Fairest by Marissa Meyer Series: The Lunar Chronicles #3.5
Also in this series: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Winter, Stars Above
Published by Feiwel and Friends on January 27, 2015
Genres: Dystopia, Fantasy, Retelling, Science Fiction
Pages: 222
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
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In this stunning bridge book between Cress and Winter in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles, Queen Levana’s story is finally told.
Mirror, mirror on the wall,
Who is the fairest of them all?Fans of the Lunar Chronicles know Queen Levana as a ruler who uses her “glamour” to gain power. But long before she crossed paths with Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress, Levana lived a very different story – a story that has never been told . . . until now.
Marissa Meyer spins yet another unforgettable tale about love and war, deceit and death. This extraordinary book includes full-color art and an excerpt from Winter, the next book in the Lunar Chronicles series.
I’ve never really been a fan of the villain in any story because I don’t usually like the villain! Sure, there have been some exceptions to that rule, but I really wasn’t sure I wanted to learn about Levana and her excuses for being such an awful person. But I love Marissa Meyer and The Lunar Chronicles, so of COURSE I wanted to read Fairest. While I did not love it as much as the full-length novels in this series, I enjoyed Levana’s back story, I feel prepared to read Winter, and I also learned quite a few things about Cinder that surprised me. Bottom line, this book was certainly worth reading! So if you’re on the fence as to whether or not you should, definitely do it. You’ll learn things and more pieces will start to fit into the puzzle.
Levana is EVIL. I mean wow. Pure evil. At times I felt bad for her, but she is seriously a psychopath. I felt bad for her. She went through a lot in her youth, and all of these things helped shaped her to be a ruthless, evil witch she is. She had a horrible upbringing. We hear the heartbreaking story of why she must hide behind an artificial glamour, we hear her experience with being rejected by the man she loved, and her inner feelings and compulsions are brought to light. It’s a very interesting character analysis, and it adds a lot to the story, giving it more of a solid foundation. I do like knowing the why’s and how’s of any situation, and this book gives you that. I’ll never feel like Levana is justified in her actions, but at least I know why she is so crazy.
As always, Marissa Meyer’s writing is flawless and I loved being immersed in this world once again. I’m even more excited for Winter now!
I wasn’t a bit nervous to read this one, too, because Levana is awful. Going into it I actually thought I would be able to sympathize with Levana more, but man, she is totally crazy! But now I understand a bit on why she is so twisted.
Yeah, I was totally iffy on whether or not to read it, but I was missing The Lunar Chronicles so I did it! Levana is even crazier than I expected. Haha. I couldn’t sympathize wither her either!
Levana has definitely secured a place on my “scariest villains list.” Total psychopath. Also way up there on the list is Jannoula from Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman. Have you read it? She, like Levana, is smart, scary, and can do mind control.
lovely review! I agree with the Levana thing, she’s a total psycho
YES. YES. YES. PURE FREAKING EVIL, LEVANA IS. (I have no idea why I write that like Yoda would speak.)
This one definitely wasn’t anywhere close to being a favorite of mine, but I really loved seeing Levana grow up. It was interesting to plot everything that caused her to be such an evil piece of work.
Yeah, this one wasn’t my favorite. I had to force myself to read the last 30 or so pages which kind of sucks considering how short it is :(. However, it was cool hearing Levana’s story!