Last Tuesday, I finally finished Cress!! And I did a review for it. I was so proud of myself – this is something that I’ve been trying to do for literally years. And I finally did it!
On Wednesday, I had intended to do both a Shelf Control and a WWW Wednesday, but because of life, I was only able to do the latter.
WWW Wednesday is a meme that used to be hosted at A Daily Rhythm, but has been taken over by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. If you wanna know what the 3 Ws are and what I’ve been reading lately, you can read my post here.
Saturday 2/11: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children Review
Saturday I did another retrospective book review. This one was on a book that I really enjoyed when I first read it. It was Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.
On Sunday (yesterday), I actually finished The Lunar Chronicles. I finished up Winter and then proceeded to write up and post a review for it. A fantastic ending to a great series.
If you’re interested in my opinion of the finale to The Lunar Chronicles, you can read it here.
Goals for This Week: 2/13 – 2/19
Unfortunately, last week I didn’t post as much as I wanted. I had intended to do a Shelf Control (as I mentioned briefly above), but I had wanted to post at least one other time. But, you know, sometimes life just happens.
So this week, my goals are:
Shelf Control
WWW Wednesday
First Lines Friday
a few book reviews
… maaayybe a Majestic Monday
Annnd that’s all for this Weekly Wrap-Up! As I said, I did a lot, and read some books. Had a lot of fun doing it too.
Thanks so much for reading, and have an excellent day/night!
Cinderella vs. The Evil Queen – The Final Showdown | Winter by Marissa Meyer [Book Review]
★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 stars
The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series
Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar 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.
Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer’s national bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.
What an incredible end to an incredible series. It wasn’t my favorite book in The Lunar Chronicles, but I still really enjoyed it.
Winter is a 2015 novel by Marissa Meyer, published by Feiwel & Friends. It’s 827 pages in length, and is the conclusion to The Lunar Chronicles. And the genres, as per usual with this series, are YA fantasy and science fiction.
Stuff I Liked
I really loved how all the characters finally came together, and were reunited with one another. The Rampion crew has been separated into different duos and trio since Scarlet, and I was honestly getting a little tired of it.
Another thing I really enjoyed about the book was, as usual with TLC, the characters themselves. Thorne and Iko are always joys to follow, even when not in their POVs, and I really liked the “new” characters as well.
“I fear tomorrow will be even more difficult for you, Sir Clay. Do try to think of me when you can.”
“Try, Princess?” He smirked, meeting her gaze again. “I can’t seem to think of much else.”
I really liked Winter. She’s my favorite protagonist after Scarlet, and I wish that she would’ve had more screentime. She was an extremely interesting person, and her relationship with Jacin was adorable. (I would’ve also liked to see a little more of that, but it’s not something that really irritated me either.) I understand that this was the grand finale and that it was time to wrap the story up – not to mention the book was 800+ freaking pages already – so I completely get why there wasn’t more time for some character moments with these two.
Speaking of Scarlet, it was also really awesome to see her kicking ass and taking names again. She didn’t really do much in Cress, which kind of gave me a little whiplash after how important she was in her debut novel. It mostly felt like Meyer was setting the stage with her for Winter.
But the stage had been set, and she was back in an active role here, which I loved. Her reunion with Wolf was also everything I had hoped for.
I also loved seeing Cinder’s character arc finally complete itself. It was amazing to watch her grow and change as a character, and it made me glad that I finally finished this series.
“I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t fight like this, or start a revolution, or be a queen. I can’t do anything like this. I’m broken. I’m literally broken.”
Iko settled a hand on Cinder’s shoulder. “Yeah, but broken isn’t the same as unfixable.”
And before I forget and move on to the cons, I really should mention the plot. And the writing in general.
The plot was fast-paced and engaging as all of the other books were (though there were a few things I didn’t care for – we’ll get to that). And there were some nods to Snow White this time because… Winter was essentially sci-fi Snow White. I also really liked the theme that the book focused on: how beauty is what is inside and has nothing to do with one’s appearance.
Meyer’s writing was wonderful as always. I love her lush, but not overly detailed, descriptions. I adore her dialogue between her characters – it just reads as so natural. Just. She’s a fantastic author.
And Now, For the Stuff I Didn’t Like
As I mentioned above, I would’ve liked Winter to have more screentime. But that isn’t what I wanted to complain about. The thing that I wanted to complain about was how the Snow White retelling was pretty much glossed over here.
And I get it, Meyer had a whole plot to resolve. But after three books that heavily referenced and borrowed from the fairytales they were based on, it felt like there was just so much less of that in Winter.
I also didn’t like all of the fridging going on here. I won’t mention any names or scenes, so as not to spoil anything, but there was fridging here and I didn’t appreciate how it was handled.
And, last but not least, I think that the main cast has gotten a little bit too bloated. Don’t get me wrong – I love the characters that Marissa Meyer has created, but there were just a few too many.
But yeah, I think that’s it for my criticisms. There wasn’t really much that I didn’t like about it.
Final Thoughts
And they all lived happily to the end of their days.
I really enjoyed my time with Winter, despite some of the stuff that bugged me, and I really liked The Lunar Chronicles as a whole. The beginning was good, the middle was even better, and the end of the series was satisfying.
I recommend this to fans of other books of Meyer’s, fairytale retellings (and retellings in general), fantasy, sci-fi, and YA. It has a lot to offer a lot of different people, and is very well written.
I’ve really made a habit of this, haven’t I? It’s a good thing, I hope. WWW Wednesday post number four, here we go!
WWW Wednesday is a meme that used to be hosted at A Daily Rhythm, but has been taken over by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Now, without further ado, let’s get into the 3 Ws!
Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar 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.
Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer’s national bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.
Current Feels: 🫤 (so-so, apathetic, burned-out) (Taking a break – I will finish this though!)
Witness the fate of beloved heroes – and enemies.
THE BALANCE OF POWER HAS FINALLY TIPPED… The precarious equilibrium among four Londons has reached its breaking point. Once brimming with the red vivacity of magic, darkness casts a shadow over the Maresh Empire, leaving a space for another London to rise.
WHO WILL CRUMBLE? Kell – once assumed to be the last surviving Antari – begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. And in the wake of tragedy, can Arnes survive?
WHO WILL RISE? Lila Bard, once a commonplace – but never common – thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry. Meanwhile, the disgraced Captain Alucard Emery of the Night Spire collects his crew, attempting a race against time to acquire the impossible.
WHO WILL TAKE CONTROL? And an ancient enemy returns to claim a crown while a fallen hero tries to save a world in decay.
In this third book in Marissa Meyer’s bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, 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 prevent her army from invading Earth.
Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped 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 being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she’d ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.
Now that she’s discovered her own magic, Evangeline believes she can use it to restore the chance at happily ever after that Jacks stole away.
But when a new terrifying curse is revealed, Evangeline finds herself entering into a tenuous partnership with the Prince of Hearts again. Only this time, the rules have changed. Jacks isn’t the only force Evangeline needs to be wary of. In fact, he might be the only one she can trust, despite her desire to despise him.
Instead of a love spell wreaking havoc on Evangeline’s life, a murderous spell has been cast. To break it, Evangeline and Jacks will have to do battle with old friends, new foes, and a magic that plays with heads and hearts. Evangeline has always trusted her heart, but this time she’s not sure she can…
What books have you been reading recently? How’ve you been liking your reads? Any correlation between our lists?
Thank you for reading, and have a great day/night!
Rapunzel and the Satellite | Cress by Marissa Meyer [Book Review]
★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 stars
The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series
In this third book in Marissa Meyer’s bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, 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 prevent her army from invading Earth.
Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped 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 being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she’d ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.
NOTE: I’ve reviewed the first two books in The Lunar Chronicles. You can read them both here:
Now that’s a good summary. Does what it’s supposed to. Doesn’t falsely describe the book in any way. It’s a very accurate depiction of what lies in store in the novel. (Unlike some books. Ugh.)
Cress is a 2014 novel written by Marissa Meyer, and is the third book in The Lunar Chronicles. (It’s also published by Feiwel & Friends, and is 552 pages.) This time, it formally introduces sci-fi Rapunzel as a major character, but also continues with the overarching story introduced in Cinder.
The Characters are Once Again the Stars of the Show
“Captain?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think it was destiny that brought us together?”
He squinted and, after a thoughtful moment, shook his head. “No. I’m pretty sure it was Cinder.”
Meyer has a knack for writing likable and interesting characters, and that continues with this book. Funnily enough, all of the major characters in the novel had already been introduced to us in Cinder and Scarlet. Even this novel’s titular protagonist – Cress.
Cress is a character that I was initially not very fond of. She was mildly interesting, but I just didn’t care for her personality at first. She was just too… innocent, I guess. And innocent-type characters tend to hit or miss for me. But she grows and evolves a lot throughout the book, and I really ended up liking the Cress in the last third of the book.
Thorne was introduced in Scarlet, and was also a key character there. We didn’t really know that much about him until this book though, and his character and personality really shine through even more here. He also has a decent amount of character development, which was nice to see.
“Come on, Iko.”
Iko was still hiding, hugging herself self-consciously. “Is he looking?”
Kai raised an eyebrow.
“He’s not looking,” said Cinder.
A hesitation. “Are you sure?”
Cinder gestured exasperatedly at Kai. “You’re not looking.”
He cast his eyes to the ceiling. “Oh, for all the stars.” Crossing his arms, he turned his back on them.
Cinder and Kai were doing their things, which were very similar things, but were doing them thousands of miles apart from one another. (Until they weren’t.) They both had things about themselves and each other that they had to grapple with, but I was pleased with the results.
Iko was a joy to read about as always, but that goes without saying.
Despite being our hot couple from the last book, Wolf and Scarlet really didn’t do much in Cress. Especially Scarlet. She has very few POVs compared to everyone else here, and she doesn’t really do a lot, or appear that often, after the first third of the book.
The Plot was Fun (…Once It Got Going)
“If you honestly believe that,” said Thorne, stowing the gun again, “then you really don’t recognize true value when you see it.”
This book had a much slower start compared to its predecessors. And that made it more difficult to get into. It wasn’t until over a quarter of the way through that things really started happening.
As with the first two, there’s a lot of references to story beats from the original fairytale: Cress escaping from her “tower,” Thorne going blind, Thorne’s name being a reference to how the prince is actually blinded in Rapunzel, wandering through a desert. There’s a lot. And I knew a bunch of it going in, so I was very excited to see it all play out.
I really like how we’re kind of going around the globe in this series. It makes the setting and Meyer’s world building even better to behold. We haven’t seen hardly anything of Luna (Earth’s terraformed moon) yet, but I’m looking forward to seeing more of it in Winter.
Final Thoughts
It always came back to love. More than freedom, more than acceptance—love. True love, like they sang about in the second era. The kind that filled up a person’s soul. The kind that lent itself to dramatic gestures and sacrifices. The kind that was irresistible and all-encompassing.
Cress was something I started reading quite a while ago, after reading it’s two prequels, and even though I’ve had a bit of a tumultuous reading experience with it, I’ve always been determined to finish it. And I’m very happy that I did. It was a fantastic read overall, and I highly recommend fans of the series to continue on with book three.
The Lunar Chronicles is such a fun and interesting series as a whole, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it ends when I read Winter. And I’ll also maybe read Fairest and Stars Above eventually too sometime. I don’t know yet, though.
Anyway, thanks so much for reading, and have an amazing day/night!
No Shelf Control from me this week, unfortunately, but I’m beginning to run out of books on my bookshelf/Kindle that have been languishing. (Which is probably a good thing.) (No it isn’t.) Anyway, I’m still up for WWW Wednesday, do let’s get started! I’ve really enjoyed it since I started participating in it a couple weeks ago.
WWW Wednesday is a meme that used to be hosted at A Daily Rhythm, but has been taken over by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Now, without further ado, let’s get into the 3 Ws!
In this third book in Marissa Meyer’s bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, 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 prevent her army from invading Earth.
Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped 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 being forced to work for Queen Levana, and she’s just received orders to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.
When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is splintered. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price than she’d ever expected. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai, especially the cyborg mechanic. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.
When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruritania.
What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.
Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.
Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar 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.
Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters? Fans will not want to miss this thrilling conclusion to Marissa Meyer’s national bestselling Lunar Chronicles series.
What are your 3 Ws for this week? How’ve you been enjoying them lately? Have you read any of the books above? What did you think of them, if you have?
Thanks for reading! Tune in next post for more bookish things! (This time, specifically a review of What Moves the Dead.)
Good [insert time of day of your choice here]! It’s the start of a new week, so it’s time to wrap up the past one. It’s time for a Weekly Wrap-Up.
This past week I posted a lot more, even despite the medical stuff I had going on, so I’m super satisfied with what I was able to do. I did so many posts, participated in some features/memes, and even double posted on a few days.
So, without further ado, let’s get into it.
Monday 1/23: Majestic Monday #8
This past Monday, I did one post – Majestic Monday. Majestic Monday is when I admire three pretty book covers that I’ve come across in the interim. Because pretty covers deserve recognition! If you missed the post, you can check it out here, to look at the books that I highlighted.
On Tuesday, I finally managed to get my review out for Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. It was a truly fantastic novel that I definitely recommend. Fantasy, winter vibes, and fairies done right. What more could you ask for?
Wednesday 1/25: Shelf Control #9, WWW Wednesday #2
This was a double post day. The second one during the week, in fact! (The first was Monday, cuz I posted my last Weekly Wrap-Up for the week before then, too.)
Wednesday I posted my usual contributions to participating on the two Wednesday features I take part in. Shelf Control is a feature hosted by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies, and WWW Wednesday is a feature hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.
Thursday, I did another book review, but this was a retrospective one. A retrospective book review is when I skim through a book I read in the recent years before I had a blog, and determine whether I like it as much as I did when I originally read it.
This time I did Scarlet, the second book in The Lunar Chronicles, written by Marissa Meyer. If you’re interested and you missed it, you can read the review here.
Friday 1/27: First Lines Friday #2
First Lines Friday is another meme that I’ve started taking part in very recently. It’s a fun little thing (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it on One Book More.
I posted my second contribution this past Friday. You can read it here if you missed it and are interested in checking out my post
Yesterday, I posted yet another book review, this one on another book by an author I’d read earlier in January. That’s right – it was Deeplight by Frances Hardinge.
Deeplight is an unsettling, dark fantasy with both Frankenstein and Subnautica elements to it. Go read it if you like darker stuff, it’s pretty good. Check out my full review here, if you missed it.
Goals for the Week of 1/29 – 2/5
This week I did a lot of what I wanted. I was able to do all of my usual weekly posts and several book reviews. I also started looking into some stuff to make my blog even better. Due to some stuff going on, though, I wasn’t able to start a new post series that I was interested in doing.
So this week, my goals are:
Majestic Monday
Shelf Control
WWW Wednesday
First Lines Friday
a few book reviews
the new thing that I wanted to do last week that I wasn’t able to
Annnd that’s all for this Weekly Wrap-Up! As I said, did a lot, double posted, read a lot of books. Had a lot of fun doing it too.
Thanks so much for reading, and have an excellent day/night! Join me next post for more bookish things!
Good [insert your time of day here]! It’s been a few days since the last one, and because of time constraints due to some medical stuff on the horizon, I haven’t had time to finish my current -current read, so I’ve decided to do another retrospective book review. This one’s gonna be on Scarlet (you’ll never guess what I’m gearing up for…).
As I’ve mentioned before, a retrospective book review is when I review a past read of mine, after skimming through it again. Today, I’m gonna talk about Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. (I recently did a review on Cinder, which you can check out here.)
She did not know that the wolf was a wicked sort of animal, and she was not afraid of him.
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles (Book #2)
Length: 454 pages
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, YA, Fiction
Release Date: February 5, 2013
Book Description:
The #1 New York Times Bestselling Series
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.
My Review
Then: ★★★★✯ • 4.5 / 5 stars
Now: ★★★★★ • 5 / 5 stars
“I lied to you about a lot of things….but I meant every apology.”
Out of all I’ve read in The Lunar Chronicles so far, Scarlet has to be my absolute favorite in the series. To me, it was like Cinder but better, which is a bit of a feat in itself, cuz I loved Cinder.
But yeah, there’s so much that I adore about this book. And because of that – and to save my sanity – I’m gonna divide up this review with some lovely headings.
The Characters
A relieved grin filled up Thorne’s face. “We’re having another moment, aren’t we?”
“If by a moment, you mean me not wanting to strangle you for the first time since we met, then I guess we are.”
The characters are definitely my favorite thing about this book. Scarlet is, at least to me personally, a much better protagonist (or co-protagonist) than Cinder is. She’s a couple years older than Cinder and she’s also got a little more life experience, and you can tell.
Carswell Thorne is also a very entertaining member of the supporting cast. He was introduced near the end of the first book, but you really get a feel for him and his personality in this novel. He’s the kind of character that I like to call a “stupid genius” – a character that appears stupid most of the time and frequently acts like an idiot, but also has some smarts hidden inside. (This character type is also sometimes naturally talented at a certain skill, as is the case here.)
Wolf is one of my favorite new characters introduced in Scarlet. He’s very mysterious initially (though I think most readers will get what’s up – Scarlet certainly did), but he opens up as the story progresses. His and Scarlet’s relationship is one of the defining pillars of the novel, and it’s also one of my favorite things about it.
The Story
This is another thing about Scarlet that I preferred over its predecessor. But it’s not that the plot of this book is better than Cinder’s.
Nope. I just like Little Red Riding Hood more than Cinderella is all.
But yeah, the futuristic, science-fantasy, retelling is an amazing spin on a classic fairytale.
The Setting
I’m going to sound like a broken record soon, but this is yet another thing I preferred over the first book. Because of Cinder’s state as a fugitive (spoiler), the book has finally moved out of future sci-fi China and expanded the setting.
Also, Scarlet lives in France, and spends a lot of time in a more rural area compared to the city slicking Cinder of the first novel. And I really liked that. It made the world feel both large and lived in, and it also further accentuated the differences between Scarlet and Cinder.
The Romance
“We met less than a week ago and in that time I’ve done nothing but lie and cheat and betray you. I know. But if you give me a chance…all I want is to protect you. To be near you. For as long as I’m able.”
Now, if you’ve read some of my other posts, you’d know that I’m pretty anti-insta-love. And that’s because most insta-love stories are written like shit.
But this one isn’t. This is (a very rare case of) insta-love being done properly.
Wolf and Scarlet have an awesome dynamic. Despite Wolf being both physically bigger and stronger than her, their relationship never feels unbalanced in any way. And despite how he initially appears, Wolf really isn’t a bad boy. He’s kind and protective, and he just wants to love and support his girl.
And Scarlet cares for him in a very similar way. They just work together so well: they’re kind of a perfect team.
(The Very Few) Things That I Didn’t Like
There’s really only like one or two things that I didn’t care for, honestly. First: the POVs are numerous. Not as many as I’ve seen in other books (looking at you ASOIAF), but still climbing. And yeah, I get that it’s necessary for the story progression, but I would’ve liked more focus on Scarlet. The book really makes it feel like she’s less of a protagonist, and more of a girl who’s just gonna join and support Cinder eventually.
The other thing I didn’t care for: the insta-love. I know, I know, I just said that I actually enjoyed it for once here and just sang Wolf and Scarlet’s relationship praises. But, I dunno… I guess I just have a natural aversion to the trope, even if it’s done fantastically. I just prefer a good slow-burn is all.
Final Thoughts
Unfortunately, I really don’t have much more to say except go read this book/series right now! It’s truly an amazing set of books (so far), and I’ve pretty much only heard good things about the ones I haven’t read yet, too.
Also, Scarlet’s tenth anniversary is coming up later next week, so if you’ve already read it, why not reread it to celebrate? And if you haven’t, well I say that a tenth anniversary is as good a reason as any to read it!
As always, thank you for reading, and have an excellent day/night! Join me next time for more bookish things!
And here we are! Another week, another Weekly Wrap-Up!
This week, I tried participating in a couple of new memes/features. It was tons of fun! I’ll definitely keep up with them. It’s also been a week filled with The Lunar Chronicles posts, courtesy of one of the books I’m currently reading, and me attempting to be “very subtle” with buildup, haha.
But yeah, it was a pretty great week, even if I would’ve liked to get at least one more post, er, posted. But I tried some new stuff too, so that has softened the blow a bit. (Though that was entirely my own fault. I spent a little bit (read: I actually mean a lot) more of my free time than I should’ve, reading fanfiction. …No regrets though, honestly. (Good) Fanfiction is fantastic.)
So now, without further ado, I’m gonna break down the past week on The Blog That Nobody Knows!
Tuesday 1/17: Majestic MondayTuesday #7
It’d been a couple of weeks, and since I’ve kindled a desire to be more proactive and consistent, I decided to do another Majestic Monday.
Majestic Monday (or Tuesday in this case, cuz I posted late *cough*) is when I admire three pretty book covers that I’ve come across in the interim. Because pretty covers deserve recognition! If you missed the post, you can check it out here.
Wednesday 1/18: WWW Wednesday #1
On Wednesday, I decided to start participating in another feature. It’s hosted by the blog, Taking on a World of Words, and is a thing that happens every Wednesday.
If you missed the post and wanna know what the 3 Ws are, you can read it here! (And you can also check out the original potter’s post. Cuz I link everything, as you shall see.)
Thursday 1/19: Cinder Review
On Thursday, I reviewed Cinder, the first novel in The Lunar Chronicles series, by Marissa Meyer. It’s an utterly fantastic book, and part of an even more fantastic series. If you like fairytales (and fairytale retellings) then this is the book for you!
It’s also an awesome science fantasy, so if you’re into that as well, definitely check it out! If you missed the review, you can read it here!
Friday 1/20: First Line Fridays #1
First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers, (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words. It’s where you post the first line of a book, and then have your readers try to guess what book it is, before revealing what book it is.
It was the other of the new things that I wanted to try out this week, and I also loved it. So yes, I will be doing it again, haha. If you missed my (very first) post, you can check it out here.
Goals for 1/23 – 1/29
Annnd that’s all for this week. Almost.
For about two or three weeks when I first started this post, I posted about my blogging goals for the next week. And then I stopped doing it because I got stressed or something, I don’t know.
But, I’ve decided to start doing it again! So yay, I can say I’m gonna do things, and then you guys can judge me and hold me accountable. Awesome. So looking forward to that. (Just kidding, it’s totally gonna be something to keep me motivated!)
So this week, my goals are:
(spoiler alert) post my Spinning Silver review
post another Majestic Monday
finish at least one book and post a review on it
do another Shelf Control, as well as particular in WWW Wednesday again
start this new series/feature I’ve been thinking about (a lot) on my blog
First Line Fridays again
at least one retrospective book review
…maybe something else, idk?
So yeah, that’s quite a few goals this week. But I actually think that it looks like more than it actually is – at least it feels like that to me (for whatever reason). Either way, I’m very excited about what’s to come.
As always, thank you all so very much for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night! Tune in next time for more bookish things.
Even in the Future the Story Begins with Once Upon a Time.
Title & Author:Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles (Book #1)
Length: 448 pages
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, YA, Fiction
Release Date: January 3, 2012
Description:
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.
My Review
Then: ★★★★✯ • 4.5 / 5 stars
Now: ★★★★☆ • 4 / 5 stars
She was a cyborg, and she would never go to a ball.
I love this book so much. I first read it like… around five-ish years ago, I guess? Cinder was originally a 4.5 star rating, but then I read its sequel, Scarlet, which I liked even more, so I bumped it down half a star after I read that one. But it was 4.5 / 5 for a time.
(Glancing over it again, I still think it’s a 4 star book today, by the way. But it did change at one point, so that’s why the star ratings are different.)
Anyway, the book’s main character is Linh Cinder, a futuristic version of Cinderella, but with an actual personality and also happens to be a cyborg. I liked how smart and good with mechanical stuff, which was nice to see in a female character, and I really like how it tied her being a cyborg.
Prince Kai is TLC’s version of Prince Charming (he doesn’t have a name in the original version, to my knowledge). And he also has a personality. This is also a much less insta-lovey version of the original fairytale, which was also nice.I really liked how active he was in the plot, and how he had his own POV chapters.
It’s not just a sci-fi retelling of the classic story though. There’s definitely been a few other kinds of alterations here. Like Cinder’s stepsisters Pearl and Peony. Pearl is a pretty standard interpretation – she’s kind of a bitch. But Peony isn’t, and she and Cinder are actually quite close. I adored how sweet their relationship was. Cinder’s stepmother, Adri, is also closer to her original character, but she also has her reasons, even though she’s still a bitch.
My favorite alternation – and character, incidentally – was Iko, Cinder’s android BFF. She’s the definition of “being extra” before being extra was a thing. She’s sassy and funny. And let’s not forget horny. Very horny.
Cinder twisted up her lips. “Do you think it could have a virus?”
“Maybe her programming was overwhelmed by Prince Kai’s uncanny hotness.”
This quote here encapsulates the humor vibe for this book pretty well. (And this series, now that I’m thinking about it.) But there are series parts to the plot as well.
Dr. Erland is another character that I rather like. I liked his dynamic with Cinder, and how she kept sassing him. Erland is also a gray character, at least for most of the book, and you didn’t really know whose side he was on until the very end.
My favorite part of Cinder, though, definitely had to be all of the little bits of foreshadowing littered throughout the book for its sequels. An important character from later in the series has a cameo here, and another character here was introduced, whose name is a clue to their future role. And all kinds of other stuff.
Before I move on to my criticisms, I also wanna mention how good the writing is. Not only is the dialogue absolutely fantastic, but the prose and descriptions are also really great. I love the way that Marissa Meyer writes.
Vanity is a factor, but it is more a question of control. It is easier to trick others into perceiving you as beautiful if you can convince yourself you are beautiful. But mirrors have an uncanny way of telling the truth.
I didn’t really have any gripes with this novel, except for a thing or two. The first is that I wasn’t super into Cinder (the character). I didn’t hate her or anything – not even close! – she just seemed kind of like a generic sort of protagonist.I preferred Scarlet (the character), introduced in book two, as a protagonist.
The other thing is a bit spoilery, so if you don’t want to be spoiled skip this paragraph. *SPOILERS*I didn’t like how Peony was fridged. Though it wasn’t as soon as some fridgings I’veread, I wish she had more time on the pages.*SPOILERS END*
So yeah, I definitely recommend Cinder to anyone and everyone, especially those who love the original fairytale. I love how the whole series flows together, and how it appears like the entire thing was mostly plotted out before all of the books were out. But yeah, read this book.
Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day/night!
So, this year, I was fortunate enough to read a lot of books. Unfortunately, I didn’t like – or, at the very least, couldn’t get into – a few of them enough to finish them. Yes, this is that list. So, here I go.
Note: Though this list is numbered, it isn’t ranked by my enjoyment of the novels. It’s ranked by the order that I attempted to read the books in.
Witchmark (The Kingston Cycle #1) by C.L. Polk: This one is cheating a bit since I technically tried to read it at the very end of last year. I didn’t not like the book – not at all! – I was actually pretty interested in it. The problem was I attempted to read it around the winter holidays last year, and I was incredibly busy – much more so than this year even. I’ll probably give this another try eventually.
Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer: I want to finish The Lunar Chronicles. I really, really want to finish The Lunar Chronicles. But both times that I’ve tried to finish Cress it just doesn’t happen; for some reason I couldn’t bring myself to finish reading this book. I will say that both times I’ve made an attempt, something came up, so I’ll probably try again sometime. I really want to finish this series, after all.
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree: Everyone loves this book. I wanted to love this book. But it was just too slow-paced for me, I guess.
Children of Ragnarok (Runestone Saga #1) by Cinda Williams Chima: I was very excited for this release, because I love a lot of Chima’s books. But I just couldn’t get into this one, and I found the characters to be kind of bland and not as likable as from her other novels. That and the repetitively used and (presumably) Norse-based words almost gave me a headache. The plot also took a bit too long to start getting off the ground. I mean, a hundred plus pages? Come on…
The House Witch by Delemhach: This book seemed so cozy and fun. It seemed like it has a bit more plot, and it also seemed a bit more faster paced than Legends & Lattes (which if already DNF-ed at this point), so I had some hopes for it. But alas, I just didn’t care enough about this book to get into it. It also felt under-edited there was some dialogue and naming conventions that took me out of the story.
