Monday, October 15, 2018

Winter by Marissa Meyer

Winter 
By Marissa Meyer 
YA Fantasy
*Last in the Lunar Chronicles Series 

"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 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." 

Welcome to the final installment of the magnificent Lunar Chronicles! This novel is worth its place as the final book of the series. 

Winter, bless her heart, is a bit crazy, but the reason why softened my heart so that her madness didn't throw up a wall between us. Although she's broken (who isn't?), she possesses a courage and strength that the other characters don't. I do wish I could've spent more time with her; the reader is thrown around into so many heads because there a mountain-load of events happening all the time.

However, I did enjoy watching the other characters grow more in this novel, especially Cress, who I believe matured the most. Cinder didn't seem to change much over the course of the series, which was a bit disappointing since she's the main character. 

Meyer continued to enthrall me in this novel with her world-building prowess of the eerily majestic Luna, the fast-paced events that hint at the Hunger Games, the variety of the characters, and the satisfying conclusion (don't worry, I won't spoil anything!). 

The main thing that niggled at me throughout the novel was that the fairy-tale surrounding Winter, that of Snow White, was more difficult to follow than in the other books. This could just be due to the fact that I'm not as familiar with this fairy-tale as I am with Cinderella and Red Riding Hood. But I still wish it could've been as straightforward and obvious as it was with the other characters. 

Still, Winter deserves a 4 out of 4 like the rest of her comrades, and I recommend it for 15 year olds and up. 

*What I learned: There are different kinds of crazy, and being so doesn't mean you're not smart, brave, or capable.