Winter

A fitting end to the Lunar Chronicles, all things considered.

BY way of criticism, this book is a lot longer and more complex than any of the others. More than once I felt the scope and number of threads weighing down the narrative. The unabashedly happy ending, while earned, is more than a little improbable and dare I say contrived. I feel like the depictions of future tech, geopolitics, and bloody combat are thin at best, requiring a fair suspension of disbelief (see below for my sidebar rant on guns)

Perhaps I wanted this series to be hard sci-fi for adults when realistically it's a space opera fairy tale for teens.

But it is an unabashed fairy tale after all, and the DNA of that genre flows well in the veins of this book. More-so than any of the others in my opinion. Where the expected callbacks to the source stories have at times been heavy-handed and clumsy (Particularly in Cinder), in this they seemed to “fit” better and didn't feel as obvious. Very minor spoiler, the literal poisoned apple was probably my favorite. It made perfect sense for Levana and was pulled off perfectly. The world-building finally gets a chance to shine; I liked the depiction of Luna as a alien society in so many ways (including the details required to make it work with the limited resources of the moon).

And while I complain about it above, the happy ending really is welcome. This series grew on me over time, and I'm glad the characters made it out okay. I would recommend this to anyone who likes YA sci-fantasy and isn't afraid of suspending disbelief a little.

——————

Rant spoilered because it's just me blowing off steam and doesn't have much bearing on the review as a whole.

The handling of guns in this series confounds me. It's idiotic. None of the characters use them in ways that make any sense. No one uses them from ranges closer than point-blank. Only once does someone snipe at a thaumaturge from a distant concealed position (you'd think this would be an obvious tactic considering how they and the queen routinely wander, smug and self assured, into wide-open killzones). Multiple times characters call their shots, giving Lunar opponents ample opportunity to counteract the bullet with mind control or a meatshield. The mechanics of the guns are inconsistent too; sometimes they seem to work like modern (semi)automatic firearms, other times they're more like 18th-century flintlocks. It's almost never clear whether a character is using a rifle, carbine, or pistol, even when that kind of detail should have a bearing on how they move and approach a situation.As a moderate gun nut, this kind of thing makes me twitch. Just once, I would have liked to see someone handle a firearm with anything approaching military efficiency. Considering how many characters explictly have that kind of training, it's mind-boggling that none of them make use of it. Honestly this series would have been better off without firearms entirely, because as-is they're barely more effective than slingshots, throwing knives, or squirtguns.

Two stars for two reasons.

One: The length. It was too long and I felt that it dragged in places. I was bored for a majority of it.

Two: Winter didn't do anything significant and she really didn't have to be in it. I don't know why she was in it, but oh well.

Also, I started reading a physical copy of this book but I got so bored that I turned to the audiobook which didn't really help, but it helped that I could listen to it on double-speed. The audiobook was...meh.

I guess that's three reasons.

2 stars

I'm finally free of this series. I cannot listen to more cheesy YA romance jeez. Ok overall this series was alright for YA stuff. It felt cohesive and it juggled perspectives well but it dragged soooo much and felt very contrived + predictable

spoiler alert
The first half of this book felt like an eternity and it wasn't very interesting? It was a lot of characters learning about something happening and and then getting another character's perspective on the same thing happening. It felt super grindy and idk the angst was just a little bit too much. I also do like the characters but they felt very trope-y or they were summarizable by just a few words so their characters felt a lot less interesting. I didn't really comment on it in the past books since I was hoping for a better conflict in this one but it never really makes sense why Levana wants to be Empress instead of just using her powers or her forces to get her way. It felt like the whole marriage bit was oddly contrived as though marriage was the only way for her to get what she wanted. The schemes and plots from Cinder and friends were also really straightforward and didn't need that much setup when it ended up being a “just confront them” plan. I wouldn't say I'm dissatisfied since it met my expectations but it was just a 24 hr audiobook and it felt like I was listening to the same thing forever.

Oh I'm so happy I finally read this book! It's an excellent ending to this series.


The book is 850 pages but it's so action packed and exciting that it's so quick and easy to read, there's just one action scene after another and you can't stop reading. I loved the way the plot got tied up in this book, we've been waiting for the rebellion and Levana's downfall for AGES and to finally get there was so satisfying!


I loved the continued development of all of the characters - Cress coming out of her shell more, Thorne manning up and telling her how he feels eventually, Cinder leading the rebellion and Kai being just perfect. 🖤 Winter and Jacin are just the sweetest the whole time, I heart them a lot, and who doesn't love Scarlet and Wolf? Just love them all!!

Okay enough gushing about the characters. I just really enjoyed this entire series as a whole and I already know I will be re-reading it again. It's a solid fantasy series with a twist on retold fairy tales. Definitely one I recommend to everyone.

Uhhh this book is 800 pages long and I read it all in like 24 hours. (Granted: that 24 hours was a work holiday.) I loved it.

I'm SO IMPRESSED by how well Marissa Meyer can reinvent these fairy tales and have these twists that when they happen, you're like, oh right, right, like in the fairy tale, but they still feel fresh and surprising?!? I loved the resolution for all these characters. I loved how this was basically every hurt/comfort trope ever, in space. I loveddddddd ittttttt

Combining classic fairy tales with futuristic space opera, YA and political drama is a tall order but I think Meyer did it and did it well. This book brings the whole tale to its grand conclusion in a farily satisfying way. There's adventure, battles, confrontation, politics, romance and more crammed into the 800+ pages and I vacillated between flying through the book and holding off, not wanting it to end.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Rounded up because I loved the series, the characters are fantastic, and the couples are cute. But when you're reading through 800 pages and things are starting to get repetitive, you will notice. There are so many glamour and mind control tricks that I got tired of it after a while. In fact, the entire finale is mostly a battle of mind control with Cinder's friends coming one by one—basically giving Levana plenty of chances to screw them up.

I don't know. I didn't like it. It felt like they have to face all these things for the sake of having obstacles before the happy ending. It was good, but not as epic as I was expecting.

The other issue I had lies with Winter. Jacin and Winter are side characters in their own book. She sounded awesome in Cress and I really wanted to love her as much as I love Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress... but there are far too many things about her that bothered me. Winter suffers from severe hallucinations because she refuses to use her Lunar gift, but when her mind is stable, she's a bit coquettish. I liked that.

What I didn't like was how naïve she is. She trusts others easily for no apparent reason (other than because she's nice and kind), but she also puts the people around her into a lot of trouble. They have to help her whenever she's hallucinating, and yet she often wanders off without telling anyone. Like in the poisoned apple scene. It's exactly like the original scene in Snow White. IT WAS SO FORCED, and it makes Winter seem really dumb.

Don't get me wrong though, I loved the book. It's just not as great as I wanted it to be. Then again, maybe I'm just being nitpicky because The Lunar Chronicles is an amazing series and I think it deserves better.

Okay, full disclosure, I fully enjoyed this series. It's fun and you really want to root for the characters, especially in their love lives.

That being said... this is definitely the weakest of the series. You can tell Meyer was in a hurry writing this. (Even with it already being pushed back one release (when Fairest was supposed to come out).) And, like my problems with most books that take a focus around action and military plans, it suffered.

I guess my biggest issue is that Levana should have won and only through her (and her henchmen's) stupidity or through just dumb luck did Cinder and her friends win. They should've died or have gotten caught so many times over. And it got to the point where it was clear none of them were going to die because some of them should have died.

((spoilers))

For example, at one point Levana had Cinder in her prison for over 24 hours. Kill her! She's right there! And if you need to film it, film it! Everything you wanted to accomplish, you could have right there.

Or kill Wolf! String up his pelt as a warning. Why would you want something so feral near you? He almost KILLED you!

And all of Cinder's/friends' plans were ridiculous and stupid and anyone with any real military training could have defeated them in minutes.

Because of this, a lot of the pacing and tension was removed since I wasn't worried about anyone dying. I wasn't worried about whether anyone would end up together. So through the action sequences I more or less skimmed through, making sure I know how Cinder won, reading any dialogue, but other than that I read the happy endings and “awww'd” because I did like the relationships.

(Although, I would definitely not send Winter down to Earth without at least some diplomatic training. Or send her with a real diplomat at first. There's more to diplomacy than just smiling.)

Overall, if you enjoyed the series, you'll want the end. And you'll enjoy it to some degree (I did). It's just very clear that this is the weakest link in the series.

I had not realized this was the end of the series! I stayed up until 3 am reading this, it was SO very addicting. And when I was done, I couldn't even fall asleep because I kind of felt a little empty. Which is funny, since I didn't really care for [b:Cinder 11235712 Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles, #1) Marissa Meyer https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1470056948s/11235712.jpg 15545385], I thought it was alright, but The Lunar Chronicles have really ramped up since then and I have grown quite attached to the characters.Without giving away too much, this book takes place a few weeks after [b:Cress 13206828 Cress (The Lunar Chronicles, #3) Marissa Meyer https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1470057005s/13206828.jpg 18390772], and Kai appears to have come to terms with Cinder being a Lunar and cyborg. Wolf is still moping over Scarlett being missing, and Thorn is still flirting with everyone, while Cress is pining for him. I loved when his eyesight returned, and he and Cress and those staring moments. They were my favorite romance in the series, followed by Jacin and Winter. This book is packed with action, with schemes and plots, with romances(!!), and best of all, it left us with a the most perfect line for the end of this book. I think I will be picking up [b:Stars Above 25689074 Stars Above (The Lunar Chronicles, #4.5) Marissa Meyer https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1472473049s/25689074.jpg 45517469] for my 24 in 48 challenge next week. I am drooling at the thought of having more Cress or Jacin in my life! Its not my fault.