Winter by Marissa Meyer

Winter 
by Marissa Meyer

Read: May 23-24, 2016
Published: November 10, 2015
Genre: Science Fiction, Fairy Tale

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. (Amazon)

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Why did you read this book?
*Finishing the series*

What did you like about this book?
This book really built up the action and suspense. The others had their fair share of action, but they also had a lot of backstory to contend with. However, this fourth and final installment was able to go forward full force with the story because almost all of the main characters have been established. Speaking of established characters, I was much more fond of Kai this time around. He definitely grew as a character. I'm having a hard time thinking of things that I liked that I haven't already written in reviews for the first three books in the series. Regardless of my short 'like' paragraph, this book was a thrilling conclusion to the series and I liked so many things that I can't even write about it.

What didn't you like about this book?
My only complaint was Jacin and Winter. I just didn't really like them and I found most of their scenes to be boring, or at least less captivating than the others. I think I'll attribute my dislike of Winter to her only being in this book. I mean, it took me more than one book to really like Cinder and Kai. I don't really have an excuse for Jacin. I just don't like him.

A note on the series:
There will be spoilers if you read this. So if you haven't read them yet, I suggest not reading this paragraph. This is your last chance to stop reading before I jump into the spoilers. Okay...3...2...1...go!
There are so many things I loved about this series. I loved that they just got better and better with each book. I loved the fleshed out characters that were unique in their own right. I loved how funny and entertaining and intense and action-packed and swoon-worthy it was. Seriously, this series really packed in a lot of feelings. However, my absolute favorite thing? "And they all lived happily ever after to the end of their days," (Winter by Marissa Meyer). This book had a freaking happy ending and all of the characters I've grown to love got to live. I went through the series thinking "Oh crap, who's going to die? Someone's got to die!" But they don't. They really don't. Young adult fiction has just got us trained to think that in order to have an emotional book, we've got to lose a beloved character. Most of the more successful YA books end and leave you with an empty feeling in your gut because it's over, but the characters aren't resolved yet. They aren't happy, not really, but their conflict is over. (I'm thinking of Mockingjay and Allegiant in particular). Whew. I'm sorry, that turned into a bit of a rant. Anyway, that's my favorite part about this series. They're based on fairy tales and there's actually a fairy tale ending where the guy gets the girl, the good guys win, the bad guy loses, and everyone (except Queen Levana) lives happily ever after. I just really appreciated that and I thank you, Marissa Meyer, for the gift of a truly happy ending when anything rarely ends that way. I needed it.

Bottom-Line:
I strongly recommend this series. I know I was thrown of by the cyborgs and living on the moon (which is strange, because I normally love science fiction). I promise, though, this series is worth it. Keep in mind, Cinder can be kind of slow, but the rest are amazing. I will definitely be buying these books soon. I returned them to the library today and I already miss having them in my possession.



"...broken isn't the same as unfixable." -Winter by Marissa Meyer