ARC, and I almost fainted when it arrived here from Judith's house. It was the best belated Christmas gift ever.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The Lunar Chronicles #1
Release Date: January 5, 2012 (UK)
Publisher: Puffin
Source: Bought
Rating: 3 out of 5

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.. - Goodreads

This is another book that was recommended to me by Amber, although it took me like a year to get around to reading it XD True story, for ages I thought the author was the same person who wrote Wicked Lovely and it may have contributed to my unwillingness to read Cinder *coughs*

Author Interview and Giveaway: Marissa Meyer, Author of The Lunar Chronicles

Marissa Meyer, author of the amazing series The Lunar Chronicles, is coming to London for her first ever UK signing. To celebrate, and to help pass on the word, we have an author interview and a giveaway today!

1. Cinder and Scarlet are both very well developed characters, and very different. If you could choose one trait from each girl to have for yourself, which traits would they be?

I would love to be as resourceful as Cinder. She's like a girl MacGyver - able to fix things with floss and a piece of gum, or whatever. I, on the other hand, am not mechanically minded at all!

As for Scarlet, sometimes I wish that I could be as frank as she is. I'm one of those people that has trouble sending food back at a restaurant even if it's not what I wanted, but Scarlet has no trouble saying just what she thinks and feels. Of course, that habit tends to get her in trouble sometimes, so if I was the same way I would hope for a bit more of an on/off switch...

2. You're going to Bromley very soon. What kind of state is London in in Cinder and Scarlet's world?

London has some scarring from the war, but I don't envision it being quite as damaged as Beijing and Paris had been, and what was destroyed has been rebuilt by 126 T.E. (when Cinder takes place). It's still the home of the United Kingdom's royal family, who have returned to ruling power but with some checks and balances from a Parliament, and all of the UK plus Canada are now under the same government. Population wise, the UK is by far the smallest country in the Earthen Union, but its history as a global power has earned it a great deal of respect from the other countries.

3. Scarlet is one of my favourite YA heroines right now because she's just so kickass. Do you have any favourites of your own?

Thank you! One of my all-time favorite YA heroines is Fire (from FIRE by Kristin Cashore). She's brave and daring, but also sensitive - especially as her "kind" (she's a ridiculously gorgeous Monster) are treated with such scorn and hatred. Often, beautiful characters are treated as ring-leaders in fiction (the lead cheerleader, etc.), so I loved what Cashore did by turning that trope upside down.

4. I feel the need to express my love for Captain Thorne. He is such a charismatic, attractive, and funny guy. He is AWESOME. I must ask, if you had any control over casting, who would you have portray him in Scarlet, the movie?

Well, writers aren't supposed to choose favorites, but... between us, he might be my favorite character in the series. (Don't tell anyone!) I'm really, really bad at choosing actors to represent my characters, though! Some people have suggested the actor who plays Hook in Once Upon a Time, but I think he's too fierce looking. This is the inspiration photo I used for Thorne, so maybe we can track this guy down?

Except Thorne has blue eyes, so I don't know. I'm so bad at this!

5. Do you have another favourite fairytale that you would have loved to have covered, but that wouldn't have worked with the story you wanted to tell with The Lunar Chronicles?

I originally planned on including "Puss in Boots," which was going to be the fifth book in the series, and the identity of the True Lunar Princess wasn't going to be revealed until then. Obviously, this did not work out! I didn't get very far into the planning process before I realized that Puss in Boots needed to be cut out of the mix. There are plenty of other fairy tales that I think would be fun to adapt outside of the Chronicles, though. We'll see...

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Enter to win a swag pack with bookmarks, stickers, temporary tattoos, and signed book plates!

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And, if you live in the UK, I hope you can make it to Marissa's signing at Waterstones Bromley on the 26th March!

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
The Lunar Chronicles #2
Release Date: February 3, 2013
Publisher: Puffin
Source: Publisher
Goodreads Stars: 5
Rating: Essential
Buy the Book: Amazon UK

Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. The police have closed her case. The only person Scarlet can turn to is Wolf, a street fighter she does not trust, but they are drawn to each other.

Meanwhile, in New Beijing, Cinder will become the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive – when she breaks out of prison to stay one step ahead of vicious Queen Levana.

As Scarlet and Wolf expose one mystery, they encounter Cinder and a new one unravels. Together they must challenge the evil queen, who will stop at nothing to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner . . . - Goodreads

Note: I freakin' hate this synopsis. The last paragraph gives away things that happen in the last fifty pages, so please don't read it if you don't want to be spoiled. I've crossed it out for your convenience. 

I'm pretty sure I had forgotten why I loved Cinder so much before reading Scarlet. I read it so long ago, and I didn't have time for a reread before getting to this. Luckily for me, Scarlet is just as amazing and once I started reading it was easy to tell why I fell in love with Meyer's writing and the world she has created. 

WoW: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Lunar Chronicles #2
Release Date: February 5, 2013
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Goodreads

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
The Lunar Chronicles #1
Release Date: January 5, 2012 (UK)
Publisher: Puffin
Source: Publisher
Rating: Essential

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.

In this thrilling debut young adult novel, the first of a quartet, Marissa Meyer introduces readers to an unforgettable heroine and a masterfully crafted new world that’s enthralling. - Goodreads

My favourite part of Cinder was the world that Meyer has created to tell this fascinating story. The history of this futuristic universe is rich and thoroughly developed, which makes the sci-fi completely believable. The historical aspect of the novels was introduced by being woven into the story, and didn’t feel out of place or forced.

The links to the fairytale of Cinderella were prominent, and yet they were not over the top. Cinder lives with her wicked stepmother and her two stepsisters. She has to work as an engineer to feed the whole family, while her stepmother spends her hard earned money on luxurious items. The prince is also present throughout, and we even have a mouse like in the Disney movie (kind of).

I was very intrigued by the Lunar colony, and I enjoyed reading about how those people were living. I loved their evil yet beautiful queen, and I cannot wait to see what happens with her in the next books in the series because she’s a fantastic antagonist – and also pretty scary!

Cinder was a brilliant female lead. She was strong, reliable, and she doesn’t give up. She’s also able to look after herself, which is a great quality to have. She doesn’t rely on her stepmother, or anybody else, which also adds a lot to her story. Cinder tries to hide her situation - or her cyborg-ness - from Prince Kai, and I was holding my breath waiting for him to find out about her. I felt so much love for this character, and I would have hated for her to get hurt because society doesn't accept cyborgs like her.

I wasn’t too fond of the love interest, Prince Kai, because I didn’t feel as though he was as well developed in comparison to Cinder. This left me a little bit disappointed, although that is probably because as a reader I was spoilt with the awesome Cinder, and I had very high expectations. Nevertheless, Kai is still pretty awesome, and it was really interesting when I had the chance to read from his point of view.

I absolutely cannot wait for the sequel to this novel. I look forward to seeing what Marissa Meyer can do next with both Cinder, and the other fairytales that are going to be woven into the upcoming stories. I’m dying to know where Meyer will take us next. She is a brilliant writer and I would recommend this book to everyone!

Books in this series: 

0.5. Glitches

1. Cinder 

2. Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood) [2013]

3. Cress (Rapunzel) [2014]

4. Winter (Snow White) [2015]

Buy the book here: