Book Review: Cress

By Marissa Meyer

Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard.

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army. 

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice. 

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

Meyer does it again; another fabulous retelling, but also a great example of how she has created a unique and individual story and has continued to build it up to a larger climax in this installation.

from Instagram: theelunarchronicles

There are a hundred different reasons why I'm already so invested in The Lunar Chronicles, but just talking about Cress here, I was really only disappointed in a very small number of categories.

First, let's talk about what I really liked:

I loved how strange Cress was, and yet it totally fit her in terms of how she had to grow up and stimulate herself. Her little fantasies to get through difficult times were entertaining, and they were convincing as a coping mechanism for her loneliness.
One thing I was curious to know about was why she was so sympathetic toward Earthens, and not for Lunars. I think what was trying to get across was that her isolation from both Lunars and Earthens led her to seek contact through videos and news reports, which only come from Earth due to Lunars' aversion to photography and cameras. And from that research, she grew to identify more with Earthens than with the Lunars that locked her away in a satellite, but her loyalty was something I was wondering about most of the time.

OMG! The plan to ruin the wedding! (I won't put any spoilers here) But yes! Such a fantastically comical and impossible idea! Loved it, and the execution made me think of Oceans Eleven or maybe even a Sly Cooper video game. Just hilarious.

In this book (and Scarlet in particular to me) Iko just shines. Her personality really brings a lot of comical relief to what could be a really tense reading. I was so upset when I thought that her new body was going to be ruined and she was going to have to be the ship again, but things are great, and she gets to stay mobile! YAY!

And finally, POOR BABY WOLF!! Again, no spoilers, but awwwwwwwww. Every time he comes up, I just want to hug him. I'm pretty sure he's my favorite.

And my only issues remain minor, such as a need for more Scarlet, because she's just plain awesome and badass (but unfortunately, I understand the necessity of her absence -sorry, still no spoilers).

I could have done with a little more insight into Dr. Erland's PoV, especially when he started putting puzzle pieces together at the end.

Things I'm looking forward to in the finale:

I liked the introduction of Princess Winter, and I'm excited to get her story.
Can't wait to see what Luna is like!
Although I'm super nervous about how well Cinder will find Lunar revolutionaries. The team will have to be very sneaky to pull off any sort of "revolution" on enemy territory.

The Blonde Rating: 4/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.5/5
Amazon Buyers' Rating: 4.8/5

That's it for Cress, for other Lunar Chronicles reviews, click here for Cinder and here for Scarlet.

Allegiant by Veronica Roth [UPDATED]

What if your whole world was a lie?

What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?

What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?


I promised myself and the few people I know that actually read my reviews that I wouldn't put in any spoilers for this book. I promised, but that means the review is going to be shorter than usual.

So this book was pretty good. I definitely liked its predecessors better, but it was a good, conclusive ending. I really hate "endings" that leave things ambiguous and unresolved, but don't worry, there aren't too many questions on the last page of Allegiant.

There were a few bits and chapters that I thought didn't seem to have too much impact or a necessity to the rest of the story, but those were few and far between. There were a couple of characters that seemed to act a little differently than what I was used to them behaving (See: Tobias chill-axing with Peter, of all people).

I really liked the changing perspectives between chapters, from Tris to Tobias, but it would sometimes create frustration for the reader when we knew what one character was thinking and doing, but keeping it from the other. Like, haven't we already figured out that that doesn't work, guys? You just end up fighting!


Overall, a satisfying ending with a little bit of frustration around the middle, but keep your tissues close by in the last 70 pages or so.

Blonde Rating: 3.5/5
Goodreads Rating: 3.7/5
Amazon Buyers' Rating: 2.9/5

Sorry, this review is a little lame, but i promised, no spoilers. Check out the Insurgent and Divergent reviews. They are spoilers galore.

Thanks!
The Blonde

UPDATED:

So I've had time to really sit on this review and my thoughts about the ending and the series as a whole, and I've heard about the crazy people and their death threats to the author, and how upset they were about the "shock" at the end of the book, and I've decided that I don't like this book as much as I thought I did.

I loved Divergent, don't get me wrong, and I actually really liked Insurgent, which a lot of my friends are saying they hated, but Allegiant just did nothing for me.

I will say that I still liked the switching POVs, but it seems pretty dumb now, knowing that, really, nothing is happening in this book.

Think about it. They're just sitting around, gathering "information" that doesn't really help or harm them until about the last 100 pages or so. In a book 550 page book, the last fifth of it shouldn't be the only interesting part.

While I will always appreciate well-constructed prose, it can't always make up for an overly drawn out finale. 

I'm re-issuing my rating to a 2.5/5 

and I'm giving the series as a whole a 3/5

Sorry for the update, I promise I will sit on and think more thoroughly through my reviews in the future.

The Blonde

Sever by Lauren DeStefano (Chemical Garden)

     With the clock ticking until the virus takes its toll, Rhine is desperate for answers. After enduring Vaughn’s worst, Rhine finds an unlikely ally in his brother, an eccentric inventor named Reed. She takes refuge in his dilapidated house, though the people she left behind refuse to stay in the past. While Gabriel haunts Rhine’s memories, Cecily is determined to be at Rhine’s side, even if Linden’s feelings are still caught between them.

     Meanwhile, Rowan’s growing involvement in an underground resistance compels Rhine to reach him before he does something that cannot be undone. But what she discovers along the way has alarming implications for her future—and about the past her parents never had the chance to explain.

      In this breathtaking conclusion to Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden trilogy, everything Rhine knows to be true will be irrevocably shattered.

     The end of Fever prevented me the luxury of relaxing between reading it and this sequel. It's not too often that I read a series where the next book is available right away, so I took this opportunity and was soon back into Rhine's world, quickly reaching the conclusion to this trilogy.

     I have a lot of mixed feelings about this installment in the series. I feel like a majority of the front matter in this book was waiting around. Either they were waiting for Rhine to be released from the hospital, or Rhine was waiting for a good time to leave Reed's place, they're waiting for the opportunity to escape Vaughn, etc. 

     However when we weren't waiting for something to happen, SO MUCH was happening, and there was either a lot of action going on or there was a lot of information being fed to Rhine and the reader. So much information, in fact, that I think Rhine was kept a little too in-the-dark in the first two books, because the entire second half of the book is like an information overload. There's intel about Rhine's genetics, and her brother Rowen's actions in the last year, and Vaughn's true intentions with the twins (the sister wives, and Linden, and the maids, and pretty much anyone he could get his hands on). There was a shocking reveal 250 pages in that doesn't really get explained very well by the end of the book, and then there's suddenly a hostage situation. It was a lot to process very quickly.

     

Things That I Liked:

     I really liked Reed and his eccentricities. He was a really interesting character, and I'm almost sad that we only got to know him in this final installment.

     I liked the added layer of this world/disease that was brought about with Hawaii and all that entails.

     I was confused but delighted by Rhine's and Linden's obvious lingering feelings for each other, and I definitely felt Linden's heartache and hesitation to trust his former-favorite wife.

     I liked that Cecily finally decided to grow up.

     THE ROSE REVEAL. So shocking. So good.

Things That I Didn't Like:

     I was confused about the Hawaii-addition and if it was explained how that whole "situation" was possible, I think I missed it.

     I wish there was more Gabriel. Or at least more worry for Gabriel.

     I wanted Rowen's actions/thought process about his attacks/bombings/trusting-of-certain-people to be explained better. Again, if that did happen, I missed it.

     MORE MADAME (and Jared). Wanted it. Didn't get it.

Overall Impression:

     I was once again captivated by DeStefano's prose, and while I still believe that Fever is the better book in the trilogy, Sever does have a lot going on and a lot to love as a final book in a series. 

     I was a little "eh" about the ending, it seemed to come about a little too easily for me, then again I don't know how else I would have preferred it to go. Almost all of my questions were answered, and reading other reviews tells me that most everyone else who read the series had all of their questions answered to their satisfaction. 

     Overall for the series, this story presents a new and interesting concept, and it provided a really fascinating and complex social situation to work a story around. 

I will be waiting excitedly to get my hands on DeStefano's Internment Chronicles: Perfect Ruin book in October. For more information on that, please visit the book's GoodReads page.

Blonde's Rating: 3.5/5

Amazon's Rating: 4.3/5

GoodReads Rating: 3.9/5

Check out the reviews of the other books in the series, Fever and Wither.

Thanks!

The Blonde