Review for Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer

Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3)

By Marissa Meyer
Published February 4th 2014 by Feiwel & Friends
Borrowed from Local Library
550 pages

"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." ~ Goodreads

Review

The third instalment of the Lunar Chronicles packs a punch with the addition of new characters and a thickening plot!

I admire Cinder and Scarlet's tough personality, but it was a nice change to meet Cress. I personally relate to her. She's socially awkward, lacks self confidence, and is a hopeless romantic. I feel like she's an underdog and I always love rooting for the underdog. Then, there is Thorne. I've never met a character quite like him before. His statements are blunt, yet charming. He is not one you would think of as funny, yet he had me laughing more than once. His, well, special, situation in Cress made for quite the bit of entertainment. Together, Cress and Thorne made such a cute duo. It was awkward at times, but my heart melted at the subtle things, like how they both relied on each other. I hope their relationship is taken farther!

Again and again, Marissa Meyer flaunts her writing abilities. It's amazing to see how everything is coming together, all the details she left behind in the previous books and I can assure you the fast pace continues. The multiple POV's has always been a trademark of sorts and I've always appreciated them. It gives immense insight in to what is really going on. However, at times I am so curious to see what happens with one character that I have to restrain myself from flipping ahead. This was the case with Cress and Thorne.

I highly recommend the whole series to readers who search for adventure, action, romance (like three couples worth), dystopian settings, and of course that hint of fairytale retelling!

Excerpt

There he was.

Carswell Thorne.

Though they were separated by two screens and vast amounts of empty space, she could feel the link being forged between them in that look. A bond that couldn't be broken. Their eyes met for the first time, and by the look of pure amazement on his face, she knew he felt it too.

Heat crept up into her cheeks. Her hands began to shake.

"Aces," Carswell Thorne murmured. Dropping his feet to the ground, he leaned forward to inspect her closer. "Is that all hair?"

The bond snapped, the fantasy of one perfect true-love moment disintegrating around her.

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Review for Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2)
By Marissa Meyer
Published February 5th 2013 by Feiwel and Friends
Borrowed from Local Library
452 pages

"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." ~ Goodreads

Review

Equipped with an intricate plot and interesting characters, Scarlet is sure to hold your attention!

Chapters alternate between Cinder, Scarlet, Kai, and even Queen Levana. Scarlet is fierce and determined, qualities I admire in a heroine. Her travelling companion Wolf was a puzzle and as his personality and background pieces came together it gave me quite a shock! Cinder was as sassy as usual and her travelling companion provided almost comic relief. When all these characters met and their adventures collided it was pure awesomeness.  

Meyer strikes a wonderful balance between originality and her chosen fairytale. She ties select characterstics from the tale, but puts her own twist on them. The creativeness shines through. A quality made even more evident as the series continues. The beginning and even middle felt a bit slow to me, however, the last quarter was very intense! The world that Meyer has created is like a web and we've only traveled through half of it. 

I recommend Scarlet to readers who enjoy action, suspense, and creative plots. I'm anxious to see what happens next!

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Excerpt

"What's your name, anyway?"

That awkward shrug again. "They call me Wolf at the fights." 

"Wolf? How... predatory."

He nodded, entirely serious.

Scarlet swallowed a grin. "You might want to leave the street fighter bit off your resume."

He scratched at his elbow, where the strange tattoo could barely be seen in the dark, and she thought she'd maybe embarrassed him. Perhaps Wolf was a beloved nickname.

"Well, my name is Scarlet. Yes, like the hair, what a clever observation."

His expression softened. "What hair." 

Scarlet settled her arm on the top of the door, resting her chin. "Good one. " 

For a moment he seemed almost pleased with himself and Scarlet found herself warming to this stranger, this anomaly. This soft-spoken street fighter.

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