Review: Cress by Marissa Meyer

Cress

Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: Lunar Chronicles #3
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Genre: YA Science Fiction/Retellings
Format: Hardcover, 560 pages
Release Date: February 4, 2014
Source: Personal Library, Bought
Rating: 5 Stars
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Synopsis from Goodreads:

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.

My Review:

I have been anticipating this book for so long. And I’ve been watching all the people who were lucky enough to get an ARC read it weeks or even months ago. And I’ve been trying not to be jealous. Because I absolutely love this series. Cinder took me completely by surprise. I wasn’t sure about it, but I am so so happy that I gave it a chance. This series gets better with every single book. I keep waiting to be disappointed, but I’m not. Marissa Meyer is so talented and she weaves such a complex story with lots of awesome characters.

Cress starts off right where Scarlet left off. The world is in shock after the devastation Levana’s wolf-hybrid army caused on earth. Cinder, Thorne, Scarlet, Wolf, and Iko are hiding out in space trying to come up with a plan to stop Levana from becoming empress of the Eastern Commonwealth. Then they meet Cress, a computer hacker and Lunar shell (meaning she has no powers) who has been imprisoned in a satellite and forced to spy on the earth for Queen Levana. Things get very interesting from here.

Cress was adorable. Innocent and naïve, awkward and funny. I loved her. I loved how she would pretend to be a famous actress or a famous explorer or whatever to get her through stressful situations. I loved how hopelessly romantic she was and her crush on Thorne was absolutely adorable. Being locked up in a satellite for years has made her kind of socially awkward, but it’s what I loved about her.

Something that I love about Marissa Meyer is that she can create tons of characters (I mean we are talking like 9 important characters) and still make me care about each and every one of them. These characters are each so unique and so well fleshed out. In each book we learn a little more about each character and all these little details make me fall in love with them even more than I already am. Or, in the case of Levana, hate them even more than I already do. She is evil and I can't wait to watch Cinder kick her ass.

Speaking of learning about characters….THORNE. Oh my gosh I loved him in this book. Still snarky and arrogant, still cracking me up, but we also get a glimpse of another side of him. A softer side that I absolutely loved.

We are also introduced briefly to two new characters, Jacin and Winter. I am very intrigued by Winter and can’t wait to learn more about her. I think she’s going to be super interesting and dynamic.

And the last characters I want to talk about are Cinder and Kai. We see Kai a lot more in this book than we did in Scarlet which I was super happy about. I think that Kai is super sweet and adorable and I think I might be a little bit in love with him (though Wolf is my true love). Cinder was amazing. She grew a lot in this book and we really got to see her fears and frustrations, her self-doubt. I can’t wait to see her break down all those walls in the last book.

This story. THIS STORY. I can’t even explain how I feel. The plotline of this series is so incredibly amazing. Each book builds perfectly off the last. There are so many intricate details, but it never feels confusing and it’s never difficult to read. Don’t let the 560 pages scare you off. I wanted more. 560 pages just wasn’t enough for me.

Overall this book was amazing. My heart was literally pounding during the entire book. I was completely sucked in by about page 20. I couldn’t put it down. 560 pages came and went like it was nothing. The first thing I thought when I finished the book was “No. No no no. Now I have to wait an entire year for Winter.” After finishing this thought I died a little on the inside. Because I want more and I want it now! I can’t wait a whole year to find out what’s going to happen!! Nooooo! Somebody hold me. If you haven’t read this series yet, read it. That’s an order. You will love it. Don’t let the scifi and the cyborg stuff put you off. It’s amazing and I don’t care what kind of books you normally read. This one will become a favorite. Yes, I am obnoxiously book-pushing this. Happy reading all! 

Have you read this book? What did you think of Cress? And Thorne? What about the brief glimpse we got of Winter? Do you hate Queen Levana as much as I do? Are you dying for Winter already? Maybe we should form a support group...