The Lunar Chronicles Part 2: Fairest, Winter, & Stars Above (A YA Book Review)

The Lunar Chronicles Part 2: Fairest, Winter, and Stars Above

By Marissa Meyer

Overall series so far: 4.5/5 Stars: A fun, futuristic fairy tale retelling with an evil civilization on the moon.

Fairest: Fairest is book 3.5 of the series. It is the story of Queen Levana from the death of her parents to the current circumstances in Cress. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. Levana is super creepy and this just made her even creepier. From her perspective we see firsthand what a warped view of love and the world that Levana has. At first, you feel like maybe you can’t blame her, but then her behaviors become so malicious and disturbing that you have no choice but to hold her accountable. One thing I didn’t like was that even though this book was about 220 pages there were no chapters. There were, however, scene change indicators. But for something longer than a short story, I personally prefer chapters. In one sentence: Levan scares me almost as much as Bellatrix.

Winter: Winter is the 4th book in the series. I love Winter! Winter’s story follows Snow White and I was surprised that major parts of the fairy tale were hit upon in the novel. There’s lots of action and all the story lines of the series come to a close. It’s a long book at about 800 pages and it also had a couple of what I like to call false climaxes. As a result, some parts dragged a little, but I love this series so much I would still give Winter 4.5 out of 5 stars. Plus: Winter and Jacin!

Stars Above: Stars Above is book 4.5 of the series and consists of several short stories. The best story to me was The Mechanic, which is when Kai and Cinder met at the market, but from Kai’s perspective. There’s a Little Mermaid-esque tale and an epilogue to the series. Without spoilers, the title of the extended story is Something Old, Something New and to be honest I think the characters are a little young for all that. At the oldest they are in their early twenties and while feasible, I wonder if it is as feasible in the distant future when already the average age for marriage is higher than ever. Just a thought. So for me, the story was a little contrived. I was also happy with where Winter ended and would have been okay with that. These short stories provide extra insight, but don’t present much new material. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars because it was still enjoyable and a lingering taste of the Lunar world.