Review: Cress by Marissa Meyer

Cress by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3
Release Date: February 4th 2014
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Amazon Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

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. When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

In this book we’re introduced to a new character called Cress who is imprisoned in a satellite near the moon by Sybil the right hand girl to Levena the Lunar queen. Cress is a fairy-tale adaptation of Rapunzel what with being imprisoned away from people (or aliens for this matter) where she’s all by herself and has long blonde hair. But apart from those two factors nothing else reminds me of Rapunzel. I wish that Marissa Meyer worked a little bit harder to edge that fairy tale into the book like she did with Cinder.

I was rather annoyed that a new character was being introduced when Cinder was around and most of the attention should have been focused on her instead of introducing another girl. I was already in love with Cinder I think she’s a great female character who doesn’t take any horse crap; and then there’s Scarlet who’s even more badass and isn’t scared of pretty much anything who’s determined to get what she wants and then there’s Cress. Cress is a damsel in distress, who is scared of pretty much everything. She is the total opposite of the rest of the characters which isn’t initially a terrible thing but makes her so much more annoying. Not only does she believe in falling in love with Captain Thorne who she hasn’t met (can’t blame a girl for falling in love with a celebrity) but then she can’t exactly take care of herself like she should; and she always needed to reassure herself and make up a different scenario in order for her to cope with the stress.

Aside from that the book was brilliant.

SPOILER ALERT

Cress is awaiting her rescue while things go wrong and Sybil finds out about this; attacking Cinder and the gang leaving Captain Thorne and Cress aboard the satellite that’s about to crash into Earth. Scarlet is stuck on the moon being tortured for being human, Cress and Thorne the pilot of their ship is about to die, Wolf has been shot and is also about to die and things aren’t exactly looking too hopeful for Cinder and her friends. After surviving the crash Cress and Thorne are rescued by some humans and brought into a town where Cress ends up being sold to no one other than the good doctor who helped Cinder. Reuniting the whole gang together. Giving them the advantage of being able to break into the palace, kidnap the emperor and stop his wedding.

But nothing would have made this book any better than crushing my sprit right before taking off with the emperor and having everything sorted out. Lunars can now get the plague; and the good doctor himself develops the early stages of it while in the palace. Having to leave him behind goodbyes are made where he confesses to Cress that he’s her father. And seriously their goodbye and confession made me cry buckets. I could not even look at this book afterwards I had to put it in the freezer as a punishment for breaking me! Just when everything was going right and Cress was about to get her father back he had to go and die. God damn it. 

Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #2
Release Date: February 5th 2013
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Amazon Book Depository

Goodreads summary 

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.

Ahhh!! I love love LOVED this book!! It's a Godsent and why oh why didn't I pick up Cinder before?! I'm so glad this series was recommended to me. Before I kept thinking "A cyborg Cinderella pfff hell no" But now I want to be a cyborg or at least have the cool lie detector thing she has! 

I was pleasantly surprised with the new character Scarlet although I was disappointed that the first chapter didn’t feature Cinder. I couldn’t figure out what Scarlet had to do with the story other than being a teenage citizen during 126 t.e. but halfway through the book everything started clicking into place and the whole puzzle was fitting together; the whole thing was thought out perfectly.

The book jumped from Scarlet who was a granddaughter of a farmer that went missing, to Cinder who was running away from her prison to Kai who was trying to decide what to do with Cinder’s disappearance and keeping the Lunar queen at bay and not reaching a war. The layout of the book was really cleaver and not at all jumpy which a lot of books sometimes have with more than one settings.

Although I was really disappointed with the fact that this book wasn’t anything like Little Red Riding Hood… Cinder had the evil stepmother and stepsisters, the ball, her being an orphan, losing a foot ect while in Scarlet there were only little things like her red hoodie, and her grandmother being missing and Wolf being a wolf. But apart from that nothing else which disappointed me a great deal. But the relationship between Scarlet and Wolf made up for it!

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer 
Series: The Lunar Chronicles #1
Release Date: January 3rd 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Order: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads 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.

The lovely Regina from The Sunflower Pages recommended me this book and I'm so happy she did :)

This book! I can’t even begin to explain how much I loved this book! A fairy tale with a twist that will make sure you never forget it.

Cinder is a cyborg, a mechanic with no family and a horrible stepmother and two sisters. A nobody until the New Beijing prince Kai shows up at her booth and asks her to look at his broken android.  

The plague that has no cure, that is taking most peoples friends and family, infects Cinders younger sister making Cinder the one to blame in her stepmothers eyes. In order for a cure to be found cyborgs are needed to be guinea pigs and sacrifice their lives in order to save humans. Even after the 4^th world war humans still find beings that are “beneath them” that are second class even though they are part human part mechanical. Cinder’s evil stepmother and sister volunteer her to be the test subject in the research for a cure. But instead Cinder finds out she’s immune to the plague that’s wiping cyborgs and humans alike. Not only this but from space a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move onto earth and take over. So basically Earth is screwed either way.

A cyborg Cinderella story set in the future? Erm not really my scene but I’m so happy I got the chance to read it! I don’t really like the whole mechanical scene but Cinderella was one of my favourite stories as a child.

The way the book is written is incredible. I was getting goose bumps just by reading the book, even in the more boring chapters where nothing exciting was happing. Marissa is able to send her readers into the future alongside Cinder and her trusted android Iko. It was really easy to picture everything happening in the space of my bedroom and I can’t remember the last time I was mesmerised by a book this much.

The fact that some bits from Cinderella were in this book made me super happy. The prince, the evil stepmother and two sisters, the ball. Although I would never have imagined Cinderella to have a mechanical foot and hand. I imagined that Cinder would leave her foot when running away from the ball at the end of the night just like Cinderella had with her glass slipper and I screamed in joy when this came true! Leaving this bit out of the book would have been the biggest mistake.

Overall this book was amazingly written and created a great retelling of a classic story. However there were aspects that weren’t developed as much as they could have been. The fact that I’m still confused about the Lunar (moon people), there was no culture even though the book was set in New Beijing. But apart from that I am a massive fan and I need the other books in the series now!

Waiting on Wednesday #21

"Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

This is our first WoW of 2014. YAY! With the release of Cress hovering over our heads, I thought it would be appropriate to choose Cress as my WoW for the week.

Cress by Marissa Meyer
Series: Lunar Chronicles #3
Release Date: 4th February 2014
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Pre-Order: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

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.

My Thoughts: The only reason I am reading this is because of Kai and Cinder. #KAIANDCINDERFORLIFE. I WILL SINK WITH THIS SHIP. PLEASE LET THEM GET A HAPPY ENDING *starts bawling*. I am going to go calm down and you can go pre-order your copy of Cress. 

Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Series: Lunar Chronicles #2
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication Date: February 5th, 2013
Buy: Amazon | Book Depository

Goodreads Summary

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.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to finally read this book. I got it the same month it was released but I was too afraid to pick it up because what if I didn't love it? And what if I loved it so much that the wait to Cress killed me? 

So yes I was a coward and didn't read this magnificent book until recently and I have to say, it was SO worth it. I am probably in the minority here but I still preferred Cinder.

The fact remains that I had quite a few problems with this installment, not major ones, so it only cost the book half a star but they were problems. 

I am going to start by mentioning the little things that I didn't like.

There were too many POVs so Kai and Cinder didn't get enough page time. WHY??? Grrr. I tried not to skim some parts of Wolf and Scarlet's POVs but Kai and Cinder are my favorite characters and they are 'my ship' so yes I found myself getting annoyed by the fact that they didn't get enough page time. Hell Kai's page time was almost non-existent. At its core, this series is their story so it hurts that they didn't get enough page time. Maybe I shouldn't complain so much since Cinder did have quite a few scenes but when you're so attached to a character you cannot help but feel disappointed when they are no longer the only star.  

This book also had a severe case of insta-love. It took Scarlet and Wolf a day. *bangs head on a wall*. I'll elaborate on that later. 

Going back to the actual book.  Scarlet was a good character but, I didn't love her nearly as much as I loved Cinder. I loved Scarlet's determination and how nothing could get in the way of her saving her grandmother but sometimes I think she forgot that her life was actually in danger. She was rather reckless. I do think that the author did this on purpose because Scarlet seemed to me to be a hotheaded kind of character. She was strong and feisty but she didn't always think things through.

Wolf on the other hand did NOT work for me. I know most people loved him to bits and pieces but to me, he was kind of pathetic. I found him a puppy dog kind of cute but that's it. He turned his back on everything he believed because of a girl he had just met. He was weak and couldn't seem to stand up for himself. He lacked a backbone. I am sure the author intended him to be a timid character that was likable and lovable but I've seen better examples and he didn't live up to what I had expected from him. 

We also met Throne. Throne is so cute. I probably would have fallen in love with him had I not been so hopelessly in love with Prince Kai. I don't know what to say about him. He is just so silly but underneath all of that he is also loyal. He can be annoying and he likes to make jokes about everything but he will always have your back no matter what. 

Both Cinder and Kai managed to surprise me in this book. They both grew even more and I fell in love with the two EVEN more. I hadn't thought it could be possible. Kai though, I was surprised by how he didn't spend his whole time hating on Cinder. Oh he definitely questioned whether she had been lying to him the whole time but he also realized the little things like how she had genuinely loved her sister and while he doesn't know whether she is good or bad, he didn't immediately label her as a b*tch and then make some bad decisions (we've seen that happen before haven't we?). What he did in the end broke my heart though. 

The romance here is obviously not between Kai & Cinder (WHY???) but between Scarlet and Wolf. I don't care how you dress it, how you try to present it, it is what it is; the romance between them was based on insta-love. They take a day to fall in love. While no words are said the connection is obviously there and I personally believe that their relationship was not nearly as well developed as it could have been. However, Marissa did manage to pull it off well enough because I wasn’t raging (because yes, me and insta-love are not friends).

The plot was great. It was well developed and I loved it. Some of the turns were predictable but some of them, I hadn't guessed. It kept me well engaged and once I got into the book (yes I was reading it at a snail pace so I didn’t speed up until the 2^nd half when things started getting even more interesting) I finished it in 2 hours. I have to say though, I didn't pick up on as many of the elements of the original tale as I did in Cinder. Cinder was an 'out of this world' re-telling, probably the best I had read, Scarlet on the other hand was a fabulous re-telling, so while it was good, it again didn't live up to Cinder. 

I do remain spellbound by the world Marissa manages to create. I don't know how she does it but she took two of my favorite genres and mashed them together to create this wonderful world.

Going back to the ending I mentioned earlier. WHY? WHY WOULD SHE DO THIS? WHY DOES SHE HATE US SO MUCH? My poor Kai. If anything happens to him, I will find a way inside this book and I WILL KILL Levana and then feed her to the wolves. I kid you not. Grrr. My feelings aside, I know why Kai did what he did and I respect him for it, in fact I even love him a little for it but the fact remains I am heartbroken and I want my two favorite characters to get the happy ending they deserve. I'll probably have to wait for another two books before that happens (because it will or there will be hell to pay) so until then I'll just curl up into a ball and cry myself to sleep. 

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Series: Lunar Chronicles #1
Publisher:  Feiwel & Friends
Date Published: January 3, 2012
Buy: Amazon

Goodreads 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.

WARNING: This is a really old review and makes no sense

When I first saw this book I was really excited to read it. I mean books from a cyborgs POV are kinda rare but as I read more about it I realized it’s a Cinderella retelling. I didn’t want a fairy tale. When you think of those fairy tales you loved as a kid you realize how pathetic the girls were at times and how they were looked down upon in so many of the stories. All they ever did was be pretty and be saved by princes'. So I decided I probably wouldn’t read this book because if the main character was going to be a whiny little girl, I had no interest what so ever. There are enough of those kind of books out there. Sometimes I’d come back to read the reviews anyway because of the pretty cover and because I secretly hoped I was wrong and that this book would be super awesome. After reading the reviews for the millionth time I finally made up my mind to read the book. I think I kinda hate myself for putting it off for so long. 

This book is my kind of book, it has a bit of sci fic but in the sense of fancy technology, it has great world building and that’s saying a lot because I usually don’t pay that much attention to it. I was so amazed by the world Marissa had build, I kept on imagining the other aspects of it and wanted to learn so much more about it. 

I think the best part of this book was the main character, Cinder. She is one of the best female leads ever. I think this because for her it isn’t about the one guy. She may like him but she has lots of other things on her mind, she has her priorities set. She isn’t going to change things because of a guy, it takes more than that to change her mind.  

I know I make it seem like I don't like Prince Kai  but I am in love with him. So it's all good. I think he is as awesome as Cinder. I don’t like some of the decisions he makes but they weren’t made for selfish reasons so I cannot get mad at him for that. I really didn’t know what to expect from Prince Kai when I started the book, but the opening scene changed whatever I could have thought of him. He cared about his country and wanted what was best for them.

Oh and don’t forget IKO!! The awesomest robot ever built. She is a robot with a personality defect and well let's just say that makes her have some of the best lines in the book. She also has the role of being Cinder's companion because Cinder doesn't really have anyone else. 

Marissa does a great job with the details. The way she combines the details of the original Cinderalla tale into her own story is so wonderful. There were times I was sitting there and wondering how this woman could have come up with such great ideas.

This book is one of a kind and I recommend it to everyone.