Don’t worry, fellow space cadets, Her Majesty is delightfully repulsive

Hello again, Lauren here.

I’m sad to be writing the review for Winter by Marissa Meyer, because it means our travels through space with the cyborg, A.I. robot, loveable criminal, Lunar shell, French Farmer and werewolf have reached their end! It’s quite unusual for me to like every single one of the characters in a book series, but with the Lunar Chronicles, I feel like I’ve left a group of friends behind in the book pages. Aw, frieeend?

After Willow’s rave reviews of Rebecca Soler (the voice actress narrating the Lunar Chronicles), I listened to Winter as an audiobook and was not disappointed. I would recommend listening to at least one of these books, if only for Scarlet’s spectacular French accent. ‘Ow you say… ‘illarious. If you do listen to the audiobook, give it your full attention – don’t be like me, having to go back and listen again because you’re confused about what’s going on. Duh.

Anyway, the most important thing I need to tell you is this: do not worry, you get to find out what old Queenie looks like without her glamour, and you absolutely won’t be disappointed. I was expecting a fair bit of saggy skin and a couple of missing teeth, but Marissa Meyer goes the whole hog. We have waited four books for this after all.

There were so many great scenes in this book, which Willow and I enjoyed reminiscing about during our debrief. Some of our favourites were Cress and Thorne’s undercover antics (and the seriously romantic romance), the tense scene where Scarlet enlists some wolf soldiers to the cause (cos she’s tough as nails init), and the several nods to the original Snow White fairytale (which reminded us it was a reimagining – the story was so imaginative that we had forgotten). AAAH – on that note – there’s a loop back around to the original Cinderella story at the end too. And it’s just like: FULL. CIRCLE. PERFECTION. I’m here for this shizz.

Willow, over to you!

Ah, folks, the perfect finale for a perfect series. I enjoyed the very last scene much more the second time around, too. This tale does an excellent job of pushing Cinder to the front of her revolution, but also showing us the total anxiety she’s keeping bottled up inside. With the support of wonderful friends, she must navigate the horrors or Lunar.

Once again, the parallels between the Snow White fairytale and this final volume are unique enough to be thrilling – not to mention satisfying – twists on the traditional story of a young girl tormented by an evil queen, and yet embroidered perfectly into the greater tapestry of Cinder’s world.

Meyer does a great job of showing that a revolution requires the will of the people en mass, and that while Cinder is the motivation, she’s not really their liberator. She can’t do anything by herself. It just did a fantastic job of balancing the Hero Saves the World with a hint of political realism.

It spared no punches, either. The worst keeps happening to everyone. How anyone will succeed or overcome their sufferings seems insurmountable… If you’re looking for a story that knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat, book four won’t disappoint you.

Admist the blistering danger, the awesome science fiction future, the deceptions, the dress-up, the gun fights and punches, the gorgeous friendships – we can’t neglect to mention the romance. *dreamy sigh* Oh, it’s simply wonderful. The barriers and challenges to each relationship are fully explored. Every kiss is worth the wait.