Cress - Marissa Meyer (#3)

**This is the third book in a series so there will be spoilers for the first two books in the series. Have a look at my reviews for Cinder and Scarlet - totally recommend this series!**

Source: Own
Pages: 550
Publisher: Penguin
Series: #3 in The Lunar Chronicles

Synopsis: Cinder, Captain Thorne, Scarlet and Wolf are now fugitives on the run with most of Earth and Lunar hunting them down. Meanwhile, they are plotting to overthrow Levana and replace the Queen of Lunar.
Their best hope is with Cress, a girl that has been imprisoned alone on a satellite to hack and spy Earth for Levana. After attempting to rescue Cress, the group is separated. Cress has her freedom but is also stuck in the middle of the Sahara desert with Thorne. Meanwhile, Cinder must prevent the marriage between Levana and Emperor Kai when he could be killed. Cinder, Scarlet and Cress need to unite to try and save Earth from Levana's power.

Review: As soon as I heard about the release of CRESS, I was eagerly anticipating it, willing it to come sooner, pre-ordering the book and then, waiting for the right time to read it and know I would enjoy it. Cinder and Scarlet are two of the best books I have read and I knew that this book would not let me down in the hugely brilliant Lunar Chronicles.

The thing with Marissa Meyer's books is that they are all quite long, mostly about 500 pages. While this probably fazes some people, I like it - I feel I get a real depth to the story, development of the characters and SO MUCH HAPPENS that it just makes me get sucked more into the novel. I thought this would take me longer to read than most 200-odd paged books. However, it took me about about 5 days to read (which is like a record for me), I rushed through it wanting desperately to know what happened to the crew of the Rampion, to find if the wedding goes ahead, what would happen with Cress, the different romances - it makes it an incredibly engaging and brilliant read. There are so many twists in the narrative with many of the questions and secrets I wanted answers for being answered from the last two books, but soon being replaced with even more questions to be discovered in the last book.

Continuing on the theme of fairy tales, CRESS is based around Rapunzel. I didn't see as many similarities to the well-known fairytale as in Cinder and Scarlet, although that was never a big fairytale for me, but I ended up seeing similarities to Tangled. It was brilliant to see more of the characters of Thorne, Cinder, Iko, Kai, Dr Erland, Scarlet and Wolf from the previous books and it felt very familiar in the setting and plot to me. One of my only complaints would be the character of Cress. I found her a little pathetic at times, it's clear she is not as brave and strong a character as Cinder and Scarlet, with her strength being her intelligence. She was a nice addition to the story but I just disliked her shyness at times latterly.

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time full of romance, action, thrillers, humour, friendships and brilliant writing. CRESS I think is my favourite of the series so far with Cinder a close second. I finished this book while on a train and was sitting there for about half an hour trying to contain my feelings just like 'WHAT JUST HAPPENED THEN?!', the ending was just...amazing. I cannot wait for Winter next year and I'm sad to see the series end with Winter too. This is going to be a long but rewarding wait.

If you've read this entire review and haven't read Cinder, Scarlet or Cress - I would recommend these to be read soon, they are utterly brilliant and I'm so glad I discovered this series.

I give this 5 out of 5

Related Reviews:
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

WINTER IS PUBLISHED IN EARLY 2015

On My Bookshelf (44)

This meme for originally inspired by 'In My Mailbox' created by The Story Siren
Other versions are:
Letterbox Love created by Narratively Speaking
Stacking the Shelves created by Tynga's reviews
Showcase Sunday created by Books, Biscuits and Tea

In the last few weeks it's been incredibly hectic with many, many assignments, going home, my birthday and then more work...a lot has been going on! So here are some of the books I have acquired over the last few weeks (since November which was the last time I did one of these...).

Gifted:

My parents and friends pretty much know that books are a safe bet when buying presents for me. I received A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge and Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed from my parents and friend, Emma. She said that the latter book is so inspirational and so brilliant, she wanted to share it with me.

I asked and got for my birthday Dissolution by C.J.Sansom, Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan and Cress by Marissa Meyer. Dissolution is particularly special as I was recommended repeatedly by an elderly gentleman that always used to come in at the Waterstones bookstore I used to work at. Looking forward to all of these!

Bought:

I bought Every day by David Levithan because well, I think he is a genius and well, I had a discount. I felt like I HAD to buy Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell when I saw all the raving reviews on the blogosphere from some of my favourite bloggers and as I loved Eleanor and Park also by this author. It sounds amazing!

Related Reviews:

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan

The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

What did you get this week? Have you read any of these books?

Mini Reviews: Legend, All These Things I've Done, Scarlet

So while I was away, I went on a bit of a dystopian rampage. Literally. This has to be one of my favourite genres and while some dislike the amount of books on offer in this genre out there, I like the variety you can choose from, getting more and more interesting each time I read them.
While I can't do a full out review for all of these (especially as one of them I read months ago), I am going to do some mini-reviews. Bottom line is though: all of these are great books!

LEGEND - Marie Lu (#1)

Synopsis: The Western states of America are now home to the Republic. Born into an elite American family, June is Republic's prodigy training to one of the Republic's best military officers. Born in the slums, Day is the Republic's most wanted criminal although his motives for his crimes aren't as bad as they seem to the public. There is no reason for these two teenagers to cross path until June's brother, Metias, is murdered and the Republic name Day as the prime suspect. June vows to avenge Metias' death and catch Day once and for all while Day tries to help his family survival the vicious plague. As they both chase each other, they uncover the secrets the country has been hidden and the lengths they will go to make sure the public never find out.

Review: There was always something about this novel that made me hesitate when I saw it in the library or bookshop. I'm not entirely sure what it was but it may have something to do with the proud declaration on the front cover that should I like The Hunger Games, it's a given that I'll love LEGEND (like a lot of dystopians now). I finally picked it up during my blogging break, I guess because I wasn't reading to review intentionally.
However, when I started reading, I suddenly became absorbed in this startlingly different world where the military was key to the government but there was all this suspicion and secrets lying underneath the cold exteriors of the officers. June was a great protagonist, strong yet had that hint of sensitivity that comes through ever so often. I also liked Day throughout and as there wasn't much of a relationship between these two characters in this book, I hope this will develop in the next book in the series, Prodigy. The ending, oh my THE ENDING, was just...it's just happens to fast, so quick yet you're still involved and absorbed in the action and the emotions of the characters. It was incredibly well-written and clever. This book is short, unsatisfactorily short even, yet so much happens in the short amount of pages which left me finishing the book wanting the sequel immediately. This is a different kind of dystopian, one I haven't seen around which I think makes it all the more enjoyable and interesting.
I give it a 5 out of 5

ALL THESE THINGS I'VE DONE - Gabrielle Zevin (#1)

Synopsis: 2083, New York. In a society where coffee and chocolate is banned, water is rationed and New York is the centre of crime and corruption, as the daughter of the city's most notorious crime boss, now dead, and a part of the city's famous chocolate maker, Anya's life is rather normal. She goes to school, hangs out with her best friend, Scarlet, looks after her brother and sister as well as her dying grandmother. Meanwhile, she is also trying not to fall for the charming son of the DA's assistant. However, soon her ex-boyfriend is poisoned by chocolate that Anya's family manufactures and she finds herself as the prime suspect. Anya is thrust into the spotlight at school, publicly and most importantly within her mafia family after years of staying hidden away.

Review: Gabrielle Zevin is an author I would normally associate with contemporary writing with a twist after reading Elsewhere and Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, which I enjoyed both. This book was good, and I liked it a lot especially the way it felt like the Prohibition era, with guns, gangsters, family loyalties  - but with chocolate and modern technology. I think the problem is the blurb and I guess the whole damn narrative of the book. The blurb made me think this would be a book about the conflict between her and her family and the impact of that on her life and in a way it is with her romance with Win central to it all. And it is and it isn't. There is a lack of action until the very end and with these expectations I had from the blurb, I ended the book feeling a little bit cheated. I did like the book, and I did find it interesting and enjoyable mostly because of the superb characters but really, I think that's as far as it goes (doing this several months after reading however). I liked most of the book's narrative up until the last quarter where I started to *gasp* dislike Anya. There was just nothing there, no emotion, no sympathy, just nothing and although that may be done on purpose, it made it incredibly boring and slow to read with this nothingness. So it was a good attempt at this dystopian/crime/contemporary/something else genre, but I do think there were flaws. I'll probably read the next book, Because It Is My Blood, but only because I want to know what's next for Win and Anya.
I give it a 3.5 out of 5

SCARLET - Marissa Meyer (#2)

*May contain spoilers for those who have not read the first book, Cinder. Here's my review for that*

Synopsis: Cinder's story continues as she tries to break out of prison although it will make her the most wanted fugitive on Earth. Meanwhile, in Europe, Scarlet's grandmother has gone missing and the police have ruled her as dead. Scarlet meets Wolf, a streetfighter hiding his own secrets and intentions, who is Scarlet's only link and evidence that will lead to her grandmother. They start to unravel one mystery together, including the secrets Scarlet's grandmother kept from her all the years she grew up. They also encounter another mystery as the stories of Cinder and Scarlet collide as they try to defeat the vicious Queen Levana and stop her plan to make Prince Kai her husband, whatever the cost. 

Review: I knew this would be good. I just knew it. This is the sequel to Meyer's debut last year, Cinder, a futuristic retelling of Cinderella. SCARLET is a retelling of Red Riding Hood, with some different interpretations of the story, one I particularly like was how they incorporated the idea of the wolf being Red Riding Hood's grandmother - very clever. I loved this second installment, especially the spilt narratives between Scarlet, Cinder and Prince Kai (yep, he's still there!) which made the story more well-rounded and gave the idea that the problems throughout the book with Queen Levana are impacting the whole world, not just in the Eastern Commonwealth.
It was well-written considering the amount of action that could overwhelm a reader. I especially loved finding out more about Cinder's past continuing from Cinder, and there are LOTS of surprise discoveries.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone that has read and loved Cinder as I did. I don't think it's quite as good compared to Cinder but there are so many things in this book that take the narrative of Cinder in a completely different direction. I am eagerly awaiting the new book, Cress, a retelling of Rapunzel coming out next year (AH NEXT YEAR?!)
I give it a 5 out of 5

Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Do you agree with what I thought - let me know below!

On My Bookshelf (33)

This meme for originally inspired by 'In My Mailbox' created by The Story Siren
Other versions are:
Letterbox Love created by Narratively Speaking
Stacking the Shelves created by Tynga's reviews
Showcase Sunday created by Books, Biscuits and Tea

This is probably the last one for a couple of weeks. The next one should include my 18th birthday (ah!) which is in just over two weeks. 

Bought:
- The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan - This is a book I've read already (my review) after borrowing it from a friend. This is one of the most clever books I have come across, featuring the story in the form of a dictionary of words that mean something particularly special to this couple which when pieced together make a heartbreaking narrative. It is a book I liked, not loved yet when I saw this for £1 at work, it was a little too good not to buy. I'll be whacking this one out when I need a quick read or a good old cry.

- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - After studying Wide Sargasso Sea (the unofficial prequel to Jane Eyre about Bertha), writing about in my coursework and then seeing the film of Jane Eyre, I realised I really wanted to read this novel. I need to read more classics anyway so I thought this would be a good start as I already know the story. I found this in the sale at work also and loved the cover. Nice cheap book buying spree!


Kindle:
I've had quite a lot of new e-books on my Kindle recently from Netgalley and the Amazon sale so I thought I'd include them!

- Dare You To by Katie McGarry
I've read the first book in this series, Pushing the Limits (see for my review) following two troubled teens, Noah and Echo. This book, for those that have also read PtL, is about Noah's friend, Beth and her romantic encounter. It's sure to be the typical easy holiday read so I may save this until March when I go away.
Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Teen

- The S-Word by Chelsea Pitcher

When I saw the title for this on Netgalley, I was intrigued to see what this book was about. The blurb makes this book sound really powerful and quite promising so I was thrilled when I was accepted to download the galley. This book is about a high school where, after being bullied for making a bad choice, Lizzie commits suicide - but the taunting continues after her death and her best friend, Angie, tries to find out who drove Lizzie to her death. From reading some of the reviews on Goodreads, however, I might put this to the bottom of my TBR pile...
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster

- How To Save A Life by Sara Zarr
I've never read anything by Sara Zarr but seen frequent shining reviews of her books, including this one. There was a review copy of this hanging around at work but after a little search, it seems someone threw it away.
I bought this in the Kindle 12 Days of Christmas Sale because 99p? I am so buying that.
Also, does anyone else think of The Fray song whenever they see this title? No? Just me...

- Glitches by Marissa Meyer
While waiting for the next instalment in Meyer's Lunar Chronicles series, Scarlet, due out in the next few weeks, a free e-book prequel to Cinder (my review) is always much appreciated.
I read Cinder last year and it became one of my favourite books of the year quickly. Glitches is the prequel to Cinder looking at how Cinder came to be living with her horrible step-mother and sisters. Looking forward to this!

Cinder - Marissa Meyer (#1)

I saw this frequently on the blogosphere with many bloggers raving about it, on their 2012 to-reads - needless to say, there was a lot of hype about this book. Which is what intrigued me when I found a copy at my local library. I nearly put it back down when I found it but thanks to my Goodreads app, I had a look at reviews and decided to give it a go. Wow - so glad I didn't put it back on the shelf...

Synopsis: The population of New Beijing holds mostly humans and androids. Oh, and Cinder - a cyborg. A deadly plague has swept Earth and the Lunar people on the Moon are waiting for their next move to start a war. No-one quite realises that the future hinges on Cinder herself. - neither does she. She is a second-class citizen with an unknown past, with an evil stepmother for a guardian and blamed for her stepsister's illness because she is...well, different. Soon her life becomes intertwined with Prince Kai's and she becomes caught between duty and freedom, past and future or loyalty and betrayal. She must uncover her previous life in order to help the future.

Review: So obviously my first thoughts were 'Really, a cyborg that's based on old fairytale of Cinderella?' I wasn't sure. I think the thing that made me doubtful was that this sounded such a far fetched story - something no-one has done before. I was so intrigued but I didn't know if it would let me down. Looking back now, that is such a stupid thought. I don't know if this review will be sufficient in showing my thoughts on this book - I shall try.

The novel is loosely based on the classic Cinderella story, the first in four books based around our traditional fairytales. There are all the elements we recognise in there - the ball, dresses, evil stepmother and sisters, handsome prince. But then, there are new things that really make this book unique (Exhibit A: Cinder is a cyborg).
Cinder's story is really unique, really. She was adopted by a brilliant scientist who died not long afterwards and since then, she has been with her stepmother and their two human daughters, Peony and Pearl. Another twist - Peony is her best friend and the less 'ugly stepsister' of the two. Cinder's guardianship means she earns money for the household while doing chores with the help of her assistant android with a faulty personality chip, the hilarious Iko. Because of working at the market every day, she has become one of the most skilled mechanics, so it is no wonder that the Prince approaches Cinder with his broken android for help.

My favourite part of this book was the subtle homage to the late Cinderella story - not the Disney one (although I love that film), the original fairytale. The setting is New Beijing - a city rebuilt after World War Four. Of course, the original Cinderella story was set in the Eastern world so I liked this touch. The ball where the prince dances with all the legitimate young ladies - ah, favourite part of Cinderella (and of the book!). Marissa Meyer has created a book that hasn't copied word for word the story of Cinderella but based Cinder around this idea and added her own unique and quirky edge, making this such an interesting, dense novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. It was nice for the major countries where most books are set (America and England) to move away from the spotlight for a bit. They placed such a minor role in the book (Nice reference to English royal family - 'Queen Camilla' - if anyone catches my drift...)

The story is really engaging, especially the climatic scenes at the end. We are drip fed information and there are moments where they're just going to reveal it...and then, something happens to stop them. Yes, it is frustrating but oh my, it made me devour this novel. I admit, it takes a while to warm up, but by halfway through, this book grabbed me, swirled me crazily to know what happens, and then spat me out in the end - stunned. There are so many things discovered in this book, I wonder what new things we will find out in the next. Although, there were all these interesting cliffhangers and revelations, some of them were quite predictable, but then, some weren't. The ending of the book I didn't expect at all, but the revelation at the end I guessed early on. The last page holds the moments after the major event at the end so if you read the last page (like I did) it is hard to discover what happens throughout the book. A good choice if those reading are like me!

Cinder herself, could be seen as irritating as she is quite cynical and sarcastic. But I liked it! I liked that she was a bit different - went away from the things most girls drew towards. She wasn't fazed when the Prince casually turns up at her stall - as you do - unlike Iko or Peony. She wasn't fazed when he helps her and flirts with her. She was very cool, calm and collected and not incredibly girly like Cinderella is mostly depicted. She has attitude and doesn't mind using it on those above her. Her sarcasm provided some much needed funny moments to the book, which otherwise may have been quite intense.

Prince Kai. Well. I can see why he is seen as quite a catch. I was starting to fall for him like the other single ladies in this book. He could be played two ways - incredibly pretentious or incredibly modest. Meyer optioned for the latter and it worked really well. He was this child Prince that suddenly had a lot of responsibility with the Lunar Queen demanding to marry him. He has deal with this and is only 18. With the combined sarcasm and humour for Kai and Cinder, it made a lovely relationship to read about and some of the most readable parts of the novel for those that did not like this book. They built their relationship up from helper, friends and then more. There is an instant where it all comes together and you want desperately for it to work out.

The other characters are all lovely. Adri, Pearl and Levana I hated. I loved the characters of Peony and Iko and the way they help Cinder. Dr Erland was a strange character - I'll leave your views on him for later.
This novel holds all the ingredients for a great book and it delivers. For those who are sceptical about a Cinderella re-telling with a cyborg, just go for it. It's so worth the surprise.
Meyer, my hat goes off to you, well done for making such a lovely, surprising, thrilling novel based upon one of the most loved fairytales. I cannot wait for the next in the series.

Verdict: Bottom line? I really really liked this book.

I give it 5 out of 5

Author's Website: http://marissameyer.livejournal.com/
Pages: 387
Publisher: Penguin
Challenges: None

The next book in the series SCARLETT will be released in 2013 (oh, so long...)