Winter by Marissa Meyer // in which i cry because this beautiful series is over

 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.

Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?  

 

I haven't written a review in AGES, it feels like, but now I'm BACK! And ready to flail about The Lunar Chronicles again!

Marissa Meyer has solidified her position on my bookshelf as one of my favorite writers. It takes skill to pull off such an excellent, excellent conclusion, and she DEFINITELY has that skill. Winter blew me away. I can honestly say that it was my favorite out of the entire Lunar Chronicles!

Let's talk logically about what was so awesome about this book (otherwise I'm just going to dance around flailing about WHAT A BOOK GO GO CINDER YOU BADASS AND EEEE CRESS AND THORNE I CANT STAND THE ADORBS AND OH IKO IKO MY BABY and then dissolve into a puddle of sadness that the series is over).

Because this is a final book, everything sort of ties together here. As the series progressed, the amount of main characters increased and points of view multiplied - and in Winter, we have the most sub plots yet. However, Marissa Meyer deals with this masterfully, and I never really felt confused. The many plot strands and character arcs twist together into an entirely cohesive and solid story with an extremely satisfactory ending. I struggle with plot in my own writing (as I have complained many times), and so when someone produces something like Winter where there are SO MANY plot bits that somehow just FIT like puzzle pieces, I stand in awe and wonder. Highest commendations to Marissa Meyer.

Characters! The characters in the Lunar Chronicles are always so well written, and so distinct, and the "new" ones we get in Winter (namely, Winter and Jacin) are no exception. Winter is such a darling ball of clouds and sparkles and dreams and I just want to wrap her up and protect her from everything. (Which everyone else kind of does too, actually.) Jacin, even though we've met him in previous books, gets fuller development in Winter, and I grudgingly began to like him. Actually, I think he and I would make a good Winter-protection-pair.

Talking about Winter - I adored the scenes with her and Scarlet! Their friendship is the most wonderful thing. I love how they have their own little endearments they call each other. And the scene with the mutants showed both their strengths kind of wonderfully.

Wolf! I loved meeting his mother. Also, tears. For him and for his mother. For everything that happened and happens to his family. Gosh, he has a hard life.

It seems that Kai has grasped his role as Emperor, and finally is being super proactive. He's grown up! Eee I'm so proud of him.

There's so many shippable things in this book, and Cress and Thorne are my favorites. I'm so glad they got their happily ever after finally, and both of them just make my heart so joyful. Cress is just so huggable and adorable (and I relate to her most of all the characters). And every time words come out of Thorne's mouth, they're funny, no matter how serious the situation. I really want this made into a movie or TV show so that I can see Thorne brought to life because - dang!

Oh, and Iko! She requires a book of her own. She doesn't get an official ship but - mwahaha - I have one for her. And I want it to happen!

The only think I think that could have been improved a bit was the logistical and political side of things. I'd have liked to hear more about the Cinder's thought process during the rebellion. In Cress, she talked about how she wouldn't want to be a ruler of a country/planet/moon, but by Winter it seems she has fully resigned herself to this fact (even though by the end she does make appropriate governmental modifications). I want to see her struggle with choosing to be a leader, and we didn't get enough of that in my opinion.

But that's just minor stuff. This book was fantabulous and I can't wait for Stars Above in February because I don't want the Lunar Chronicles to end! *cries*

Have you read Winter? Who's your favorite character? (Who's your favorite ship?) 

Fierce Reads Tour (My First Author Event EVER!)

You may know that Classics were my first love, and will always have a special place in my heart. But the one big problem with Classics is - all the authors are dead. You can't follow them on Twitter, you can't write them fanmail, and they sure as heck won't be going on a book tour anytime soon. (Unless - they come back as zombies. But no.)

This past year or so, I've discovered the beautiful world of YA lit (and a lot of beautiful YA lit bloggers, too!), and through that, I now have a bunch of favorite authors who are very much so alive! That means that I can actually meet them face to face and speak to them and get all nervous about it - how exciting!

So last Friday, when the Fierce Reads tour (with Marissa Meyer!) stopped by at Arlington Heights Library (about 45 minutes from my house), I stole my mother's van and set off.

This was, momentously, my first ever author event, so I was unbearably excited. (Just drive, Sophia. You don't want to get into any car accidents. Focus on the road.) (I made it to the library quite safely.)

Out of the authors at the event, I had only read the books of Marissa Meyer, but I had heard of the others through Twitter and other blogs.
Oh here they are: Jessica Brody, Nikki Kelly, Gennifer Albin, and Marissa Meyer. They all were hilarious.

I had a grand time, bought books and got them signed, and ate cake. Here is what else happened:

1. I met other people who love the same books I love.
It's great to see how many different kinds of people are at events like this. At first I felt out of place because of all the young kids, but then I realized this is YA for heaven's sakes. They are the target audience. I guess in the book blogger community I'm used to older people reading YA, and tend to forget that it's main audience is actually a good bunch of years younger! Ha.
But there were adults too. I sat next to a friendly English teacher who chatted up with everyone she would meet.

2. I met the creator of some of my favorite books. It's so inspirational. That sounds cheesy, but it's true. I have a dream, and these women - not much older than I - are living that same dream. It's possible!
There were three friends behind me in the signing line, and one of their mothers had come along as chauffeur. I over heard the mother say, motioning to the authors, "Girls! Take these as your role models. These are young women who have worked hard to publish books and become successful authors. They should be an inspiration to you."
I wanted to turn around and say, "Pay attention!" to the girls, because they were NOT. And what the mother was saying was the absolute truth!

3. I got some excellent writing advice. Love Q&A. I didn't get to ask any questions of my own, but it's just so wonderful hearing advice and encouragement from other authors. It made me so excited for NaNo!

4. I got books signed! And I got some pretty awesome swag.
Poster signed by all four authors, a blueprint of the Rampion, and some glorious stickers (which will stick on my laptop once I actually get one):

And finally, the books:

The Lunar Chronicles, as the newest additions to my library, get to sit (temporarily) on the shelf of honor.

Though I WAS disappointed that there were no hardcover Cinder's or Scarlet's for sale, because I totally would have bought them. Oh well.
I came home utterly glowing (and safe - no car wrecks on the way home either). I SO want to go to more of these events!

If you want to read an actual logical recap of the event, you can head on over to Polished Page Turners, who transcribed the entire Q&A session.

What author event have you been to lately? Do you remember your first? Or - if you haven't been to an event - whom would you LOVE to meet?

~Sophia

Scarlet; Cress by Marissa Meyer // Also, Character Quizzes can be Lame

You may remember that a while ago I did a combined post on Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo.

I thought I'd do one on Scarlet and Cress as well!

First off: my most favorite thing about these two books (and this series as a whole) has to do with - predictably for me - characters. I love the idea of a new main character per book. That way, the books are distinct, yet connected - and I can keep track of them better in my own head. Too often, the books of a series blur in my mind, and I won't be able to tell you which book a certain scene happened in. (Some prime examples: The Hunger Games, Divergent, and even The Grisha Trilogy a bit - though that last one has a three books, three amplifiers thing going that helps.)

But with the Lunar Chronicles, I'm able to associate a book to a character, and so I remember the details of the story better. It's fantastic!

Continuing on with character-awesomeness: all three characters so far have been strong women with distinct and individual characteristics - and none of them fell into the trap of becoming Strong Female Leads. We have defined characters that are all the heroines of their own stories. Can I tell you how much I ADORE this? SO MUCH LOVE.

On a side note - out of the three girls, I think Cinder is the most similar to me. (Though there might be a drop of Cress in there too.) I wonder if there's a quiz for this. :-)

Update: Of course there are quizzes for this. According to one I'm Cinder. According to another I'm Thorne. Which is just SO WRONG on so many levels. I give up - these quizzes are all superficial.
"What color is your hair?" Seriously?

Also, as different as the (so-far) three main ladies are from each other, their love interests are just as different. The characters in this book are so distinct and unique.

I'm so excited to see what happens with Winter, the fourth and final book in the series. We've had a glimpse of Winter's character, but so far she seems defined by her oddities and quirks. I'm looking forward to seeing how she develops!

Gosh, I haven't even talked about the science and stuff. The fact that Cress is a programmer makes me super happy for some reason. I love that she is so skilled.

Have you read the Lunar Chronicles? What did you think? And - just for fun - which character do you think you are most similar to?

~Sophia

PS I also found the perfect magazine for Wolf (a character from the series). You'd get it if you've read the books:

Cinder by Marissa Meyer // Androids Blow My Mind

Wheee! Cinder, by Marissa Meyer, was a really fun book. It involved cyborgs and aliens and fairy tales - an awesome mind-blowing combination.

So I haven't read very many sci-fi books that deal with cyborgs and androids, which is what Cinder involves in extensive detail. My brain just finds it hard to wrap around the idea that something that is partially human and partially machine can still have feelings and nerves and things like that. That's just AWESOME. And even more awesome is something that is totally machine, like an android, that can still have emotions and personality. How does that work, scientifically!? The brain is such an intricate thing. How can engineers make FAKE brains that are sentient and can have FEELINGS?

Well, that's a question for my sister to answer when she becomes a bio-medical engineer and makes bionic limbs. But it's such an excitingly mind-blowing concept, right? (Right? Or is that just my science-nerd showing....?)

Another thing that I liked (besides the awesome science stuff) was that this was set in the future but it wasn't at all Apocalyptic with cruel governments and messed up systems. The world in Cinder is actually a potential scenario for a bunch of years into the future. This world could actually really happen! How refreshing. Yes, yes Divergent and The Hunger Games are great, but it is so nice to read about a functional Earth where the government isn't all 1984. 

Instead, the danger is coming from the creepy and crazy queen of the moon. Not much better, but you get my point.

The coolest part of this book, in my opinion, is that it's a fractured fairy tale. It is, ultimately, a version of Cinderella - an epic version of Cinderella where what's at stake is not just happily ever after for Cinderella and the prince, but happily ever after for the whole world. And I loved picking out the slightly less obvious references to the fairy tale. It was so much fun!

Additionally, both stepsisters aren't evil (though evil wouldn't be exactly the word to describe the older stepsister and the stepmother. They're more - unpleasant.). The younger stepsister is actually very close to Cinder and they are all sisterly and everything. It's such a pleasant surprise. 

The ending was rather abrupt and inconclusive, but I know that there are three more books in the series, so I didn't mind. I'm an extremely patient reader, I've discovered. 

I sped through Cinder like I did with Shadow and Bone, but that just means that it was a fun, uncomplicated read. I'm excited to read the next book in the Lunar Chronicles: Scarlet!

Have you read Cinder? What did you think? And what do you think of androids and cyborgs? (Would you like an android servant?)

~Sophia