Winter by Marisa Meyer
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: November 10th, 2015
Pages: 823
Song I Played While Reading: New Americana by Halsey
Rating: 5 stars
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 breathtaking 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 he'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.
This cover is, hands down, the most gorgeous cover I've ever seen. EVER. I wasn't overly thrilled with the other ones in this series, but WOW did the team behind this do a fantastic job. It's definitely my favorite of the year.
Since this is the final book in The Lunar Chronicles, I'm dredging up all the feels here and gonna be spoiling
a lot. So leave if you haven't read it, and just know that it's absolutely incredible and such a satisfying conclusion to this series.
Spoiler-y section!
WHERE DO I EVEN BEGIN?! For being 800 + pages, Winter sure as hell felt too short. I managed to snag the last special edition from Target that has the fan drawings in the back and front cover pages, and they're SO pretty! The pages are also super thin, like the Bible, so it makes the book look waaaaay smaller than it is. My mom guessed that it was 350 pages and I laughed in her face.
Our newest edition to the team, Princess Winter, was, as expected, coo coo for coco puffs. I was a little worried that I wouldn't like her, since my first impression of her in Cress wasn't that great. I thought she was too naive and fragile to be able to handle all the stress Cinder and Co. were gonna be bringing to the table, but by the end I was impressed. She brought her own strength to the game, which, as we all know, really helped in rallying the outer sectors and the wolf soldiers. Her and Jacin we're SO FREAKIN ADORABLE, and I loved seeing his playful side come out around her. My favorite moment between them was when she kept shoving his shoulder and saying they were gonna help Cress.
The rest of the crew were flawless. I didn't think it would be possible, but the sweet moments between these friends, and between the OTP's, were just too much for me. My heart kept exploding with all the love. My poor, sweet Wolf. I wanted to strangle those doctors for changing him. HOW DARE YOU HURT MY CHILD?? I knew Scarlet wouldn't have an issue with it.
Cress and Thorne and Cinder and Kai were both PERFECT and I have nothing else to add, except for that Thorne's wit in this story was A++++++++. I loved the moment him and Kai had while he was taking him back to the palace from the Rampion. Total brotp moment. *squishes them to my chest*
The pacing and the plot was outstanding. Like I said before, this is a monster of a book, yet it almost felt a little too short. I wanted more! Meyer really outdid herself, blowing my expectations to smithereens. She weaved the fairy tales beautifully, and it all came full circle. The ending was bittersweet and heartwarming, and getting to know what their futures were, especially for Kai and Cinder, made me so giddy. I wasn't very surprised when she wanted to make Luna republic. And when Kai asked her if she would ever consider being an empress *SWOONS*
Overall, this extraordinary book was everything I dreamed it would be. A boatload of action, adventures, a psycho queen, kick-ass characters, heart-stopping romance, witty dialogue, and an engaging plot makes this my top favorite of the year, possibly of my life. Kudos to you, Marissa Meyer!
*hunkers down to eagerly await her next novel*
Quotes
""This must be weird for you," Thorne said, dragging his fingers across the radar screen. "Your cyborg girlfriend being a wanted outlaw and your fiancee's niece and all that."
Kai grimaced, which made his cheek start smarting again. "Honestly, I try and not think about the details." He shifted his face toward the Rampion as it receded fast from the viewing window. "Does she really call herself my girlfriend?"
"Oh, I wouldn't know. We haven't spent an evening gossiping and painting each other's toenails since the kidnapping."
"Scarlet drummed her fingers. "What's your point?"
"My point is that I am going to figure this out, like I always do. First, we're going to find a way to get into Artemisia. We're going to find Cress and rescue Cinder and Wolf. We're going to overthrow Leveana, and by the stars above, we are going to make Cinder a queen so she can pay us a lot of money from her royal coffers and we can all retire very rich and
very alive, got it?"
Winter started to clap. "Brilliant speech. Such gumption and bravado.
"And yet strangely lacking in any sort of actual strategy," said Scarlet.
"Oh good, I'm glad you noticed that too," said Iko. " I was worried that my processor might be glitching." She felt for the back of her head."
"They mulled over this for a moment, picking at the food.
Thorne glanced back at the pantry. "Did you see any rice in there? Maybe we could fill Cinder's head with it."
Everyone stared at him.
"You know, to... absorb the moisture, or something. Isn't that a thing?"
"We're not pouring
rice in my head."
"Cinder adjusted her ponytail. "Of course, any Lunar who's paying attention will be able to tell you're an Earthen and she's a shell. So be careful."
Thorne scoffed. "
Careful is my middle name. Right after
Suave and
Daring."
"Do you even know what you're saying half the time?" asked Cinder.
"Cinder's jaw flexed. "That's where the feast was the other night? With the balcony over the lake?"
Kinney had started to nod when the second guard reeled his head back and spat. Literally
spat all over this gorgeous tile floor.
"Oh!" Ikon cried. "You heathen!"
"When she catches you," the guard snarled, "my queen will eat your heart with salt and pepper."
"Well," said Cinder, unconcerned, "my heart is half synthetic, so it'll probably give her indigestion.""
