Winter by Marissa Meyer
Louise Wilkes
05:37:00
1
Warning: Spoilers! (duh.)
We have a lot of near misses in Winter. Our friends get to Lunar within the first 100 pages but it takes so long for us to finally defeat Levana. The length isn't an issue, in fact the pacing is bang on. Every time I start a final book in a series I always panic. It inevitably feels rushed and always feel like there needed to be another book. This was not the case with Winter. It was actually wonderful the amount of detail and the build up to the final fantastic battle for Lunar.
We join the team on the Rampion after they kidnapped Kai. They return him soon but not after making a master plan to get onto Lunar. Only 100 pages in I start to panic, oh god what is the rest of the book if she becomes queen so quickly. Luckily that didn't happen. A whopping 700 pages later she becomes queen and quickly decides to abolish the monarchy, but we will get to that. The journey there is this up and down roller coaster of fighting and rallying and sickness and poison apples. We have fake murders, real murders, several propaganda videos and finally get to see what is behind that veil.
As the team gets to Lunar they are immediately found. Obviously because Meyer has no interest in making this science fiction space opera more realistic. They flee the capital, this part steam punk, part sci-fi world of Lunar has been a long time coming and it didn't disappoint. Cinder gets caught and breaks free and gets caught and breaks free so many times. She is in so many sticky situations that my fists were clenched and my breath was short with each paragraph. My favourite escape has to be the balcony leap. Cinder is finally caught by Levana, who starts sending cyborg pieces of her to Kai, then at the wedding reception. Guess who's the entertainment? Levana begins this trial of Cinder and then BOOM! Cinder is manipulating guards, wolves are fighting and she rips herself from Levana's grip and leaps from a balcony. It was heart thumping goodness and there are so many other moments like this that I really don't want to spoil. Then with the final battle, it was tense, I felt like I knew that Cinder was going to win but with each passing moment and page I was less and less sure and then as the final fight between her and Levana begins and Thorne is stabbing her and slicing and apologising it was just AHHHHHH!
There is also this really lovely romantic underlying feel. Even with Cress/Thorne, Scarlet/Wolf and Cinder/Kai we have a new ship that I can so get behind . WINTER + JACE! They are so perfect together and I just adored them even with only one book to really see them, the relationship dynamics were immediately clear and Winter herself was this wonderful, a little nuts princess who was kind of rocking. Towards the end after everything with her manipulating Scarlet I was worried.
I really don't want to spoil any books here. I really don't, I put the spoiler warning just in case but I really want you to know this book is amazing. The perfect ending to a consistently wonderful series. There is no weak link in this series all the books are amazing. Anyway pick it up, the series or just the book. You won't regret it. There is a reason these books are bestsellers.
Happy Reading.
P.S - Winter doesn't have to be the end.
Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breath taking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.
Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.
Winter by Marissa Meyer
Published November 12th 2015 by Puffin
Paperback 823 pages
Winter is the final book in bestselling The Lunar Chronicles series. This 800 page beast took me two weeks to read just from it's sheer mass but it is so worth it. Winter is the book you always wish would be the final in a series. It is so long and has so much content every question you had was answered and none of it felt rushed.Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend—the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.
Winter by Marissa MeyerPublished November 12th 2015 by Puffin
Paperback 823 pages
We have a lot of near misses in Winter. Our friends get to Lunar within the first 100 pages but it takes so long for us to finally defeat Levana. The length isn't an issue, in fact the pacing is bang on. Every time I start a final book in a series I always panic. It inevitably feels rushed and always feel like there needed to be another book. This was not the case with Winter. It was actually wonderful the amount of detail and the build up to the final fantastic battle for Lunar.
We join the team on the Rampion after they kidnapped Kai. They return him soon but not after making a master plan to get onto Lunar. Only 100 pages in I start to panic, oh god what is the rest of the book if she becomes queen so quickly. Luckily that didn't happen. A whopping 700 pages later she becomes queen and quickly decides to abolish the monarchy, but we will get to that. The journey there is this up and down roller coaster of fighting and rallying and sickness and poison apples. We have fake murders, real murders, several propaganda videos and finally get to see what is behind that veil.
As the team gets to Lunar they are immediately found. Obviously because Meyer has no interest in making this science fiction space opera more realistic. They flee the capital, this part steam punk, part sci-fi world of Lunar has been a long time coming and it didn't disappoint. Cinder gets caught and breaks free and gets caught and breaks free so many times. She is in so many sticky situations that my fists were clenched and my breath was short with each paragraph. My favourite escape has to be the balcony leap. Cinder is finally caught by Levana, who starts sending cyborg pieces of her to Kai, then at the wedding reception. Guess who's the entertainment? Levana begins this trial of Cinder and then BOOM! Cinder is manipulating guards, wolves are fighting and she rips herself from Levana's grip and leaps from a balcony. It was heart thumping goodness and there are so many other moments like this that I really don't want to spoil. Then with the final battle, it was tense, I felt like I knew that Cinder was going to win but with each passing moment and page I was less and less sure and then as the final fight between her and Levana begins and Thorne is stabbing her and slicing and apologising it was just AHHHHHH!
There is also this really lovely romantic underlying feel. Even with Cress/Thorne, Scarlet/Wolf and Cinder/Kai we have a new ship that I can so get behind . WINTER + JACE! They are so perfect together and I just adored them even with only one book to really see them, the relationship dynamics were immediately clear and Winter herself was this wonderful, a little nuts princess who was kind of rocking. Towards the end after everything with her manipulating Scarlet I was worried.
I really don't want to spoil any books here. I really don't, I put the spoiler warning just in case but I really want you to know this book is amazing. The perfect ending to a consistently wonderful series. There is no weak link in this series all the books are amazing. Anyway pick it up, the series or just the book. You won't regret it. There is a reason these books are bestsellers.
Happy Reading.
P.S - Winter doesn't have to be the end.
STARS ABOVE
A LUNAR CHRONICLES COLLECTION
The enchantment continues. . . .
The universe of the Lunar Chronicles holds stories—and secrets—that are wondrous, vicious, and romantic. How did Cinder first arrive in New Beijing? How did the brooding soldier Wolf transform from young man to killer? When did Princess Winter and the palace guard Jacin realize their destinies?
With nine stories—five of which have never before been published—and an exclusive never-before-seen excerpt from Marissa Meyer’s upcoming novel, Heartless, about the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, Stars Above is essential for fans of the bestselling and beloved Lunar Chronicles.
