I hadn't really heard that many things about this series before I read it. Obviously there are a lot of reviews for it on Goodreads, but none of the book shops near me stock it, and there doesn't really seem to be that much talk about it. This made me assume that, despite its great reviews, this series wasn't all that amazing. I couldn't have been more wrong! I cannot believe so many people haven't heard about these incredible books! They have become immediate favourites and I love them to bits. More people need to read them!
Cinder, as can be assumed from the title, is a retelling of the fairytale Cinderella. It is set in a futuristic New-Beijing, where a deadly plague called letumosis, which is spreading like a wildfire and killing everyone it comes into contact with. Cinder, our protagonist, is a cyborg working as a mechanic to bring in money for her step-mother and two step-sisters. When Prince Kai needs a mechanic to fix his android, Cinder suddenly becomes stuck in a dangerous situation and forced into a battle between an evil Queen and a city in despair. Cinder was the first fairytale retelling (I think) I have ever read. I was quite curious about how it would all turn out, since they obviously can't completely stick to the original story. Before my Harry Potter phase began at the age of six, I loved fairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White, and I loved to watch the Disney adaptations. From what I can remember, my favourite princess was Cinderella, so I was really interested in how it would be changed.
I loved this book so much! I really connected with the characters and thought the plot line was well thought out! Honestly, this book had a bit of everything in, which was great. There were great characters, humorous scenes, just a touch of romance, a bit of mystery, a lot of suspense, a couple of sad parts, a few cool fight scenes... oh, yeah, and CYBORGS!!!!
If you haven't already read the rest of the Lunar Chronicles and don't wish to be spoiled, then please don't read the rest of this review!! I really don't want to spoil it for anybody!
I personally didn't think that Scarlet quite lived up to the incredible standard Cinder had set for this series, but nevertheless, it really was a great read! While Cinder followed the Cinderella storyline, Scarlet is based loosely around Little Red Riding Hood. In this book, Scarlet's grandmother has been missing for weeks and the police are giving up on the case. Determined to discover her whereabouts and bring her back, Scarlet must turn to Wolf, the dangerous and mysterious street fighter, who claims her can help.Meanwhile, Cinder, now a known fugitive, is escaping from prison to avoid her fate on Lunar. Along with new found friend Thorne and his trusty ship, Cinder must put a stop to Queen Levana before it's too late...
As I've already said, I didn't enjoy this instalment as much as I did the first book, but that doesn't mean it wasn't amazing. I didn't like Scarlet and Wolf's relationship as much as I liked Cinder and Kai's, but they were still two strong, reasonably well developed characters and it was interesting to read about them. I really liked finding out more about Cinder, and I loved meeting Thorne- he was a great character! So overall, I thought Scarlet was an amazing book!
Cress is the third and latest book in the series, and was one of the best books I'd read in a while!
How far away is their happily ever after?
I loved this book. It was absolutely incredible and had me on the edge of my seat for most of it! I knew the original story of Rapunzel, but not as well as Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood, unlike I had done for the previous books, I couldn't guess how it would all turn out. However, this didn't stop me from falling in love with the whole thing! Cress was definitely my favourite book of the series (so far!) and has left me twiddling my thumbs in wait for Winter!
I thought all of the characters were brought closer together in this book (except those who were killed off!) and feelings towards each other were revealed. While I'm still a little wary of Wolf, I felt so sorry for Scarlet in this book! Not only did she miss out on all those cool battles and all of the action, but she was tortured in such a horrible way! It was not nice to have to read about her ordeal, particularly when her finger was chopped off and she was mind-controlled by little Lunar children! I really hope that she is rescued in the last book and everything will be okay for her!
I am really, really, really, really, REALLY excited for Winter to be released and I hope it lives up to the standard of Cress! I think it will be really interesting to read about Princess Winter more, because while she unnerves me slightly, I find her a really intriguing character. At first, particularly when she speaks to Scarlet, I thought that she was less than 10 years old, so it shocked me when I realised that she was a lot older than that! We don't know that much about her, except that she's the step-daughter of Levana and has been driven slightly crazy from not using her Lunar powers. We can also infer that she was friends with Princess Selene before her disappearance, and I'm guessing she'll end up getting together with Jacin!
*****
What I loved about this series...
- I really felt connected with all of the characters and they seemed really vivid and real to me. My favourite character overall has got to be Iko- she was so funny and I loved her so much! Out of the 'main' characters, I think I prefer Cinder, and not just because she's part cyborg! I really like how level headed and human (is that the right word?) she seems. But all of the characters were incredibly well developed and were relatable. I thought they each had their own qualities and brought something different to the story.
- While it does frustrate me in a story, I do quite enjoy working things out before the characters do, and these books enabled you to do so if you paid close attention. For example, I had guessed the relationship between Cress and Dr. Erland before it was revealed in the book, and although it annoyed me when the characters themselves took a long time to realise it and were forced to face the consequences of that delay, I do quite enjoy knowing things before the characters do!
- In a similar way to the Harry Potter series, everything ties in and seems to be foreshadowed in The Lunar Chronicles. On many an occasion, I found myself reading something in one of the later books, and then realising I recognised a name or snippet of information from a previous book, so I had to flick through it again to find it! I don't quite think this series did it to the extent of Harry Potter, but it was done in quite a good way, and who knows- maybe more will be revealed in Winter!
- I really enjoyed the writing in these books. The writing format reminded me of The Mortal Instruments but I felt the books, despite their lengthiness, were really quick reads- particularly Cress! Winter is said to have roughly 800 pages in it, which will make it one of the longest books I've ever read! But the fast-paced, easy-reading writing style should make it a relatively quick read!
If you haven't yet read this series, I really recommend that you pick it up soon because you're missing out on so much! I would say you should be older than twelve to read these books as it has quite a few violent scenes and a little bit of bad language in. Other than that, I think everyone should read them!!
I will definitely write a review for Winter when it comes out, and I'm also looking forward to reading Fairest, which I think has already been released, and is about Queen Levana!
I think that's all I have for this review!
Until the next one, goodbye!
Charlotte xxx
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