Book: Cress (The Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer

★★★★★/★★★★★

“Captain?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think it was destiny that brought us together?”

He squinted and, after a thoughtful moment, shook his head. “No. I'm pretty sure it was Cinder.”

 I managed to finish this book early this year but wasn't able to write a proper review until now. Actually, I was planning on finishing Winter first before writing a review for both but I don't think I'll get around Winter anytime soon since I'm still stuck with my other books. Anyhow, I'm writing a review for this now and I can say that I loved it but not as much as Scarlet which is my favorite in the series so far.

Continuing where Scarlet left off, the third book finally introduces Cress, the brilliant hacker girl who contacted and informed Cinder about Queen Levana's plan on killing Prince Kai even after they get married. After the attack on Earth by a Lunar army of wolf-like creatures, Scarlet and Wolf have also joined Cinder and Thorne on their ship and they are forced to go into hiding in space. While forming a plan on how to stop Prince Kai from Marrying Queen Levana, Cinder and the others are able to contact Cress again and since she can be useful to them and she's willing to help anyway, they decided to rescue her in the satellite where Sibyl Mira has been keeping her hostage. Of course Thorne willingly agrees to help save a damsel in distress so they execute a rescue mission and everything seems to be going right until something happens which causes them to lose Scarlet, Thorne and Cress. Now Cinder is left with a wounded Wolf and a Lunar guard named Jacin. 

“Captain,” she murmured. “I think I’m in love with you.”
An eyebrow shot up. She counted six beats of his heart before, suddenly, he laughed.
“Don’t tell me it took you two whole days to realize that. I must be losing my touch.”

 There are a lot of reasons why I enjoyed this book but I think the main reason is Captain Thorne. I mean, how can you not love him with all that sense of humor and charm? He's really adorable and I liked how nice and sweet he is to Cress. Cress, on the other hand, is a genius when it comes to computers and somehow a romantic. She's sure that Captain Thorne is who she was waiting for all her life to save and sweep her off her feet. She's a dreamer and her imagination gets the best of her. I actually love that she's not your typical heroine and she's so cute she complements Captain Thorne's personality so well. Then there's also Cinder and Kai, of course! With the wedding preparations and everything, Kai is all stressed out and frustrated especially when Queen Levana keeps on threatening the Earth with her Lunar army. My heart is still aching for Cinder for she's trying her best to stop the wedding and save the Earth at the same time. It's a lot for her but she shew she has to do something. And between trying to find her friends and Dr. Erland, she also worries about Prince Kai who also worries about her. Scarlet and Wolf don't have a lot of appearance in this one but I love them the same. I think Wolf grows a lot in this book and his relationship with Cinder might've gone down hill in the first part but towards the end they learn to understand each other. Another awesome character is Iko and she actually has a big role in this book. She's funny and I liked it everytime she and Jacin, who I will discuss later, bickers.

 Aside from all the endearing characters, it's well plotted, action packed and very exciting. The turn of events will surprise you and you wouldn't help but get engrossed with every page you turn. Meyer surely did a good job with this series and every book is special in their own way.

By the end of the book almost every character is already introduced. Cinder and Kai, Scarlet and Wolf, Cress and Thorne, and Jacin is introduced at the beginning as a Lunar guard who along the way changes allegiance and decided to help Cinder and her friends instead. We also see a little of Winter who is Queen Levana's step daughter. She's a little creepy to be honest and I'm yet to read her story in the next book. It also turns out that she's keeping Scarlet with her and I can't wait to know what happens next.

“You serve the queen,” she said. “How can I trust you?”

His lips twitched, like she's make a joke, but his eyes were quick to harden again. “I serve my princess. No one else.”

The floor dropped out from beneath her. The princess. His princes.

He knew.

If you haven't read the series, you better start now because it's amazing! Highly recommended for those who love good re-tellings with well developed characters, good world building and interesting plot lines. 

Read my full review of Cinder here and Scarlet here.

Book: Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer

★★★★★/★★★★★

“I knew they would kill me when they found out, but…” He struggled for words, releasing a sharp breath. “I think I realized that I would rather die because I betrayed them, than live because I betrayed you.”

I finished this book a couple of months ago but wasn't able to write a proper review until now. After loving Cinder, I decided to dive into Scarlet's world, the next installment in The Lunar Chronicles series. And I tell you guys, I'm loving this series more and more!!

Goodreads Blurb:
Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

***
First of all I want to say that Oh. My. God. this book is brilliant and I. Love. It!! I enjoyed Cinder but I definitely loved this one! There are new characters in this book and I really didn't expect that Cinder and Scarlet's story will be told at the same time. I think Marissa Meyer did a good job weaving their stories together. And Scarlet with Wolf is my favorite of all! I'm not a fan of insta-love but I'll make an exception because I did enjoy the time Scarlet and Wolf spent together. They faced a lot of danger and I think that connection they have just strengthen the feelings they have for each other.

“Wolf.” Her tongue was parched. She tires to wet her dry lips and tasted blood. “What have they done to you?”

“You.” The word was spat out at her, full of hatred. “What have you done to me?”

I still love Cinder because she's still a kick-ass heroine but Scarlet is a different type of kick-ass. She's brave and strong-willed, determined to find her grandmother. When Wolf shows up, I knew where their story will end but I love it anyway. And Thorne, oh my god Thorne!! He's my favorite ever. He's adorable and witty, never failed to make me smile/laugh everytime. I also love it whenever he and Cinder banter with each other.

A relieve grin filled up Thorne's face. “We're having another moment, aren't we?”

“If by moment, you mean me not wanting to strangle you for the first time since we met, then I guess we are.” Cinder slumped back on the floor.

As much as I want to tell you everything about this book,. I don't have time. I'm writing this in a computer shop (my computer broke down again!!!) and I need to go soon. But overall I enjoyed this book (more than the first) with all the plot twists and other surprises. Cinder's fight with Queen Levana are getting more and more interesting now that things are unraveling. I actually just finished Cress (the third book) last week and now I can say that this is my new favorite series. I think it couldn't get any better! 

Book: Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer

★★★★/★★★★★

“And the prince did know her now, sort of. He'd been kind to her at the market. Perhaps he would ask her to dance. Out of politeness. Out of chivalry when he saw her standing alone."

Cinder has been sitting on my TBR pile for a while now and since I was determined to finish off some series this year, I decided to put the it on my list of top 5 series I'll finally, finally, read in 2016! So there I was reading this book and oh my god did I love it! It's probably one of my best reads this year! And to be honest, I didn't expect to love it this much. Maybe a little but not this asdfgfdjhfkdghlhg much! If you know what I mean. ♥

“She was a cyborg, and she would never go to a ball.”

The book centers on Cinder, a sixteen year old mechanic in New Beijing. She can fix anything tech-related and is the best in the field. Also, she's a cyborg. She doesn't really remember her life before the surgery but she knows that she's from Europe and her father, adoptive father, took her home with him five years ago. But it was not long after that her father died because of Letumosis, a plague that's been killing both human and cyborgs alike. Now Cinder lives, works, to be exact, for her stepmother Adri and stepsisters Pearl and Peony. Fortunately she has her very useful android Iko who accompanies and helps her get through everyday. Peony is actually kind to Cinder and they get along well. But when Peony gets infected by letumosis, Adri blames Cinder and soon volunteers her for the cure trials against her will. Meanwhile, Prince Kai has his own problems and is mourning the death of his father caused by the plague. He'd met Cinder on her booth before to ask her to fix his android and obviously there was attraction between them, though Cinder tried to deny it. And now that Cinder is brought to the labs for the trials, she and Prince Kai meet again. Enters Dr. Erland, the scientist conducting the trials. No one survives the trials but surprisingly, Cinder does. It makes Dr. Erland curious and after some research here and there, he finally realizes why. But he keeps his findings to himself only sharing a little to Cinder because he knew it could be dangerous once people learn about this information. After explaining to her, Cinder voluntarily agrees to do the trials thinking it could help Peony and other people. Dr. Erland also lets her leave the labs but to check in once in a while. On the other hand, Queen Levana, the Lunar Queen everyone hates, is visiting the Earth to pay respect to the late Emperor. For so long she and her kind has been threatening the people of Earth and the leaders of the Earth have been trying to make a peace agreement with her but her demands are unbelievable. And now that Kai is to become Emperor, she wants to be Empress. But of course there's no way Kai will agree to marry an evil Lunar like her. That's why Kai is nagging Cinder to finish fixing his android because there's information in there he badly needs that can somehow help him dethroning Queen Levana. And while he's at it, he also starts working his charms on her. Cinder knew she can't accept anything from the Kai, not his princely manners, not his ball invitation, especially not a gift! Besides, Cinder thinks that once Kai finds out that she's a cyborg (yes, he didn't know because neither Dr. Erland nor Cinder has informed him about it), he'll probably be disgusted at her just like everyone else. But when a crucial information gets passed down to her that can probably save Kai from Queen Levana, she doesn't really have much of a choice but to attend a ball and meet the new Emperor even if it means facing the evil Queen Dr. Erland warns her about.

He met her gaze, surprised, as if he'd forgotten who he was speaking with . Then, “You can call me Kai.”
She blinked, “Excuse me?”
“No more 'Your Highness.' I get enough of that from... everyone else. You should just call me Kai.”
“No, that wouldn't be―”
“Don't make me turn it into a royal command.” He hinted at a smile.

This book is plainly amazing. When I first read the blurb I was intrigued as to how the author would re-tell the story of Cinderella with cyborgs and Lunar people and a plague but surely Marissa Meyer made it work. With the dystopian world she created where there are humans and cyborgs living together and yeah, moon people, she definitely nailed it! It's actually creative, the worldbuilding fantastic and the concept is refreshing for me. The characters are also great and I love Cinder. She's a strong protagonist and Kai, oh my god, Kai! Isn't he charming? Well, he's a prince for one and even if he's not, I think he'd still be charmingly princely!

“Not that I have anything against dancing. I can dance. If you want to dance.”

 I can talk about Kai all night long about how he's sooo cute and funny and hot and everything but let's move on with the other characters. Iko is another I really love! She's very entertaining and I actually felt really sad for what happened to her. Curse Adri!  Queen Levana, on the other hand, is quite evil but I'd love to read more about her. And maybe I will in the next book. And I know I've talked about Cinder and Kai already but I just really love them both! Together! I love how Kai flirts with Cinder and asking her to the ball is really sweet of him. Those moments they're together are my favorites and though Cinder ends up hurting Kai, we all know what will happen next. Cinder is Cinderella after all.

“I know this is stupid, but part of me felt like if I could come see you today, if I could convince you to go with me tonight, then maybe I could still change things. It's dumb, I know. It's not like Levana cares if I, you know, might have actual feelings for someone.”  

Like I said, this book is one of my best reads this year. It's very engaging and had me all hooked up from the very beginning. There are twists and turns though I've guessed right about some of them early on. Nonetheless, I enjoyed every page of this book and with that kind of ending, who wouldn't get excited to find out what happens next? I have tons of books lined up this month but I don't think I can wait longer to read the next book.