Cress

Cress is the third book in Marissa Meyer’s Lunar Chronicles. I was planning to put off reading it until closer to book number four’s release but it was a dirt cheap deal on Amazon on Black Friday and I simply couldn’t stop myself.

(Possible Slight Spoilers Below:)

 

Cress herself is a Lunar Shell- meaning she has no powers of mind control like all the other Lunars but she can hack and program like a boss so she’s been trapped on a satellite for the last several years spying on Earth for Sybil, the Evil Queen’s second in command. (I’ve been reading a lot of these recently and it makes me wonder why is it always an Evil Queen?) Anyway the book starts off with Cress waiting for Cinder and her gang to rescue her. This is her first shot at freedom so needless to say it’s going to get screwed up royally for everybody.

I really like this whole series which started with Cinderella as a Cyborg Cinder. Cress is of course Rapunzel whose in love with escaped prisoner Thorne and boy even he knows she romanticizes him. I like the character a lot. She could be annoying as she’s completely over the top dramatic but it’s balanced well with a helpful talent and a good head on her shoulders. I also really like the fact that much as Cinder is a top mechanic Cress also has a usually for the guys purpose in her programming skills. The rebels struggling to pull themselves together runs right up to Emperor Kai’s wedding to the Queen which everyone is determined to stop.

The good:

All the characters are very likeable actually. The story moves along at a quick pace. There’s some interesting bits throughout including when Cinder takes over someone’s mind and then they point out that not only should the Queen not have that power- no one should. Also beware throughout the book one of the main characters is a prisoner of the Lunar’s and tortured. We see her lose a finger at one point. That’s like less than 10% of the novel but you should be warned.

The not so good:

There’s a paternity twist that while it wasn’t bad made me think of Once Upon a Time & here’s hoping the family tree doesn’t get that screwy. Also as much as I like the character of Iko- Cinder’s android bestie- who jumps from body to body and desperately wants to be beautiful that’s definitely a character where less is more. She’s funny but then at a certain point she stops being funny.

But the worst part is definitely going to be the endless wait until Winter is released next year!

 

I’m late to this series and I’m still learning & delving into the world of it but I’d absolutely recommend it! It’s a well-written fun retelling of fairy tales that stands on its own just as well.